Technics SP10 Appreciation Thread

[Owen Y 679]

Progress has been slow, but I have an SP-10 plinth build underway presently.....

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers, Owen

Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/

[mloutfie 734]

1 hour ago, Owen Y said:

Progress has been slow, but I have an SP-10 plinth build underway presently.....

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers, Owen

Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/

CNC or laser cut?

[Chanh 1,200]

Another follower....., Technics SP10 that is. For me the timing and attack are simply jaw dropping.

 

  

Edited April 15 by Chanh

[Mr Thorens 411]

2 hours ago, Owen Y said:

Progress has been slow, but I have an SP-10 plinth build underway presently.....

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers, Owen

Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/

Makes fascinating reading especially the concept of additional internal damping and that you are using light not heavy material for top plinth to avoid loss of microdynamic musicality. 

Edited April 15 by Mr Thorens

[Owen Y 679]

5 hours ago, Mr Thorens said:

Makes fascinating reading especially the concept of additional internal damping and that you are using light not heavy material for top plinth to avoid loss of microdynamic musicality. 

Hi @Mr Thorens - mass is useful to 'help anchor' the significant rotational torque of these DD TTs, but IME, we don't want it near the stylus/record interface. As this tends to rob the sound of its low level detail, harmonic info, harmonic decay, etc - things which are not the SP-10's strong suits anyway I hear (IMHO, YMMV of course  ).

 

This plinth will employ a 9kg stainless steel bott plate, to provide the requisite mass, but a low C of G & also to house an Albert Porter style 'noise sink' at the main bearing.

 

A mock-up with 12" & 10" tonearms....

 

Cheers, Owen

Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/

[Owen Y 679]

7 hours ago, mloutfie said:

CNC or laser cut?

CNC cut - don't want to start any fires .

 

 

Cheers, Owen

Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/

[Mr Thorens 411]

Thanks @Owen Y  that changes the design thoughts I had about improving my plinth. I've actually had that experience before. Once had a Lenco L71 which sounded dynamic and detailed on a box plinth and then I got a Moldova 10kg plinth and bolted it tightly only to find that it deadened the sound and robbed dynamics and air. At the moment my SP10ii is on a box plinth that came from the radio station. Dampening the sides with Dynamat (Jaycar version) made a big difference to reducing resonance and enhancing image but dampening the top flattened the sound. So I will now consider adding mass to the bottom rather than the top. 

Edited April 15 by Mr Thorens

[Owen Y 679]

@Mr Thorens - thanks, that's useful info for me, hearing independent experience - I'm encouraged.

 

There are many structural details of the SP-10 MkII itself too, that can be improved, tweaked, I feel - but you don't want to 'throw baby out with bath water', so to speak.

 

Cheers, Owen

Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/

Edited April 15 by Owen Y

[Owen Y 679]

PS. @Mr Thorens - your SP-10 looks mint 👍

 

@Chanh - so does yours.

If your record clamp-weight is v heavy, I would consider using a grip-type clamp (like the Goldmund type). The SP-10 bearing shaft is tipped with a plastic thrust plate, resting upon a small (~7mm dia) round steel ball. The latter eventually wears an indentation into the thrust pad. The SP-10 platter of course, itself weighs 2.9kg, but if your clamp weight is significant.... just a thought

Cheers, Owen

Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/

[Mr Thorens 411]

Just playing Dave Grusin Sheffield Lab today for the first time on the SP10ii. Best I've ever heard it especially the width and depth, level of detail and total tonal control, transients and micro dynamics have speed and the bass has slam. Strings have real texture. Just sounds real. I've heard this as a test disc on several other TTs over the years including Thorens TD321, Technics SL120, and a heavy expensive Acoustic Solid deck. The SP10ii is clearly a winner.  It's also quieter than I remember any of the above with a level of blackness and acoustic space. 

[A9X 1,919]

I'm a long time SP10 (and DD in general) fan. I have 3 of them and at least 2 others in parts. Originally I bought a dozen from a radio station and sold most of them.

