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Attic Finds - Bin it, Flog it, Use it?

antinchip

antinchip

pfm Member
So, Father-in-law clears out his attic and unearths the following items that I find he has destined for the skip!

Collaro Microgram Valve Record Player circa 1946, looks like a small suitcase - bare wires so not dared trying to power it up!

Garrard SP25 Mk1 record deck - plugged it in and it span for a while but I was bit heavy handed and I think the belt came off!

Leak Delta 75 Receiver in original packaging - it powers up but no idea if it works since it has strange looking speaker terminals!

B&O Beogram 1203 record deck in original packaging - not tried assembling it yet but looks quite neat!

Interested in any views from those more knowledgable about old kit than I on the basis of the question in the title. Not sure if I could make use of any of it as I aready have two systems, even if I knew how to get any of it working.

Observations?

Cheers

Anthony
 
It wont make much on Ebay. Possibly you may get a niche buyer for the Collaro but not more than a few quid. B&O deck can go for 30-40 quid tops.

You wont give away the Delta receiver and a broken sp25(idler) is worth nowt.

Now: what did you do with the Radford valve amps and Monitor Golds ?.........we know you got em somewhere....hidden:D
 
Quite right, the SP25 is rubbish and definitely not belt-drive. I had a Collaro Microgram. Very heavy pickup, even for a 78 player, and the steel needles must be hard to come by. I've got some new ones somewhere. It had a variable speed control, to cope with the 80 rpm records which you sometimes used to come across, and mine was finished in a sort of mock alligator material. It was a sixth birthday present. I eventually fitted it with a more modern tone arm. I dislike Bang and Olufsen stuff, but it has its enthusiasts. It's a shame to throw anything away which someone might appreciate. Those strange speaker terminals are probably 2-pin DIN sockets. The plugs are available for a quid or so from Maplins.
 
antinchip said:
So, Father-in-law clears out his attic and unearths the following items that I find he has destined for the skip!

Collaro Microgram Valve Record Player circa 1946, looks like a small suitcase - bare wires so not dared trying to power it up!
Click to expand...

Flog it - try the Vintage Radio Repair Forum

antinchip said:
Garrard SP25 Mk1 record deck - plugged it in and it span for a while but I was bit heavy handed and I think the belt came off!
Click to expand...

Flog it/give it away - eBay or Vintage Radio Forum

antinchip said:
Leak Delta 75 Receiver in original packaging - it powers up but no idea if it works since it has strange looking speaker terminals!
Click to expand...

Flog it - eBay

antinchip said:
B&O Beogram 1203 record deck in original packaging - not tried assembling it yet but looks quite neat!
Click to expand...

Flog it - eBay or the Beoworld Forum

Basically, experience has taught me never to throw anything away as there's usually someone out there who'll like it. Hell, at least offer it up as a freebie if it comes to it! In the cae of the Leak and the Beogram, it's surprising how the words "original packaging" can lift prices.
 
Thanks all!

SP25 might become the basis of a RCM project. Otherwise I will try the suggested fora and e-bay. Would seem a shame just to throw it all away!

Cheers

Anthony
 
The Bang & Awful
cartridges go for
good money on
ePrey, fyi.

It is possible that
a bidder will win
and just ask for
the cartridge!

imho.
 
^ Very!!

They use the "Moving
Iron" generator design.

Like the Decca Heads
and later variants!

Hope this helps?
 
I always thought it was a bit cynical of Bnag and Ofulsen to design their turntables with a unique cartridge, so that you had no option but to get one of theirs to replace it. I'm guessing they must be in short supply now for older models, hence the demand on Ebay.
 
I think it was the b+o sp15 cartridge which was considered good and I dont recall ever hearing anything bad about in the 70 an early 80's mags. I gather B+O dont make styli anymore no matter how stylishy and its the styli that folks want most not the cart as they are hard to feed with new styli http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/January%201973/140/797442/EQUIPMENT+REVIEWS Funnily enough this article uses a Leak Delta 75 to listen to the cart 'due to its excellent filtering'!

I Never heard the sp15 but I have a BO tangential arm deck with a cheaper version and it will play bumpy warped disks that the Linn and Rega and Sony transcriptor arm wont .... it doesnt sound great but it can play them - its automatic too - I have to admit I like that push button and play stuff with vinyl ... perhaps I should buy the collaro to do the same job with 78's

I wouldnt spend any time at all on the sp25 at all

There are plenty of forum post on the web about the last Leak kit - the styling is 'approved of' in trend land and London Audio http://www.londonsound.org/leakrepairs.htm swears by them and does a good job talking them up and has lots of that era of Leak for sale

more Leak Delta 75 loving here http://www.retrohifi.co.uk/

beogram1203a.jpg


The 1203 IS also trendy amongst the design junkies and far less fraught to fix than the posh tangentials I read the original Beogram Linear traker is hard (very) to get fixed so B+O types do buy these older simpler decks and so that too might hit the selling spot

But surely you'll need to find out if they work before flogging them
 
I loved that Collaro Microgram. Everything about it was really tactile. The turntable mat was a deep pile plush fabric, and the platter must have weighed a ton. I was fascinated by looking through the twin ventilation ports at the end opposite the speaker, and seeing the valves glowing. It was as though there was a strange world inside which I wanted to understand. I suspect it was that which sparked my interest in electronics.
 
Darmok said:
The Bang & Awful
cartridges go for
good money on
ePrey, fyi.

It is possible that
a bidder will win
and just ask for
the cartridge!

imho.
Click to expand...
Or...as an eBay scammer did with me, buy my complete (working superb) B&O turntable and swap my good cartridge for his bad one and then raise a paypal dispute saying I had sent him a duffer!!! Took several weeks to get my money back.
 
ClaraBannister said:
I always thought it was a bit cynical of Bnag and Ofulsen to design their turntables with a unique cartridge, so that you had no option but to get one of theirs to replace it. I'm guessing they must be in short supply now for older models, hence the demand on Ebay.
Click to expand...

Soundsmith in the USA are manufacturers of B&O-approved replacement cartridges for the MMC20xx and MMCx series cartridges so they are still available. Not cheap, though...
 
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