advertisement


Lenco L70 project

It sounds very good indeed. The big direct coupled plinth really makes a big difference. It goes down lower, the sound is cleaner overall, and the unexpected bonus a much more 3d soundstage. It's a big effortless, full fat, bundle of fun ... and double bonus I can at last play my small collection of 78s - which actually sound far better than I thought they would as well.

The Spacedeck will be in the classifieds shortly

I paid £24 for mine*, but generally they are a bit more. £100 would be a lot though. £40 to £50 should secure a good one. The things are bullet proof apart from the stock arms which are saggy 9 times out of 10 and need the bearing blocks replacing. £100 would be a lot though. There was an NOS one on ebay a while back that fetched almost that. Obviously by the time you have added a new arm and cartridge and plinth it comes to more.

* Collection only ones go for about half the price I've noticed, and ones in Goodmans or Dynatron radiograms often go for peanuts. If you ask the seller nicely they are often willing to pack it if you arrange courier collection.
 
It's Goldring's answer, not Lenco's, both the 88 and 99 have no vanilla Lenco equivalent, IIRC they were actually assembled in the UK from Lenco parts. It's a shame that they retained the pressed steel top plate rather than copying the beautiful rigid castings of the Garrards and TD-124.

Tony.
 
I've got an 88 up in the shed; last time I fired it up it sounded ok but quite noisy. Would it be a worthwhile project? I've already let two 301's (a white and a grey) and an L78 pass through my hands!
 
I've never done the dem but I've read several people who reckon a well sorted and CLD / coupled plinthed Lenco is the best of the lot. I've kept my L70 completely stock so have no idea.

Tony.
 
Probably. It doesn't look quite like most of the standard plinth I've seen (never seen one with those rounded corners), but it doesn't look especially heavy.
 
Renovating my GL59 grease bearing,

What grease to use?

painted top-plate black, now thinking about original light grey instead, Suggestions?
 
It's not a grease bearing, but grease is used!

The bushings are sintered bronze and it is designed to be used with a typical motor oil e.g. 80-90w GL4. First disassemble it and clean it all thoroughly with spirits. When clean and dry soak the bearing housing in the oil and slide the spindle in from the bottom holding it in place as best you can. Then smear some grease across the bottom around the ball, nylon thrust plate and metal thrust plate and replace the circlip. Next force as much oil as you can in through the screw hole on the side of the bearing and replace the screw. I use a syringe for this. Finally soak the felt washer in oil and replace it on the top of the bearing. Job done.

The main purpose of the grease is to seal the bearing and keep the oil in. Do it right and you get nothing collected in the plastic cup. The art is to keep the grease in the right place, you do not want it to get up into the sintered bronze bushings as it will stop them functioning as intended. It's all far easier to do than to explain in print.

I was told this method decades ago when I bought my original GL75 second hand, i.e. very shortly after the deck was current - my deck would only have been about 3 years old when I bought it, so the knowledge was all still current.

Tony.
 
A fine way to spend a sunny afternoon is to sit in the back garden and make a record player. I present you with Ratty:

ratty1.jpg


ratty2.jpg


It has no right to sound as good as it does. I think I may fit an amp and speaker to the box and make a proper record player.
 
Get some inspiration here...
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the link; it looks as if it's going to be a project then! It's going to take a while, because I'm really busy at work at the moment. Are parts such as idlers readily available? As I said, mines quite noisy at the moment.
 
Has yours got the clunky old plastic idler wheel? If so I'd definitely try and land a metal one, they go for about 30 quid on eBay and are much quieter. Buy one with the arm attached as the way the wheel fits is different on some as they changed the size of the wheel bearing.

Tony.
 
Has yours got the clunky old plastic idler wheel?
Click to expand...
I don't know, and I'm away with work at the moment, but I'll check as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for the advice!
 
I never got my lenco in the end?, I was away when I thought I had bought it but when I got home some one else had been round and guzumped me :mad: bad crack that :mad:

Alan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top