LIFT and LIFTer from Expressimo Audio, by Greg Weaver

The Problem

Ah, yes. The Cabernet Sauvignon has been opened and breathing for a little over an hour now and I've filled my glass. I've cleaned my chosen record with my vacuum-powered cleaner and the remarkable Vinyl-Zyme from Buggtussel's Kevin Blair, placed it on the turntable and locked down the record clamp. Power on, arm down, and I take up residency in my listening seat for some serious listening. Just before Alan Clark's piano break in "Telegraph Road" from the superlative Love Over Gold, by Mark Knopfler's Dire Straits (Warner Bros. 23728-1), the phone rings!

Rushing to answer it in another room, it turned out to be "Tin Ear." He had some questions about some non-audio related issues, and after a short discussion, we had them resolved. As I walked back into my music room, I was greeted by the heart dropping rhythmic noise of thwump, thwump, thwump as my precious stylus repeatedly runs head long into the final run out groove on the record. "Aaaahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Has this ever happened to you? Don't lie, now. Santa is watching, you know! Come on, 'fess up! That's better. When was that? That recently, eh? It ruined your stylus? I'm sorry to hear that. But Sal Calaio of Expressimo Audio has just what the doctor ordered. Let me get my prescription pad....

The LIFT

LIFT

In the eighties, I used a plastic, spring-loaded arm lift device, marketed by Thorens, if memory serves me correctly. It worked okay, I guess. It was sold along with one of my many transactions over the years, and, looking back, it is now sorely missed. Several years ago I ran across an animated streaming video at the site for Expressimo Audio (well, at the time, it was actually called Express Machining). They offered two way-cool-looking devices, one named the LIFT, selling for $90, and a second, less expensive model, the $50 LIFTer! I admit that I was intrigued, but it was only after meeting Sal in LA during Hi-Fi '98 that I decided to give 'em a whirl.

Very shortly, a small package containing the LIFT and its little brother, the LIFTer, arrived at my listening room door. Beautifully designed and exquisitely appointed, the LIFT utilizes two individually adjustable round legs fashioned of chrome-plated bronze, which are each pivoted at a fixed, shared center point. The support leg of the device is attached to the table via Blue Tack or silicone adhesive at a critical position (more on that soon), leaving the pivot leg free. Then, as the tone arm nudges the upright free leg, it is free to fall around the pivot, lifting the tone arm and its precious cartridge off the record and out of harms way.

Each of the two legs comprises a smaller rod set within a larger tube, using the tiniest of hex-head screws to "set" the appropriate adjustable height of each leg. The critical and proper length adjustment of each leg is achieved by loosening the set screw (with the provided hex wrench) and adjusting the inner rod to the desired length inside the larger tube. The support leg is adjusted to accommodate the correct height for pickup, while the free leg is adjusted to arrive at the length which provides the right mass to just lift the arm up and hold it off the record without launching it into space. This can easily happen while you are setting up the device, so I strongly recommend that you either be sure to affix your stylus guard securely or use an old, worn stylus of similar mass so that you don't inadvertently damage your first team!

I recommend the use of 'Fun-Tac', or something similar, available in most home improvement stores for under $3 a package, which allows for all the installing, testing, removal, adjustment, and subsequent reinstallation of the LIFT until it is "dialed in." More on this set up process later, as it applies to both units. This trial-and-error setup technique took me all of ten minutes. Once set up properly, all heights adjusted for maximum performance, I reinstalled the dust cover on my Linn. Hummmm. It wouldn't close properly! The LIFT held it up just a tad, not allowing it to touch down at the front of the table! My Linn dust cover was too shallow. Guess what? Same deal with my Oracle. Well folks, Sal was listening. Enter the LIFTer.

The LIFTer

LIFTer

The LIFTer is the newer, simpler version of its more costly sibling. Fashioned of aluminum and anodized black, the LIFTer is realized a bit differently, but every bit as cleverly. In its case, the upright leg is a flat L-shaped span with a hollow, round tube as the free leg attached at a similar pivot point. Here, adjustments are made by loosening a number-one Phillips head screw holding the pivot point, then sliding the free leg up or down in a long vertical groove in the stationary arm rather than adjusting each legs individual height. Mechanically much simpler, but every bit as effective.

