Warped vinyl

Hi-Fi Corner
21

Warps are a thing of the past for me. I use a 850 gr spindle clamp and a 1500 gr outer ring on my turntable. Those flatten all kinds of warps (both concave and convex sides) and couple the record to the platter (a POM without matt) to eliminate any chance of resonance.

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22

What kind of outer ring is that? I was not aware such a thing was available to cure warped vinyl.

23

Mine is made by Clearaudio and is specific to my Clearautio turntable. It won’t work on other turntables, but there are 3rd party ones that might work.

But you have to excersize caution. If your turntable isn’t designed for such a thing the weight of it can cause damage to your platter bearing. I doubt one would work on a Linn Sondek, for example.

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24

Thanks! I will investigate that. I find it looks nice as well! Surprised this isn’t more common as there are more than enough of different central clamps/ wheights to choose from.

I have a Dr Feickert Woodpecker. Construction and platter seems a bit like the clearaudio so it might hold up ok. But it needs to be checked as you say.

25

The Clearaudio has a magnetic/ceramic bearing, so the subplatter floats magnetically on the bearing. That’s why it can handle the additional 5.5 lbs. of weight. If the Woodpecker uses a more standard mechanical bearing (like what Rega and many others use) it may not safely support that extra weight. Clearaudio and VPI turntables are designed for use with outer rings. I would caution their use otherwise.

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26

If you look at the top photo very quickly, you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s a black Ittok or Ekos, but then you ask yourself what’s happened to the counterweight at the back of the arm. Then you look more closely and see that it’s offset to the right.

27

That’s the Clearaudio Universal tonearm. What you see offset to the right in the top photo is not the counterweight. It’s the anti-skate adjustment.

28

It’s a remarkable looking design, but there must, surely, be some sort of counterweight?

29

There is. Look at the second picture. It’s the polished steel one hanging below the back of the arm on the adjustment screw. It’s mostly hiden in the first picture. It’s also replacable. The arm comes with three steel ones and two alumninum ones of different weights, to accomodate the weight range of various cartridges.

30

Thanks. I think that I’d need to see it ‘in the flesh’ (as it were) to grasp fully how it works. Is that a Dynavector cartridge on board?

PS Yes it is, as your Profile confirms.

31

Yes, a DV XV-1s. I have a Lyra Altas SL coming. I have heard it’s finished and on the next shipment from Japan.

This photo might help a bit. The silver counterweight moves back and forth on the threaded shaft. The knurled black knob off the back of the tonearm is used to move the counterweight back and forth to adjust VTF. The other double knurled black knob off the side of the tonearm fulcrum is the anti-skate adjustment.

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32

How does it compare to your NDX2?

33

My TT with Superline/SCDR is much better than the NDX2/XPSDR, but it’s also about twice the cost.

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34

Thanks for the explanation. It looks very complex, compared to my ARO.

But looks don’t contribute to the sound, of course, and there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

35

I’m not sure why you see it as complex. It’s quite simple to setup actually.

  1. adjust the height of the arm in the armboard for VTA
  2. set the VTF using the knurled knob on the back of the arm
  3. adjust anti-skate using the knurled knob on the side of the arm

The most complex part is mounting the cartrdge and aligning it. But that’s true for any arm that doesn’t have Rega’s 3-point pre-algnment built-in.

The arm is sophisticated, but built like a tank, and the fit and finish is amazing. It’s also over $6k, but you are gtting what you pay for.

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36

Thanks for your very full explanation. The arm tube looks as if may be made from some form of composite material, is it glass fibre, perhaps?

Many, many years ago, I had a Japanese-built (I think) Infinity Black Widow tonearm, which had a glass fibre arm. It looked beautifully finished, but the main bearing design was not sufficiently rigid for the design to work properly. I have no idea what I did with it. I probably sold it for next to nothing for a friend.

37

The arm wand is made of carbon-fiber. It is in three sections to help eliminate resonance. It’s not adjustable in any way.

There is one other adjustment that can be done. The headshell can be adjusted for azimuth, but that requires a special tool and test record, and is generally unecessary.

38

Thanks for that. I don’t actually know whether carbon fibre and glass fibre are different materials!

39

Yes, they are different materials.

40

Thank you, you never know when these titbits of info may come in useful.