Advice on getting best from battered 1210

[CageyH]

£500 to £600 pound budget and charity shop records?
You need to factor in a cheap way of cleaning the vinyl, such as a Knosti Discostat or a Spin Cleaner.
You'll want a decent stylus - 2nd hand would give you a good option as long as it is not worn out or damaged.
A record mat of some description - I use a Funk Firm Achromat.
As for the feet - you could try a set of Techniboots from David at MCRU. If you ask nicely, they could be sale or return. He also sell Isonoes, but they are expensive for a limited budget.

I'd budget for £80 to clean the records - this is important, as a dirty record will always sound bad.
Techniboots - £40 (These "may" give a good enough benefit used on standard feet).
Achromat - £75 - You may be able to get a cheaper mat, but I have no experience of these.
Externalise PSU - £60 - cheaper without the regulator mods.
Cartridge - £150 for a good one second hand - or a bit more for a new AT440MLA.
KAB fluid damper - £150 (You may find better use for this cash!)
A decent head shell - such as a Sumiko HS-12 - £40

That's £600 gone....

[CageyH]

And that didn't address your broken arm.
What you need is a forum member who has just upgraded their arm to sell off the stock techy.

[kininigin]

If it was me with that budget,this is how i would spend it! (Using an apple keyboard and can't find the pound sign!)

Funk firm mat $75

Bearing $22

new arm $40-60

sorbo feet $15-20

Cartridge Nagaoka mp110 $66

Oyaide headshell $100

Re-wired arm and foam filled $180

That's about $500 give or take,depending if you shop around! If you wanted to spend an extra hundred,then maybe a spin clean and then buy/make some cleaning fluid! Or if you are capable externalise the psu! Boom done!

[Andrei]

If it was me with that budget,this is how i would spend it! (Using an apple keyboard and can't find the pound sign!)
Funk firm mat $75
Bearing $22
new arm $40-60
sorbo feet $15-20
Cartridge Nagaoka mp110 $66
Oyaide headshell $100
Re-wired arm and foam filled $180
That's about $500 give or take,depending if you shop around! If you wanted to spend an extra hundred,then maybe a spin clean and then buy/make some cleaning fluid! Or if you are capable externalise the psu! Boom done!

+1
If you are a serious DIY er then there is a great thread here in the Techiepedia on how to take out the PSU: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...ight=regulator
(PS Darren if you are on Windows you can hold down the Alt key while typing 0163 and this produces the £ sign)

[kininigin]

+1
If you are a serious DIY er then there is a great thread here in the Techiepedia on how to take out the PSU: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...ight=regulator
(PS Darren if you are on Windows you can hold down the Alt key while typing 0163 and this produces the £ sign)

I've skimmed over that thread and it's very interesting! I now have 2 standard 1200's which i use for mixing and will want to do some light mods on them and this will definitely be one of them! I will then purchase a 3rd for my serious listening and mod the hell out of it to the best of my ability! Thanks for the keyboard tip,it was bugging the hell out of me!

[33 1/3]

Hi guys... been away a while sourcing parts. I've got me an arm, and a new spindle which I'm going to attempt to fit tonight.

The external PSU I'm still umming and ahhing about. Has anyone got a before and after set of waveforms, or even better sound files of what exactly it would be cutting out? I've looked and looked and can't find anyone with hard examples of what is supposed to be a dramatic change, just pages of flowery descriptions.

My next purchase will be cartridge/stylus. I'll read up on the couple that've already been suggested. Would be grateful of any other recommendations.
Remember I'm gonna be trying to get the best out of quite worn records. Some of it's spoken word, but most is easy listening from 60s and 70s (so likely to be more trebly and not to have that much bass to it).

BTW Do surface scratches damage styluses? Should I keep one for really bad stuff, and one for the better condition vinyl?

I was also gonna budget separately for some record cleaning, as suggested above. I'm finding it a bit of a minefield of information though - some people swearing by certain methods, and others saying it'll wreck the vinyl long term. I was in a 2nd hand record shop last week and the owner was happily cleaning his stock with babywipes! :-O

[Andrei]

The external PSU I'm still umming and ahhing about. Has anyone got a before and after set of waveforms, or even better sound files of what exactly it would be cutting out? I've looked and looked and can't find anyone with hard examples of what is supposed to be a dramatic change, just pages of flowery descriptions.

I would be very surprised if you found any waveforms. I too could only give you a flowery description.

BTW Do surface scratches damage styluses? Should I keep one for really bad stuff, and one for the better condition vinyl?

I don't know the answer to that one. My guess is that shape of the stylus could make a difference. I think a spherical tip would not go so deep into the groove, and would therefore be more susceptible to surface scratches.

I was also gonna budget separately for some record cleaning, as suggested above. I'm finding it a bit of a minefield of information though - some people swearing by certain methods, and others saying it'll wreck the vinyl long term. I was in a 2nd hand record shop last week and the owner was happily cleaning his stock with babywipes!

Given the type of vinyl you will be recording a vinyl cleaner would be the single best improvement you could make.

[33 1/3]

Please help! I've got a replacement second hand tonearm, and whilst fitting it I took the thin metal baseplate off to look inside.

As I turned the tonearm unit around I heard a rattle from inside, and then out fell a small white plastic nut. I've no idea where it came from and can't see anywhere obvious. It could've been left in by the previous owner??. But then I looked on the floor and there was another one! The second one could have falen out of my existing arm setup I suppose, or both from the 'new' second hand arm I don't know.

Can anyone help, it's driving me mad. Photo below of one of the nuts for identification. It's about 7mm diameter.
Is it part of the tonearm setup and if so where does it go?

[CageyH]

I have no idea, and I couldn't see them in the service manual (available on vinyl engine).

[CageyH]

I googled "sl1200 tonearm exploded view" to check, and I can't see them there either.