Jim.......Thanks for the update. I was hoping it was going to be a simple and easy fix. Keep us posted.

Will do! It is packed for war conditions and on it's way to Mike at Musical Surroundings. He assured me they can take care of the issue, and it would not have to head to Europe for repairs/resolution! I sure hope so. :^(
Regards,
Jim

BTW: The Thorens TD125 MKII/ Magnapan Unitrac1/Dynavector 17D2mr combination is filling in nicely.

Jim.......It's good you have a reliable turntable as a standby.

I just got off the phone with Mike Fajen at Musical Suroundings and they found the motor tests dead on speed stability wise. The very faint ticking noise is a bit annoying, but is it worth the 12 week trip to Germany? They are going to clean and lube the motor and try a new pulley to see if it quiets the faint ticking noise that I think is coming from the pulley as I could not hear it when holding a stethoscope up to the 11lb. motor. I also could not detect the noise when using the same method on either arm board. Both arm boards are the upgraded cast alloy ones not the acrylic ones.

So it comes down to possibly putting up with a small annoyance if the clean, lube and new pulley does not correct the problem. The other option is sending it back to Germany not knowing the cost of repair till after it is in their possession, not to mention the 12 weeks+ shipping costs.

I'm leaning on not sending it back as I could sell the table and upgrade to a Clearaudio Innovation table that would accept my arm boards and arms, or move to another table. I really do like the ClearAudio table and that I can run two arms on it, one stereo, and one 12" mono. Decisions Decisions Decisions!

I want to shout out to Mike Fajen at Musical Surroundings who has been great to work with, and open to conversation about the issue. He has also been very fair in his options and service cost estimates and pricing. Goes a long way in confidence in the products the represent.

Regards,
Jim

Jim.......Does Mike hear the ticking noise?

Yes he does, but like me only when the platter is being driven by the pulley. The pulley is made of Delrin I believe with 3 Delrin screws to tighten it.
Regards,
Jim

The motor is on it's way back to me after a cleaning and lubrication at a very reasonable cost including shipping back. The noise is 99% gone, and one needs to put their ear up to the motor to faintly hear it according to Mike. Will follow up upon it arrival and installation.
Regards,
Jim

Jim.......So my take away is the ticking noise is in the motor and not in the Delrin pulley, is that right? Was a new pulley installed along with the lube job?

Mike said there was quite an amount of residue in the lower bearing of the motor, and he did not think it was in the pulley. This reference motor has some age on it so a cleaning and lubrication made a lot of sense. He said the replacement of the pulley at a cost of $150 would not gain a reward. He did take the shaft measurement and has it on file should I decide to get a new pulley which would have to be ordered from Germany as my pulley is a six step pulley 3 for 33rpm and 3 for 45rpm. We shall see when the motor arrives. My Solution Table has the upgraded Ceramic Magnetic Bearing and the thicker Master Solution Platter, which is why the motor was upgraded to the Reference model as well.
Regards,
Jim

Jim.......I have my fingers crossed for you, hoping this solution with make you happy.