Connoisseur 'BD1' are great i bought one last week :eyebrows:
Printable View
Connoisseur 'BD1' are great i bought one last week :eyebrows:
Have you used it yet? If so how's it set up and with what arm & cart?
Nice one, Andr'e. Have you spun any prog on it yet?
The bd1 is indirectly responsible for me getting started with hi-fi - my cousin getting one (with a SAU2 arm, I think) meant his Garrard SP25 mk 3 was surplus to requirements, so he passed the Garrard on to me and the rest is history :)
That's funny. I went from an SP25 Mk.III to a BD1 too. Then a few years later onto a TD150!
It's still sat here in the box, i'm in the middle of making a plinth for it. I'll be fitting my Mayware 'Formula 4' arm/ADC '26' cart for time being.
Intresting that you use Ferrograph 'F307' amp being my Fav vintage amp :eyebrows: & also funny you prefer the unit without the notch & speed change lever because i purposly bought this example because it had those two details ... :lol:
I do need a new belt as i cocked up this afternoon & lost a NOS original belt on auction :steam: I really don't like buying modern compatable belts for decks..
The Mayware/ADC26 combo should be nice. You probably know this, but the Mayware may be best used with the tracking force weight moved right back and the downforce set with a balance, otherwise you might have arm mass conflicts with the high ADC compliance.
The F307 was truly well built, on a par with the Quads. The contemporary Radfords/Leaks/Metrosounds and Sugdens, etc., etc., may have sounded good enough, but were not finished as well. I know, I owned them all at one time or another. The Ferrograph was always slightly prone to hum though. It came as a shock when after a couple of years I replaced it with a Rotel RA-611, which completely outclassed it in every way!
The notch on the later BD1 pulley tends to 'clip' the belt on each rotation and makes a noise, this can also affect speed stability. The speed changer can also foul the belt as the motor suspension settles, the speed can be changed by hand so easily, its not worth retaining the changer.
I think if you do a search on the net, you'll find the belts and other parts still available. The supplier was Technical & General, Box 53, Crowborough, TN6 2BY (01892 654534). I did business with them a few times. They were a rather secretive lot years ago, dealing with military/government contracts I suspect.
Just had a rummage, I've got five old belts and four new ones, two spare motors and a spare new main bearing. I expect the old belts are knackered, but I can spare a new belt if you want one, they are genuine. Make me a sensible offer if you like.
Hi Geoff
You sound like a man i can clearly converse with on AOS which seems like a breath of fresh air, others seem obsessesed with the usualy run of the mill rubbish lol.
Actually even though i love the 'F307' i spend more time listerning to an old late 60's Trio 'TK150T' (Pre KA2000), i have loads of amps this era :lol: piles of them in every available corner :rfl:
http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/...Picture128.jpg
Awesome, i'm always on the look outfor late 60's jap amps especialy the Rotel 100 which is very hard to locate... in my eyes the ADC '26' is the best ever cartridge' :eyebrows:
Ah, I sold off a couple of Trio KA2000A amplifiers not too long ago. That's the later, but basically similar model to the KA2000, but has the half chrome finish control panel. They are very under-rated amplifiers and sound extremely good, a lot like the first Sugden A21, i.e., very detailed, transparent and clean!
I've now stopped buying old (classic?) japanese gear. I simply don't have room. All I'm keeping are two turntables, a direct drive Toshiba SR-370 that weighs a ton and a belt drive Pioneer PL61, that's the big job with separate arm and huge 'Hall Effect' motor. Both very good decks.
By the way, I've found something that has beaten the ADC cartridges (in my view). My old Technics EPC 305MC was definitely better in all respects, although I still love the ADCs. But even the Technics has been beaten. I now own three ZYX moving coil cartridges and find them astonishing, even the 'budget' R50 Bloom sounds fantastic.