A Beobloke blog - Beoblog?

[Barry]

It's a Thorens TP13A arm, fitted as standard to the Mk. II versions of the Thorens TD150.

It's a good arm, though you are limited by the use of Thorens headshell and their unique arm coupling arrangement.

[Marco]

Cheers, Barry. I like 'fat' headshells like that, and the retro looks of the arm suit the turntable, but no doubt Adam will soon strap some modern SME onto it

What's the cartridge, Adam?

Marco.

[Beobloke]

Thanks for that Marco – it is rather neat, I will admit, but the plinth definitely doesn’t do the unit justice, sonically!

The story is that it belonged to our friend’s father; a chap called Derrick. He was a bit of a hi-fi fan and we used to chat regularly about this when one day he mentioned that he had this old 401 tucked away. Well, I nagged him about getting it back up and running but nothing happened until our friend grabbed it without his knowledge when she was visiting, with the intention of getting it fixed for a birthday present.

I cleaned and serviced it, her husband is a carpenter by trade and so made the plinth and then I sourced the arm and cartridge for it. The arm is a Thorens TP-13A and was originally fitted to the Thorens TD-150MkII. It’s a surprisingly good arm that cost me around £30 IIRC, but handily came with the original Thorens arm lift. This would have normally had a separate control on the original Thorens deck, but I linked it into the Garrard’s on/off switch so that when you start the deck, the arm lowers – Derrick had a major stroke around 30 years ago and so was in a wheelchair with greatly reduced mobility in his limbs. The cartridge is a good old Audio Technica AT-95E – again a sturdy and reliable performer but, importantly, with a cheap replaceable stylus in case of any accidents!

Well, Derrick was thrilled with it and used it a great deal over the 8 or so years he had it until he passed away about 7 years ago. It’s been sitting in his study gathering dust ever since until our friend cleared it out a few weeks ago. As mentioned, his widow hadn’t touched anything but her brother died recently too and she’s been sorting his house out, so I think she decided it was time to clear Derrick’s stuff as well. As a result, I have a massive pile of CD players, amplifiers, double cassette decks, speakers, subwoofers and a beautiful old portable stereo record player with a flip-down front to reveal the deck to sort out and sell.

As to the 401, our friend and her hubby have decided they’re keeping it as it’s almost a family heirloom. And rest assured, the arm won't be changing - they want it left just as it is, although I might try and persuade him to make a better plinth for it!

As an aside, it has inspired my to sort out my own Garrard 301. It's been sitting armless and gathering dust since I bought the Nakamichi nearly 6 years ago. Need to get my Alphason HR-100S onto it and get it back into use again.

[Beobloke]

New toys! New toys!

First up, a new needle for me gramophone - Ortofon Cadenza Black.



This is intended to replace my old Kontrapunkt b which shed its diamond a few years back. However, in true audiophile style, the arrival of the new one has prompted me to sort out getting the old one re-tipped . It’s off to Expert Stylus Company next week.

[Beobloke]

Second toy is another turntable, you’ll be amazed to hear. It’s a very rare Vestax - the PDX-8000. I had one and it was brilliant - I should never have sold it.

Even better, this one’s boxed, mint and unused.

[Beobloke]

I was contacted over the weekend by a very nice chap I've had dealings with before. He said he'd been trying to sell some B&O gear but that no-one seemed to want it, so was I interested in the lot for £250 as he needed it gone? He then sent me some photos.

Let's just say, I didn't need to be asked twice...

[struth]

very nice Adam.. great scoop

[Macca]

bloody hell.

[Alex_UK]

Wowzers!

[Puffin]

Is it as good as Amstrad?