SP10 Mk II vs Mk III

T_bone, I do have an SP10mk2 that spins way too fast, something like 200 or 300 rpm. Is that something I can repair by replacing all the electrolytic caps? Or is that something related to the obsolete chips? I plan to reuse just the motor and platter for a different project but if I can fix the speed problem by replacing caps, then it will be groovy! Yes, I have bought many DD tables cheap due to "not working" but mostly have to do with the arm's automatism so I simply turn them into manual turntables. No big loss, really. Anyway, if you can shed some light on this speed issue (too fast) I would appreciate it.

Since you have experience with Denon turntables, I just want to share this. I used to own an old DP-75 that is before the quartz lock era and it sounded terrible. It was thin and glassy sounding. Just unlistenable so that pretty much turned me off on Denon tables but I am sure the later qartz era stuff is much better. I pretty much abandoned any desire to buy any DD table that is made before 1975. The several pre-1975 DD tables I bought are all terrible sounding and the speed was jerky or have no torque, and they all sound like bad digital, that unpleasant jittery sound. Of course when DD done right, they rock!

Happy listening.

Hiho,
I am far from an expert on SP10s' problems. I have never had a problem with any of mine whatsoever. Either several years ago when I tried my first, or since then. Albert is probably your best bet as he has direct experience.

As for the DP-75, the DP-75 came after the DP-80, which was launched in 1976, which would have put the DP75 lanch into the very late 70s, or early 1980s. I have not had a speed problem with the one I have used. In fact I find it very speed stable - I thought it had to do with the bi-directional servo technology they had (or that they borrowed from Victor). I find it needs to be on an isolation platform, which tames the 'jitter' I hear. The resident specialist on DP75s/DP80s is probably Rauliruegas. Lewm may also be able to help you - I am sure he learned a fair bit about his when it was redone.

Oops, sorry the Denon I was talking about was a DP-755, which does not have quartz lock, a much older unit. I gave that to a friend and it's deservedly sitting in storage collecting dust. Sorry for the typo!

I intend to experiment with the faulty SP10 unit anyway, so it's no big deal. Thanks for the response.

09-02-09: Hiho

T_bone, I do have an SP10mk2 that spins way too fast, something like 200 or 300 rpm. Is that something I can repair by replacing all the electrolytic caps? Or is that something related to the obsolete chips?

Hiho, with my MK2 it was caps, with my MK3 it was a cap that killed an IC.

The most common cap in a Technics MK2 causing speed error is the large vertically mounted electrolytic located directly behind the face plate of the outboard power supply. (Wish we could put images into these posts!)

Here is a list of the stock values I replaced in my outboard power supply. There are more under the platter.

#.....uF.......VDC
(1) 100 .......16
(1) 100 .......16
(1) 1000......16
(1) 100 .......50
(1) 100 .......50
(1) 1000 .....80
(1) 22 .......160
(1) 100 .....160

The following are what replaced the list above. I purchased mine from Mike Percy

#.....Brand............uF..........VDC
(4) Nichicon ..... 100uf......50V ES (NP)
(1) Nichicon .....1000uf......25V ES (NP)
(1) Nichicon .....1000uf....100V FV (polar)
(1) Black Gate ... 33uf....160V standard polar
(1) Black Gate .....100uf....160V standard polar

Hope this helps, I would check to be sure Technics did not change values from model to model before ordering. This should be a good start though.

A Technics table gone rogue...