Kokomo Kit 401 Mk2 upgrade for Garrard 401

[abhijitwadekar]

Hi friends,
Around 6 months back i had acquired a 401 from Delhi with the help of Mr Viren Bakshi. The Turntable was mounted in a wooden box View attachment 9656 and had two tonearms, One broken sansui and other a thoren tonearmTP10, i guess.
The TT had a constant clicking sound.
I have already changed the plinth to a 25 mm slate plinth and fitted it with Scheu classic 12" tonearm and EMT TSD 15 cartridge.
Finally i decided to upgrade the bearing with Kokomo Kit 401 MK2 from Analog Tube Audio. Mr Jochen Semler of The Listening Room, Banglore was kind enough to procure that for me from Germany. Now I hear he is probably appointed as India dealer for the Kokomo Kit aswell.:clapping:

Changing the Kit was 10 mins job. The instructions provided with the kit were very explicit photographically explaining each step.

I used the provided oil to fill the bearing and oil the TT as well.

The first thing that i noticed after spinning the TT was now the clicking sound had totally disappeared.
Playing my favorite LPs made me realize that the PRAT had improved significantly with tighter bass and greater details and imaging.


I am very happy with the upgrade and would like to Thank Mr Jochen for all his help and Mr Viren Bakshi as well.
(Sorry for the poor quality of photos)


Regards

Abhijit

 

[avidyarthy]

Tennis ball plinth supports!!!!!
Seeing it for the first time!
Audiophiles go to any lengths, I guess ......

 

[abhijitwadekar]

Hi Avidyarthi,
Actually i had three round feet made of slate with bronze spikes and footers, but they still transmitted a lot of vibrations to the plinth. After a lot of trials i came to this combination of tennis balls sitting on paediatric medication dosage cups. They give good isolation now. And it was the cheapest option that worked after spending on slate feet and bronze spikes :lol:
regards
Abhijit

 

[kuruvilajacob]

If you can build a 5 layer ply plinth with the slate on top, it may improve PRAT considerably. How stable is the TT on those Tennis balls ? What oil do you use for the TT? how often do you top up the oil?

 

[kuruvilajacob]

How stable is the TT on top of the tennis balls? What oil do you use for the bearing and how often do you top it up. What made you think of going in for a new bearing? Was the original bearing worn out? Perhaps, that may have been the reason for the noise. Anyway, nice looking plinth. One more question. What slate is the plinth? Sorry for all these questions. I am a keen to learn about these things and it should benefit other Forum members also. Thanks in advance

 

[abhijitwadekar]

How stable is the TT on top of the tennis balls? What oil do you use for the bearing and how often do you top it up. What made you think of going in for a new bearing? Was the original bearing worn out? Perhaps, that may have been the reason for the noise. Anyway, nice looking plinth. One more question. What slate is the plinth? Sorry for all these questions. I am a keen to learn about these things and it should benefit other Forum members also. Thanks in advance

Hi, The TT is pretty stable but can be easly displaced with a strong shove. Have to be careful with it. Will try to think of a permanent more stable solution.
I have attached the original bearing photo also. I expected a hemisphere when i dismantled it but saw this spindle depression instead. Actually after fitting the kit the central spindle has also come up by half a centimeter above the plater.
I sourced the slate stone from a dealer in mumbai who only had one piece with him for last many years. Could not find any other dealer in mumai.

My sister being an architect, downloaded the aotocad drawing of 401 plinth and got a forma cut in ply. The dealer used the forma to cut the stone and later polished it

Regards

Abhijit

 

[abhijitwadekar]

If you can build a 5 layer ply plinth with the slate on top, it may improve PRAT considerably. How stable is the TT on those Tennis balls ? What oil do you use for the TT? how often do you top up the oil?

I used the oil supplied with the kokomo kit and just fitted it 15 days ago. Don't have ant idea how frequently will it require a top up. But plan to reopen it in 2 months time and examine it again

 

[G401fan]

I have the Mk.1 version of the Kokomo kit installed in my 401, which I got done about 3 years back . At that time, they'd had glowing reviews on their website from customers around the globe, and they themselves waxed eloquent about the uniqueness of their design and how it 'improved' on the original Garrard bearing. I'd bought the kit partly because of the hype, and also because my 401 was an early model (serial no. 1482) from 1964 which must have had plenty of bearing wear and tear over the years.

Anyway, I did not notice any real difference in sound quality with the Kokomo bearing, which is probably a lesson in not second guessing the original designers (those Garrard engineers knew a thing or two). Still, I continue to keep it on (too lazy to put the old one back on again), and also use the special lubricant oil that was supplied with the kit. I also use the same oil for the Garrard motor every 6 months or so.

A couple of years back, the Kokomo boys decided that there was a flaw in their Mk.1 design (the central ceramic ball bearing was apparently creating a dimple on the spindle bottom, as reported by many customers), and they've since come along with a totally new bearing which they call the Mk.2. Once again, they're marketing it with similar hype. Hopefully, they won't backtrack once again.

It's a bit odd, Abhijit, about the fact that the spindle has been raised by half a centimetre after you installed the new bearing. This really should never happen, as it would change the platter height, and maybe affect its rotational motion dynamics. The idler wheel, at 33.3 rpm would also come dangerously close to rubbing the bottom edge of the inner rim, and thus getting worn out lickety split.

 

[stevieboy]

A couple of years back, the Kokomo boys decided that there was a flaw in their Mk.1 design

That's being quite polite to them. More like being forced by customer reviews to change their product and now they market it as being more 'garrardy' hehe with a protective circular thingy to protect the spindle from the ceramic ball.

 

[Saket]

If your set-up permits, and you find the isolation ok, you can also consider cutting the tennis balls into halves and place the TT on these four hemispheres. This way, the TT will be more stable.

Just my 2 cents!

Regards,
Saket

 

[abhijitwadekar]

If your set-up permits, and you find the isolation ok, you can also consider cutting the tennis balls into halves and place the TT on these four hemispheres. This way, the TT will be more stable.

Just my 2 cents!

Regards,
Saket

Hi, I did try using half cut tennis balls but was having problem with getting a clearance of 4" from the base.
Abhijit

 

[Hiten]

Yesterday I listened to Abhijit's system. It was nice of him to invite me. Would not like to post much on listening experience, as I have tin ears and I believe in good amount of listening to compare. When one get used to a system sound comprehensively than only can compare/evaluate. But still the system has neat and very likeable sound. good low range, flawless midrange and perfect treble. I particularly liked Tannoy gold speakers. Massive heavy enclosure. Nice sound :thumbsup:. Rarely you will come across an audio enthusiast who would get all audio components right at initial stage of his journey. Abhijit did it. Hee hee he ought to get it right first time, after all he is a doctor . Listened to some CDs too. Could not differentiate between Arcam DAC and Marantz DAC, which sometimes I consider is a good thing :lol:.
Thanks Doc for inviting me. Hope to meet again.
Regards.

 

[abhijitwadekar]

Thanks Hiten,
thank you for your kind words and your valuable opinion. Hope we get some time for extended listening
Regards

Abhijit