Turntable plinth upgrade
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Quite a few years ago, I bought a NAD 533, built by Rega and marketed by NAD. It's a budget turntable that works well, but in my case always needed a new plinth. Here's a pic of it:
Quite a few years ago, I bought a NAD 533, built by Rega and marketed by NAD. It's a budget turntable that works well, but in my case always needed a new plinth. Here's a pic of it:
The original with a not too fancy MDF plinth that has a grey formica like vernier.
The design
No CAD for this one. A simple glue up and dimensioning of a nice chunk of maple, some machining, and a finish will create the new plinth. I have a metalworking CNC milling machine, that was used to do the various cutouts and recesses. It's not the best idea to use wood on it, but every once in awhile I do, then clean it up afterward.
Cambam interface
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Cambam is the CAM package I use for all my CNC machining. It has a simple, easy to use interface and has given me all the capability required to make parts that usually go on motorcycles and bicycles, but I'll CNC parts for other things as needs arise.
Most home shops don't have a CNC milling machine, so the plans I sell do not require one. |
The build
First a tear down of the turntable. Parts were stored in a safe place and dimension requirements were pulled from the old plinth.
Taken apart. Here is everything except for the dust cover.
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Top - There are four holes for: switch, motor pulley, turntable spindle, and tonearm.
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Bottom - the big rectangular recess houses the motor and controller.
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2 plinths were made. The first one was made from alder and got ruined by an errant cut. Some of the pics on this page are of the first plinth, while others are of the second, they're a bit mixed, but both plinths were made in a similar fashion.
A piece of maple selected from the stash.
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After initial dimensioning, the pieces are oriented for best presentation, then glued up.
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The cutouts were then completed on the CNC. The CAM programming took about an hour, then maybe 30 minutes or so on the milling machine. Of course, the milling was times 2 since I had to make the part twice.
The motor/controller (top) and spindle (bottom) cutouts.
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Top view of motor and spindle cutouts.
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Time to finish
Using analine dyes, the initial plan was to make it black which is the same color as some of my stereo components. Before I put a sealer coat on, I decided against the black, sanded it off and went with a walnut color. Multiple coats of nitrocellulose lacquer were then brushed on. The lacquer dries quickly and I put on 5 or 6 coats. After letting it sit overnight, the plinth was completed with a follow up of sanding, polishing, and waxing.
Some advantages of lacquer:
And disadvantages:
For pieces like this, it's a good choice and is commonly used on nice guitars and other musical instruments.
Some advantages of lacquer:
- Easy to repair - Adding lacquer on top of an old lacquered surface will burn into the existing lacquer, which can then be sanded and polished out to perfectly blend in with the existing finish.
- It dries quickly and multiple coats can be completed in a day. On the right day (dry and warm), you can do many coats - like a dozen or more.
And disadvantages:
- It's a softer, less durable finish than most polyurethanes.
- As the solvents evaporate, it smells bad and probably not too good for your health.
For pieces like this, it's a good choice and is commonly used on nice guitars and other musical instruments.
First color attempt.
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Final color after lacquer.
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The result
Some assembly required.
Old
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New
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Sweet....
Turntables and parts
Rega RP1 - pretty much the same as my old NAD 533
Rega Planar 1 (slight upgrade of the RP1)
Rega RP1 performance upgrade kit
Other highly rated entry level models
Pro-Ject Carbon DC
U-Turn is a relatively new turntable company based in the US.
Audio Technica has been building turntable cartridges and other audio equipment since - well, I don't know when, but for sure when I was into it back in the '70's. They still make excellent cartridges and now turntables too.
And some potential cartridge upgrades
Nagaoka MP110
Ortofon 2m Red
Audio-Technica AT-VM95EN
Turntable set up tools
Cartridge alignment protractor
Stylus force gauge
Tonearm Azimuth/Vertical tracking angle (VTA) - not required for budget turntables
Bluetooth receiver for your non-bluetooth enabled stereo
There you have it. Happy listening!
