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Best vintage DD turntables from the 70's and 80's?

Howdy folks-

We’ll I’ve got the vinyl bug for sure. 6 months ago, I bought my first TT, a nice Technics 1200 GR along with some killer vintage MM carts like Audio-Technica, Stanton and a few Grace. I love my GR! I love that little silver bastard A LOT as a matter of fact. A couple weeks ago, my second table arrived, a minty fresh Luxman PD-444 from Japan. This is a Micro Seiki built TT and was the "tits" in the mid 70’s. I can mount 2 arms on the Luxman. I’ve got a nice Victor 7045 arm coming soon along with a Victor X-1IIe MM cart which work quite well together.

I’d like to add another Vintage TT from the 70’s or 80’s and probably phase out the GR. I like the look of the old Pioneer, Denon and Victor tables. I’d like to get a vintage table that can be serviced if needed, something I can add a sweet vintage arm too. 3 arms are better than two!

I’d like to hear suggestions and comments on some fantastic, cool as crap, vintage turntables that you think should sit next to the Luxman.

Thanks again for your help!

Brent




128x128knollbrent
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
@glupson, the service manual shows an arm return mechanism like that of the “lesser” semi-auto Technics turntables of the late 70’s and ‘80’s. The mechanism is driven by a small gear on the platter spindle and engaged either mechanically by the arm pivot contacting a lever when the end of play is reached, or by a solenoid that is triggered by the stop button on the plinth. The SL-Q2’s automatic mechanism probably shares several parts in common with the lower end belt drive units, so parts and donor units should be plentiful on fleabay.  

If neither works reliably, I would first examine the spindle gear and the much larger main gear for missing teeth. If only the stop button is intermittent, try lubricating the solenoid plunger. I believe you can download an electronic copy of the service manual from the vinyl engine site. If you are unable to locate it, I can scan it to PDF and email it to you. 
motown-l
181 posts
 
Back in the late 70's, I was selling audio. We had some decent DD tables. Among my favorites were the Marantz 6300's and it's successor the 6350. Both were beautifully built and finished and featured an end of record auto lift/shut off. The usual S shaped tone arms were as low mass as the design allowed and had very low resonance. Also cool were the Sansui SR 929 and the Pioneer PL 670. The Pioneer seemed to have the best tonearm.

motown-l
181 posts
 
I mis-wrote. I meant the Pioneer PL 650. The 670 is a more recent P-mount low-ish end table.

Post removed 
glupson
7,842 posts
 
sleepwalker65,

Thank you for your answers. I copied them as a separate file for future reference.

Luckily, for now, everything works but I feel that an old turntable, or anything old for that matter, is like a car. It runs until it does not and you should not be caught by surprise. That story about stop/return ceasing function was about thirty years ago and it fixed itself and has never been a problem ever since. I have no idea what Kryptonite these turntables were made of, but if my lowly SL-Q2 still works no wonder higher grade models are exemplary.

Thanks again, I truly appreciate it.
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