DSJR
03-05-2009, 15:04
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:
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: