Turntables - Advise on five estate sale finds...
Randy &/or Sherry
off busy with "stuff" and have lost track of things here... Hope
everyone is well.
Need some advice:
Saturday, Sherry and I went to the most unusual estate sale we've ever
been to- this was the third day of the sale- and though the auctioneer
kept up a VERY fast pace - it still took 9 hours to get through
everything. We knew the "best stuff" had sold in the first two days -
but since we're both into "vintage" stuff - we thought we'd go and see
anyway.
I won't bore you with the details - but this could have been a store
selling out - that had been in business since the 60s. Not just
"stuff" but in many instances - "stuff" by the case... he had
multiples of "stuff" that was unbelievable. And a lot was new, still
sealed in the box (anyone interested in an HPS5 or HPS10 personal
scope? or a palm Vx still sealed in its orginal box? or piles of car
audio installation stuff - like high-power installation kits?. How
about four courier SSB tranceivers? Or four Yaesu FT-225s? (and yes -
three of them were still in plastic bags - appeared new).
Anyway - in the garage - among the three Marantz Eighteen receivers
(one sold for $10)... was a stereo cabinet with:
Thorens 160D with a shure Me9eED Cart.
Thorens 125 (no tone arm - but cut out for an SME)
Harmon Kardon T60 with an ORTOFON OM30
JVC HR-S9500U Super VHS recorder/player
Thorens 160D no stylus nor headshell
Ariston RD11 with Shure SME tonearm and Grado Black Cartridge
I won't say what I paid for the whole thing (including the very nice
cabinet) people wouldn't believe me anyway - not sure I do...
OK - the JVC is easy - if it works - ebay for whatever it might bring
(I just bought a new VHS - a newer version of this one, in fact).
The Thorens 160s - I'll check them out to see if they work, etc. -
they will probably go as they are.
Same thing with the HK - (I didn't realize they made a table this nice
- the thing even has front-panel capacitive loading selection switch
to match whatever cartridge (I guess for those that change carts a lot
depending on what they are playing).
The Thorens 125 and the Ariton RD11 are the question. When I first
looked the RD11 over - I noted that the platter was dragging the motor
board - so I just figured the bearings were shot - and I'd move the
SME tone arm to the thorens 125 and junk the Ariston. But on closer
look - I found someone had loosened the sub-carriage nuts quite a bit
- not leaving the springs enough tension to hold the platter up ( the
outter platter alone weighs some 6+ pounds). Fixing that issue and
looking the thing over more carefully -it appears to be a high
quality turtable... and the bearrings are unbelievable. With the belt
off - give the table a gentle push (roughly 33 1/3 RPM) - and it will
slowly rotate for a long, long time. And absolutely silent.
I've never heard of Ariston - but... I'm thinking that with some TLC
(and a new belt) this could be a pretty fine turn-table for someone
wanting that type of unit (high-end -single speed; totally manual &
infinitely tweakable).
Any of you phono guys (gals) familiar with such a beast? What's your
thoughts...
TIA
best regards...
--
Randy
http://www.glimpsesofmeridian.com Trains, planes, Live steam and
stuff!
http://www.mcatos.org - Magnolia Chapter American Theater Organ
Society -- Keeping the MIGHTY in the Pipes!
William Sommerwerck
> (and a new belt) this could be a pretty fine turn-table for someone
> infinitely tweakable).
Ariston is a fairly well-known high-end table. (I don't think the company is
still in business.) If it's in good shape, you should be able to see it for
a decent price.
Sofa Slug
<snipped>
>
> The Thorens 125 and the Ariston RD11 are the question. When I first
> looked the RD11 over - I noted that the platter was dragging the motor
> board - so I just figured the bearings were shot - and I'd move the
> look - I found someone had loosened the sub-carriage nuts quite a bit
> - not leaving the springs enough tension to hold the platter up ( the
> outter platter alone weighs some 6+ pounds). Fixing that issue and
> looking the thing over more carefully -it appears to be a high
> off - give the table a gentle push (roughly 33 1/3 RPM) - and it will
> slowly rotate for a long, long time. And absolutely silent.
>
> I've never heard of Ariston - but... I'm thinking that with some TLC
> (and a new belt) this could be a pretty fine turn-table for someone
> wanting that type of unit (high-end -single speed; totally manual &
> infinitely tweakable).
>
> Any of you phono guys (gals) familiar with such a beast? What's your
> thoughts...
>
>
> TIA
>
> best regards...
> --
> Randy
I had an RD-11e for years. Aristons were made in Scotland in the late
1970s, and similar in design concept to their higher priced Linn Sondek
cousins. It's a great sounding turntable and I always liked the optical
sensor that shut the motor off at the end of the record (unusual for a
manual turntable of that vintage).
Unfortunately the drive motor on mine was not of the highest quality. If
yours is working, you are lucky. I had problems with the speed varying
and I eventually ended up having to repair the motor myself - it wasn't
fun or easy. Dirty speed switches are another potential problem area.
Once you get the table working right though, you may end up wanting to
keep it.
Randy &/or Sherry
<grizzle...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Ariston is a fairly well-known high-end table. If it's in good shape, you should be able to sell it for
> a decent price.
And...
Sofa Slug wrote:
> Dirty speed switches are another potential problem area.
This one is set up as single speed with a rocker switch for off and
on. The motor does run, but I haven't tested for speed nor stability
yet. Based on your experience - I will add that to my "todo" list for
it.
> Once you get the table working right though, you may end up wanting to
> keep it.
I don't think so - there is just too much to tinker with - I'm only
interested in transferring LPs to computer - and my Dual 1257 does a
adequate job.
About keeping one. Now that I have a small sample of Thorens (two
160s and a 125) - I can see why people like them - very substantial
and straight forward. However- if one of the five were to tempt me -
it'd be the Harmon Kardon. It is a truly impressive table. Several
people have sent me private responses (didn't want to get into a "holy
war" over which is "the best", etc.) - and one gentleman sent this URL
- I found it pretty informative:
<http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?ranlg&1029199417&read&3&4>
Anyway - thanks to all who have responded - I appreciate the useful
tips, advice and such.
Best regards...
Randy
http://www.glimpsesofmeridian.com Trains, planes, live steam and
stuff!
http://www.mcatos.org Magnolia Chapter of the American Theater Organ
Society --- Keeping the MIGHTY in the Pipes!
Bill Noble
"Sofa Slug" <sofa...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:hds5s4$b94$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> <snipped>
>
> I had an RD-11e for years. Aristons were made in Scotland in the late
> 1970s, and similar in design concept to their higher priced Linn Sondek
> cousins. It's a great sounding turntable and I always liked the optical
> sensor that shut the motor off at the end of the record (unusual for a
> manual turntable of that vintage).
>
> Unfortunately the drive motor on mine was not of the highest quality. If
> yours is working, you are lucky. I had problems with the speed varying and
> I eventually ended up having to repair the motor myself - it wasn't fun or
> easy. Dirty speed switches are another potential problem area. Once you
> get the table working right though, you may end up wanting to keep it.
Interesting - my TT is a Fons - it was aprox equivalent to the Lynn Sondek
but it had three speeds, each selectable from around 10 to 100 RPM - it used
an AC motor with a variable frequency drive and had a push button and a pot
for each speed. I bought it new in the 70s, no tonearm (it has an SME on it
now) - the only problem ever is that it smoked a transistor in the
amplifier - took me a while to figure out the AC circuit, found the bad
part, changed it, and all was well again - it has the original belt, etc -
so some products from Scotland (besides alcohol) are of high quality