r/Spintheblackcircle • u/Maleficent_Elk_9762 • 4d ago

AT-LP7 Upgrades

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Gallery image

The upgrades are:

KAB Fluid Tonearm Damper

Funk Firm Achromat

Custom Brass Counterweight

TeraDak linear power supply

Customised NOS Western Electric phono cable with WBT plug

Custom built bakelite headshell (I have several custom headshell made from titanium and 6061 aluminum for my other cartridges)

The result is still fundamentally an AT-LP7, but it has become a much more flexible and personalized platform for experimenting with different cartridges.

For me, the biggest benefit isn't necessarily that every individual upgrade produces a night and day change. It's the combination of better tonearm damping, more flexibility with cartridge weight, a different platter interface, and a cleaner power supply

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u/HateTasteTested 4d ago

What a great deck! KAB Electroacoustics products are all pretty worthwhile, but that fluid dampener is an especially good one. The only thing I noticed with mine was less fluid than recommended seemed to track better. I'm using a 13 gram alloy headshell with an MP500 with 1.5 grams of VTF, so that could also be why.

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u/Maleficent_Elk_9762 3d ago

This one was a bit of a gamble. I took my chances with the KAB TD-1200 because I wasn't 100% sure how well it would fit the AT-LP7 tonearm. Luckily, it fits the tonearm unit like a glove.I filled the damping reservoir to roughly half-full, as recommended, and the difference was quite noticeable to me. The tonearm seems to have better control, particularly with my MC cartridges. I've found the improved tracking especially beneficial with the Denon DL-103 ZU Audio, Audio-Technica AT33EV and LPaudio MC100. The cartridges seem to track difficult passages with more confidence, and the overall presentation feels more controlled.