Update March 2021
Cant stop tinkering in my retirement....but just had to post this as this is the best wand yet!
Cartridge head-shell and counterweight are both totally suspended on EPDM O-rings set on TwinCarbon rails. This further isolates and extracts even more detail from the record grooves. Well worthwhile.
Only caveat is the cue bar needs to be swapped over and replaced with this dog-legged version.
Cost for wand £150 which includes the replacement cue bar.
I can make a Copper Litz harness with Molex connector for extra £30.
Shipping at cost.
If anyone is interested please email me direct :
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Update June 2016
Testimonial:
I replaced the metal pivot points on the Jubilee wand with the nylon ones you supplied.
Well, another jaw dropping massive leap forward in sound reproduction was immediately obvious from the first notes.
All types of music have become more lifelike and convincing. Instruments sound more accurate with improved separation and location within a more expansive three dimensional sound stage. Recording acoustic, studio, live, concert hall is also enhanced.
This very clearly demonstrates (to the sceptics) that sub micron vibrational energy down to molecular level prevents the retrieval of vital information essential to the realistic and natural reproduction of sound and the importance of material selection.
The threaded counterweight system has also been phased out as feedback from users of the stacked counterweights has been sonically very positive. The only issue was the ergonomics requiring to hold the thumbscrew & tighten the caphead screw with an Alan key to set VTF. Frustratingly the stacked weight would move slightly while tightening and throw the reading out.
The mechanism has been improved. The lower thumbscrew now has a locking pin so no need to hold, and the top capscrew has been replaced with a thumbscrew requiring no tools.
Tomahawk will now be supplied with the nylon points & brass stacking weights as standard.
If you wish to update your steel points to nylon please email me.
I have had a few clients over the years asking me about wire dressing. Although this is not a subject that I find a problem & am happy to accept a discrepancy of 0.1g, some of you require greater accuracy. I therefore put my thinking hat on & came up with a simple solution to counteract the small effect the wire has on VTF & tracking.
The problem stems from the fact that all the forces from the wire are taken up by the wand, both vertical & horizontal. These act on the wand at the same time often altering VTF as the wand travels across the record. It is possible to minimise or eliminate this, & my manual contains a suggested arrangement. Even so, there are so many variables that different clients may encounter.....twist in the wire & amount of splay, for instance, that will affect how successful the wire dressing will be.
I have now come up with a method of splitting the horizontal & vertical forces & transferring them to the slider, away from the delicate wand.
Basically, a short length of the wire harness is routed directly from where it exits the wand in a loop to the rear of the slider & attached here. For now, a small piece of BluTac will do, but you will see later there is a more elegant solution. This small loop may affect the VTF but will remain constant throughout the wands travel so once set with the scale will not vary.
We only now need to concern ourselves with the horizontal component of the force from the grommet to the slider. This is really easy so long as you leave alot of slack anything will work. I have raised the grommet to be high in line with the slider & just allow the wire to hang.
If you get better consistency with this arrangement & want to get rid of the BluTac I have come up with a method of replacing it with a small piece of 4mm wire sleeving which I cut vertically to split it open. I then siliconed to the slider in the appropriate position. The wire can now be fed through the slit & held in place by the sleeving. If you need to remove the wand, it easily pulls out. If anyone comes up with a better idea I am all ears!
It has been suggested a piece of heatshrink would work just as well!
4mm wire stripped for a piece of sleeveing. Sleeve split longitudinally.
Sleeve dipped in sealant & stuck on slider in appropriate position. Allow to set. Wire harness can be teased into the split in the sleeving which holds it in place. Easily removed to change the wand.
View of new route harness now takes from wand to slider, & from slider to grommet.
I will fit future production sliders & harnesses with sleeves & heatshrink.
Feed the wires thru the split in the sleeve & pull harness thru to engage heatshrink.