mending things

The Sonab 85S turntable You'll see from this blog that I'm interested in vintage audio equipment , especially turntables and speakers. I keep an eye on ebay for potential bargains, and saw this turntable listed quite close to me and for a very good price, £60 buy it now, including 45 adapter, dust bug, DIN adapter, record clamp and a very nice Shure M95 cartridge. Condition listed as very good and with the original sonab headshell. I've been interested in this deck for sometime, as to my eyes , it's a particularly nice design, with the very simple tonearm and deep chassis. I was aware that the model , from the late 70's was a cooperation between Swedish manufacturer Sonab and Yamaha. I don't know how much was contributed by which firm, but the same deck, or one very similar is also to be found as the Yamaha CP-500, though typically in teak rather than black. There were two Sonab models , the 75 and 85, the former being a manual  deck, the latter an automatic, an...

I'm delighted to receive messages from readers who have found my Pioneer PL12D blog of use. I recently received this article from a correspondent - Dirk Sipes, and wanted to share it. His approach is that of an engineer, rather than my amateur efforts, and there are some very interesting  details around things like bearing material and the nature of the suspension springs. He has also owned the deck for 40 years since new, which speaks volumes about both their quality and his care. Here it is : About me: Readers be aware that I have tried to use names for parts as they appear on the service schematics for the PL-12D that are available on VinylEngine.com, thus bushings referenced in the blog are what I call cushions, etc.   Also, I have provided some locations where products that I used can be obtained.   Those businesses do not even know I list them, and my use does not necessarily represent an endorsement, although I have found them to reputable.   My tha...

A feature of many of these blogs is my interest in vinyl records and turntables. Over the years I've acquired and restored a number of decks, all of which came with a cartridge, but were they worth keeping ? Well my  friend , and fellow fan, Clive,  has created a wonderful resource with a great deal of invaluable detail about a wider range of cartridges, and reviewed in classic decks like the PL12D, Rega Planar 2 and the Technics SL1200. Well worth visiting for the insight and detail around things such as optimal capacitive loading , for example PHONO CARTRIDGE REVIEWS

A good friend recently spotted this turntable, being sold on ebay, buy it now at a reasonable price , and very close to where I live. We had both commented  in the past that the Harmon Kardon T40 was a nice looking deck, with it's deep platter and champagne colour, so it was impossible to resist. Not that well known in the UK, and advertised as not working, with a hinge missing and a burn on the lid. I bid, won and collected it from the seller, who was very helpful , and it was exactly as described. Upon inspection the main problem with the deck not starting was due to the belt having petrified  and broken into small pieces. the motor worked as I lifted the arm across the platter and appeared to correctly eject the arm at the end of side position. The motor turned fine. As well as the drive belt, the 4 rubber feet had also aged badly. As you can see from the picture ,all that remained was the 4 springs and parts of the rubber cup. I think there would...

I like to  fix up old turntables, especially odd or unloved examples. I've posted blogs on other decks , and back in November I saw a Thorens TD280 on ebay at a very low cost,  close to where I live. I prefer to collect, as decks need careful packing. In the end I bid and won the deck, a Thorens TD280 MK IV. I am very familiar with the Thorens brand, my father had a classic TD150 MkII followed by a TD 160 - both classics from the Golden era of the 70's. I read that the deck was a late model, and while not a classic Thorens, was widely liked by people who had owned one.  the TD280 is from the mid 80's when CD had started to put a lot of turntable manufacturers out of business, and like the Ariston Q-deck, was a bit of a final gasp from a declining industry. I got the auction for £64 as the external power supply had been lost, but I was sure I could source a new one. A bit of research indicated the external power supply is 16v AC,  and I happened to know this...