stereo turntables in DD use.

[countryford]

Here is my turntable. I've had it for a number of years. If I remember right, I paid $10 for it. Its an Accutrac 4000. As you can see from the picture that there a bunch of buttons on the front. The purpose of those buttons is so you could actually select which track of the record you wanted. It originally would have come with a remote but mine didn't when I bought it. The picture is not of my actual turntable, just one I found on the internet.

 

[countryford]

Then as far as cassette decks go I have this wollesak 4766. Again not my actual unit, but one off the internet.

 

[countryford]

Then of course no stereo system wouldn't be complete without an 8-track player (or as I've seen it called an A-track player. LOL). Here is a Wollensak 8055. Again not my unit just one off the internet.

 

[countryford]

excuse my grammer in the last post. It should be no stereo would be complete.
Anyways here is the baby that powers everything up. Its a Denon avr-4802r. My partner Steve bought it new a number of years back. This is what all our components are hooked up to(actuall just in the process of hooking everything up to it, hence the reason of the pics coming off the internet and not of my actual units). Once its complete it will run not only the turntable, cassette deck, 8-track player, but also the surround sound system, dvd player, vcr, laserdisc player, and satellite player.

 

[countryford]

And to just show you how complex the unit is here is a picture of the back side of it with all the hookups. Again both photos of the amp are not of my actual machine, but ones off the internet.

 

[cfz2882]

3M wollensak

that is a cool wollensak 8-track player-probably u.s. made and AC motor.
I have a wollensak cassette player made in 1982;it's very high quality and is
made in USA-including the cassette transport.Unfortunatly its mono....This unit
was meant to go with a slide projector for educational use.

 

[electron1100]

Bygone Qaulity

When you see all this lovely old gear it makes me sad that we will never see it again................

i remember Wollensak tape decks appearing this country the biggest stir was that they used idler drive for the capstan rather than a belt, they were well engineered and tested well

I also remember well the ADC Accutrac, this was featured on a science tv program we had here called "Tomorrows World" that caused a stir aswell, in some ways ahead of its time with regards to the logic being used, it was fitted with a Technics OEM motor for the turntable drive but the Bristish hi-fi purists slammed it as a gimmick whilst others praised it for its design, I am sure if Bang & Olufsen had made it then it would have been praised alround (the British hi-fi press were a snobby lot then)

for all that there is still some fantastic real hi-fi still around all over the world, as there are washing machines

Good luck to it all

Gary

 

[whirlcool]

I remember when ADC was big in the audio world. Some of their phono cartridges are still highly sought after especially the QLM & ZLM series.

Yes, that Accutrac turntable did cause quite a stir when it came out. You could play record tracks in the order YOU wanted vs how they were arranged on the record.
And they did come with a remote control too. I just wish it didn't have so much plastic on it. Dual also had a remote controlled turntable too, the CS6250 but the remote control was an option rather than standard. And they are considered pretty rare too.

That Wollensak 8track looks like an 8 track recorder and a good one at that. A lot of 8 track recording machines were pretty cheap. This one looks pretty good.

 

[hydralique]

ADC also made speakers. When I was a teenager I bought my first component set, a KLH Model 52 receiver, ADC XT-10 speakers, and a Dual turntable of some sort. The XT-10s were very nicely made and had a 10" woofer with two tweeters per speaker. The tweeters were identical as far as I could tell. Sounded pretty good, but a few years later my sister got a pair of early Boston A-100s and I tried a side by side test. Both had decent bottom ends, but at the top the Bostons blew the ADCs away - Ella Fitzgerald sounded much nicer on the Bostons. So I engineered a swap with my sister as the ADCs really looked better with real walnut veneer versus Boston's woodgrain vinyl, and her listening habits tended more to Led Zeppelin so I doubt she ever heard the difference. I still have the A-100s and love 'em, and I think the XT-10s are now in an attic somewhere.

 

[philr]

I think I still have a 3M Wollensak tape recorder somewhere in my attic. It's a mono unit that worked with slide projectors to make presentations (that was before PowerPoint and affordable multimedia projectors!). I never used it...

 

[whirlcool]

I always wondered what ever happened to ADC. I did some research and found out that they were bought out by BSR. In fact, the Accutrac 4000 was made by BSR in England from parts made in Asia. The motor was made by Mashusita, which also used it in their own Technics turntables.

The specs on the Accutrac were pretty good actually. It was a direct drive turntable rather than belt driven. It had a Wow & Flutter of only 0.03% and a Rumble spec of 70/50. Strangely enough those are also the specs of the Dual 701, one of the best Dual's ever.

I think what hindered the Accutrac was the fact that you could only use one type of cartridge, an ADC cartridge made for the Accutrac. It had a light and reflection sensor built into it so it could "see" the blank spaces between record tracks.

Personally, I thought it had way too much plastic on it. But with the remote control it must have been nice to use.

The link is to a video of one of these units in operation.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...57728196557555

 

[whirlcool]

And here is a review of the ADC Accutrac 4000, for those who may want to know more about it.

http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/November 1976/183/751380/ADC+Accutrac+4000+automatic+turntable

 

[cfz2882]

Gray...

What about"gray"brand turntables-kinda remember seeing this brand in late-1950s
HiFi magazines,as i recall they were a lot like an empire turntable including a
papst type outside rotor motor and belt drive.

