Hi there, just wanted to let you know I received the new kokomo bearing and installed it this afternoon. I haven't listened to it enough to properly evaluate the difference, but it certainly makes a big difference indeed. My immediate reaction was that the music sounded "brighter," as if the treble had opened up a good deal. I played a few lp's that I'm very familiar with, to try to get a better sense of it. Tomorrow I'll do some serious listening when I can focus on it more and report back.
On the design of the bearing itself, I was incorrect to say I thought it had done away with the ceramic ball bearing in the thrust plate. The new version still has a ceramic ball, but now this is covered by a Delrin pad, which rides flat against the spindle, basically forming a barrier to direct contact with the ceramic. Thus, there should be no undue wear damage against the spindle. And since the Delrin pad essentially "floats" in oil between the ball and the spindle, the platter freely rotates with seemingly no friction. I tested the platter by spinning it by hand with the motor and brake disengaged before playing any records, and it rotated for more than three minutes. I eventually stopped it from boredom and being anxious to play music, but I would love to time this again until it stopped on its own.
What is interesting here is that the Delrin pad is similar to the bearing thrust pad in a Thorens 160, so I can understand that this should work well and have a good degree of longevity. Additionally, it adds a material similarity to the original Garrard bearing thrust, which uses sintered bronze on top of a plastic pad (probably Delrin or similar, the two seem identical in consistency). The kokomo's manufacturer states that the new version has more of the signature Garrard sound, and utilizes a variation on the original thrust pad design. I take this to mean that the introduction of this material is intended to adhere more closely to the Garrard design which isolates the bottom plate from the spindle with the plastic part. He does not mention that it simultaneously addresses the concern regarding wear on the spindle caused by the ceramic ball, understandably so, since this would be an admission that the kokomo actually causes such wear.
Frankly, now that I've taken my bearing apart and installed the new one, I'm a bit skeptical about the whole controversy about wear on the spindle. I noticed that my original bronze bearing, which was not terribly worn itself, had indeed made a tiny circular mark on the spindle. Conceptually, the bronze is supposed to wear before the steel does, since it is softer, but nonetheless there is some evidence of friction on the spindle. Unless the bearing is run without proper lubrication, the degree of such wear should be minimal, but some should be expected regardless of materials. So, I wonder if perhaps the "damage" reported by others who used the kokomo was in fact already present on their spindles, but unnoticed when they installed the upgrade? Too, an improper amount of lubricant, or worse yet, the introduction of some other loose debris into the bearing during installation (stray fibers from steel wool, perhaps? the things I read about how people try to clean out their bearings, scary...) would certainly account for damage.
I guess this issue has me scratching my head a bit, since so many others do their own bearing upgrades (to Thorens and RekoKut decks) with a ceramic ball bearing, or even steel ones, and nobody reports any damage caused by them. Why would this be the case with one type of upgrade and not be true with all the others?
Anyway, all of this seems to be a moot point, since now the kokomo kit does not create direct contact between ceramic ball and spindle. One thing that doesn't seem to get mentioned in all the reviews, though, is the fact that the thrust pad is integrated into a very heavy bronze plate. This bronze plate itself must add something to the stability of the bearing and it's capacity to rotate freely. The original bronze plate is very thin by comparison, and presumably would not do as good a job at isolating the spindle and platter from vibration.
Sorry for the overly-long commentary here, but in sum, this new bearing seems a pretty significant upgrade to me.
Cheers!
