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FFYX 10th Anniversary Special Edition Redwood Air Flotation Turntable The Review

ScaleAutoArt said:
My Well Tempered motor solved the speed issues. The supplied motor sucks.

I ordered a Scoutmaster motor.
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Glad there is a good solution. Too bad it didn't come with the table, though. We're all really rooting for you on this. I hope the new motor doesn't set you bad too many shekels. Was it really the motor or a poor quality PS, though? I'd be curious how the motor behaved with good power fed into it.
 
Did you contact the seller/mfg about the motor and if you did, what was their reply? I see they offer the better motor unit, but to be honest if the cheap one sucks, I wouldn't spend the rather big bucks on their upgraded unit :D

What were the speed issues specifically? I'm just thinking maybe the one you got is a lemon, DC motors have been around in turntables since the 70s and as the table isn't exactly the skimpiest, cheapest one, it would be a bit odd if the supplied motor truly performed very badly out of the box - in the big picture, it isn't / shouldn't be a very big chunk of the total cost for the mfg to get it right. Could be as simple as a bad solder joint somewhere or a faulty component either in the PS or the speed control board.
 
Did not contact him...they are gone until next week.

The motor looks and feels cheap compared to the rest of the setup. Its too light and has a tiny pulley. I could hear the variations and that's not acceptable. When I put my rpm gauge on it was all over the map. My WTL motor is rock steady and a I was able to use the belt that came with this table.

The other motor he offers is about $600 plus shipping. Not taking the risk when I can get a proven motor for half that. Some minor machining on the pulley would be my only task.
 
I'm really curious now. How much torque would you guess is being provided by this motor. I'm only asking because it seems to me that the platter weight combined with the bearing quality means the the motor should only be assisting. Does the motor drive the platter from a dead stop unassisted? Or do you have to give it a nudge?
 
The VPI motors are AC, and that means the size of the pulley will depend on the the exact outer diameter of your platter. It's just my opinion, but I think the motors from VPI have entirely too much torque!
 
OK...I think it's all relative. The WTL motor takes a little time to get up to speed and so does the motor that was supplied... actually it requires a bit of a nudge or it struggles to get the platter going. I think it's weak. We are talking a 16 pound platter here. The Scoutmaster has about a 20 lb platter. If I touch the platter in either case it slows slightly which to me indicates it is only assisting as you say...not driving it.

In reality the WTL motor works and I think it is also AC. The supplied motor has a wall wart indicating it is for ac/dc.

I think the belt is also a factor.
 
Now that I have the motor issue solved [for now] I was able to spin lots of vinyl today...just superb!

Tonight I will hook it up to my main system.
 

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I have it hooked up in my main system and it was hard to pull myself away. Hum is now completely gone, table sounds really nice. Listening to Wynton Marsalis "J Mood" at the moment and the piano is dead on, trumpet floats on air, bass is nice and tight. Great table with a full sound stage.

Keep in mind I am still using my DL-110. I can just imagine how the 10x5 will sound. Hard to beat what I am getting out of this combination.

Tap on the table and nothing...I mean nothing... transfers to the cartridge.

This is a definite keeper and will replace my Well Tempered eventually in my main system. Need to allocate space and find a good location for the compressor.

If anyone considers buying one be prepared to spend some time setting this up. Once it is up and running it's a joy to use. A great investment in audio.
 
Congrats! A turntable with such features and performance is finally within reach of audiophiles who have obligations other than just burning cash.:music::banana:
 
ScaleAutoArt said:
I have it hooked up in my main system and it was hard to pull myself away. Hum is now completely gone, table sounds really nice. Listening to Wynton Marsalis "J Mood" at the moment and the piano is dead on, trumpet floats on air, bass is nice and tight. Great table with a full sound stage.

Keep in mind I am still using my DL-110. I can just imagine how the 10x5 will sound. Hard to beat what I am getting out of this combination.

Tap on the table and nothing...I mean nothing... transfers to the cartridge.

This is a definite keeper and will replace my Well Tempered eventually in my main system. Need to allocate space and find a good location for the compressor.

If anyone considers buying one be prepared to spend some time setting this up. Once it is up and running it's a joy to use. A great investment in audio.
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I suspect you're giving a few people food for thought. Apart from the motor (whatever the issue is there) it sounds like a really well-engineered table.
 
How does fundamental tonearm/cartridge resonances work with this? Have You done some testing on this?
 
gusten said:
How does fundamental tonearm/cartridge resonances work with this? Have You done some testing on this?
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Linear tracking air bearing arms are odd creatures, and while the mass calculations for resonance is still the same, it acts differently. This arm is similar in execution to the Eminent Technology style arm, with a somewhat stubby arm wand. Other types of these arms use just a carrier assembly, like the Souther, and mass is set by head shell weights. Or the Terminator arm that uses Ladegaard design, and has the most mass in the horizontal plane. And that is one of the design considerations of a non motor driven linear tracking arm, how is the mass distributed? Most of these designs have more mass in the horizontal plane when compared to the vertical. So for one direction it acts as a high mass arm, and in the other its effectively a low mass one.

