During the mastering process for vinyl records, the sound is pushed through an equalizing curve. During playback, this transformation needs to be inverted so that it sounds right. The purpose is to prevent the physical grooves on the record from exceeding the limits of the media. Wikipedia has some good info on it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_equalization

Looks like I get to answer my own question. That retainer on the top of the lower pivot is indeed needed. Without it, the arm will work loose and the end will ride up over the other linkage. Interestingly enough, that pivot doesn't have a groove to accept a clip, it just stays on by compression. I ended up getting a pushnut bolt retainer for a #6

I've used snap rings before, and I've even got a set of pliers for them, just none small enough. I spent a while looking for a smaller set today, but even the smallest one I could find was still too big, so I just forced it off with a smallish set of pliers. Naturally, this mangled the clip. It seems to work just fine without it, but I'll

Any tips on getting that C-clip off the lower arm pivot? Mine is so tight it won't even turn, much less spread open. I'm in my office now, so I can't get a good look, but am I right in assuming the upper arm will lift off in one piece with the dampener if I remove the two screws at the base? I use teflon oil (really just a light synthetic

So, I've got this old Beogram 4004.. It needs a new drive belt, but before I do that, I want to make sure I can get the tone arm working right. Occasionally, it fails to drop the arm, and the arm always lifts slowly instead of snapping up. If I take the right spring out, the solenoid always kicks out correctly, but when I put it back in, sometimes