Click on the picture for a larger view.
Click on the picture for a larger view.
I am proud to report the christening of my Teres turntable. She spun up and locked on 33.3 like a hound dog on a tick. I lowered the cueing lever, and -OH MY- there was Dave Brubeck , Taking Five like never before. Wow! Fantastic! It spanks my Rega P3, and stomps roughshod all over my pal's Oracle. I am still grinning like a fool, a half a dozen records into it.
The turntable is built onto the circular plinth, a .5" x 14" dia. piece which I found at Bataeff Salvage in Santa Rosa, CA. I think the plate was originally a fixture for some sort of machine; there were a number of similar plates of differing dimensions available. It's very nicely crafted - superb tolerances all around. The funny thing is, I'm not sure what material it's made from. The mass is light, like aluminum, however it isn't quite the right color for 6061. It also machines very easily, and doesn't chip like aluminum. Whatever it's made from, it cost somebody a mint. If it resonates in use, I may decide to fill the holes with silicone and lead shot to kill ringing.
The armboard is a simple affair. It is two pieces of Bloodwood. The wood is very dense - a board-foot weighed over six pounds. I plan to make a cur-vier version in the future, to follow to circular motif of the platter and plinth. The tonearm is a vanilla Rega RB300, with a Dynavector 10x4 cartridge. I have a beautiful piece of Brazilian rosewood that I want to turn into a DIY tonearm... someday.
The whole TT sits on 3 squishy rubber isolation feet that I bought for
a quarter each at HSC Surplus. Depending on how much external vibration
is evident at playback, I may build a more massive, damped chassis. For
this iteration, however, I'm sticking with the light & rigid school.
-- Andy