atavid Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 My Audiomods tonearm wont lower straight down when i use the arm lift/lower device. It always tends to move outwards ever so slightly ,but not always by the same amount and of course if i'm not careful it will miss the record completely if i'm aiming for the very start of the LP. Actually its not just my Audiomods arm to be fair.I have another table with a Rega RB 300 and it always does the same thing. For a long time i thought it to be a quirk of the BIAS setting,however i can disable that on the Audiomods arm and it makes no difference. I think it is something to do with the lift/lower mechanism itself. Have any other Rega based arm owners experienced this problem ?Can anyone suggest a solution ?
Hergest Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 Crud on the tonearm lift pad often leads to that drifting of the tonearm as it lowers. Some Isopropyl alcohol on a cotton bud often does the trick. Hopefully it's a simple fix. 1
Guest Mr Thorens Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 The more recent Rega arms I have has displayed this behavior. The older ones seem to not have that problem. I couldn't resolve it at all. Quite a nuisance.
Gordon Macfarlane Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 This usually happens when there isn't enough of the cueing platform under the arm and the arm slides off the rubber pad back towards the arm rest. My solution was to rotate the bit of metal that holds the cueing mechanism back away from the edge of the record so that more of the rubber pad is sitting under the arm in the postion just b4 the arm is lowered. If it is not possible to rotate the metal bracket you can rotate the whole arm in the horizontal plane. Small adjustments at a time otherwise there many not be enough of the arm lifter under the arm at the end of the record.
Guest Hensa Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 I also have an Audiomods arm on a turntable currently not in my system but will have a look at the tonearm lowering action this evening and report back. When you float the arm (as in when setting VTF), is the arm drifting outwards? If yes, this would suggest that it's anti-skate induced.
Guest Hensa Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 This usually happens when there isn't enough of the cueing platform under the arm and the arm slides off the rubber pad back towards the arm rest. My solution was to rotate the bit of metal that holds the cueing mechanism back away from the edge of the record so that more of the rubber pad is sitting under the arm in the postion just b4 the arm is lowered. If it is not possible to rotate the metal bracket you can rotate the whole arm in the horizontal plane. Small adjustments at a time otherwise there many not be enough of the arm lifter under the arm at the end of the record. That could be a good call, Oz. In that 2nd pic, the cueing platform looks like it should have more of a direction away from arm and towards the record.
atavid Posted March 24, 2014 Author Posted March 24, 2014 Thanks guys. Oxcall i just had a look at your suggestion and yes the arm does sit right on the edge of the rubber when the arm is in the position just above the start of the LP. I tried to rotate the lowering device cyclinder but its done up very tightly and will need a pair of very fine bent nose circlip pliers to loosen.Its going to take some fiddling and great care not to damage the finish. I'll need to search the toolbox in the shed and see if i've got suitable pliers and a small allen key, as i will have to remove the little arm rest platform first. I can see that i wil only be able to rotate it a couple of degrees before it fouls the arm, as you can probably see in the attached pic. Hensa,i can't remember if it did it when i was setting up the arm to be honest,but if i disable the fine bias string and weight the problem is still there,so that suggests to me that its not a bias issue,unless i'm missing something else.
atavid Posted March 24, 2014 Author Posted March 24, 2014 Actually Hensa and Ozcall i think you are both right.On closer inspection just now i think can see whats happening. The arm tube tapers just at the point where it makes contact with the arm rest rubber.As the arm is lowered i think it sort of 'slides off the taper' if you can imagine what i mean, and the drifting action is greater when the BIAS string and weight are attached because it is pulling the arm down the taper with more force. Again, i think i have to try and rotate the lift mechanism, but i don't have anything fine enough in my toolbox to do the job carefully,i will have to buy some small circlip pliers tomorrow.
Gordon Macfarlane Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 Hi At ,it's not the actual cueing mech you need to rotate but the platform it's mounted on ie the silver metal part that the mech fits into or if that's not possible you can rotate the whole arm away from the LP.
Newman Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 Stick an itty bitty rubber pad on the underside of the tonearm? Like, 2mm diameter and very thin?
Guest Hensa Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 I was fairly certain that the rubber platform can simply be turned to change the angle. The tip of the mount needs to move further away from the arm base towards the platter so more of the platform sits under the arm tube. I'll take some pics of mine tonight and report back.
atavid Posted March 24, 2014 Author Posted March 24, 2014 Hi At ,it's not the actual cueing mech you need to rotate but the platform it's mounted on ie the silver metal part that the mech fits into or if that's not possible you can rotate the whole arm away from the LP.Aaah,that would be a problem.Although I can easily move the arm out further it will foul on my turntable cover as the cartridge end will be over the outside edge of the plinth.Still like the idea of trying to rotate that cuing mechanism.Newmans idea is worth a try as well.It might make the whole cuing action feel more firm.
atavid Posted March 24, 2014 Author Posted March 24, 2014 I was fairly certain that the rubber platform can simply be turned to change the angle. The tip of the mount needs to move further away from the arm base towards the platter so more of the platform sits under the arm tube. I'll take some pics of mine tonight and report back. Hensa,i'll try and loosen that semi circular arm rest and rotate it before i attempt to rotate the whole cuing cyclinder.Now if i can only find a small enough allen key.???
