J.Woo's double pulley upgrade....


J Woo from Singapore also has a red hot RP6 like mine. But mine has been "tampered with" so much that it's left with only stock motor and tonearm (plus the cover of course).  

Recently J Woo has made a move to upgrade his stock pulley to my stainless steel dual pulley with silicone belts. My humble record weight is also in his new collection now. Let's see what he has to say after the upgrades:

Hi Michael

i finally managed to find some time to do the swap.




before the swap, i replaced the stock belt with one of your silicone belt and immediate could hear a difference in the sound, the baseline tightened up and the sound "came together more" which already put a smile on my face.

first hiccups, i went to buy nail polish remover and shop sells only 1 type and its acetone free. i remember reading its acetone that helps soften and loctite adhesive. so i went around my neighbourhood shops looking for one with acetone and finally found it at a papa mama store for S$1.00, small bottle.

following your instructions, it was smooth sailing, injecting the SAE oil into shaft, drooping the acetone into hole and wait 4 mins before attempting to remove the stock pulley.

i must say your pulley remover gadget is just super to use and the stock pulley came off without any problems.

then came the placing of the double belt pulley and thats my second hiccup, in my kencheong spider mode, i pushed the pulley deep into the motor shaft such that when i tried to install the lower belt, it kept slipping off and then i realised the pulley was set too deep into the shaft. when i tried to use my hand to shift the pulley it would not budge even tho i have not even tightened the grub/set screw. in the end, i had to wrap the double pulley with a cloth and use a pair of pliers to yank the pulley out it was quite an harrowing moment for me with sweat on my forehead, haha....

so it was a relief when the pulley was free again and this time i did it with more care and note the level of the pulley to set so that the lower belt still have space with the subplatter to turn without slipping off 

only after a some testing with the 2 belts on by turning the subplatter with my hand that i felt assure that the alinement of the pulley to subplatter was good then i went on to tighten the setscrew.

after all is setup, i replaced the glass platter and let the table operate for a full 30 mins to ensure there is no more belt slippage and thats when i knew the installation was a good one.

put on a familiar Anne Murray LP and listen, it was wow wow wow........ the sound is very relaxed and more "open", and the change is NOT subtle, haha...

i came to the conclusion with a single belt, the sound is "rush" could be the speed is on the fast side and this double belt stabilise the turn speed giving it a more relax sound, i.e timing is now spot on.

overall i m very happy with the swap and i can say to anyone out there contemplating the move, i will say like Nike, Just Do It and be rewarded with a jump in the sound quailty that i m sure will bring the same smile on your face that it did to mine, haha...

with regard to the LP weight and bubble level, i have tried playing LPs with and without the weight. for my ears i felt that the weight somehow tighened up the sound a bit too much for my liking as i felt some airness is gone with the weight. however i just bought a record fm Ebay and it was badly warp and i found placing the weight on it helps to "tame" the warp and the sound is better with it on. so this weight will still be used for cases such as these. also i love the bubble level and when i m not playing LP, it is always sitting on the spindle so that i can see if the table has been off level at anyone time. for the price, i will say its a lovely piece of accessory and serves its purposes as designed for.

Regards

J Woo

J Woo has also posted his comments in vinylengine

Re: Michael Lim Upgrades 
Post by soonon788 » 
01 Feb 2016 04:35 

i just acquired a RP6 2months ago and i was looking into upgrades from Groovetracer, Tangospinner and Michael Lim. 

decided to take small step and ordered a Dual pulley with a pair of silicone belts and the pulley extractor, i also also throw in the LP weight with a bubble level as well as i hv read good reviews of levelling a turntable using one sitting right on the spindle. 

parcel came very very fast, Michael is very prompt in both replying emails and shipping. i immediately swap the stock belt for a silicone belt just to hear if there is any differences, and yes, i hear a tighter baseline and the "sound more coming together". 

installing the pulley was quite a breeze as Micheal gave very detailed instructions to doing it and the pulley extractor really helps though it will only be used once unless i decides to change the pulley to a triple belt one, haha... 

once setup, i played a very familiar Anne Murray LP and i almost fell out of my seat, the sound is just new to my ears, its sounded so relaxed and so lifelike with all the emotions and floor noise was reduced to almost nil. it just blow me away. 

what i can say is that the double belt provides a very stable speed and the fact the sound is more relaxed means before that the speed pior to the swap was likely to be more than the 33.3RPM rate. 

about the record weight and bubble level, i found its very good to "tame" LPs that are slightly warpped and i love the bubble level and the accessory is always placed on the spindle so at all time, i can see if the table is off level at any one time. 

i was at a local Hifi shop to pick up a used Graham Slee Reflex M phono preamp when i saw the shop also selling a similiar record weight and bubble level, so i asked for the price..... its 7x what i paid for Micheal's. from looks its the same thing except a brand has been slapped on it, haha... 

so overall i can say, the Dual pulley is a good way to go if one is looking to up his sound for his Rega table and you will be beaming from ear to ear from what you hear after the swap as what i did for me. 



