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Prepping a Russco turntable..

Duane:

That looks fantastic…..It’s amazing how good these Russco’s are with just a few changes:trebon:

Given the going rate for a Studio Pro, it’s truly an audiophile value:thumbsup:

BTW The Studio Pro is the top of the line in Russco tables prior to their Mark V, which is extremely rare. The Que Master is considerably lighter, and lacking an armboard, but if one wants 78rpm then it does still look good ;)


You have a beautiful table that you built yourself and it can truly perform at/with the very top vintage idlers:cool:


Congrats,
Andy
 
adnick said:
Duane:

That looks fantastic…..It’s amazing how good these Russco’s are with just a few changes:trebon:

Given the going rate for a Studio Pro, it’s truly an audiophile value:thumbsup:

BTW The Studio Pro is the top of the line in Russco tables prior to their Mark V, which is extremely rare. The Que Master is considerably lighter, and lacking an armboard, but if one wants 78rpm then it does still look good ;)


You have a beautiful table that you built yourself and it can truly perform at/with the very top vintage idlers:cool:


Congrats,
Andy
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Thanks, Andy! Thanks also for the help from you and Bill, along the way. This one isn’t finished yet.. But, it’s been playing for at least 6 hours now, almost non-stop - and sounding very good, too. Still need to tidy up some things over the next few days like screwing the top plate down and probably sanding a bit - then maybe I’ll even stain the box.

That Pickering Gyropoise table is supposed to be here tomorrow, BTW. Like I needed another oddball turntable.. ;)
 
MisterDK said:
Thanks, Andy! Thanks also for the help from you and Bill, along the way. This one isn’t finished yet.. But, it’s been playing for at least 6 hours now, almost non-stop - and sounding very good, too. Still need to tidy up some things over the next few days like screwing the top plate down and probably sanding a bit - then maybe I’ll even stain the box.

That Pickering Gyropoise table is supposed to be here tomorrow, BTW. Like I needed another oddball turntable.. ;)
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It was certainly my pleasure to help, I’m a big fan of the Studio Pro and owe that to @BillWojo, if he hadn’t talked me into a plinth build I’d missed out on the Russco and more importantly missed out on making several new friends :thumbsup:

Also understand about turntable projects, I’ve only kept my very favorite builds so I’m down to 5 :rolleyes: and now I’m faced with packing them up for a move, and my tendency to overbuild plinths has come back to haunt me ;)

Certainly looking forward to your Pickering build:thumbsup:
 
Still playing with and fine-tuning my Russco. I found that the best settings for speed and lowest wow - are right where @BillWojo said - maybe with even less idler pressure. I figured that with around 100 hrs on it since I put it back together, I’d recheck idler pressure adjustment. Where speed is closest to 33.33 and wow the lowest - is actually with the adjustment screw turned in by about 1 full turn from where it was good before, lowering the wheel pressure. It doesn’t have that nearly instantaneous 1/4 turn spin-up like it had - more like 1/2 turn now, but it seems to like it here. May be my imagination but music seems a little more “airy” too - but bass is still solid.

Just thought I’d mention it for anyone else playing with a Russco.. :)
 
That’s great that you found a sweet spot, fine tuning at it’s finest:naughty: I’m really happy with mine, didn’t put the time into the inside of my plinth as I did with Bill and Steve’s plinth, but it works well….

You should consider a decoupled tonearm in a future iteration:idea:
 
Thanks Duane, I'll have to try that with mine. I'm glad I sold it to you, it didn't take you long to whip it into shape, unlike me. Plus you seem to identify other items that we should look at as well. , Dampening the spring and now this.
Yea, get the woodwork finished up nicely, the table deserves it.

BillWojo
 
adnick said:
That’s great that you found a sweet spot, fine tuning at it’s finest:naughty: I’m really happy with mine, didn’t put the time into the inside of my plinth as I did with Bill and Steve’s plinth, but it works well….

You should consider a decoupled tonearm in a future iteration:idea:
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Andy, it would still be nice to have two arms on it. Maybe someday.

Sure am enjoying the sound of this though, both the table’s punch and believe it or not, this Stanton 600 cartridge. It’s a nice cartridge and sounds to me, just like my Pickering XV-15’s. Put a new stylus on it today, too. The Stanton 600E I had on it sounded good but that’s a broadcast needle that came on the cartridge and I really didn’t know how many hours were on it. It also tracked at 2.5 grams (with no brush). I just put on a NOS original Pickering version for the same cartridge body, with the “D IV AME” stylus which was their top one for the Pickering body. This “AME” has a smaller diamond tip and lower tracking force, between 1-2 grams with the brush. I started out at 2 - and it’s sounding very nice. After some time on it, I may drop tracking force a bit more..and I may remove the brush ( never trusted ‘em for some reason..).

