Apocalypse Now?—Technics sp10 problem s


I’d been enjoying my Technics sp-10 mkii for a couple of months now but recently it’s sending out signs of giving up the ghost.

When I first bought it, the start/stop function was halting in the sense that I would have to push the button several times in order for it to perform the function. Independently of that, I bought bearing grease and after adding some drops, the halting start/stop problem more or less disappeared. Great.

But then the strobe light went out. It still comes on occasionally but it’s intermittent. Unless that’s a sign of deeper ailments though, I could care less about that.

Worse: if I play a record now after first turning on the TT, the speed is obviously haywire. One symptom is that the gear mechanism is clearly audible in the form of an unusual and grating grinding sound. Playing records when it’s like this is of course out of the question. The good news is that, for now, if I let the motor spin by itself (without the cartridge on) for about 10 minutes or so, the issue goes away. That is, the speed is dead on for the remainder of the listening session (I played it for almost 8 hours yesterday with no problems), and the grinding noise is gone. The bad news is that all this may be just a sign of an impending apocalyptic failure.

So, I'd like to deal with the issue before it gets to that stage. Can someone suggest the cause? Or better: the cure. Or, alternatively, and best of all since I’m not handy enough to actually fix anything complex, can anyone suggest a reputable service shop where I could bring it? I live in Los Angeles. I’m hesitant to ship it because I don’t have the motor clamp for shipping. For all I know, that may be the original cause since the seller shipped mine without the clamp. I guess I could have a clamp fabricated if that’s my only choice.

It’s a wonderful TT and would hate for it to die so soon in our journey together. Final question: if there’s a repair shop, should I go ahead and replace capacitors, etc..? What are people’s opinions on that?

Thanks.
Ag insider logo xs@2xbanquo363
Dear Halcro, Before we know it you will have your tonearm in New Zealand and your tt in Perth. Carry on.
Before we know it you will have your tonearm in New Zealand and your tt in Perth.
Less tracking error that way :-)
I think that would be classified by any sensible person as a straight line tonearm. But think of the effective mass.
Just to finish the story that this thread started with, I can say with confidence that Bill Thalmann in VA can fix your sp10 should it require it. I was at the point of giving up, after 4 months of fruitless waiting, but decided to take Lewm's advice (which I should have done in the first place) and sent it to VA. Even he had a false start initially (this tt is incredibly complicated) but managed to figure it out. Turns out it was two problems: a noisy power line and bad strobe light circuit. Happily, it is quiet as a mouse now and runs like a dream.

Apocalypse averted.
Banquo363 -
You are indeed correct. Bill Thalmann at Music Technology can fix just about anything electronic. He has done great work for my equipment. Highly recommended to anyone.