A thicker plate of a special plastic with a shape to accommodate the tone arm carries the platter bearing. It was coated with carbon above and below, because this material even in low thickness has an enormous stability. The plastic-carbon-sandwich is braced on three Allen screws and a corresponding number of springs set under high pressure with the turntable base. The three screws allow you to precisely align the turntable with a precision spirit level along the horizontal axis. Different, not closer specified materials, minimize any resonance within the springs and the tonearm basis.
For the assembly of the Pluto Audio tonearms, the carbon plate is delivered with the characteristic slot of the SME standard. Holes for other tone arms are available on request. Sandwich plates with shapes for the installation of two Tonearms are provided by Pluto Audio too. The bushing is mounted centrally in the sandwich plate. It has a mirror of diamond on which a ball with a hardness of 65 Rockwell runs. This ball with a diameter of 9.5 mm, called "Ferrari ball" according to Eddy Driessen, carries the axis that is in contact with the sub plate. The bearing is lubricated by a special oil by van den Hul.
A DC motor drives the 12A carbon Cobra which is powered by a 12-volt battery. Fully charged the system should run approximately 50-80 hours. During the test, I was not able to completely exhaust the battery capacity. To recharge, Eddie Driessen uses a quality industrial charger, optically this has not the noble appearance corresponding with the Cobra Carbon 12A but it won't rise the price unnecessarily – an understandable decision. The switches to start and stopp the motor and to select between 33 and 45 rpm are located at the motor housing itself There are also two recessed mounted potentiometers for fine tuning the speeds. The belt is made from DuPont Lycra and should be sufficient to drive the platter – despite its small thickness and high elasticity. To bring the pully of the drive motor and the platter at the same height, two double-sided carbon-fiber-coated discs are put under the motor housing. On request also a flywheel is available for a moderate fee, which guarantees an uniform load of bearing.
For the review Eddy Driessen has fitted the carbon Cobra with a 6A Greece Tonearm, which he is producing since 2005. Its arm tube is made of aluminum and is polished inside and out with high precision by hand. Let’s talk about the damping, which is – no longer really surprising – a mix of materials in which balsa wood, carbon and titanium, among others play a role. Eddy Driessen wants to combine an optimum flow of energy with a high rigidity and high self damping. A safe discharge of any static charges of the record is also important. The 6A is – like all arms except the 2A – gimballed because this design principle guarantees a very close contact between the arm tube and base – and thus a good resonance suppression –, minimum friction and a long life as the developer points out. The Greece offers the ability to adjust all important parameters such as VTA and azimuth. The anti-skating force is generated with the help of a very light and thin wire and three weights.
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