TWL's Hi Fi Mod & Doug's VTF tweak


Well, after having all of the necessary pieces to do these two mods for about 4 months, I finally got off my A$$ & did them tonight.

The Process:

Hi Fi Mod:

If you have not done it yet, do it! It took me 7 minutes from start to finish. That includes boring a concave surface in the weights, polishing the weights, searching through the hifi junk box to find Blue tack, and mounting them.

VTF Mod:

I actually had this one before, but took it off because it wouldn't stay stable with no holes to hold it. Now that I have the weights on, I made a new one. Took me 2.5 minutes to smooth, bend, and install the biggest paper clip I could find. Fits the weight holes perfectly now!

Results:

The immediate increase in bass tightness is amazing. All around the sound is more focused, tighter, and a little more dynamic. I've been listening to albums I know VERY WELL for the last 2 hours, ans I still can't believe that something that cost me $1.32 (I got extra weights) makes more difference than changing from the Soro SE pre, phono, and Microgroove to the Supratek. I kid you not, skeptics, try it.

Coupled with the VTF adjustability of Doug's mod, while the album is PLAYING, with my OL (Rega) arm, well, I just can't say enough. Now I can play with the VTF to a much finer degree. I'm so glad I didn't spend $200+ on a digital gauge. The Shure gets it close enough, and the paper clip dials it in.

What got me started installing these two mods tonight was the distilled water thread. I'll say it again: There are people here who have more patience and creativity than most of us, and I've learned that if they say it works, I can probably count on it working. They are willing to try "all kinds of mean, nasty, and ugly things" (thanks Arlo), and then let the rest of us know what works, and what DOES NOT.

I kid you not, for 2 bucks and about 10 minutes you will think you've got a new system. I cannot stress how much impact the two mods make. Sure, you can go spend a ton of money and get the same results, easily. But, I've got about $500 in my arm & cartridge, and I think I would have to spend 5-6 times that for a very incremental improvement. An Illustrious and a 901 cost about 6 times my investment. Is it worth it? Sure, and I'll do it one of these days, down the road. But I figure what the hell, I built the Teres, I can do this!

I believe even the most non-DIY capable people out there can do this for themselves. If you can't, email Tom. He'll be happy to send you a little kit to install the HiFi mod. After that, Doug's mod is so easy it's not funny.

And, if you can't get a hold of either one of them, email me, and I would be more than happy to help you get going. That ought to tell you what I think of these mods, if for some reason you missed it in this post!

Joe
jphii
Sure can. I took two to give those of you who have not seen it to check it out.

Overall

Side view

I didn't reduce the quality & size of these pics like I did on most of the ones on my site. So, closeups you ask for, closeups you get!
Thanks, Joe! Glad you have found the time to make the HiFi mod and VTF tweak.

I guess now you see that I was not exaggerating.

It's been almost 2 years now, since I first posted the thread about this HiFi mod. Many people have done it, and all had the same impressions you did. Probably the most "bang for the buck" that you can get with a Rega or OL Silver tonearm.

Most of the users that have tried this have emailed me with flabbergasted and glowing comments about how much transformation is made to the sound.

I would caution, however, that this mod is tuned to perform with low compliance to medium compliance cartridges, and could cause lateral mass/resonance mismatch with Grado or other high compliance cartridges. It is a lateral mass increase, so it has an effect in that area, and is tuned for cartridges from 5cu - 15cu. Higher compliance cartridges have less/or no need for this mod, since their suspensions have less ability to move the standard mass of the arm laterally.

For those with any of the DL103 series, Shelter, Koetsu, Lyra, Benz, Dynavector, Clearaudio, Transfiguration, ZYX, etc, this mod is a big improvement for very low bucks.

Shelters especially, are very VTF sensitive, and dialing them in on-the-fly with Doug's VTF mod is very easy and provides excellent results. With the combo of both of these mods, it will sound like you have a new, very expensive tonearm. No exaggeration.
Can someone point me to the orginal threads on how to do these tweaks. Thanks.