 

[super32]

This is a GREAT thread! I didnt know so many people still use their tables and enjoy them. I was among the few that had a linear tracking TT for a few minutes. It was an old Pioneer PLL-910 or may PL-90. Seems there was a "9" in the model but really dont rememebr for sure. It was a belt drive and the the whole lid lifted up with the tone-arm in it, kinda like some of the Technics models shown in this thread. I do also remember a Technics model that played vetically. I passed the chance to have one of these. My most facinatting model was an old PL7FS (i think) It was a Pioneer front loading belt drive TT. The drawer would slide out to let you put the record on and then you could either close it and play it or leave it open to manualy control it. I dont have any of my older models anymore

I currently am spinning with a Technics SL-1210M5G. Totally manual, totally pro, the lid doesnt even attact to the table.

 

[whirlcool]

PhilR:

I missed a response.

That P+E 3048 turntable looks like a Dual because it was produced after Dual bought out P+E. It was just another Dual line after that. They were good turntables too.

 

[super32]

oops

Almost forgot, I was connected to an early 2000's Yamaha amp. It just kicked the bucket so i decided to upgrade (or down grade as some would say) to a new Pioneer Elite SC-55. Its connected to a pair of Boston Accoustics VR975.

Im also currently using an Ortofan X1MC cartridge in my TT. Its getting to be time for a new one.

 

[whirlcool]

I have a Ortofon X3MC that I used for a few hours in a Dual CS528. The arm was way too light for the cartridge and it really sounded screechy. MC cartridges like to have some mass in the tonearm. Dual ULM tonearms are much to light for MC's.

You know you can have that X1MC retipped. Did you like the way it sounded?

 

[lordkenmore]

[Ortofon X3MC] really sounded screechy.

I haven't had much MC experience, but, going by my memory of things I've heard said, there could be a couple of other issues at work, too:
-the cartridge might have benefited by more break in time. This is important for MC cartridges, I've been told. In fact, I've been warned that if I ever move to a MC, I should expect hours and hours of painful listening with at least some MC cartridges.
-the cartridge is, I think, high output moving coil, and that might be part of the problem. (Although I'm under the impression the Ortofon designs might be better behaved here than, say, a 1st generation Sumiko Bluepoint.)

Although I'd say, at a distance, I wouldn't expect a MC to work well on low mass Dual arm.

But one never knows without trying. I have an old Dual lying around. I can't remember the model off the top of my head, but it was one of the cheap semi-automatic models. It came with an Ortofon MC installed, and when I saw it, I thought that it was probably the dumbest idea ever. I honestly didn't think the arm would be suitable. I'm not sure about the mass, but I assume it's lowish. Plus I can't imagine the arm bearings are particularly great. And I'm pretty sure the cartridge is probably "too good" for the turntable.

The turntable was dirt cheap, and I got it to play with. Since it's used, with no known history, I only played records I didn't care about. Mostly older, worn. I didn't have the chance for exhaustive tests, but what little I heard surprised me. The cartridge seemed to track OK, and I didn't hear anything really "wrong." More listening might have brought up other problems...but doing as well as it did was more than I expected.

 

[lordkenmore]

I just thought of another "joy" of moving coil cartridges: the tendency of places selling cartridges to push buyers into buying a moving coil design. I'm not sure how much of a problem it is, but when I went shopping about 10 years ago, it was a real problem. I recall at least half the dealers had some pet moving coil design they were pushing at "only X dollars!" This became tiresome, since I was looking for a good budget solution. Plus, the turntable I had then had a cheap arm that was originally decreed to be "moving magnet only" in the 80s, and, by indications I was hearing on the Internet, was probably still happiest being moving magnet only today.

But moving coil is "audiophile approved" and any practical considerations seem to get forgotten.

That said, someday I'd like to have a moving coil cartridge to play with. But only if the system can support it properly.

 

[whirlcool]

I still have the Ortofon X3MC cartridge. I just stored it away. I've been thinking about installing it in the 701 to see how it sounds. The 701 tonearm is heavier than the later model Dual ULM tonearms. It may sound ok. And yes, the X2MC cartridge is a High Output MC. Right now the cartridge may have 15 hours on it.
It was about $230.00 brand new. I bought it around 1997 or so.

I'm currently using a Pickering XSV/3000 cartridge in my 701. It's the best cartridge I've ever heard. I had my first in 1977 and it really provides a very clear sound. It's a MM cartridge. It has a Stereohedron stylus which actually eliminates a lot of the crackle & static on records. I recently bought a NOS one on Ebay for about $150 and installed it on my Kyocera PL-701. The sound is just amazing. Has to be one of the best cartridges ever built.
On the Dual CS528, I found the Ortofon OM20 Super sounds the best.

Dual made surprisingly good products. Their tonearm bearings were pretty solid.
But without the history of your Dual, who knows who could have screwed with them over time? Did you know that between 1965 and 1991 Dual sold over 27 MILLION turntables in the USA alone? And at one time they were exporting turntables to people in 87 countries around the world?

There are still tons of Dual turntables around. With most used ones the only things that need to be done is to clean it, relubricate it and make some minor adjustments and they'll last another 30 years or so. And they are gentle on your records too.