My newly refinished music listening room

[TLS Guy]

I have no clue. The instructions I downloaded are fairly useless, very little written detail and horrible illustrations. The tonearm is mounted on a cam-lock armboard specific to this turntable.

Here is the SME series II improved manual.

Now if you look at the last pages 15 and 16, you can see the rubber grommets in the arm base. You can also see there is a gap between the arm base and the turntable motor board.

If the arm base is hard against the motor board that is your problem, most likely. It could also be that the turntable is a lousy design with a resonant motor board.

I have never been a fan of Far Eastern turntables. I have personally only used Garrard and Thorens.

This is how it should look.

This is one of my SME series III arms. It is on a Thorens TD 150.

This is my other SME series III arm on a Thorens TD 125 Mk II turntable.

 

[adk highlander]

Please come by. How does next weekend work for you? If not, suggest something.

Thanks Ken! The next few weeks are tough. Once the kid is off to Ireland and the wife is done the semester I will have more free time.

 

[KenM10759]

Here is the SME series II improved manual.

Now if you look at the last pages 15 and 16, you can see the rubber grommets in the arm base. You can also see there is a gap between the arm base and the turntable motor board.

If the arm base is hard against the motor board that is your problem, most likely. It could also be that the turntable is a lousy design with a resonant motor board.

I have never been a fan of Far Eastern turntables. I have personally only used Garrard and Thorens.

This is how it should look.

This is one of my SME series III arms. It is on a Thorens TD 150.

This is my other SME series III arm on a Thorens TD 125 Mk II turntable.

My SME 3009R tonearm is a bit different though many similarities. Should I be trying to loosen some screws or something else to try and get that transmission of touch noise down?

 

[Mikado463]

Nicely done ! excellent LP racking / storage !!

I know you used a wide angle lens for your photos perhaps I'm not seeing it correctly but you're using no toe-in for what appears to be near-field listening ?

 

[KenM10759]

Thank you!

KEF Reference 1 speakers generally need no toe-in, regardless of listening distance. I have a miniscule amount, solely as a means to reduce that first reflection off the wall nearest the speakers.

I wouldn't term this as being "near field listening" though it's not an enormous room. My office setup was true near field. The room is a reasonable size for a bedroom, 13.5 feet/4.1 meters...square.

In a couple of weeks, the acoustic panels I'm building will be up on the walls and sound will be just a touch better than the incredible that it currently is.

 

[TLS Guy]

My SME 3009R tonearm is a bit different though many similarities. Should I be trying to loosen some screws or something else to try and get that transmission of touch noise down?
View attachment 61756View attachment 61757

The only difference between yours and mine, is that mine has the viscous silicone damper installed. That was an aftermarket attachment for the series II, but standard for the series III.

That arm looks to be installed correctly. So I have to conclude that that turntable has an undamped resonant chassis. I can assure the problem is not caused by the SME series II arm. I have had SME series II on my Garrard 301, which it is on now, and the Thorens TD 150 before installing the SME series III. I never encountered the problem you describe.

I would try backing off the SME mounting screws a little. The rubber grommets look over compressed.

 

[KenM10759]

Added acoustic absorbing panels (the white things on the walls) that I made for about $65, which is about what one cheap one costs to buy. Like everything I do, they're not perfect but look OK and are functional.

Does sound just a bit more coherent, a bit finer detail is clearer. I didn't expect much because the room itself is SO good, but it's a noticeable difference to me.

 

[Trebdp83]

That is a perfectly lovely room. Those cabinets are great. It looks like a very comfortable and relaxing place to enjoy your music.

 

[petek]

I'm like in a 10X12 and sit maybe a foot or foot and a half from back wall...set up is in a 5.5 foot equilateral triangle. The sonusfabers pulled a few feet or so from the wall makes the soundstage have some depth.

Pictures can be very deceptive. There's about 3 feet/1m behind my head, and it's plenty.

I've spent a good amount of time on placement and spacing of the speakers from the wall and each other, and to the main listening position. Trust me, it's f'n perfect.


BTW, the room is exactly 13.5 feet x 13.5 feet square.