Heybrook TT2 w. RB300 -- cartridge recommendations

[Svend N]

The idler Duals are pretty good and the 1010 should be well worth reviving.

Hey! Great news Geoff. Thanks for the insight. I will take a closer look at it, but all bits seem to be there, incl. the funny cartridge mounting bracket. I wonder if the arm is easily swappable with another? Looks like major surgery might be needed for that. BTW, there is a fellow near me (close to London, Ontario) who refurbishes only vintage Duals, and loves working on the idler drives. He charges only C$200 to re-'n-re most any Dual, even in non-working condition. It would be well worth bringing it to him.

Cheers,
Svend

[freefallrob]

The Dual 1010 was my first turntable, it sounded great, I knew it but I didn't know it if you know what I mean, my Dad bought me a Tandy/Realistic badged Shure cartridge for it, happy days!

Re the Heybrook TT2, they are also a lovely TT, wish I still had it, but it's being very well looked after in it's new home. For a cartridge to suit the RB300 i'd go for a Rega Exact, it's VERY good and very over looked.

[walpurgis]

I'm reasonably handy with tools, and have done some complex brute jobs (e.g. cylinder head on an '85 Saab 900) and some finer work too (numerous vintage camera lenses with leaf shutters)

Me too. Rebuilt quite a few engines. But, I took an internally dusty 50mm f1.4 (Zeiss) Practika lens apart and made the mistake of assuming the iris leaves were metal and wiped them with a quick drying spirit cleaner. Turned out they were plastic, so partly dissoved and bonded together. Result, dead lens! Good job it wasn't an expensive one.

[walpurgis]

Hey! Great news Geoff. Thanks for the insight. I will take a closer look at it, but all bits seem to be there, incl. the funny cartridge mounting bracket. I wonder if the arm is easily swappable with another? Looks like major surgery might be needed for that. BTW, there is a fellow near me (close to London, Ontario) who refurbishes only vintage Duals, and loves working on the idler drives. He charges only C$200 to re-n-re most any Dual, even in non-working condition. It would be well worth bringing it to him.

Cheers,
Svend

The arm is good, despite its old fashioned looks, use it. I've seen them with decent MC cartridges in. You are lucky to have the cartridge carrier, they are often missing and a bit scarce.

[Svend N]

Rob, Geoff -- sounds like the Dual is a nice find! Thanks for your feedback. The arm looks really light, so I'm thinking that a high compliance cart like a Shure might work very well. I have an M-111HE with a new stylus (N97XE) that's sitting at the end of a heavy-ish arm on an old Technics DD deck (a cheap one, not a 1200 or the like)....it's a nice cartridge, but a bit of a mismatch for the arm I think. A move to the Dual might be just the thing.

My Mother is happy to let me have it. She listens to a Kenwood KD-2055 deck with an Empire 4000XL III cartridge -- sounds really rather good, I must say. She won't miss the Dual, as it's been sitting unused in the basement for decades.

Regards,
Svend

[Svend N]

Me too. Rebuilt quite a few engines. But, I took an internally dusty 50mm f1.4 (Zeiss) Practika lens apart and made the mistake of assuming the iris leaves were metal and wiped them with a quick drying spirit cleaner. Turned out they were plastic, so partly dissoved and bonded together. Result, dead lens! Good job it wasn't an expensive one.

Ouch! I'm sure the air was blue after that little discovery. I did the same with the little red film winding window on the back of a 1950's Agfa folding medium format camera (made before the invention of film counting numbers on 120 roll film cameras) -- I touched it with some lighter fluid solvent and the plastic instantly blistered. It's barely usable now. Shame, as the lens in that camera is a beaut! But it's not much good if you can't see the film frame numbers.

[Svend N]

The Dual 1010 was my first turntable, it sounded great, I knew it but I didn't know it if you know what I mean, my Dad bought me a Tandy/Realistic badged Shure cartridge for it, happy days!

Re the Heybrook TT2, they are also a lovely TT, wish I still had it, but it's being very well looked after in it's new home. For a cartridge to suit the RB300 i'd go for a Rega Exact, it's VERY good and very over looked.

Rob, thanks for the recommendation of the Exact. I had never really considered it, to be honest. I will take a closer look at it now that you've suggested it. I recall some audio mag reviewers (might have been TAS) really liking it over the Elys. Some shops will give credit for old Rega carts as trade in, so I might be lucky and get a few bucks for the clapped out Elys that came with the Heybrook.

Cheers,
Svend

[walpurgis]

The Denon DL-110 high output moving coil cartridge is good value and works directly into MM inputs. It will work OK on a Rega arm.

If you spend a bit more, the Goldring Eroica LX low output MC sounds remarkable for its price and will also suit Regas, it will need an MC stage or SUT though. There is also a high out put version of this, which I've not tried, but is reputed to be very nice.

[freefallrob]

the Goldring Eroica LX low output MC sounds remarkable for its price

Yes I have first hand experience of this combination TT2/RB300/Eroica LX LO, it's very good indeed and like Geoff says, it's also perfect match for the arm.

[walpurgis]

The Goldrings also have the benefit of excellent back-up service from their UK manufacturer.