Rek-O-Kut Rondine Jr. L-37 Restoration Begins.
- Thread starter Brett a
- Start date
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Ok, I just placed my order for a Denon DL-103 to go on this bad boy!
I'll have to buy another MC phono pre soon b/c this 'table will be too far away from the Well Tempered for it to share the Jolida JD9.
I can't wait! this arm is a thing of beauty. It's reminiscent of a 1950's kitchen appliance. (in a good way). i was pleased and honestly a little surprised to see how finely machined and assembled it is. I think the low-compliance Denon will be perfect for it.
Putting this arm on in place of the Pioneer PL-51 arm I was using, my subjective experience is that the 'table with this arm on it is even fuller and more robust sounding, but with less "air" in the soundstage (what there is of one). Of course, although I'm using the same M91ED body, I'm using a lower-compliance stylus so there;s going to be a difference there for sure.
I am definitely finding this arm to pick up more motor noise than the Pio did. Could be that the Pio was mounted on a stck of plywood and MDF whereas the ROK 120 is mounted on a single panel of 1/2 inch birch ply. I think I'll try to either dampen the plywood or make another arm-board out of MDF.
I need to find or make a better arm rest too.
This thing is just fun,fun,fun!
I'll get more audio samples up when I have time.
Thanks for looking.
:thmbsp:
I'll have to buy another MC phono pre soon b/c this 'table will be too far away from the Well Tempered for it to share the Jolida JD9.
I can't wait! this arm is a thing of beauty. It's reminiscent of a 1950's kitchen appliance. (in a good way). i was pleased and honestly a little surprised to see how finely machined and assembled it is. I think the low-compliance Denon will be perfect for it.
Putting this arm on in place of the Pioneer PL-51 arm I was using, my subjective experience is that the 'table with this arm on it is even fuller and more robust sounding, but with less "air" in the soundstage (what there is of one). Of course, although I'm using the same M91ED body, I'm using a lower-compliance stylus so there;s going to be a difference there for sure.
I am definitely finding this arm to pick up more motor noise than the Pio did. Could be that the Pio was mounted on a stck of plywood and MDF whereas the ROK 120 is mounted on a single panel of 1/2 inch birch ply. I think I'll try to either dampen the plywood or make another arm-board out of MDF.
I need to find or make a better arm rest too.
This thing is just fun,fun,fun!
I'll get more audio samples up when I have time.
Thanks for looking.
:thmbsp:
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Ok.
I now have a Denon DL-103 cartridge on the way and a Musical Fidelity V-LPS MM/MC phono amp to run it through. They should be here by the end of next week.
In the mean time, I remembered that I have a properly fitting low-ish compliance stylus for the M91. It's a light green-bodied 3139DE .0003 x .0007 elliptical that I can track a bit over 2 grams. (It states 2 grams as optimal).
This is tons O'fun! And although I'm hesitant to admit this so publicly, the poor Well Tempered has been collecting dust for the past two weeks. At least I'm not putting time on the RCA gray plates in the Jolida!
I now have a Denon DL-103 cartridge on the way and a Musical Fidelity V-LPS MM/MC phono amp to run it through. They should be here by the end of next week.
In the mean time, I remembered that I have a properly fitting low-ish compliance stylus for the M91. It's a light green-bodied 3139DE .0003 x .0007 elliptical that I can track a bit over 2 grams. (It states 2 grams as optimal).
This is tons O'fun! And although I'm hesitant to admit this so publicly, the poor Well Tempered has been collecting dust for the past two weeks. At least I'm not putting time on the RCA gray plates in the Jolida!
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Yeh, me too! I'm finding the ROK arm to be very microphonic. I might be able to make more audio samples this evening.
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Ok. I did some digitizing and comparing this evening and this is what I found:
The screenshot is from the audio sample which will stream at 320 mp3. The first half is with the old motor mount grommets, the second half is with the new grommets (all 7). I was careful to extract these two samples keeping the amplification consistent for both so as to preserve the difference between the two.
Streaming audio:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16387095/ROK Project/ROK double noisefloor 01_mp3.mp3
It's about 7 seconds long, file size 270kb.
The screenshot is from the audio sample which will stream at 320 mp3. The first half is with the old motor mount grommets, the second half is with the new grommets (all 7). I was careful to extract these two samples keeping the amplification consistent for both so as to preserve the difference between the two.
Streaming audio:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16387095/ROK Project/ROK double noisefloor 01_mp3.mp3
It's about 7 seconds long, file size 270kb.
Attachments
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Thanks guys!
