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In the Forum: Analog Playback
In the Thread: Micro Seiki MAX 282 Questions
Post Subject: Anti-skate and Micro in JapanPosted by Gibraltar on: 8/17/2010
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Hi Romy,

 Romy the Cat wrote:

I would discard the test disk truck– I never use it. Take a silent space between the cuts (test disk!) and make a needle at your operational VTF to be in stationary ay a bit more than a half record.In fact it is arguable where the needle needs to be balanced but I will not go to this debate now. I use a half or a bit more than a half record. You will instantly see how good or bad your anti-skating work.


Not sure what you're suggesting here. Are you saying that I should be able to hear some channel imbalance from the surface noise if the anti-skate is not working? I did try removing the arm tube then turning the anti-skate dial up to max to see if the armbase would rotate counter clockwise, and there was no movement. Like you said though, low compliance and high horizontal inertia could be masking the anti-skating force, but it doesn't seem like it.

I'm wondering if I should try to disassemble the armbase to see what's going on in there. I'm pretty sure I could get it apart, but not sure at all if I could get it back together. I don't suppose you've ever tried this with your arms? Smile

 Romy the Cat wrote:

About the tubes. The J-tube is good as it is heavy tube – I like high effective mass arms. There are two straight tubes. One is for super light MM cartridges and another is normal one. This normal straight tube has a bug – the offset sluts on the headshell are cut a few degrees of the mark to hit proper overhanging. It might be easily corrected by angling the cartridge in the slots. It is a bit too light tube but still useable, particularly if you load it.


I guess I'll stick with the J-tube for now then. The straight tube is appealing to me, but they're very hard to find and very expensive now so unless there's some real sonic benefit I'll forget about it. The only one I've seen lately was in HK, and the guy wanted 1800 USD for it!

 Romy the Cat wrote:

BTW, Gibraltar, your profile shows that you are in Japan. Is any Micro Seiki legacy heard? Is the company permanently gone?


Here in Japan Micro's legacy is very quiet. There is definitely still a user base, and I'm aware of at least one fan club, but it seems small. I'm sure there are still many big micro tables in use, but I have a feeling that most of the users are old and don't get online much. You know a while ago Stereo Sound published a special volume on vintage TTs, and I was excited to get some info on the history of Micro. Turns out though that all they covered were foreign tables...Thorens, EMT, etc! I feel that's indicative of many people's opinons here...they idolize 'golden age' European equipment but don't recognize the great stuff that was made right here.

Regarding the company itslef, I've asked around at local shops and they all say it's dead and gone. As recently as 2004 I know some shops still had a decent stock of spare parts, but there's absolutely nothing left now. Many of the local used hifi shops here will not deal in Micro tables anymore because they cannot get maintenance/parts. There are a few that can do maintenance themselves and do still sell Micros, but good units rarely appear. The only consistent source is Yahoo Auctions, where a big TT will show up once every month or two. I also know of one small machine shop that makes replica amrboards and accessories, but that's it. Too bad because I could really use some spare armtubes!

Gibraltar

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