Before I moved back down here my player had an Albert Porter inspired plinth that was exceptionally heavy. It was a ply laminate and there were lots of large cavities internally; these were sealed with resin then filled with 'goop', a mineral oil, sand and lead shot combination. It had 2 arms, a Townhend Excaliber (with trough) and an SME310. I'd planned to add another, but it (plinth) was sold before I moved. On my to do list is to build a replacement with the original 2 arms and the newly acquired SME111. Speakers need to be finished first though.

 

I left belt drives after I bought a Gyro and my missus complained bout the pitch instability. She could hear it clear as a bell on sustained notes. Perfect pitch is a mongrel to live with I suppose.

 

I still have the Gyro, Rock, 401 and a few Denon DDs.

[Steve M 1,626]

On 15/04/2019 at 10:57 AM, Chanh said:

Another follower....., Technics SP10 that is. For me the timing and attack are simply jaw dropping.

 

  

Awesome set-up Chanh!  No doubt the exquisite Kuzma 4 Point tonearm and Accuphase AC3 MC cartridge is making a strong contribution to the sound of your turntable.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve.

[Peter_F 1,434]

On 22/03/2019 at 9:01 AM, aussievintage said:

Love the simplicity of the table  AND that tone arm.  What type is it?

It's a Wheaton Triplanar tonearm.  

 

Here's the link for the latest versions, https://www.triplanar.com/tonearm.html  

 

I can only imagine just how good they are!  🙄

[kwtools 46]

SOMETHING DIFFERENT:

This project started in 2008 and originally this something different was my prototype but I was/am so pleased eventually ended up as my final in 2009. I visually copied the original plinth of the SP10 and I designed and made the rest of the plinth.

The basic of the arm is the TRANS-Fi Terminator but I have completely redesigned and remanufacture to suit the SP10 plinth and improvised to ease of setting up and normal usage. The only bit I retained from the original is the horizontal sliding bar. IMV many users found linear track is not as good as compared to the normal arms and I can comprehend being a mechanical designer. I have also redesigned and made many arm wands (terminator) over the years. This allows me to have as many cartridges as I can afford and the original TRANS-Fi intelligent concept facilitates arm wand changes (with the cartridge already attached prior) in less than 5 minutes, jokes aside. The azimuth can be pre-set and is a matter of keeping a record for the VTA to be very easily adjusted via the digital calliper to within 0.01mm.

The SP10 have been fully re-capped and some mechanical modifications.

I used to have access to super precision 5 axis CNC machining centres and the above was a breeze to achieve.

[Owen Y 679]

Hi @kwtools - I use a Terminator myself.

https://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/2017/04/15/terminator-tonearm-new-arm-mount/

 

And have made provision to install it on the SP-10:

 

Cheers, Owen

Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/

[kwtools 46]

Hi Owen,

Yes I did saw that link years after my creation of the mounting base. Whether you notice the arm mounting screw still rely on a single screw. Most with some mechanical engineering experiences will know when one tightens a screw it is unavoidable that the piece the screw is supposed to hold will move minutely. That minute movement is enough to cause the Terminator to move/rotate upon that one screw whilst being tightens.

 As I was (retired) a mechanical designer besides other precision professional experiences I thought out of a concept that enables me to fine tune the whole Terminator forward or backward and radially as close to the theoretical line/track of the stylus movement from the outer track tangential point towards the centre of the TT spindle. Now I am talking about stylus moving from first track to the last track of the record within less than 0.05 mm conservatively. That is within less than 0.05 mm to the recording cutting head of the lathe. As we are aiming for the stylus to travel from the tangential point at the first track to the centre of the TT spindle close to perfect as anything less defeat the purpose of linear tracking otherwise conventional arms would (IMO) be a better compromise in performance and setting up.

My creation allows me to just place the whole Terminator on the plinth and tighten four screws that whole the arm base onto the plinth. I then adjust radially and slide forward or backward over the line of the HFN template without the frustration of try and error that I experienced prior to my creation unless a “close enough is good enough” attitude is adopted.

I am very happy with this set up but in some occasion I find it too accurate for some recordings and my other two TT with normal radial arms manage to camouflage the defects. In general I use the SP10 with the Terminator as often as those other two TT.

Cheers,

Keng.