So, here's some more fun for ya'll.
These are a few needledrops I made last night.
The set up is: Shure M91ED with 3139DE stylus tracking at 2.25 grams on the ROK 120 arm run through an ART DJ II phono amp into the soundcard on my old Micron PC. They are all 320 mp3s:
This is a shortened cut from Monk at Newport. It's the bass solo, followed by a drum solo. I offer it to give a sense of how much the ROK's noise floor has a presence in the music. (Forgive the ticks and pops; although it's a really great sounding recording, the LP has some slight damage.)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16387095/ROK Project/Monk Bass Sample at320.mp3
This is NRBQ's "Hot Biscuits and Sweet Marie" from their "Kick Me Hard" LP. It's the whole song. I highly recommend it if you're not familiar.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16387095/ROK Project/ROK 120 ARM N91 NRBQ at320.mp3
And the first cut off of Pancho Sanchez's "Sonando" lp.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16387095/ROK Project/Pancho Track One at320.mp3
Enjoy!
(or don't)
:thmbsp:
So, here's some more fun for ya'll.
These are a few needledrops I made last night.
The set up is: Shure M91ED with 3139DE stylus tracking at 2.25 grams on the ROK 120 arm run through an ART DJ II phono amp into the soundcard on my old Micron PC. They are all 320 mp3s:
This is a shortened cut from Monk at Newport. It's the bass solo, followed by a drum solo. I offer it to give a sense of how much the ROK's noise floor has a presence in the music. (Forgive the ticks and pops; although it's a really great sounding recording, the LP has some slight damage.)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16387095/ROK Project/Monk Bass Sample at320.mp3
This is NRBQ's "Hot Biscuits and Sweet Marie" from their "Kick Me Hard" LP. It's the whole song. I highly recommend it if you're not familiar.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16387095/ROK Project/ROK 120 ARM N91 NRBQ at320.mp3
And the first cut off of Pancho Sanchez's "Sonando" lp.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16387095/ROK Project/Pancho Track One at320.mp3
Enjoy!
(or don't)
:thmbsp:
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
It's there. I'm sure you'd hear it if you played it though your good system in a quiet room.
bhundu
Addicted Member
G'Day Brett. Do you have enough room to dampen under the platter with 2mm cork? I used this regular Thorens platter dampening technique on a BSR idler changer. This plus polishing the drive surface and freshening up the rubber on the idler wheel with it spun under some wet and dry 1200 made a difference.
Did you end up lubricating the bearing with grease or oil? What was the original lubricant used?
Starting the GL-75 project soon.
Did you end up lubricating the bearing with grease or oil? What was the original lubricant used?
Starting the GL-75 project soon.
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
I've been thinking about damping the underside of the platter with Dynamat. It does seem like it's currently radiating a lot of the motor noise. I'm concerned about over-damping though...or is that even possible?
I've emailed Ed Crockett about getting the idlers rebuilt.
So far, the only oil I've tried in the main bearing is standard, non-detergent 30 weight I had in the barn for the lawnmower. They originally spec'd the main bearing oil as some grade of motor oil, I forget which exactly.
I've been enjoying the 'table as it is an am kind of waiting for the Denon DL-103 and Musical Fidelity phono amp to arrive later this week. The current M91ED/Art DJ II preamp combo is pretty lackluster under that heavy arm even though I have the Shure fitted with a low-compliance stylus.
Andy_H
Behind the Wall of Sleep
Me too! It's an enjoyable read. Very nice work on this table, Brett.
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Thanks again, guys. Documenting this process is just as much fun as the project its self!
Just checked my order and it looks like the Denon 103 will be there when i get home tonight. I'll have to run it through the Jolida JD9 until the Musical Fidelity gets here a full 9 days from now (wikid slow shipper).
This will be a pain in the butt, but people should have such troubles, eh?
Just checked my order and it looks like the Denon 103 will be there when i get home tonight. I'll have to run it through the Jolida JD9 until the Musical Fidelity gets here a full 9 days from now (wikid slow shipper).
This will be a pain in the butt, but people should have such troubles, eh?
CharlieWhite
Active Member
I used the Dynamat under the platter on my Russco Cue-Master. I think it worked great. I am now going through most of my platters and adding it.
I just recently tried using 'Champion' motorcycle chain lube/grease on a Collins model 200 & a Russco Studio-Pro B. It works pretty good I must say. It doesn't fly off and stays put. It comes in a aerosol spray can with straw for easy spraying. I am going to also try it on my Rek-O-Kuts to see if it will work better.
Charlie
