I have finally received and installed the new stainless steel bearing and oversized platter from Peak HiFi,UK. The bearing weighs considerably more than the original and the platter 420 grms more than the original. I am pleasantly surprised at the extent of the improvements:huge improvements in stability,pitch,speed and soundstage. Reduced noise floor. As the bearing bedded in over the past week,there has been continued improvements.Thought it was a risk considering the cost and expected minor improvements but they put the 401 in another league,I highly  recommend these upgrades. Just goes to show that the potential of this deck was limited by the technology of the day. Needless to say I won't be going back to the originals and will be selling the platter ,mint condition, and bearing,refurbished a year ago by Grace Audio a year ago. Oh happy days! Oh,another thing I got for my buck - a whole new record collection

 

 

You've been waiting a fair while Paul

 

I'm glad it made a big difference.....not exactly cheap!

 

 

Good stuff - it would be good learning to assess (if poss) the degree of improvement provided by the new bearing alone (ie with orig platter).

 

And the other way around -,if you tried that, before swapping in the new bearing?

 

I always try to gain as much learning as poss from changes.

Thats a nice looking bearing. When I get my 301 plinthed, I'll make a big oversized bearing for it too. A friend and myself made bearings for our L75's and the differences were massive....as much as a significant cartridge upgrade.

 

How long do they recommend run in of the bearing? I've just changed the bottom end arrangement from ball on ball, to ball on fixed bronze thrust pad with concave to allow increased contact area to increase drag slightly for the AC motor (recommended principle for idlers with Hi torque AC motors). This made a significant change alone bringing a more solid bottom end. The ball on ball arrangement allowed the platter to spin for 12mins after a big spin!

 

 

Bearing upgrade will be on the cards for my 401 once my plinth is finished. All interesting stuff.

 

Seems it's well worth it reading Paul and James' comments.

 

I scored a piece of black slate for peanuts on Friday. Having that underneath, then a bamboo cup-ball bearing-bamboo cup has made a great difference too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Omegaspeedy, they recommended 24 hrs continuous running in but I found continuous improvements,though subtle, over the following week. Has settled now and giving great pleasure.

On 22/04/2015 at 6:08 AM, callpaul said:

I have finally received and installed the new stainless steel bearing and oversized platter from Peak HiFi,UK. The bearing weighs considerably more than the original and the platter 420 grms more than the original. I am pleasantly surprised at the extent of the improvements:huge improvements in stability,pitch,speed and soundstage. Reduced noise floor. As the bearing bedded in over the past week,there has been continued improvements.Thought it was a risk considering the cost and expected minor improvements but they put the 401 in another league,I highly  recommend these upgrades. Just goes to show that the potential of this deck was limited by the technology of the day. Needless to say I won't be going back to the originals and will be selling the platter ,mint condition, and bearing,refurbished a year ago by Grace Audio a year ago. Oh happy days! Oh,another thing I got for my buck - a whole new record collection

 

 

Can you link to me exactly which products your bought in the Peak Hifi website?

 

Cheers!