DSJR's Turntable Adventures..

[DSJR]

After some friendly but invigorating debate on the pro's and con's of LP reproduction and the hint that I might not have ever had a decent turntable system at home, I thought I'd share a little of what I've been up to recently.

At one time, I owned this:-

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/1990Mentor2.jpg

...and very good indeed it was too! feeding an ARC SP14 and then my first Croft, it sounded way better than any other turntable I'd heard up to that point and apparently, it's sort of equivalent to an NAS Hyperspace today.

Sadly for me, it's wonderful sound relied heavily on the Decca cartridge I still have and when a mortgage and cartridge failure occurred, I could never get the same sound quality out of it. The early AVI preamp I started using (the Croft didn't like long interconnects) didn't have a phono stage with it and we all know how good Glenn's phono stages are... A massive repair bill on my money-pit Citroen meant it had to go. Now the Decca's been repaired I wish I'd persevered, but there we are...

Recently, some very kind people have taken pity on my current financial plight and have given or sold me some bits for very little dosh and here they are:-

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/DSCF0411.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/KenwoodArm2.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/DSCF0388.jpg

As I'm back with another old Croft pre, I'm enclosing a piccie of that too..

The B&O deck has always been a favourite of mine. The sub-chassis on this "3000" model is a heavy casting which bounces better than most LP12's... The drive is a TD124 like idler/belt drive and the torque seems quite strong still, the motor having been re-lubricated at some point, the belt is fine with no stretch. The cartridges fitted to these decks are really good and remind me a little of the drive and sparkle of the Decca's I love so much and once fettled, this particular Beogram can cut it with any Rega I found (superior drive, even if the arm isn't as good).

The Technics is the interesting one. The base has cracks and heavy handedness on my part caused me to re-glue with super-glue AND Araldite Rapid one of the foot mountings, which had been glued before. I wonder if any of these parts may still be available from Panasonic, as sometimes they are if they're old stock? The speed was all over the place, but spraying some switch cleaner/lubricant on the speed pots and main switch completely cleared this and the deck runs smooth and sweet at both speeds - the servo is very light, with no hunting unless you deliberately slow the platter by hand...

The arm was donated by a fellow poster here (thanks again Paul) and needs re-wiring. The donor deck had a fair review at the time and the only "hangup" could be the higher-than-average horizontal arm friction, which is still consistent and smooth and no problem for a 1.5+g tracker anyway.

Finally, I've also been given a Rega R200 arm, again in need of re-wiring from the base if nothing else! I haven't yet ascertained if the bias dial is working (a regular cause of old-age failure on these) but if it is, should I try this as well? The fixings are similar but the Kenwood arm needs three extra holes to be drilled to hold the base, with a magnificent locking ring like a drill chuck, to lock the pillar in place.

It'll be interesting to hear these decks again and see what they sound like. The Dual 701 is still giving good service, although the stay on the arm-rest lock crumbled away a couple of weeks ago. Another kindly poster (Shane) very kindly donated bits from his 701 which he's cannibalised..



So, has anyone else got experience with these old non-SL1200 II's? The SL150 was a good sounding deck with less feedback than its brethren of the period, so I'll be in the market for mat advice etc....

Thanks for reading this far. Any comments would be appreciated. In the meantime I'll continue to use the Dual and Micro CD player.....:gig:

[Clive]

I can't advise of the deck but I'm sure someone can help. Which Decca have you got and what stylus profile is it? I'm a big fan of Deccas, I have a piece coming on enjoythemusic re the Super Gold and Jubilee. Doing that piece cost me - I just had to buy the Jubilee (as John - Mr Music - expected). The way that Deccas (now Londons) work seems to take a more direct route to the music than just about any other cartridge.

[John]

I look forward to the review Clive please post link when reviewed

[DSJR]

I can't advise of the deck but I'm sure someone can help. Which Decca have you got and what stylus profile is it? I'm a big fan of Deccas, I have a piece coming on enjoythemusic re the Super Gold and Jubilee. Doing that piece cost me - I just had to buy the Jubilee (as John - Mr Music - expected). The way that Deccas (now Londons) work seems to take a more direct route to the music than just about any other cartridge.

The Decca is a Gold Garrott Microscanner with a bastin clamp not dissimilar to the DeccaPod of yesteryear.

