Roadrunner Turntable Tachometer Review

[jdandy]

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The Phoenix-Engineering RoadRunner Turntable Tachometer arrived yesterday. It is a very compact digital display device and an even smaller sensor and magnet used to trigger and acquire the rotation data. The RoadRunner digital display is small enough to be placed almost anywhere. In my case I was able to tuck it on the shelf under the Boos maple butcher board that sits on four Symposium Fat Padz with my Michell Gyro SE turntable on top.

Setting up the RoadRunner tachometer can be easy or difficult based on the design of your turntable. As it turned out the Michell Gyro SE was a challenge because the platter is not close to the bearing support frame. There was no way to place the magnet that triggers the sensor on the bottom of the platter and have it work. The magnet must pass within 1/8" or less of the sensor to work. I was uncertain about where to locate the sensor so the magnet could pass by the sensor as close as necessary. I wound up attaching the magnet to the outer bottom edge of one of the brass weights under the platter and attaching the sensor circuit board to the inside rear suspension spring cover. The sticky tape on the back of the sensor board made it easy to mount once I determined a location that would work. From the front of the turntable you cannot see the sensor board and you would only notice the magnet if you knew it was there when the platter is rotating. The rest of the RoadRunner tachometer installation was easy, just plug in the wall-wart power supply transformer and plug the cable from the sensor board to the back of the digital tachometer.

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Once all of the connections were made I turned on the RoadRunner tachometer with the small white push-button on the rear of the tachometer enclosure. The display lights up with dashes. If no rotation is sensed, the display will turn off after a period of time. Once the turntable platter begins rotating and two full revolutions have past the magnetic sensor the digital read out displays the platter rotation speed. Since my Michell Gyro SE is powered with the Michell Never Connected power supply I am able to adjust the rotation speed with an adjustment screw on the power supply. I was surprised to discover my initial speed was 31.76 RPM. I adjusted the speed as close as I could to 33.33 RPM. What I then discovered was their is a speed difference with and without the phono cartridge tracking a record. As it turned out, the weight of the tracking force and stylus friction of my Ortofon Cadenza Black cartridge reduced the platter speed approximately 0.07 to 0.08 RPM. I fine tuned the speed adjustment on the Michell Never Connected power supply while the cartridge tracked an album to ensure playback rotation was as accurate as possible. This resulted in a typical platter speed that was higher than 33.33 RPM when the cartridge was not tracking a record groove.


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The RoadRunner turntable tachometer is a very useful tool for checking platter rotation accuracy. Having a power supply that allows speed rotation adjustment is a definite plus. Additionally, the RoadRunner tachometer can also be paired with the Phoenix-Engineering Falcon PSU (power supply unit) if your turntable uses a 120 volt asynchronous motor. With the RoadRunner tachometer connected to the Falcon PSU, the tachometer rotation information governs the Flacon PSU to control the speed you select.

When I first saw photos and read about the RoadRunner tachometer my initial impression caused me to think it was a toy. After installing the RoadRunner tachometer and actually using it my impression has changed. It is a well conceived and made tool for the vinyl enthusiast who is concerned with getting the best speed accuracy from a turntable. Even without a power supply that allows speed adjustment the RoadRunner tachometer will still provide you with accurate platter speed information. Using the RoadRunner tachometer with your turntable is a great way to increase your enjoyment and improve the quality of vinyl playback. I like it.

[djwhog]

Dan great write up and detail. I like that, and that is slick the way you set it up to. Can you PM me on how much they are and where to get it from.

thank you for this post



On a side note the quote "I was surprised to discover my initial speed was 31.76 RPM" Now that you are spinning faster you are going to get through more music a little quicker and be able to play more albums

[jdandy]

Dave.......Thank you. Legend Audio is our dealer for the RoadRunner turntable tachometer. List price is $235.00. PM Ivan for special pricing.

As for my turntable spinning slow, I have always been slightly out of sync. If I begin to feel uncomfortable, I will slow the platter down.

[djwhog]

You are one up late night guy Dan, I love it, we can sleep when we die as they say.

So enjoy, and thank you!

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by djwhog

You are one up late night guy Dan, I love it, we can sleep when we die as they say.

So enjoy, and thank you!

Dave.......I have always been a night owl. I love the peace and quiet.

I started playing with the RoadRunner tachometer after dinner about 7:00 PM. By the time I figured out where to best install the magnet and sensor it was 8:00 PM. I played with the tachometer for about an hour, then took the photos, resized and uploaded them to Flickr, wrote, edited and posted the review to AA, and all of a sudden the evening had slipped away.

[John49]

Originally Posted by jdandy

As for my turntable spinning slow, I have always been slightly out of sync. If I begin to feel uncomfortable, I will slow the platter down.

I remember when I first had a turntable (no names!) that allowed speed adjustment while playing a record. I found that once I adjusted it for the correct 33.3 or 45, everything sounded too fast! Took awhile to get used to...

[ronenash]

Can't wait to install mine. I got it with the Falcon PS for my VPI. I am travelling this coming week and will try the set as soon as I return.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by John49

I remember when I first had a turntable (no names!) that allowed speed adjustment while playing a record. I found that once I adjusted it for the correct 33.3 or 45, everything sounded too fast! Took awhile to get used to...

John.......At approximately 1.5 RPM slow I really didn't notice any substantial difference once I had the speed adjusted correctly. Yours must have been even slower.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by ronenash

Can't wait to install mine. I got it with the Falcon PS for my VPI. I am travelling this coming week and will try the set as soon as I return.

ronenash.......I think you will be pleased. I will be watching for your impression of the RoadRunner tachometer and the Falcon PSU working together with your VPI.

[John49]

Originally Posted by jdandy

John.......At approximately 1.5 RPM slow I really didn't notice any substantial difference once I had the speed adjusted correctly. Yours must have been even slower.

Yes, it must have been! I only had a strobe disk and battery powered strobe light in those days, so I have no idea how much slower it actually was.