16B96FA0-B86F-4030-9BCF-380DC5F67E6D.jpeg

Listening to one of my oldest “reference” albums right now. Sounds amazingly good.

D06AA417-5E03-4EFE-ABD7-79C885AB6FCC.jpeg
 
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MisterDK said:
Andy, it would still be nice to have two arms on it. Maybe someday.

Sure am enjoying the sound of this though, both the table’s punch and believe it or not, this Stanton 600 cartridge. It’s a nice cartridge and sounds to me, just like my Pickering XV-15’s. Put a new stylus on it today, too. The Stanton 600E I had on it sounded good but that’s a broadcast needle that came on the cartridge and I really didn’t know how many hours were on it. It also tracked at 2.5 grams (with no brush). I just put on a NOS original Pickering version for the same cartridge body, with the “D IV AME” stylus which was their top one for the Pickering body. This “AME” has a smaller diamond tip and lower tracking force, between 1-2 grams with the brush. I started out at 2 - and it’s sounding very nice. After some time on it, I may drop tracking force a bit more..and I may remove the brush ( never trusted ‘em for some reason..).

View attachment 2689931

Listening to one of my oldest “reference” albums right now. Sounds amazingly good.

View attachment 2689967
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.

Yeah I’m sold on big idlers, there’s a nuance about the sound, would probably never had noticed it but I’ve got a great belt drive and DD siting close by…..
 
Duane:

With that open plinth I can envision a decoupled tonearm using the open space for the original Armboard. If the tonearm was decoupled it would greatly reduce the need for a heavy plinth:idea: Just thinking out loud :no:
 
ve7kilohertz said:
How about a pipe cleaner stuffed into the center of the spring?
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Probably not quite big enough, unless folded over. I used the cheap, disposable foam ear plugs that you can get from gun stores. Two pushed into the spring 1/3 of the way from each end does the trick. You can roll ‘em between your fingers to shrink ‘em in size first and they’ll puff back up in place.
 
adnick said:
The idler bracket is fantastic, and it’s an excellent path to follow, that is constructing idler brackets out of different material(s):idea:
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Rereading this thread as am still working on my Russcos, how about an idler arm made from Delrin or other polymer? It might provide some isolation in the same manner as the Delrin spindle bearing does. Just thinking out loud.

cheers
 
ve7kilohertz said:
Rereading this thread as am still working on my Russcos, how about an idler arm made from Delrin or other polymer? It might provide some isolation in the same manner as the Delrin spindle bearing does. Just thinking out loud.

cheers
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The only thing of concern is, would it be stiff enough? I’d assume so but not sure….
 
MisterDK said:
Well - I’ve been thinking more about my concrete plinth ambitions..and decided not to go that route for now. I also didn’t go with the modern constrained layer sandwich on the box. This was taking a bit too long and - I want to have it up and running sooner.
I went with a more “old-school” damping for this box. Probably not as effective - but it didn’t cost anything and does seem to work.
Hope to make some feet for it soon and then get it wired and made usable. I want to hear it!

As it is right now, it pretty quiet. All I can hear with my ear right next to it (and running) is what I can only describe as platter ringing. Maybe a rubber mat on top of my felt will help - guessing it will. I may or may not be able to hear it when playing; don’t know yet.

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Duane,

Liking your plinth as an option for my RCA. Did you notice a difference in your plinth with and without the wool inside? With the wool, is there a noticeable increase in heat from the motor?

adnick said:
The only thing of concern is, would it be stiff enough? I’d assume so but not sure….
Click to expand...

And, that's what she said...sorry couldn't help myself!
 
Roger Gorke said:
Duane,

Liking your plinth as an option for my RCA. Did you notice a difference in your plinth with and without the wool inside? With the wool, is there a noticeable increase in heat from the motor?



And, that's what she said...sorry couldn't help myself!
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Roger, I never tried it without that insulating wool - but I imagine it helped quite a bit. The table does get warm after an hour of use but not hot. It seems to breath just fine. Thanks for reviving this thread, BTW - I’ve been wanting to play with the Russco again.. Need to put some lower viscosity spindle bearing oil in, fiddle with or replace my idler pulley arm - thinking about getting one from Serge (Karmadon). Also want to dress up the outside of my plinth/box and make it look better…

Duane
 
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