# Why don't you see more DIY Turntables?



## oicdn

Am I missing something here? The main problem with cheap turntables is a crap arm and noisy main bearing. So why don't people have DIY TT? You could make the base out of something very pretty and heavy like graniteand just buy a nice arm/cart....all the electronics are pretty straight foreward aren't they?


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## swt61

I plan on building a really heavy, beautiful wood plinth for a TT soon. I don't know which motor/platter assembly I'm going to go with yet for sure.


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## Pars

Check out Teres...
http://www.teresaudio.com/

 This started out as solely DIY and has grown... now they will supply built tables.


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## luvdunhill

I'm working on a DIY turntable on and off these days. There is a *ton* of information out there. Of course the whole DIY concept is what got Teres off the ground. Talk about something for Steve to try and imitate.... amazing looking tables... check out teresaudio.com:







 As for motor and motor pod, there are lots of options. I'm using a high-end Maxon motor and thinking of bribing Steve to turn a nice wood motor pod for me. Funny this thread came up 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I'm talking things in stages. First I'll replace my Nottingham motor pod with my DIY one and then I'll finish up my SLA battery fed power supply for the motor pod. I'll run like this for a while, then tackle the platter / bearing. 

 oicdn: any specific info you're looking for?


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## royewest

I stumbled on this today:

http://www.altmann.haan.de/turntable/

 There is also an interesting section on the same site about building a tonearm.


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## Sarchi

I built a Teres (#34 in the hall of fame). I wish I still had it! At least I sold it to a friend...

 There have been some group buy diy tt efforts at diyaudio.com (for a motor/controller), I haven't really kept track of them though.


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## amb

Even though the concept is simple enough, building a _true_ DIY turntable (except perhaps the tone arm, motor and platter spindle/bearing) is exceedingly difficult to do _right_. By "true" DIY I mean design-it-yourself as well as "build-it-yourself", rather than a predesigned kit. I embarked on such an effort in 1994 and finally finished it in 2004. Granted the project sat on the shelf for some years in between, because I ran into difficulties getting some of the pieces machined to my satisfaction, and I had trouble getting the floating suspension to balance properly. I did eventually solve all the problems but it was a project that made all my amps seem like child's play. And you _don't_ want to know how much the project costed.

 Turntable design and building is all about controlling energy. Every part of my TT design was conceived with that in mind. The November 2007 issue of Stereophile has a good article on the Merrill-Scillia MS21 turntable which touches on some of the issues that I had to deal with. I didn't arrive at all the same conclusions or solutions as the MS21 but reading that article is food for thought.

 One of the reasons that there aren't many DIY TT around is the nature of the beast. It is less electronics and mostly mechanical fabrication, and this is not easy for most DIYers unless you have a large workshop with a CNC milling machine and other specialized tools, or you're prepared to pay $$$ to have a machine shop make the pieces.

 Anyway, here is a pic, some details and more pictures can be found at my website.


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## riffer

amb is right.

 Not a lot of DIYers out there with a machine shop. Plenty with a soldering iron.


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## Bluetick

Yep. Not only is the tooling a big hurdle- the tooling must be to fairly tight tolerences, too. No easy task for the average DIY'er. 

 I guess one could assemble pieces from other turntables and do a take-off from a known design. Yet, as amb pointed out, this is not "true" DIY. It could be done, however. 

 For the same (or much less) money- you could get a well used TT and rework/cutomize it for all it's worth. I think more people are doing this, rather than true DIY, because there is a lot that needs to be understood when designing a TT from scratch. It is deceptively simple looking...'deception' being the operative word here.


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## ferds

theres a groupbuy in diyaudio for turntable parts( motor , controller, pod, etc) 

 here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...hreadid=109934


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## lmiller

If you want a detailed blow by blow of a DIY turntable google "corian turntable fun"


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## Televator

I once built a turntable out of lego when I was 9 (got some instructions from my dad of course) and it could play singles. The pickup was a match box with a metal needle stuck through ... without any (electrical) amplification but a big (lego) horn


 darn I wish I still had pics of that thing


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## JWFokker

It's pretty damn expensive to DIY a TT. Unless you cannibalize other turntables, you have to spend at least a couple hundred dollars to build a TT. That's the bare minimum. You're better off restoring a vintage TT by picking up something that used to be expensive and relubing/regreasing the spindle, cue mechanism, and anything else that needs it, and replacing the belt and cartridge.

 It's not like building speakers where you can just go to Parts Express or Madisound and pick up the drivers and build an enclosure out of MDF. A TT is considerably more complex and the parts availability across a wide range of prices simply isn't there.


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## luckypictures

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *amb* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Even though the concept is simple enough, building a true DIY turntable (except perhaps the tone arm, motor and platter spindle/bearing) is exceedingly difficult to do right. By "true" DIY I mean design-it-yourself as well as "build-it-yourself", rather than a predesigned kit. I embarked on such an effort in 1994 and finally finished it in 2004. Granted the project sat on the shelf for some years in between, because I ran into difficulties getting some of the pieces machined to my satisfaction, and I had trouble getting the floating suspension to balance properly. I did eventually solve all the problems but it was a project that made all my amps seem like child's play. And you don't want to know how much the project costed.

 Turntable design and building is all about controlling energy. Every part of my TT design was conceived with that in mind. The November 2007 issue of Stereophile has a good article on the Merrill-Scillia MS21 turntable which touches on some of the issues that I had to deal with. I didn't arrive at all the same conclusions or solutions as the MS21 but reading that article is food for thought.

 One of the reasons that there aren't many DIY TT around is the nature of the beast. It is less electronics and mostly mechanical fabrication, and this is not easy for most DIYers unless you have a large workshop with a CNC milling machine and other specialized tools, or you're prepared to pay $$$ to have a machine shop make the pieces.

 Anyway, here is a pic, some details and more pictures can be found at my website.




_

 

Kudos man, kudos.


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## amphead

TT..Tight...TT....Tolerances!!


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## swt61

Incredible work amb! Absolutely stunning! I'm not the least bit surprized though.

 My project will be a relatively simple reworking of an existing TT. I want to mod a decent TT with a gorgeous wooden plinth.


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