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/TheeDecca1-1.jpg

I love the way a good Decca has with music. A found a VDH tipped Decca Silver for a mate and this lives with a NAS Omega Point arm with a Bastin Plinthed 301. Both of these seem to have much less of a nasal "snap" as the stylus hits the groove. Good ones also lack the nasty resonances above 10KHz which gave the marque a reputation for cutting their own 19KHz signal into the record grooves.

The other thing with Decca's is their ruler flat response from low bass to 11KHz or so, no bass up-treble down here. They are delicate though and easily damaged due to internals coming unstuck (in the "London" varients from the seventies anyway.) Mine has been re-built by an ex-Decca engineer and I eagerly await the chance to use it once again.

[Clive]

For sure Deccas / Londons come with a considerable heritage given the many years they have been available. In their time they've had their issues over "record cutting", high tracking weight and hum.

Record cutting is a thing of the past, the new ones don't do this, indeed if you look inside a brand new London it's possible to see what's changed immediately. Tracking weight is now down to 1.8g. Hum performance is good too although they do demand good grounding. The stylus profile on most versions is extended line contact. The Deccapod is still available new too!

[Marco]

Nice collection, Dave! :cool:

I trust then that none of them had "squidgy, bloated bass distortion" or whatever? :lolsign:

;)

Marco.

[DSJR]

Oh shush.......:D

The B&O should be a very pleasant surprise, although the auto trip isn't as delicate as the Dual (I've cleaned most of the added (!) oil off, but it still needs a solvent cleaner of some sort on the cam wheel). Unlike the others they made, this one has some substance to it...

The Techie is the one that interests me the most though. Money is viciously tight right now though, so it'll have to be a slow restoration process for the arms and armboard purchase. Sound Supports used to do a Rega cut plate for the SL120/150 and I noticed Johnnie 7 (Audio Origami) made some lovely spacers for the R200 arm (I need the Rega plastic original - anyone got one going spare?) and this may do great for a custom height for the low-slung platter.

Glad that the Decca way of doing things is still alive and well. Mine tracks at around 1.8 grammes IIRC and never became unsettled on loud passages. Marco, as and when, I'd love you to try one with a suitable DeccaPod style mount. That'll hopefully go some way towards telling you what I mean about "most" LP systems I think - most cartridges do sound bloated and "swimmy" by comparison, although I heard a ZYX singing well last year at HiFi Dave's on a NAS Dias with 12" AceSpace.

[Iain Sinclair]

That'll hopefully go some way towards telling you what I mean about "most" LP systems I think - most cartridges do sound bloated and "swimmy" by comparison, although I heard a ZYX singing well last year at HiFi Dave's on a NAS Dias with 12" AceSpace.

I've heard bloated and swimmy record decks too; mostly of the belt-driven type, but the Roksan is neither bloated nor swimmy.

[DSJR]

I'm still a fan of NAS decks myself.

Of all of them, I'm looking forward to getting the Technics SL150 going. I've checked the R200 Rega arm and the bias is working. I've also recued the Nagaoka and Rega headshells and will get the Rega re-wired first I think.

What's the current thinking on mats for the Technics platter? The feet are much softer than I remember the other Techies having as well.

[DSJR]

My re-education regarding vinyl reproduction continues.....

As part of the box of goodies and scrap I received was an Ortofon MC30 Super. I dug out my old microscope from my school-days, cleaned it up and examined the tip along with a few others. The V15 IV had a slight bit of wear on one face, so was dicarded for now. The Empire 2000E IV had a nail on the end of the cantilever (and this was supposed to be the best of this series, although the 2000E III was the most popular), but the Ortofon looked great, so I fitted it to a Dual headslide and off I went with a pair of Sony (Ortofon) transformers in series.

You know, the results were much better than I expected. When I last used one of these cartridges on an LP12/Ittok, the bass seemed "detached" and the treble was crisp but "different" in quality to the bass, the whole not "gelling" the way I'd have liked. In the Dual, the heavy cartridge body stops any midrange energy feeding into the arm and this helps as the Dual detachable headslide affair isn't too solid structurally. The bass is light rather than ploddy and the treble remains crisp and clean, but with no "edge." Tracking is still good after twenty years too, at around 1.8 grammes and using the "CD4" bias scale on the Dual.

So, tiny movement forwards for me, but at least I'm beginning to get a trace of the solidity you guys are used to. I'm enjoying myself, tinkering on the one hand and improving (slowly) the sound of my records for peanuts. Long may it continue..