I Am Thinking Of Purchasing A Revox B790. Am I cRaZy? (Additional Questions/Comments Regarding Cartridges, Too)

[MyNaimIsTim]

QUESTION 1: I see a Revox B790 for sale, and I am intrigued.

Accounting for the age, complexity and possibly inherent design issues involving the record player, am I crazy for wanting to take a chance on this record player? The seller says he purchased it new the late 70s, stopped using it, and tested it for sale, and it worked fine. (Of course he'd say that)

I researched the common problems and I'm willing to take a chance. I understand caps fail...I am handy enough to change those. I'm also handy enough to fix issues if other users posted instructions regarding their fixes on boards like this... but I don't have tools or time to diagnose problems on my own--I am not skilled in that area.

The price is nice. It's less than the Yamaha PX-1 and Technics SL-M3 or the Denon 59 that are for sale.

So, long story short: Should I take the chance?

QUESTION 2: What would be a good cartridge to use with the 790? I know high compliance is the way to go. I saw an Ortofon OM 5e for 90 bucks but I'm keeping options open. I emailed Grado to see if the Gold would be a good fit, and they said, and I quote: "I’m sorry but we do not recommend using a Grado cartridge on the Revox B790 turntable.".

 

[EERecordist]

I have a B795 with the original cartridge. I don't have a suggestion on the cartridge. Replacement parts and modules are available and the service manual is easily found. It is automatic too. I'm a fan of linear tracking turntables and the Revox is the most serviceable of the vintage options. The only replacement parts that are not well documented are the polyfuse values. From the circuit design they can be estimated and they don't need to be replaced unless they fail.

 

[Mister T.]

QUESTION 1: I see a Revox B790 for sale, and I am intrigued.

Accounting for the age, complexity and possibly inherent design issues involving the record player, am I crazy for wanting to take a chance on this record player? The seller says he purchased it new the late 70s, stopped using it, and tested it for sale, and it worked fine. (Of course he'd say that)

I researched the common problems and I'm willing to take a chance. I understand caps fail...I am handy enough to change those. I'm also handy enough to fix issues if other users posted instructions regarding their fixes on boards like this... but I don't have tools or time to diagnose problems on my own--I am not skilled in that area.

The price is nice. It's less than the Yamaha PX-1 and Technics SL-M3 or the Denon 59 that are for sale.

So, long story short: Should I take the chance?

QUESTION 2: What would be a good cartridge to use with the 790? I know high compliance is the way to go. I saw an Ortofon OM 5e for 90 bucks but I'm keeping options open. I emailed Grado to see if the Gold would be a good fit, and they said, and I quote: "I’m sorry but we do not recommend using a Grado cartridge on the Revox B790 turntable.".

I restored a few B790s, they are easily serviceable (get the Service Manual) and most parts are still available. Some pics are here and here. I once had a problem with a bad solder joint in the Papst motor wiring.

As for the cartridges, I have successfully used Shure V15III and IV, Shure M97Xe and Ortofon VMS20MkII, all vintage but really good sounding and well suited to the "arm". The current Ortofon 2M lineis fine too : red, blue, bronze.

 

[uvellani]

I recently acquired on of these from goodwill. It looked in pretty bad shape cosmetically, but nothing including the cover was broken. Most of it turned out to be dust and grime and a thorough cleaning restored it back to very good condition.

The electrical/mechanical problems were these -
-The power supply electrolytic caps were bad and had to be replaced.
-The cartridge carrier motor in the arm was frozen. Gentle twisting slowly loosened it and after cleaning the rails and the pulley cord now works smoothly.
-The play and outward movement were fine, but the inward movement was super slow. Had to replace a transistor.
-Although the speeds were precise at 33.33 and 45 RPM, the display was blank. There was a bad cap and a recap of the motor board fixed this.
-While I was in there I recapped the arm board as well.

The Ortofon M20E Super cartridge and stylus that was on it were in excellent condition. After resetting the tracking weight and the lowering position to spec, it tracks fine.

This is my first linear tracking turntable and I am amazed at how precise the imaging and detail are and has a wide soundstage. I have several other TT including Thorens and Lenco and this sounds as good as the best of them. I am impressed.

As far as restoration is concerned, it is fairly easy to work on. It has a clean layout and the boards have plug in connectors, so can be removed easily to work on. There are numerous logic IC's that are used for controlling the motor and cartridge tracking mechanisms. I understand that these rarely go bad, but if they do I am not sure all of them are still available.

-uv

 

[Philbo King]

You're not crazy for thinking about it, but you might be if you actually buy it.