DIY Direct Drive Turntable

Our first DIY Turntable project comes to us from Hungary by a talented DIYer, Nandor.  His DIY turntable project uses the platter and the direct drive motor and control assembly from a Dual 701 record player as the starting point.  The plinth of the turntable is built-up using three pieces of plywood that are stacked and glued together.  This improved plinth results in better dynamics in the lower registers and a firmer mid band.

DIY Record Player with Dual 701 Drive

The tonearm is a 3 month DIY project in itself, constructed using a trial and error approach.  The custom tonearm is suspended in air by magnets and a single mono-filament thread is used as an alignment guide and the pivot point.  The result is a custom built tonearm which minimized friction.

Magnetically Stabilized Record Player Tonearm

DIY Turntable

Nandor goes over the details required to make a great looking turntable using common items.  With the fantastic new tonearm and improved plinth has this old Dual 701 sounding better than ever.  For full project details see the  DIY Turntable project page.

More Phono Projects

• Moving Magnet (MM) Phono Preamp Kit
• DIY JFET RIAA Phono Preamplifier Kit
• 12AX7 / 12AT7 Tube RIAA Phono Preamp

DIY Shielded RCA Interconnect Cables

Tom has put together an easy to follow guide showing the construction of simple line-level RCA interconnect cables. The very simple cable recipe uses shielded instrument wire and good quality RCA plugs which you should be able to find at your local instrument shop.  Tom used Sommer SC-Tricone MKII wire and Rean RCA plugs, and you can use your favorite brands.  Tom's finished DIY shielded RCA interconnect cables are shown below. 

DIY Shielded RCA Interconnect Cables

The cables are very simple to construct requiring only basic soldering skills.  The required parts are easy to source and a pair of these shielded RCA cables can be built in about one hour and for as little as $10. Tom indicates that these simple DIY cables are a great upgrade over typical stock and other inexpensive interconnects.  See the project page, DIY Shielded RCA Interconnect Cables for full details.

More DIY Cable Projects

• DIY Silver RCA Interconnect Cables
• Belden 89259 RCA Interconnect Cables
• Cross-connected Belden 89259 DIY Speaker Cables 
• DIY Low-Inductance Speaker Cables
• Belden 83803 DIY Mains Power Cable
  

Cello Speakers - Lawrence Audio - CES 2012

CES 2012 doesn't officially kick off until tomorrow, but today I decided to check out the layout of the High-Performance Audio floors at the Venetian.  All the exhibitors were very busy setting up their exhibit rooms and it was nice to chat to them before the large crowds arrive tomorrow.  Secretly my real intent of visiting the show a day before the official start was that I was hoping to get some private listening opportunities.  While walking down one of the hallways the seductive voice of Rebecca Pidgeon pulled me into the Lawrence Audio room who are based out of Taiwan.  Just my luck, their system was ready to play and my private listening session was just moments away.  While it was the voice of Rebbeca that initially caught my attention, I was immediately struck the unique looking speakers on display and the wonderful sound emanating from them.

Lawrence Audio Cello and Violin Speakers at CES 2012

In the photo above are the new Cello speakers (larger, inside) and the Violin speakers (smaller, outside).  The Violin ($7500US) speakers won an Innovations award at CES last year and this year the Cello ($20,000) speaker have received an Innovations award this year.  The unique looking speakers resemble the instrument that they are named after which really is a refreshing change from typical boxy speaker designs.  The Cello speakers each use five drivers to make a 3.5-way floor standing loudspeaker.  The loudspeaker employs an air motion tweeter and an air motion mid-treble.  The woofer and subwoofer units are 8-inch aluminum framed drivers with a non-woven carbon fiber cone.  There is also a rear firing ribbon tweeter which I quickly identified as an Aurum Cantis G2Si.  The crossover frequencies are set at 700Hz, 1.7kHz, 2.6kHz and 9kHz with preimum crossover components used throughout.  The speakers have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms (3.2 ohms minimum) with a frequency response noted as 32Hz to 40kHz and a sensitivity of 90dB.  The loudspeaker enclosures are vented at the bottom.  Shown below with the Cello speaker is Lawrence Liao who is the acoustic designer and founder of Lawrence Audio.

Lawrence Liao of Lawrence Audio with Cello Speakers

The private listening session with Rebbeca Pidgeon and the Cello speakers was wonderful.  I am very familiar The Raven recording and the Cello speakers did a fabulous job reproducing this excellent Rebbeca Pidgeon recording.  The Cello speakers produced a very wide and deep soundstage.  Most impressive was the focus and the deep bass.  With closed eyes one can distinctly pick out all the instruments in the recording.  With it's unique looks and excellent sound reproduction, I'm sure many will be wrting about these speakers at CES 2012.    For more information see the Cello Loudspeaker at Lawrence Audio. 


More CES 2012 Show Coverage

• 2012 CES, Las Vegas - diyAudioProjects.com Show Coverage thread

CES 2012

I hope that all our readers had a great holiday season and best wishes for the new year.  We are kicking off 2012 with a bang - a trip to Las Vegas and attendance at CES 2012.  While I have been to Las Vegas many times, this will be my first time attending CES.  Thumbing through the exhibitors list it certainly looks like almost all the Hi-Fi manufacturers will be represented at the show. The high-performance audio exhibits will be located at the Venetian Hotel.  Floor plans for the High-Performance Audio suites are shown below (click floor plan images to enlarge). 

Floor 29 - High-Performance Audio Exhibitors at CES 2012

Floor 30 - High-Performance Audio Exhibitors at CES 2012

Floor 31 - High-Performance Audio Exhibitors at CES 2012

Floors 34 and 35 - High-Performance Audio Exhibitors at CES 2012

As you can see, the show is huge, so naturally I won't be able to provide complete coverage from all the exhibitors.  We will try check out most of the exhibitors and we will report back on the DIY parts suppliers in attendance and also on some of the new and interesting commercial hi-fi products on display.  Updates and coverage from CES 2012 will be posted on this blog and also in the 2012 CES, Las Vegas - diyAudioProjects.com Show Coverage thread on the forum.  I'm looking forward to hearing some very expensive Hi-Fi setups.  It will be interesting to compare the sound from the high-end systems to that of my modest and predominately DIY system.  


More CES 2012 Show Coverage

• Cello Speakers - Lawrence Audio - CES 2012
• 2012 CES, Las Vegas - diyAudioProjects.com Show Coverage thread