Hi SirSloshed,
Please offer my thanks to the Merlot! Hic!
I always wondered what sort of widget Herb supplied to work around your table/arm incompatibility. (And yes, that dealer did behave like an idiot.)
It was easy enough to imagine risers beneath the TP's mounting plate to raise the arm above the plinth, but of course that would totally boggle your VTA. It never occured to me that Herb would go so far as to machine a fat spacer for beneath the headshell.
Now that I know, I confess I'm surprised that he did it. Aside from the unpredictable effects on cartridge/arm resonance transmission and the potential degradation of mounting rigidity, a fat spacer and extra long mounting screws would substantially increase effective mass. No arm set up so would perform like it does normally. Hic!
I guess if you hand a problem to a mechanic you'll get a mechanical solution, but I think Herb should have just acknowledged the fundamental incompatibility. The dealer f%$&#@ up and that's that. I did the same thing when I bought our TP without realizing it was incompatible with our overly large periphery clamp. That was my own fault. Fortunately I was able to sell the clamp for what it cost me. Hic!
Herb might have pressured the dealer into giving you a full refund. Having his arm mis-sold and creating an unhappy owner was not a good outcome for TriPlanar.
Thanks for sharing that,
Doug
P.S. Did you consider enlarging the plinth cutout? Maybe painful on a brand new table, but probably a genuine solution with no sonic downside.
