New arrival

[Idlewithnodrive]

New toy :)

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac143/TheMJMan/CIMG4873_zps42d38b75.jpg


Lovely little TT for the money. Typical idler drive and dynamics / bass slam, fast but still reasonably refined.

Little bit disappointed though, as despite it being in excellent overall condition it arrived with a slightly noisy motor. Not too bad but you can hear it when the music isn't playing.

Need to sort that.

[struth]

Looks very tidy Mike. Nice plinth

[Idlewithnodrive]

Looks very tidy Mike. Nice plinth

Thanks Grant.

It is a really nice little unit and is perfectly acceptable sonically too :), especially for the money.

[dantheman91]

:yesbruv:

I only paid £5 for mine in MINT condition too for that price i think its staying with me for the foreseeable future

[istari_knight]

Looking good Mike :)

[Beobloke]

Nice deck!

The motor comes apart easily enough for cleaning and lubrication but, whatever you do, DON'T FORGET to put the covers onto the long screws that hold the motor together before you reassemble it.

The first one I owned cost me £4 at a car boot sale and had been subject to some attention by its previous owner, but he didn't re-fit this cover to one of the screws before re-assembling. As a consequence, the screw ripped through the motor windings as it was put back together. Result - one dead motor. It took me nearly 2 years to find a donor unit, as this was in the days before forums and eBay!

[DSJR]

Another convert. Steady chaps, as the prices of these are rising :)

Don't know the cartridge (Ortofon or AT?), but with a cheap cork mat (these like idler drives IMO) added to the existing one, the arm should be level, more or less, with most cartridges. Just don't use hyper-fussy line profile styli :)

[Idlewithnodrive]

Another convert. Steady chaps, as the prices of these are rising :)

Don't know the cartridge (Ortofon or AT?), but with a cheap cork mat (these like idler drives IMO) added to the existing one, the arm should be level, more or less, with most cartridges. Just don't use hyper-fussy line profile styli :)

It's one of my old faves Dave, an Ortofon VMS30 MkII, so it is a nude fine line profile but not uber fussy. Already have a cork mat on order.

Not at all bad sounding to these ears.

[Floyddroid]

Nice.

[Idlewithnodrive]

So, a quick update.

Motor dismantled, cleaned and oiled, thin cork mat under a 3mm Achromat (also solves the VTA 'problem'), weedy baseboard removed and we are in business :)

Dead silent now; no motor noise or rumble.

Fitted with a Pickering XV-15/625E sans brush and, Houston, we have sweet sweet music.

Really quite good for a cheapy deck. Very enjoyable indeed.

Pleased :gig:

[istari_knight]

Nice one Mike, I'm so pleased you managed to sort the motor noise :clap:

I really miss it so am on the lookout for another [theres one on eBay :eyebrows:]

[Idlewithnodrive]

I saw that James; in good nick it seems and a very good price.

As Adam said, it's really easy to remove the motor and separate the shell to get at the internals, so easy to work on.

That Pickering cart isn't too shoddy either.

Sounds nice now (and looks lovely :) ).

[dantheman91]

Using one ATM and still sounds good..:) Though completely bog standard :eyebrows: not a bad toy.............

[Idlewithnodrive]

This is how we're looking now.

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac143/TheMJMan/6b844516-43b7-464d-94de-0ad90d50bf14_zpsec0b058e.jpg

Really enjoying this now.

Don't think it'll replace my TD125 but it's a nice bolt on :)

[istari_knight]

Ooh thats looking proper :cool:

Nice Bellari, I had one years ago... Underrated IMO.

[Idlewithnodrive]

Cheers James.

I've now put a 3mm Achromat under the thin cork mat which has totally sorted VTA issues and everything is now locked in focus.

Yes, the Bellari is a bit of a sleeper.

Very enjoyable, musical and even getting towards hi-fi sounding rig now.

[Idlewithnodrive]

I knew I could get a lot more out of this deck and boy have I ?

I've now lightly damped the top plate and resonant plinth, added a heavyweight 18 mm MDF baseboard, serviced and regreased / oiled all of the links, bearings and anything else I could find to grease / oil (it now runs totally quietly, even with your ear on the plinth), added a Cork / Rubber composite mat atop a 3mm Achromat, added some isolation feet and installed an AN IQ2 cart and it sounds amazing.

I have always loved some of the things that other idlers I have owned do so well (drive, timing, great bass / bass slam and dynamics) but found other areas a bit lacking (refinement, tonal shading and textures, fluid presentation, lack of real subtlety (micro-dynamics ?) ) but with this deck I seem to have got that as well. Plenty of detail but subtle with it, great soundstage, controlled, deep bass, just an altogether more together presentation.

In fact, it has convincingly bettered my TD125 / SME / SPU as my deck of choice. Love it. Doesn't look too ropey either :)

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac143/TheMJMan/CIMG4948_zpsf5b5ff5f.jpg

[walpurgis]

Very nice Mike. I've always liked Duals. I agree with James about the Bellari, underrated and surprisingly good.

[struth]

Thats great Mike...now I know why your selling the 125 :eyebrows: I hope my project turns out as well.... what are the feet called?

[Idlewithnodrive]

Couple more changes and the rest of the system, sort of :)


http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac143/TheMJMan/ffa1205e-643f-4d2b-bec5-f6d0f4043088_zps63ac157f.jpg


Must get me some proper stands for the Dittons :)