Thanks, J Woo! 



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 Sub-platter upgrade for Takeo’s ( of Kanagawa, Japan) new Rega Planar 1

Hi, Michel

I am using the Planar one(P1)with a Rega glass made main platter, a silicon nitride ball and a red silicon drive belt.

Regarding the sub-platter in my humble opinion; Finish is rather than being very good or very bad except for the"DLC" spindle shaft which seems to provide the sub platter with a longer anti-friction property. The process accuracy is very good ensuring smooth and dead quiet operation. The overall frequency balance is excellent with vibrant and lively feeling. 

I particularly like the strong bass and clear mid to high range giving me the listening pleasure. It draws a line between other products sold by somebody else. 

Some tips for anyone looking to upgrade so platter;  don't go for a Delrin made and a flywheel using pads 
to support the main platter. Thank you.

Regards
Takeo  .







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Here's David Hui's New Planar 2 upgrades with Aluminium feet, subplatter, belt and underslung counterweight. Very satisfied with his new mod, David is enjoying great music now for sure!



Hi Michael,

No issue on the feet at all. I follow the instruction to avoid over screwing onto the plinth, so there was about 1/8 " (might be slightly more) before the disc even reaching the plinth. I heard slightly deeper and tighter base just by installing those feet. 


Counterweight took a bit to get the right adjustment since I use a low tracking force cartridge at 1.75-1.8g only. Especially need to understand how the screw is used to fine tune the tracking force. 


Installation of the sub-platter and belt was a breeze. 
I can certainly hear more dynamics and wide stage probably due to the quieter noise floor. My speed test per RPM is still at 33.5ish without noticeable difference by my ears. 


Well, I'm very satisfied that everything turned out pretty well. Will definitely check back for more advice in the future. 

Many thanks.

David







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Adjustable Aluminium feet for a shocking red RP-6 is simply beautiful! 




Greetings Michael 

Wanted to say thanks again — the feet for my RP6 fit very well, allowing me to finally level the turntable! Also love the way you’ve designed the aluminum feet to use the existing Rega rubber, helping maintain the NOS look. 



Again, very pleased and also the shipping was super quick! Will definitely recommend you and consider some of your other upgrades! 

Many thanks, 
Andre








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Dennis new Rega Planar 2 motor base mod

 Hi Michael,


Everything is dialled in and positioned right now so I’d rather not move the Turntable to take pictures. I used my digital caliper get the Pulley as close as possible to its original position. 





Sounds amazing! Absolutely no low frequency motor noise anymore. 

Thank you for this minimal, elegant and well designed solution.

Dennis 


Thanks, Dennis !




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Hi Michael, 

Hope you are well. Today I finished my Rega P25 mods. Here are some pictures for you.


This pic I show that the motor base sits on 3 evenly spaced adjustable spiked feet threaded into your motor base. I wanted absolutely no motor movement.

This picture shows my Neo connection mounted into the motor base plate. Also note that I utilized the threaded centre hole in your motor base to directly fasten the motor base to the plate. The two holes at the bottom are for bolting the plate to my Rega wall stand. 

Mu metal motor shield. Mu metal is very difficult to work with. It is so soft that it is difficult to cut and drill. I used copper foil just to help hold the corners together, but it is all mu metal underneath with smaller pieces on the corners. I had faint hum before so I hope it works lol.


 

Complete motor assembly bolted to Rega wall stand. This method allows
Exact same motor location every time.
The table can be lifted of of the motor. Just unthread the Neo connect and also a quick disconnect from the p25 motor switch and the entire table can be moved with disturbing the motor base location on the wall stand. Also no risk of a mishap and motor falling off as it is completely bolted to the wall stand. Also see triple motor pulley.

Neo connected to motor and another connector to use the stock p25 motor
Switch. and keep the Neo far away from the table.


 

Table fits perfectly over the motor and base with no plinth contact, and no spacers under the stock Rega feet. Not shown is my homemade silicone damping trough.


 

Triple Rega edpm reference drive belts.

 

Your custom made for me subplatter.
Superb bearing shaft fit. Well done.


New p8 triple flywheel platter.
Very nicely made and looks great on the legacy p25.


