The analog thread.

[Voltron]

Can't you tell that's some VPI shit from Shinola?

[Dusty Chalk]

56 minutes ago, Voltron said:

Can't you tell that's some VPI shit from Shinola?

Thank you!  I was still working on working that in.

[bjarnetv]

visually it looks great.

shame about the price and brand though

seems it has the motor and platter from the Classic and the tonearm from a Player.

[grawk]

like the shinola watches, it's not aimed at enthusiasts, but at people that want a good quality american product and will pay a premium so that others know they got something good.

[CarlSeibert]

And you can buy it in shops at very trendy addresses.

[Guss2]

Thought this may be of interest to some. Fremer did a walk through of the assembly process.

 

[bjarnetv]

i'm pretty pleased with the sound of my vinyl rig at the moment, but that didn't stop me from picking up this oddball on new years eve.

it's an old NRK broadcast turntable from the late 60s (probably), based on a Sony TTS-3000a

 

it's got a pretty interesting arm, made for NRK at the Kongsberg weapons factory.

i guess the reason they went for a highly expensive custom arm, was that all the adjustments are hidden and locked down with unbraco screws, making them fool proof and durable in a studio setting.

 

you need a slotted screwdriver to adjust the counterweight, and a tiny unbraco key to set the torsion spring anti skate on top.

no accidental bumping will ever upset the settings.

 

Still haven't got it up and running, as i need a new belt and cartridge clips, but i'm looking forward to seing how it performs.

The inbuilt riia is supposedly pretty serious, so i'm also looking forward to compare it with the graham slee reflex M.

i need to make some kind of internal rca junction box though, so i can bypass it, or insert the elevator EXP for MC cart usage.

[swt61]

I love some of the old broadcast turntables, and that one is at the top of the heap! Just beautiful!

[bjarnetv]

i love the hand made build quality of cool solution on old gear like this.

properly laid out, easily serviced, and build to last.

just remove some thumbscrews and pull out whatever you need.

everything with oversized metal connectors and plugs.

just look at this cool little pulley for the arm-lift next to that huge slab of lead or whatever that is.

if you press the spring loaded arm-lift knob it functions as a button for something! (probably a muting circuit)

so cool, and it has a real satisfying click!

everything is just so satisfying to use.

loud clicks, strange relay noises, lots of pilot lights and smoothy sliding sliders.

 

to be totally serious though, at over 50 years old, odds are there might be some issues with old caps and such, but hopefully it wont be too much work getting it up and running again (reliably)

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by bjarnetv

[spritzer]

I would certainly swap out all the caps, diodes and the like but this looks to be a very nice piece of kit.  I doubt our RUV (public broadcaster) had anything this nice at the time..

Nice P+G slide pot there. 

[bjarnetv]

yeah, a proper refurb is probably needed for achieving the original wow and flutter specs, though i hope it runs well enough for me to try out for a while before picking it a part.

luckily someone was nice enough to email me some (bad) photos of the original schematics and technical documents, so if anything goes wrong it should be fixable.

 

also, here is a picture of the unusual anti-skate, hidden on top of the arm.

[ironbut]

Beautiful!

After restoring/upgrading a number of reel to reel machines of that era, getting these electro-mechanical devices running as they should has been 90% mechanical and 10% electro.

Cleaning up hardened grease and replacing belts and rubber bushings that have turned to goo is a lot of it. There are companies that make all these rubber parts but it may take a bit of searching and trial and error to find the best fits.

In my experience, it's better to just bypass the old stock electronics like you mentioned. Cardas used to make a junction box but that might be over the top. Just be sure that you use shielded cables and avoid all circuits to avoid hum (tiny signal).

Looks like a fun project and quite a show piece!

Congrats!

[bjarnetv]

i've got a couple of feet of double shielded monarch NEO-OFC cables left over from other projects (70 pF/m), so i'll probably just use that, and worry about trying out the built in riia later. 

new belt and cartridge clips are in the mail, and as far as i can see, all the rubber bits look intact and soft.

 

the top part (where the turntable is mounted) is isolated from the bottom case by a layer of foam to stop vibrations from transmitting, so i will need to replace that, as it has turned to dust over the years.

 

also, turns out iso 32 hydraulic oil is pretty similar to the original sony oil for the bearing, which was lucky, as i had just bough some to refill my garage jack.

will probably give all the various speed adjustment pots a round of CRC electronic cleaner too, just to make sure they are clean.

 

[ironbut]

I've got a huge collection of lubricants I've tried over the years. Can you say Snake Oil?

I always go back to either Mobile One or turbine oil that many of the old timer Ampex guys swear by (you can buy it at Ace Hardware under the name of Zoom Spout Oil, I kid you not!).

There are tons of very good vibration mats out there. Just depends on thickness and what it looks like when cut. If you can find a way to stamp rather than cut, it usually looks better.

Anyway, it sounds like you've got it all under control. 

Let us know how it come out!

 

[mypasswordis]

Very beautiful! Do you have a pair of Stax SR-3 to complete the vintage? 

I would replace the caps and diodes first, instead of waiting for something to fail. If there are tantalum caps across rails, they could fail as a short and take some stuff with them, along with turning into a nice toasty fireball.

[bjarnetv]

a bit newer maybe, but i've still got my old fostex T30 studio phones to casually drape over the table during photoshoots.

[swt61]

2 hours ago, ironbut said:

I've got a huge collection of lubricants I've tried over the years.

Way too easy Steve!

[spritzer]

The RIAA in that thing has to be seriously shitty to not crush the Graham Slee so well worth the rebuild. 

[ironbut]

Damn!

I forget,.. it's like you're Kato lurking behind every corner.

Except, I'm Koto? 

It's all very confusing.

[bjarnetv]

7 hours ago, spritzer said:

The RIAA in that thing has to be seriously shitty to not crush the Graham Slee so well worth the rebuild. 

NO! I don't want the truth Birgir, not the truuuhuhuhuuuth... (crying) 

 

I do enjoy the reflex M, but the biggest upgrade came from adding the AT33 and elevator EXP, so that might color my impression of it. (sounds great!)

On the plus side, the reflex M is easily sellable if this is better, and if not, i guess its time to start buying lampizator gear to suit my tin ears.

[luvdunhill]

[swt61]

I wasn't aware that you liked music from after the discovery of electricity?

[bjarnetv]

Got it up and running with a new belt, some fresh oil and quick contact-cleaning.

Tried the built in riia, but it sounded quite lean and probably needs some components replaced to play as it should, so i rewired it straight from the tonearm to the Reflex M.

Since i was going to try the built in circuits, i decided to try out the DL160 first, and surprisingly, it plays better then my old pd272 with the AT33ptg/II

just really tight and effortless sounding, and it handles bass heavy music like GoGo Penguin really well without muddying things up.

It does still sound like a dl160 though, so it lacks the giant soundstage and smoothness of the AT33, so i'm really looking forward to seeing how that sounds!

Edited January 7, 2017 by bjarnetv

[ironbut]

Looks awesome!

If it sounds good, it is good!

[mypasswordis]

Got some Chicago and Van Halen on deck after Joshua tree