The Miller Carbon Story


Had a real nice conversation this morning with Origin Live’s Mark Baker. Mark makes some of the very best turntables on the planet and I was interested to learn more. This was our first conversation and so he was interested in me as well. This reminded me of others who have asked.   

The following story is only superficially about the Miller Carbon. The larger and I would say more important subtext is you can do it too! Please dear reader note the number of times something was tried not knowing whether or not it would work. Like all things in life: The more things you try and the more effort you put into it the better you get at it.


The Miller Carbon Story

My first turntable was a Technics SL-1700 with Stanton 681-EEE. It was 1976. Still have that turntable, anyone can see it, right there on my system page.  https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367. Rack on the right. Bottom shelf.  

Next, after college, came the Listening Room and with it a new turntable. This was way before the internet. All we had was Stereophile On Dead Tree. After reading all the reviews it came down to a VPI package or Basis/Graham. What to do? Cast your mind back, way back, to the primitive past. I faxed my question to Stereophile.  

Michael Fremer called me back!   

The Basis/Graham was my own decision. Fremer didn’t talk me into anything. Quite the opposite. He was a source of much useful information that helped me make up my own mind. So it was that I learned early on from Michael Fremer what it is that a reviewer really is supposed to do: provide the reader with the information they need to make their own informed decision.  

My first high end mod was to remove the cheap rubber power cord from the Basis motor and replace it with an inexpensive power cord. Cheap, but proven to be better than all the freebie PCs and I wanted to find out if it made any difference on a turntable motor.  

It did! Same exact improvements heard on the other components it had been tried on before. How or why, who knows, but I heard it. Other mods followed. Different belt materials were used. Silk, cotton, floss. Each had its own influence on the sound. Fascinating!  

This was all part of the process of investigating turntable performance in order to upgrade. Easy to read about different materials, mass, motors, bearings- but what does it all mean in the real world? This was my way of figuring it out for myself.  

Teres Audio seemed to be the value leader. A complete turntable was too expensive, but the motor could be added to the Basis with only a slight modification for the speed sensor. When this worked out extremely well it gave me the confidence to go for the platter and bearing.  

But what about the plinth? Around this time I was working with DJ Casser and his Black Diamond Racing Shelf. His Shelf material was so much more effective than acrylic, it had to make a better plinth too. After a good deal more planning a BDR Source Shelf was cut into a unique sort of egg shape. Another piece was cut 4” diameter, drilled and tapped to be used as the nut to hold the bearing. Two more pieces about 3 inches in diameter were cut and stacked to make the tone arm mount. Three Round Things with Cones were screwed into the bottom of the plinth. The Miller Carbon was born. http://www.teresaudio.com/fame/40.html



128x128millercarbon
Very beautiful piece of gear. Did you experiment with different loading of the platter? Were you also working on AC boats?
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Thanks nrenter.
At some point... I'll be doing the machining myself. Since both you & millercarbon heard an improvement when adding lead, it's officially on my "to-do list".  
Very beautiful piece of gear. Did you experiment with different loading of the platter?

Thanks. Matter of fact both the black and cocobolo platters were clearly superior. But the black was solid black like a hockey puck and cocobolo while beautiful hides the carbon fiber, they just do not look good together and so we had to pass. Lead shot spinning really looks the treat.

Also we are leery of messing up the fine balance Chris achieved. He measured equal amounts of lead shot. Balance is crucial. Bigger and less risky fish to fry.

One of our first mods was the bearing. Chris used an inverted bearing design. Ours was an early version, with a stainless steel ball bearing riding on a teflon coated brass thrust plate.

Every tiny little thing matters. This thread is about learning, so hopefully others can avoid a few mistakes. What I didn’t know then but do know now, just being immersed in oil alone does not guarantee lubrication. It does not by itself guarantee there will be no metal on metal contact. If the weight of the platter and bearing on the tiny little thrust plate contact patch is too great then the psi will itself prevent lubrication. Platter mass for speed stability turns out to be at odds with bearing lubrication for smoothness!

Just one of the little tidbits picked up from Mark Baker today. Kind of thing makes you go, "D’oh!"

But Baker was today. This was 17 years ago. Now it all makes sense. Thrust plate wear stops when the area of wear is enough the psi drops to allow the lube to work.

Lesson learned: turntables are nowhere near as simple as they look. If something like adding platter mass appears simple, rest assured there are unintended consequences galore.




The thing I enjoy most about your quest MC is the path. You weren't jumping around throwing lot's of spaghetti at all the walls. One pot of spaghetti at one wall. It seems methodical, calmly, observing and assessing each step. So many variables for us to experience and experiment with. Thanks for sharing.