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£500-£1000 Turntable suggestions plz

jimmymcfarrell said:
So i listened to all the good advice and..... went & did the exact opposite!
Saw an LP12 for sale locally on fleabay for not very much & in a moment of madness decided to chance it. It's a, supposedly recently serviced, early non-corner braced one with no lid or base board and a hadcock uni-pivot arm. If I manage to post pics, would someone care to identify which Hadcock arm it is please? And does this arm use a unique cut out on the arm board or am I getting an arm board I could use with something else?
This is probably the least sensible purchase I could've made (early s/n - bits missing - slightly left field choice of arm from what I understand, possibly not the best choice to go with this deck) but it was a spur of the moment decision based on price & location. So long as I can listen to my vinyl again I'll be happy & might be an interesting project to try improving on what's there if I like it. Is the fact that it's such an early one going to be restrictive as far as upgrades are concerned?
Got to arrange collection yet but hopefully I'll soon find out just how good or bad it is! My last ebay purchase wasn't all it was supposed to be, but if things just turned up working I'd probably never get round to servicing / improving them & so if I've bought (yet another) project, so be it!
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Couldn't download your pictures so can't comment on the arm. Might be worth contacting the wonderful Audio origami to see what he has to say, and also find out if he has an arm board that would suit.

The fact it isn't braced suggests it is prior to 1985, but the serial number should tell you the year. If it doesn't have the Valahalla PS, then that's the upgrade I would do first, together with replacing the springs, though this may have been done if the deck really has been serviced. Phonography in Winchester can supply serviced Valhallas for reasonable prices.

Apart from that, clean, oil and tune - heaps of help in the Linn forum for that. I'd also get a replacement belt. You might not need it straightaway, but always useful to have.

Oh, and don't worry too much about the baseboard. Some removed it as a mod which improved the sound, but, since the originals are hardboard, they're easy to cut yourself if you'd rather restore the deck back to its intended state.
 
Jimmy, sorry I haven't come back to you, just been very busy. Hope you enjoy the new deck. A well set up basic LP12 will still be miles better than a Rega Planar 3, although I'm not sure about that arm.

Jez
 
Is there anything I should know about transporting an LP12? I should be able to collect it thus avoiding couriers & the associated risks with regards to posting such a delicate relic of 70s hifi! Can I just remove the outer platter & plonk it on the back seat of the car?
 
Remove outer platter.

Pad inner platter between bottom of the platter and top plate with card or sponge to stop it bouncing up and down and damaging the bearing.

If it has an arm use a twisty tie thing and secure to the arm rest.

Watch out for speed humps!
 
I removed both inner and outer platter, wrapped the inner in that plastic poppy stuff having wiped the spindle clean and sealed the bearing opening with tissue (to absorb oil) and cling film. That removes almost all odds of the thing bouncing and therefore damage.
 
Thanks for the replies people. Looking forward to collecting the deck & finally being able to play my vinyl again, and also seeing exactly what I've bought & what sort of condition it's really in. Like I said I don't mind if this becomes yet another 'project' & quite keen to see what upgrades can be made to the deck within a sensible budget. Serial no is 12*** so pretty early. Is this going to be a limiting factor as far as upgrades are concerned?
Regarding transporting the deck, once I've removed both inner & outer platter and am looking into the bearing opening,should I be able to actually see oil in there? Does the spindle actually sit in oil? And if it looks a bit lacking what sort of oil should it be topped up with? Thanks
 
Yes, the spindle does sit in a small amount of oil. Depending on the color of the plastic (linn forum again) it's likely your bearing uses mobil 3 Velocite machine oil, for which a good substitute is sewing machine oil.
 
Don't contaminate the bearing housing with tissue, it will disintegrate and form a sludge; you don't want that. :eek:
 
Tony L said:
The Hadcock is a GH228, a capable arm but, as I'm sure you will shortly learn, a PITA to set up!
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So I collected the deck today, haven't had chance to properly look at it yet but did manage to get it working and play a couple of tunes so atleast it works - after a fashion; was missing a pin that connects the signal cable from the cartridge to the tonearm base, however I managed make a new one using a gold stud earring (perfect fit too). Need to work out how to balance the arm properly, but despite only having roughly set it up, it still sounds bloody good - definitely quite a step up from my old Rega.
 
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