 

Side view of p25 with p8 platter. I wonder if red led light will shine light through the clear middle section of the platter lol. With the triple belts and new 24v motor and Neo, I was surprised at how much start up torque there is.  
I lengthened the wires for the motor circuit board. All the electronics sit on the the floor behind my rack well away from the table. This does not appear to affect the motor or Neo or the anti vibration circuits. I cannot feel the motor running.
My table also has a rewired rb600 with incognito wiring. The arm was converted with a combination thread on spacer with three point mount. The nut underneath the plinth
was discarded. The arm also has an Underslung counterweight of my design. Rigid coupled. I use a silicone damping trough modelled after the Rock turntable (not shown). I use an Ortofon Kontrapunkt B with Ruby cantilever. 
Thanks Michael, This was a lot of work because I customized how I installed everything. But I am retired and I like to tinker. The results are worth it. 
Your offboard motor kit idea is brilliant. I never suspected that there was still motor noise after the Many improvements that Rega have made to the motor. But many high end tables use outboard motor. To keep the motor in the same location but not touch the plinth was a great idea. 
Thanks again for your great parts and great service, and I really appreciate that you made the subplatter custom for me. 
Cheers, 
Duane 

Thanks Duane for your sharing of your upgrade experience! 



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Hi Michael 

I just wanted to say thanks! Just installed the pulley and the TT is sounding fantastic, this is god's work you are doing here! 

I really found this video installing your double pulley very useful during the installation (in case it helps other people.

it might be a good reference:




I am installing the counterweight at the moment, can't wait to try it out! 

Thank you! 
Jorge




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Thanks to Holger for sharing with us his fantastic turntable upgrade experience! 


Hi Michael,

I have now solved my problem. It was actually the cartridge. I not only replaced it, but also had the tonearm rewired at the same time. After years, my DIY-turntable is finally finished. Here it is:


The basic idea was an TT with two outboard motors, each equipped with three belts. Naturally, everything had to be vibration-free and precisely adjusted.

That's why I opted to glue the braces rather than simply screwing them on. After months of experimenting with different adhesives, I finally found the right one.

Then it was time for the motors. I had a Rega motor from my RP3 and bought a second one as an upgrade-kit. Unfortunately, they were both garbage. The one from the upgrade-kit didn't even have the spindle running straight. There was also a lot of electromagnetic interference from the front motor, so I replaced the Rega motors with Pro-Ject ones. They still run wonderfully today, and the interference was gone — for the time being.

However, after I upgraded the cartridge from a Denon DL-103 to a Dynavector DV-20x2L, the interference returned. After searching for a while, I finally found a company that offered a matching mu-metal cup with lid for the front motor and agreed to burn them for me at a reasonable price. This took over a year.

The TT has two levels, so to speak. The first floor's got two adjustable acrylic bases with Michael Lim's Motor Isolation Bases, which the Pro-Ject motors are mounted on. There's also an adjustable acrylic platform for the actual TT. The acrylic platform sits on Michael Lim's aluminum isolation feet (sand-filled), and the acrylic bases of the motors rest on Clearlight Audio RDC cubes and buttons. I also used the latter as feet for the TT itself. They are made of a composite material that practically blocks out vibrations.




Six silicone belts are driven by the motors via triple pulleys (all TangoSpinner).

The motors are powered by a power supply unit from Dr. Fuss, a renowned specialist among German insiders.

 


 The drive was mainly constructed using parts from Michael Lim.

- Acrylic plinth

- Top metal bracing

- Stainless steel bottom bracing

- Bronze bearing hub

- Aluminum sub-platter (Signature Series)

A Dereneville R-SUB mat is placed between the sub-platter and platter for dampening. The platter is a Rega Planar 8. Two Dereneville Magic Mats are placed face-to-face on top of it.



The Rega RB2000 tonearm has been rewired with pure silver cable and equipped with Eichmann Klei Pure 22 Harmony plugs. The tonearm weight is a Michell Tecnoweight. Michael Lim's tonearm stabilizer provides a secure hold on the plinth. 

A Cartridge Enabler from Origin Live is placed between the headshell and cartridge. Currently, a Goldring Ethos SE is working there.

 


 

Now that everything is ready, I think it looks great, but more importantly, it sounds even better. There's a natural, clear sound ranging from deep bass to the highest treble. It's incredibly detailed and holographic with a deep, three-dimensional soundstage. 

I am very happy with this result, which is the fruit of years of work and, ultimately, considerable expense.

Best regards,
Holger










 



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Special promotional package


Special promotional package 


This Special promotional package for the new Planar 1, Planar 1 plus and Planar 2 with 24V motors. Also suitable for other models with rigid-mounted motors ( not suitable for rubber band mounted motors)


The package consists of 
1. A top brace
2. Pulley puller
3. Pulley model DP-SP : (33/33)/45 *
4. 2 matching for 33/33 grooves

*The stainless steel pulley runs 33 rpm speed on dual-belt mode and 45rpm on single-belt mode. So one can enjoy the benefits of dual pulley without sacrificing the ability to play 45 rpm using the stock belt.


Package price: US$100.00


Happy Tweaking and Enjoy more analog music !




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