Hi-fi stereo turntable

[didds]

Many years ago circa 1985 I bought a rather wonderful Rega Planar 3 turntable. Marvelous. used it for years until the day Mrs Didds declared all the wires for the hifi gear were no longer acceptable and it got consigned to the attic.

several years later early teen son finds it and is excited by my ancient AC/DC albums so out comes all the kit, including my dad's rega planar 2 which i had inherited. RP2 works fine, but RP3 for whatever reason has issues... variable speed, unusable. But the RP2 does the job.

Son eventually becomes bored with the novelty of dad's 30 year old HM albums so Mrs Didds decrees its time for all these wires and stuff to go. So I sell the RP2 on ebay and the non working RP3 goes into the roof.

We move to the present day. Mrs Didds has admitted to feeling guilty over the years that she made me stick all this gear in the roof and get it sold off etc. We retrieve various stuff from the roof again and I set it up.

RP3 still variable speed. Take it to local hifi repair man - he's OK, no issue with him. He tweaks and fiddles and all is Ok in his shop - including a couple of minor replacdement parts bill is £37. that is fine (and still is!).

however back home the variable speed is sorted - but... its running slow. Circa 32.5 rpm, but its enough for ACDC to be somewhat ballad like. And right RCA jack outpout is very weak. Chap in shop looks again FoC but we figure its possibly age of motor not being able to drive the glass platter - maybe. Right phone jack would need deeper checking. I am aware I could be throwing good money after bad however. Am in a dilemma.

I borrow a numark TTUSB (with RCAs) form a friend - it runs perfectly of course. I can bgorrow this for a while so Im not devoid. Wife a tad distraught that she got me to sell the RP2. hey ho.

So Im figuring I may as well buy a dck (2nd hand is OK) rather than chase the RP3 fixes.

So - what budget decks are availbale/would be suggested considering. I can get a RP2 for £170 but I can't really justify that level of expense now.

It doesn't have to be blinding, just decent.

Lets say the budget is max £100.

didds

[AleisterCrowley]

Rega Planar have a great reputation, I'd be inclined to try and get it working
I had a Dual CS505/2 for many years which was wonderful.Very much the budget end of the spectrum-you may be able to find a second hand version. I thought Dual had been sold off as a 'brand' and ceased manufacture of turntables but looks like they are still around
http://www.dualturntables.com.au/
Obviously DYOR - see what ratings they get now as they may have been taken over ...

[Redmires]

I'd be very tempted to get the Rega sorted. I've had one in the past and you're not going to get anywhere near it for around £100. I don't know if posting this link will break the forum rules, but I would seriously consider this repair/upgrade, for £129 (which includes new motor)

24v High performance turntable motor upgrade kit

http://www.classaaudio.co.uk/Rega.htm

And would also consider a new belt and get the cartridge checked at the same time. No connection but I have used them in the past and they are very highly regarded in another forum I frequent (Naim audio).

On another note - last year I discovered a Thorens TD160 in my mother-in-laws loft. It had been in there for the last 40 years and been forgotten about. I spent some time refurbishing it and with a new belt, mat & cartridge and it sounds great. I now play it just as much as the Linn LP12. I also bought a Rega USB converter so I can now digitise my LP collection. Happy days

PS. I was one of the lucky ones who never threw out my LP's. They would cost a fortune now to replace.

PPS. A new hi-fi section would be most welcome on Lemon Fool

[jfgw]

however back home the variable speed is sorted - but... its running slow. Circa 32.5 rpm, but its enough for ACDC to be somewhat ballad like. And right RCA jack outpout is very weak. Chap in shop looks again FoC but we figure its possibly age of motor not being able to drive the glass platter - maybe.

Looking at the Wikipedia article, it appears that the Rega Planar 3 uses a synchronous motor so it really shouldn't run slow. Variable speed could be explained by a slipping belt but the motor speed itself should be tied to the mains frequency. There is not much to go wrong with a motor other than the bearings (unless it is something major). Does the pulley spin freely? Even so, I would expect this type of motor to run at its rated speed or not at all.

Is it a new belt? A badly worn belt may sit further down the V in the motor pulley which will make the platter run more slowly.

Has the belt been replaced with a non-genuine one of a smaller cross-section? This, too, would mean that it would sit further down the V in the motor pulley.

As for the low right output, you could check the cartridge just by swapping its wires over left to right. Swap the signal wires (red and white) and swap the earth wires (green and blue).

Julian F. G. W.

[bungeejumper]

https://www.richersounds.com/sony-usb-turntable.html ? They have an Audio Technika for the same money, or a Teac for another thirty quid.

It's not normally that hard to get new belts - I managed to find one for my parents' 35 year old deck. Alternatively, if you know the length and width, the chances are that you can simply buy a generic one off the peg to fit. Iffy/crackly socket might need a bit more work, though.

BJ

[didds]

Thanks all - and especially jfgw... comments below

Looking at the Wikipedia article, it appears that the Rega Planar 3 uses a synchronous motor so it really shouldn't run slow. Variable speed could be explained by a slipping belt but the motor speed itself should be tied to the mains frequency. There is not much to go wrong with a motor other than the bearings (unless it is something major). Does the pulley spin freely? Even so, I would expect this type of motor to run at its rated speed or not at all.

