My First Turntable a fixer up?

disneyjoe7 · January 2007

I was given an old turntable needing some work, I'm not sure if it's repairable unit or what. What I can tell it worked one time when stored but was put away for a long time. :rolleyes:

hearingimpared · January 2007

Is that an old Dual????

dorokusai · January 2007

Get rid of it.

hearingimpared · January 2007

I wouldn't say get rid of it . . . it may make a nice conversation piece like my Sansuii Tuna or my old GE 5 tube superhetrodyne AM receiver.

heiney9 · January 2007

dorokusai wrote:

Get rid of it.

I have to concur. The Dual nameplate is the only thing I'd keep. Those old TT's just don't come close to cutting it. It's like trying to race a Kharmann Ghia around the track against a Porsche 911. It had it's place and time but now it should be a distant memory.

Even with a new parts and grease and belts, etc. It's just not going to cut it.

cmy330go · January 2007

If you decide to hang onto it and fix it up you might try contacting these guys for some help.

http://www.theturntablefactory.com/

Seems like they have pretty extensive experience restoring old Dual tables.

Hope this helps.

Polkersince85 · January 2007

That looks like an idler wheel drive,

http://www.vinylengine.com/library.php?make=Dual

nadams · January 2007

I'm not sure I'd be quite as hasty to get rid of it, but that might just be me. Tinker around with it and see what you think it needs. If it's going to be quick and easy to get it operating, it might be worth your time...

danger boy · January 2007

it looks to be in decent physical shape.. but i've never liked the look of Dual TT's. looks like the Realistic brand of that era.

disneyjoe7 · January 2007

Well it's a Dual 1215s the plastic piece on the tone arm is broken. But now I'm not sure I should keep it or what? The needle seems to be poor and the cartage seems to be original? Not sure.

disneyjoe7 · January 2007

danger boy wrote:

it looks to be in decent physical shape.. but i've never liked the look of Dual TT's. looks like the Realistic brand of that era.

DangerBoy, from what you said about that Pioneer PL-530
for $14 bucks, mine wasn't even worth the time for me to post pictures.

pblanc · January 2007

It is an idler wheel drive. Does the motor work? A lot of times the only problem with old Dual turntables is that the grease is all congealed. That is easy to remedy. I think vintage Duals of that era (early 1970's) were good tables. I can't tell what the broken piece on the tonearm is. I think if the tonearm is nonfunctional the table is probably not worth saving. Changing the cartridge is easy. Just push the little cueing handle on the headshell towards the back of the table and the cartridge carrier will drop out of the headshell. The carrier will accept any standard half-inch universal cartridge and putting in a new one is not difficult at all. I had a Dual 1229Q changer in the 1970s which was very reliable and quite good quality for that era. I just recently gave it to a friend who has a lot of 78rpm records he wants to play.
It looks to me that the base and dust cover are in pretty good shape, and that certainly isn't the case with a lot of old Duals. Remeber, this thing was made in West Germany. I wouldn't be so quick to get rid of it (but then, I like Kharman-Ghias quite a bit too). Check this link: http://www.dual-reference.com/tables/1215s.htm

pblanc · January 2007

It looks like the broken plastic piece might be part of the vertical bearing for the tonearm. I would email your pictures to a store that does repair work on old Duals and inquire what the possibility of repairing the arm is.

Toka78 · January 2007

Idler-wheel drives can still hold up...don't be so quick to discount it. Never had that one myself but Dual still has a following. I can name quite a few 20+ year old decks I'd take over an MMF/Rega in a heartbeat.

disneyjoe7 · January 2007

Could I glue the broken piece? It seems to have all the pieces there, I think the plastic dried out some during it's storage 15+ years. The turntable was a co-worker of mine, who I know keep good care of it at one time.

danger boy · January 2007

disneyjoe7 wrote:

DangerBoy, from what you said about that Pioneer PL-530
for $14 bucks, mine wasn't even worth the time for me to post pictures.

:eek:

Every piece of gear is worth posting pics of.. we love seeing it anyways..

Steve, i don't think needles cost that much. i got one from Turntableneedles.com and it was like $22 there are much, much more expensive ones too. It does make a huge difference in the sound quality.

disneyjoe7 · January 2007

Oh my GOD I have a headache just visiting Turntableneedles.com......

I may be just a CD guy :eek:

hearingimpared · January 2007

I'm really bummed. I have this really great catridge (Talisman Alchemist) which back in its time was considered pretty high end. . . anyhow, it hasn't been used for many years and I believe the suspension on the cantilever is probably dry rotted. NO ONE not even Turntableneedles.com retips or has anything like it.

I'm going to have to sacrifice an old lp to see if the cartridge is usable. This cartridge was a really beautiful sounding gem.

EDIT: I just received email from a gent (Steve) at turntableneedles.com who says that the suspension should still be okay. . . they have known cartridges that were 20 to 40 years old that still worked just fine. I guess I'm not going to know until I pick the sacrificial LP and try it. There is one down side though, according to Steve if it doesn't work I am completely out of luck because they don't retip Talisman. . . my research has shown that noone does with the exception of one company I believe in the UK. It would cost more than a new cartridge to have it retipped.

My First Turntable a fixer up?

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