The original LIFT has one fixed counter-weight attached to the top of the free leg, and one uses height adjustment of that free leg to select the effective lifting mass. With the LIFTer, two different threaded hex head bolts are provided--one longer and heavier than the other--which thread into the top of the hollow, tapped, free leg to adjust and set the correct mass for lifting and holding the tone arm off the record. In my application, I required the heavier, longer of the two included "counter balance" weights, and the adjustment has that weight screwed in about one-third of its length into the tapped free leg.

Setup and Adjustment

Both devices come with a long, narrow section of loop material and a shorter, equally narrow section of hook material (can you say Velcro™?). Apply the longer piece of loop material to the front side of the free leg of the LIFT or LIFTer so that the tone arm hits this material rather than the metal of the free leg. For those of you out there with severely tapered tone arms, you may also apply the shorter section of hook material to the BOTTOM of your tone arm where it meets the free lifting arm. Then, upon activation, it can catch on the loop section you have applied to the front of the free leg of either device, holding it in place, preventing it from sliding off the free arm. What a simple stroke of genius! In my case, just using the softer loop material on the contact point of the free leg alleviated the "whoomp" noise that my arm used to exhibit as the free leg would pivot and hoist the tonearm. Not an insignificant accomplishment, to be sure.

For adjusting either of the devices, I recommend to start with the pivot point just about level with, or slightly lower than, the tone arm's gimbals or pivot point. This gets the height for the pivot in the ballpark. Final height placement will come only with repeated testing. Using 'Fun Tac' on the base of either unit, temporarily attach it to the plinth or arm board between the tone arm and the platter. Get an old record, preferably one with a really narrow run-out band; one having a relatively short space between the last musically modulated groove and the final run-out groove. I used my Mobile Fidelity copy of Supertramp's Crime of the Century (Mobile Fidelity 1-005) for final placement as it has a very narrow run out band at the end of side one. Set the LIFT or LIFTer to engage the arm just before the final run-out groove so that it will not pick up your arm prematurely. Musica Interruptus is almost as bad as… well, you get the picture.

Now, position either device on the turntable plinth or arm board so that the tonearm just touches the loop material as it starts into the run out grooves. If it makes contact too soon, move the device back and away from the tone arm; if too late, move it forward and towards the tone arm. This may take a few minutes of trial and error for you to arrive at the optimum placement, but don't give up too soon! The reward of perfect placement are well worth the extra five minutes. Once I located the correct placement, I decided to just stay with the 'Fun Tac' I had been using for setup as my final adhesive. This worked pretty well for a while, but upon returning home after a particularly warm day, I discovered that the Blue Tack had softened somewhat (with the AC set a bit higher while I was gone) and the LIFTer had leaned outward toward the tone arm. I decided, as you might, to affix it with a Silicone Rubber Cement. It will peel off completely should you need to reposition the device if you change arms or tables. Once that silicone set, I haven't had to touch it again!

My experiences with the LIFT proved it to be a truly exquisitely machined, highly adjustable and flawlessly executed device which brings out the pride of ownership in even the most-difficult-to-please. For me, however, having long been considered a "champion of the economically challenged," even had the elegant LIFT not prevented my dust cover from seating properly, I likely would have opted for the LIFTer. At less than sixty percent the cost of the LIFT, it does the job every bit as splendidly and it comes in my favorite lack of all colors--black! Those of you with tables that will permit the use of the properly adjusted LIFT will no doubt love the elegant appearance the chrome finish offers. For me, in the finally analysis, the device is first and foremost a tool. They both work masterfully, yet one does the job and still leaves me another forty bucks for music. For me it is a no-brainer.

Sal at Express Machining has developed what any vinyl fan must consider a vital accessory; no make that a necessory! Those of you with automatic tables that lift the arm and the replace it to its start position after each play, you really shouldn't be using them anyway! You're doing irrevocable damage your precious records each play! Find a great manual table and then call Sal to order your own LIFT or LIFTer. These devices are quite simply a MUST HAVE product for any true vinyl adherent. WAY RECOMMENDED!