Record player tone-arm replacement.

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Gustav

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
2,271
Location
DK
This weekend my LP bookcase took a dive into my record player (mounted on the wall below). Its all cleaned up now, and I bought some more appropriate screws for mounting the bookcase. The cost of a new shelf for mounting the record player is negligible. However, the record player took quite a beating. I managed to get it up and running yesterday, even though its not cosmetically perfect, it seems that the mechanics of the turntable are fine and even now. The tonearm, however, is beyond repair, and after looking around on the web, I thought Id come here and ask, since Im kinda lost...

The player is this one. http://www.project-audio.com/main.php?prod=rpm13&cat=turntables&lang=en
When I look at replacement (upgrade) tonearms on their site, they are 3-4 times as much as I payed for the player with the stock arm, and the company is not interested in selling me the "standard" tonearm for replacement. I am wondering if the mounting of these arms are standardised somewhat, so I can get an arm from some other source. I really like the visual design of this record player, but it would be cheaper to buy a new one than "upgrade" the arm from the manufacturer. Im not terribly audiophile in nature, so I doubt the "better" arm would mean much to me..

I mostly switched to records because I realized I always rip new CDs into itunes and never look at them again. I missed the experience of being more hands on with my music, so this was it - no intent of getting "warmer" sounds - even though it has surprised me how much better some records sound. From what Im hearing, they arent mastered as heavy handedly as CD releases. I never really thought of that aspect before...

Anyways - tonearm mounting - is it standard?

If you are really into this stuff, I could use any bonus info. Its only been 3 months or so since I got rid of the CD collection. I have a pretty minimal set-up. Pretty underpowered NAD amp, the mentioned record player, some random phonoamp I got at a store and an Ipod dock hooked up too of course. I have no idea how important a good phonoamp is, and I dont really have any knowledge about hifi. Even the pick-up choices make no sense to me - not that Ive needed to replace one - before now!

Gustav
 
Hi Gustav,

There are 3 main standards for tonearm mounts (and a few obscure ones - not sure where Project fits - you may need to try a Google):

SME type
Rega type
Jelco type (used by VPI, Graham etc)

If you have a Rega style mount, you can find an old Rega arm on Ebay for little money. Be careful though - Project may not want you to fit 3rd party arms, and may have used an unusual mount.

Justin

edit - it looks like Pro-ject use Linn type mounts. I believe these are compatible with Jelco (Jelco used to make Linn's arms), but make sure to do your homework. Try and ask at Audiogon forum or suchlike.
 
Thank you for the info. Gave me something more specific to look for.

Just got word from the local distributor they will replace it for half price if I hand in the wreckage for parts, so I think Ill end up doing that. Looks like replacement tonearms are generally pretty expensive compared to the price of the player.

Still would be nice to hear about peoples vinyl experiences etc.

Gustav
 
I have a bag of old tonearms that I'm sure you could make one good one out of.  Shipping from the US might be a bit costly.  If you are interested let me know.
 
BradAvenson said:
I have a bag of old tonearms that I'm sure you could make one good one out of.  Shipping from the US might be a bit costly.  If you are interested let me know.

Thanks a lot for the offer, but Im gonna take the pity-trade-in :)

gustav
 

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