Guest Hensa Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 I just checked mine and the black semi-circular platform is definitely angled more outwards towards the platter. Photos below, one with arm on the arm rest and the second with the arm directly over the first track of an lp. The rubber platform just rotates left or right with minimal force (yours needs to rotate slightly to the left) so I don't think you need an Allen key to loosen it - the grub screw would only need to be loosened if you need to raise or lower the platform.
Gordon Macfarlane Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 I don't think that rotating either the arm rest or cuing cylinder will achieve anything as it won't 'extend' the back-end of cueing platform. If all else fails you could just glue an extension on to the end of cueing platform so that the arm doesn't fall away from the record as the new extension will be supporting the arm.
Guest Hensa Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) Because the pivot point is not at the very end of the platform but rather several mm in from the back (see my first photo above), as you rotate the black rubber platform to the left away from the arm base, more of the platform moves under the arm tube when the arm is over the start of an LP. If you look at my 2nd picture above, there is at least 4-5mm of platform extending beyond the arm tube, so it definitely works. On testing with my arm, if I rotate my platform to the right to be a similar position to atavid's, I end up with the arm right on the back edge of the platform at track 1. Edited March 24, 2014 by Hensa
atavid Posted March 24, 2014 Author Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) Hensa,i've managed to move the semi-circular part further in towards the arm base,not quite as much as yours,but the drifting effect is noticeably better,i.e. it lowers down to the start of the LP without pulling off line. If i raise the arm, then lower it again it wont come down in exactly the same spot, but nowhere near as bad as it was before. You can see now that the arm rest has a lot more protruding on the outside even when the arm is in the cued up position (cant attach photos now for some reason-attach icon gone ?) I'm trying to find some very thin rubber i can put under the arm to try Newmans idea,but for now i would say that all you guys have solved this little but annoying problem for me(i cant believe how long i've put up with this issue.This was how the arm came to me from Audiomods and i never thought i could change the adjustment on the cue mechanism) So thanks very much guys ,much appreciated.If you feel up to helping me solve a couple of other issues i'm posting on the forum as well please feel free to chime in. Edited March 24, 2014 by atavid 2
Newman Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 No probs, friend. (from the man with the smallest contribution, puffing out his chest and getting in quick-like).
Conrad Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 I have an Audiomods arm too. I looks like maybe there is too much anti skate. Or if the tracking weight is light a combination of the two will pull the arm toward the outside of the record. Cheers Steve.
atavid Posted October 8, 2014 Author Posted October 8, 2014 Well finally sorted this issue out the other day. I always found that the counterweight on my Audiomods arm was not the right weight for my cartridge,but i couldn't remove one of the 'sandwich weights' because when i did the small allen headed bolts that clamp it all together would bottom out before compressing up the two halves of the counterweight. I finally sourced some shorter stainless steel allen headed bolts and removed one of the lead 'sandwich weights' in the counterweight. This then allowed me to attain correct tracking weight with the counterweight moved much much closer to the tonearm pivot point. Not only did this i think give me a ever so slight improvement in SQ, but it also had the unexpected bonus of eliminating my original problem of the arm being pulled off the beginning of the record when i lowered the cue mechanism at the beginning of a record. I can only think that having all the weight swinging off the very back of the tonearm was in some way adding to the bias on the arm and causing too much outward pull on the arm.
Guest Hensa Posted October 8, 2014 Posted October 8, 2014 Pleased to hear you got it sorted. Still surprised at how different the set up looks to mine. My anti skate guide on top of the tonearm (semi-circular platform with groove in the outer edge) looks like it's 90 degrees different - with mine, the anti-skate line runs along the outside groove till about the halfway point on its way towards the hook (see first picture in post #14). From your image, your line doesn't look like it runs in its guide groove at all but rather goes straight towards the hook - might be an optical illusion but I would have thought this could be delivering a much higher anti-skate level.
atavid Posted October 8, 2014 Author Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) Hi Hensa,you are right about the bias antiskate quadrant. I have experimented with its positioning originally and think that until i lighten the bias weight a bit i need to have it backed off that far to get correct bias. The brass bias weight cyclinder has a small lead weight inside it where the fishing line ties off.I suspect its a little too much bias weight for my setup. At present when my arm is across to the end of a record the fishing line only wraps around about a quarter of the quadrant . I might try and look at this in the next couple of days. Hensa,do you know the weight of the cartridge you use on your Audiomods arm.? Edited October 8, 2014 by atavid
Guest Hensa Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 I currently have an Ortofon Rohmann on the Audiomods arm which weighs in at 9g. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
atavid Posted October 9, 2014 Author Posted October 9, 2014 Thanks for that Hensa. My Lyra Delos is 7.3g which is pretty light for an MC apparently, hence my need to remove some of the counterweight material. I just wanted to check to see what weight cartridge people are typically using with their Audiomods arm.
valvelover Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 My RB300 has never been accurate on cueing. I'm just very careful when I lower it down. Is that a Clearaudio table by any chance?
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