Then the question of bearing stiffness, and how much air needs to be applied to achieve an optimum bearing is bandied about. Couple this with micro ripples in the air flow, and whether a surge tank should be used or not. In theory this is as important as conventional arm resonance considerations in a pivoted tone arm. And these points got enthusiastic discussion back in the glory days of these types of arms.

But as far as mass and compliance equations. Well its simple enough to remove the short arm and weigh it. The standard calculations will work for it, and I suspect it will come out being compatible with medium compliance cartridges.

Regards
Misterig
 
Mister Pig said:
Linear tracking air bearing arms are odd creatures, and while the mass calculations for resonance is still the same, it acts differently. This arm is similar in execution to the Eminent Technology style arm, with a somewhat stubby arm wand. Other types of these arms use just a carrier assembly, like the Souther, and mass is set by head shell weights. Or the Terminator arm that uses Ladegaard design, and has the most mass in the horizontal plane. And that is one of the design considerations of a non motor driven linear tracking arm, how is the mass distributed? Most of these designs have more mass in the horizontal plane when compared to the vertical. So for one direction it acts as a high mass arm, and in the other its effectively a low mass one.

Then the question of bearing stiffness, and how much air needs to be applied to achieve an optimum bearing is bandied about. Couple this with micro ripples in the air flow, and whether a surge tank should be used or not. In theory this is as important as conventional arm resonance considerations in a pivoted tone arm. And these points got enthusiastic discussion back in the glory days of these types of arms.

But as far as mass and compliance equations. Well its simple enough to remove the short arm and weigh it. The standard calculations will work for it, and I suspect it will come out being compatible with medium compliance cartridges.

Regards
Misterig
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It would seem to me that it really takes a bit of work in optimizing the horizontal resonance, or both. Would mean a lot of measurements getting both the resonances and the damping right, or else there will be modulations.

ScaleAutoArt. Can You upload some files to look at?

Edit: The vertical mass in this case has to be calculated, and counterweight mass will effect more than usual as the arm is rather short, a medium mass seems reasonable. The horizontal mass is in principle the mass of the whole arm, including the counterweight, rather high mass I would think. I see no damping that can be applied.
 
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OK...I am a layman...and only took two years of Physics.

That being said I can only observe how the arm is tracking compared to my others. It easily follows the warps and off center situations. It has responded well to my low compliance carts such as the DL-110 , although in order to set the DL-110 up properly without extremes I had to use a head shell weight to bring the weight of the cartridge up about 2.2 grams. It tracks easily anywhere from 1.6 up to 2.0 VTA. I have Dynavector 10x5 sitting on standby and the cart is heavy enough not to require a weight but won't know how compatible it is until I mount it up. But the builder of the table said it was a good match.

Now that I have displayed my stupidity flame away!
 
ScaleAutoArt said:
OK...I am a layman...and only took two years of Physics.

That being said I can only observe how the arm is tracking compared to my others. It easily follows the warps and off center situations. It has responded well to my low compliance carts such as the DL-110 , although in order to set the DL-110 up properly without extremes I had to use a head shell weight to bring the weight of the cartridge up about 2.2 grams. It tracks easily anywhere from 1.6 up to 2.0 VTA. I have Dynavector 10x5 sitting on standby and the cart is heavy enough not to require a weight but won't know how compatible it is until I mount it up. But the builder of the table said it was a good match.

Now that I have displayed my stupidity flame away!
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When shopping for an expensive cart the more "arcane" knowledge is probably useful, but when you already own it there can be little to lose in trying provided the match isn't so horrendous something could get hurt.
 
fiddlefye said:
When shopping for an expensive cart the more "arcane" knowledge is probably useful, but when you already own it there can be little to lose in trying provided the match isn't so horrendous something could get hurt.
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BTW...that quote should say VTF ;)

I have both high, medium and low compliance carts. The only ones I need to be extra careful with are the high compliance carts ;)

I have a vintage Ortofon that will be in trouble if I exceed 1.1 grams!
 
ScaleAutoArt said:
BTW...that quote should say VTF ;)

I have both high, medium and low compliance carts. The only ones I need to be extra careful with are the high compliance carts ;)

I have a vintage Ortofon that will be in trouble if I exceed 1.1 grams!
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Yes, that one definitely needs the right environment to survive, let alone thrive. I've run a few carts on my ATP-12T that shouldn't have been a match and ran without problem.
 
Oh...and I set the table up in the WTRP old spot in my home system. This after playing multiple LPs first. Found a good place for the compressor [about 3 feet away]. Fired everything back up and now the compressor gauge is reading very low while the table and arm continue to perform the same as before.

Could be that now the air lines are more linear and not coiled but I doubt it...probably the gauge itself.
 
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