Is it a new belt? A badly worn belt may sit further down the V in the motor pulley which will make the platter run more slowly.
Has the belt been replaced with a non-genuine one of a smaller cross-section?

brand new belt. I'm told its a pukka silicon one.

As for the low right output, you could check the cartridge just by swapping its wires over left to right. Swap the signal wires (red and white) and swap the earth wires (green and blue).

Ive tried a couple of cartridges with the same results... including one off a deck that doesn't demonstrate this problem



cheers

didds

[Breelander]

So Im figuring I may as well buy a dck (2nd hand is OK) rather than chase the RP3 fixes. ... It doesn't have to be blinding, just decent.

Lets say the budget is max £100.

didds

21st century technology to the rescue. Did you know you can now buy USB record decks and use a PC to rip your vinyl to .mp3?

https://www.t3.com/news/best-turntables ... ery-budget

Prices start from about £18, but you need to spend upwards of £40 for something half-way decent.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_st_pr ... e-asc-rank

[jfgw]

From reading around, I believe the belt should be 1.78mm diameter. Are you able to measure the new one?

A loose motor pulley is apparently fairly common - easily fixed with superglue.

Also, it seems that a failed resistor or capacitor could cause the motor to run slow. It seems odd for a synchronous motor but presumably it is designed to run up to speed in asynchronous mode before locking on to the mains frequency.

Julian F. G. W.

[Infrasonic]

From reading around, I believe the belt should be 1.78mm diameter. Are you able to measure the new one?

A loose motor pulley is apparently fairly common - easily fixed with superglue.

Also, it seems that a failed resistor or capacitor could cause the motor to run slow. It seems odd for a synchronous motor but presumably it is designed to run up to speed in asynchronous mode before locking on to the mains frequency.

Julian F. G. W.

I had to fix my old Thorens TD 150 motor pulley that way. It was a bit more wow and flutter rather than consistently slow though.

If the speed is consistently slow then some sort of power drop would seem to be top of the list for investigation. New caps should be an inexpensive fix.

[Itsallaguess]

Did you know you can now buy USB record decks and use a PC to rip your vinyl to .mp3?

I know we've not got a 'Hi-Fi & separates' board, but if we ever get one, do you think the mention of MP3 would be akin to trying to discuss Investment Trusts on the HYP Practical board?

Something tells me that similar 'get.out.of.my.house....' responses might often be seen....



Cheers,

Itsallaguess (mp3 user, but also lover of vinyl.....)

[Infrasonic]

^^ http://www.elpj.com/

[Breelander]

^^ http://www.elpj.com/

I think the $14,000+ price tag may put it a little outside Didds' budget, though apparently you can get it on eBay for a snip at £9,123

[Infrasonic]

^^ http://www.elpj.com/

I think the $14,000+ price tag may put it a little outside Didds' budget, though apprently you can get it on eBay for a snip at £9,123

It was in response to the post above, hence the ^^ ( a little digital analogue joke...)...

[kiloran]

^^ http://www.elpj.com/

If it doesn't have a stylus, what clears all the crud out of the grooves?

--kiloran

[Breelander]

If it doesn't have a stylus, what clears all the crud out of the grooves?

To be serious for a moment, actually it doesn't have to. There's a mismatch between the shape of the stylus that cut the groove and the one that plays it. The first is triangular, cutting as V-shaped groove, the second is spherical or elliptical, so the only point of contact is about half way up the groove. It is at this level that wear occurs and where the crud mostly collects. The laser would, I suspect, mostly be reflecting from the untouched higher part of the groove and thus be playing a 'virgin' part of the groove wall that has never seen a stylus.

[DrFfybes]

Richer Sounds are knocking out the Pro-Ject basic for £150 - hard to beat that that money.

But for the same cash you could probably get the Rega repaired.

For the low signal it is either the cart or the wire, and as you've swapped the cart then get the arm rewired. Assuming it is the RB300 that came with the Planar 3 about that time (I bought mine in 1987 with an AT95E Cartridge) the cable bend is apparently 'tight' where it joins the cartridge and will break over time.

There used to be a rewire kit available, but even now a decent shop should be able to do it.

I upgraded to an ex-display LP12 in the mid 90s for about £500, looks like a bargain compared to current prices.

Paul

[didds]

Richer Sounds are knocking out the Pro-Ject basic for £150 - hard to beat that that money.

did you mean the elemental ?

https://www.richersounds.com/project-el ... e-soc.html

cheers

didds

[didds]

looking at richer sounds...

anyone any personal knowledge of audio technica kit?

https://www.richersounds.com/clearance- ... ack-1.html

A chum that's a but of a sideline electronics fixer is having a look at the RP3 next week... its stopped working altogether now as it happens.

I'm just stuck between spending more money on it to get it running ... IF it ever gets running again ... and spendig £150 for eg the Project Elemental suggested, or £170 for a refurbed RP2 that's available locally - then trying to sell the RP3 glass platter and the tonearm that's fitted to it (no idea what that is TBH - its not the original Rega tonearm but some upgrade that was with it when I bought it 33 years ago)

didds