Turntable modifications

Preface:

Some informal words about the original device:
Taya DP510: I bought it in the early 1980s: simple, direct drive, slightly overpriced product, with MM cartridge.
The same hardware was also available under the name of Maclair TT200. Exactly the same, except the name.
It had reasonable sound, but high noise level: the thin plastic box and the dumb driver circuit of the DD motor caused this problem. So, I started to develop it soon.

At last nearly everything has been replaced, only the iron core of the motor and the plate are original. Ah yes, and the speed selector arm.

Some pictures about my new turntable are here.

See the details below.

Picture: HiFi Magazin (Hungarian)

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Developments:

Mechanical Developments
- Box and Chassis
  The box of the cheap turntables are usually made of thin plastic, holding both the motor and the arm - so it is noisy by design. They are sensitive to the noises from the motor, from the desk, or from the envorinment.
  See the details here.
- Motor
  It is driven by a Matsushita MKL-15 B4, used in many similar turntables. Because the high noise is caused mainly by this device, I created a new driver circuit and the motor holder is also modified.
  See the details here.
- Everything about MC...
  Generic information about MC heads: see here
- Let's build MC head
  How to repare and build MC carridges. See the details here
- Arm
  I replaced the tonearm to a MA-505 (Micro Seiki DD-35), however, the Taya arm was also good enough.
  See the details here.

Electronic Developments
- Principles in generic
  
  • Low Noise Design
  • In-Shell preamplifier
  • Using balanced signals
- MC head amplifier stage
  
  • MC head amplifier development
- MM/MI input stage
  
  • MM/MI head amplifier development
- RIAA correction stage
  
  • RIAA corrector development
- Output driver
  
  • Output stage development

Cartridges
- MM115
  It was the original cartridge of Taya DP510 (MM type).
  See the details here.
- Ortofon MC10
  The first MC cartridge, bought in the 80s.
  See the details here.
- Ortofon MC20 MkII
  I bought it later, in used condition. It is also a MC type cartridge.
  See the details here.
- Audio Technica AT95E
  It was bought for playing 78RPM records, but its quality was a good surprise. It is an MM cartridge too.
  See the details here.
- Grado Prestige Red
  This is a MI system cartridge, with very good parameters.
  See the details here.
- Denon DL304
  This is also a MC type cartridge. There are a lot of good opinions about it on the net.
  I bought it in used condition and replaced its tip to a van den Hul diamond and boron canteliver.
  See the details here.