Will be interested to hear more about this. I've been looking into options for an arm-lift device and wondering what might be a good way to go. Looks like
Audio Technica makes a good one, but it's more than 2x the cost of the Q-up you mention.
While the Q up is the economical choice, the AT 6006R was my choice. It was the only tonearm lifter I could find a ic of on a Mofi, it looks better, and it seems to be much smoother in operation than others I looked into. It should arrive in a couple days and I'll be sure to share how it works out.
I'd like to review my experience with sending the table back. It all started with an email to support and then a follow up call. I was warned that due to Covid the turnaround time could be lengthy. OK, but lengthy is a relative term...turns out that would three months. I still had other tables to listen to and was super busy this summer/fall so it wasn't a huge concern for me.
I'm not going to throw anyone under the bus or heap praise where it's not due. The first person I was in contact with was incredibly friendly, seemed genuinely concerned and had no issues with this being a second hand turntable. He told me the Mofi name is on that table and we're going to stand behind it. There were no promises made, but an assurance I'd be taken care of. if it was a minor issue, I wouldn't be charged. I was then handed off to a 2nd individual. This is where things changed a bit. Emails were sent requesting the serial #...twice. The fluid communication began to get choppy and I had to send multiple before I'd get a reply days later. I was eventually sent the RMA and address to send the table to. Done. A few weeks later, I got an email stating the issues they have found:
“During the unboxing we discovered some minor damage on the plinth right next to the spindle, and the platter was scratched.
Inspection – Our technician did not find anything binding on the tonearm. He did state that it looked like someone had adjusted it out of factory calibration. Tonearm was not at the factory set vertical height and the Headshell was tilted a few degrees out of factory alignment and cracked. He was able to level the Headshell and re-set the vertical height. It passed all tests with a factory cartridge. He also noted that the Platform is cracked in two spots.”
I was quoted $39 for the headshell and 299 for the platter. I declined the platter as the scratch was superficial, no question wanted the headshell replaced. That was mid October. This is where things got even more sporadic. I'm not a pushy person, but the squeaky wheel gets attention...I would send a friendly "any update" about every two weeks. I didn't get much in the way of updates, more or less, "i'll check with the factory", then nothing.
Sometime in December I got an email about being done and so and so would contact me for invoicing. Nothing. Then an email, sorry this has taken so long we're shipping it out no charge, we'll contact you with a tracking number. A week later I pull in the driveway and there it sat.
I have NO negative feelings toward Mofi, I just have my side of the story. I have no idea if they are shorthanded, busy, sick, etc...They did an amazing job, at first I thought they just sent me a new table, it took a close inspection to show it was my table. I'm putting this out there just to share my experience. A few pages ago someone else may have sent a table back, maybe this helps them know what to expect.
Also, a few pages ago someone pointed out there seems to be many issues with these tables. That's always the case in forums, isn't it? The overall percentage of bad tables I've read about is low and the best I can tell is Mofi stood up to it's name and solved those issues. Yeah, broken stuff is a pain in the ass, but it's worse when the manufacture tells you to pound salt.
All that said, I'm still sort of in the dark about the original issue. The instruction manual in my opinion is lacking. The section on VTA makes no mention of how far is too far, don't do this, etc. To this day, I have no clue wtf I did to get a three month timeout. I'd love a peak at the service manual, perhaps that would shed some light.
