advertisement


Dual CS505-2 and 506 repair

S

stevec67

pfm Member
A mate has given me 2 dead Dual TTs. One a 505-2 as featured in almost every 80's student bedroom unless you were wealthy and had a Rega or loaded and you had a Linn, the other a 506. I don't know the latter model. I haven't inspected them yet, I understand that someone has had a look at some point and given up so it's unlikely to be anything obvious. Does anyone have any ideas as to where I can start? I'm happy with checking for supply etc and standard multimeter diagnostics.

Is the 506 similar to the 505-2 or a better model? I'm happy to butcher one for the other if there is a parts issue, they have come to me free.
 
OK, it wasn't hard at all. It was a pig getting into the thing, but YouTube came to the rescue and a bit of fiddling and poking of transit screws got the lid off. Everything lifts out and drops into the base, which is like a bathtub. Bizarre layout. Once in, YouTube guy pointed out the linkage to the microswitch, which I suspected all along. Lo and behold, the linkage gums up, the switch won't operate, no power. Clean and lube, we are away. I always liked the 505-2, it was an honest enough deck. I shall have to try and find it a home.

Not looked at the 506 yet. Wouldn't it be amusing if it were the same fault?
 
Dont you just love free stuff, even if nothing special.

My mate gave me a nait2 and arcam 2 speakers that had been sat in his loft for 20 years !

Hope you have fun Steve
 
I'm not certain if it applies to the 506 but Dual used to use a vegetable based oil as motor lube and when this dried out they would gradually slow to a halt. A sure sign of the onset of this is if one has to adjust the pitch control all the way positive for correct speed.

Tear down of the motor is straight forward; with the spindle running in sintered bronze sleeves - these and the spindle should be cleaned with meths followed by re-lubrication with a light grease - not oil.
 
Last edited:
mega lord said:
Dont you just love free stuff, even if nothing special.

My mate gave me a nait2 and arcam 2 speakers that had been sat in his loft for 20 years !

Hope you have fun Steve
Click to expand...

The question I have to ask is where do you get friends like this? Is there a shop online or something?
 
From memory, the 506 was the forerunner to the 505, and is very very similar. I seem to recall the cartridge mounting on the 506 is very non-standard, and required some kind of adaptor if you wanted to mount anything other than the cartridge it came with.
 
I think the 506 followed the 505. It certainly looks more modern, and it has a red light on the strobe. The cartridge mounting is nonstandard, but it's a simple screw-on adaptor.
 
Nope.

506 pre-dated 505 by a year. I think 505 was a cost reduction exercise.

I bought a 506 in 1979 at the tender age of 14, and then replaced it with a Focus One a couple of years later
 
Yes, the CS506 was the immediate predecessor of CS505-1. Dual did have a rather confusing model numbering scheme with higher numbers often denoting more features, rather than which model came first chronologically. Basically, 505-1 is 506 less strobe light and vinyl clad wood surround. Both employed the same cartridge mount system with a sub-bracket included if the user wanted to mount a standard 1/2" cartridge in place of the included Dual branded Ortofon ULM/OM based clip-on.

Those with long memories may remember that it was CS505-2 that first featured a standard 1/2" mount headshell and was also made available as CS505-2 Deluxe with a revised version of the vinyl clad wood plinth trim. Later -3 and -4 incarnations dropped the all plastic plinth, as well the strobe markings round the platter.
 
Last edited:
I had a Dual CS506 with auto arm lift possibly also switching off the motor, cant remember now! It certainly had a plastic plinth. This would be in the very early 80's. I remember junking the two rib rubber mat and buying a rubber backed felt topped one, possibly a Luxman? The original OM10 cartridge didnt last long, seem to remember a Satin 117Z hi output moving coil, probably not a good match for the low mass arm, but that didnt matter at the time, it sounded great! Still have some reel to reel albums copied of mates records done an an Akai 4000DS. Hey, they still sound very acceptable!
 
Both the 505 and 506 have auto arm lift and I think they knock out the motor. I shall have to have a play with the 505 as I'm getting that one running while the 506 is a spares or repairs job, I can't be bothered investing time and money in something with such a low value. If I had a sacrificial deck it would be another matter. They have a very different arm arrangement, it surprises me. Both are plastic plinth. I remember from back in the day they were pretty good record decks. Not quite as good as a Rega 2 but that was more money and very much the hairshirt audiophile experience. The 505 student bedroom favourite was a lot easier to live with. I think a schoolmate had a 505-x, possibly a Mk4, he and I listened to that a good deal. It was a street ahead of the one-box record player systems that a few of my other mates had. I had the use of my Dad's PL-112D, which was on a par with the Dual and certainly looked more the part with its wood effect plinth and chrome armtube.
 
Yes, both 'should' knock out the motor after lifting the arm at end of record side.

I find it interesting how folks perceive used Dual turntables as being of negligible value, as those who have sold and repaired/restored them for decades will be aware, with Duals, the older the better. I would go so far as to say that there is yet to come a Dual idler drive models appreciation that will rival that of Lenco.

As I live in Ontario, Canada people have asked me if I am "Doctor Dual" a.k.a. Malcolm Scott; I'm not, nor do I have any business affiliation with him, however, I do appreciate his work...

Black_Base_013.jpg
 
Last edited:
That one looks like it needs a Lenco badge! I am very sure that the Germans and the Swiss were VERY aware of each other's respective products at the time.

Dual decks are a Cinderella at the moment, just as Lenco used to be. Maybe their time will come, as it has for Lenco.
 
Craig B said:
Yes, both 'should' knock out the motor after lifting the arm at end of record side.

I find it interesting how folks perceive used Dual turntables as being of negligible value, as those who have sold and repaired/restored them for decades will be aware, with Duals, the older the better. I would go so far as to say that there is yet to come a Dual idler drive models appreciation that will rival that of Lenco.

As I live in Ontario, Canada people have asked me if I am "Doctor Dual" a.k.a. Malcolm Scott. I'm not, nor do I have any business affiliation with the Malcolm, however, I do appreciate his work...

Black_Base_013.jpg
Click to expand...


Lovely.

I've been using a Dual 701 as my daily driver through most of 2017. Grown to better appreciate Dual.

Need to source/build a decent plinth though. The supplied plastic thing is functional (and mint on mine) but lets the side down.
 
Hi Robert,

I well remember lusting after a 701 back in the '70s when looking to purchase my first turntable, which ended up being a Pioneer PL-112D/Shure M95ED. I later settled on a lesser Dual which naturally amounted to a lateral move from my Pioneer. That old Dual is still running strong in an old friends system, after having no more than a motor bearing clean and lube and new stylus some 20 years ago when it was 20 years old!

My Dual lusting started when I was a wee lad listening to our rather wealthy neighbour's Fisher Ambassador console hi-fi that featured a Dual 1009 and Fisher vacuum tube receiver. In this video the owner/collector of same is playing the exact record that I first heard at our neighbours; RCA Victor's 'Stereo Action Unlimited' sampler.

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top