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Turntables as an art form
- Thread starter Artsfols
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DanielT
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That model seems to be quite common. Here, for example, in Denmark. $21.:I believe it was this Beogram 1500.
Beogram 1500 (Type 57xx) + MMC 20 S
Kose Trading specializes in selling vintage Bang & Olufsen products and spare parts. We offer the best customer service and international shipping.kosetrading.com
Possibly the 1902. I distinctly remember the rectangular control in the lower control. Most B&O turntables have a round one. These turntables have scratches and dents so I am not sure. But I love the look. And the functionality. I remember a good friend of mine around that time had bought a Japanese stereo with a number of components and all kinds of lights and controls that were not needed. He so wanted me to tell him how impressed I was with his new stereo but I simply couldn't do it.
Okay, the surface finish was crap, but it's cheap and easy to fix. Grind down and put in place, mount new veneer there.
You need a new pickup, hence the price of that record player I guess. A new pickup you buy (hopefully if available) here:
If you get it up and running that is, but on the other hand it costs basically nothing.
It was just one Beogram 1500. On Hifishark you can find the ones for sale now:
Used Bang & Olufsen beogram 1500 Turntables for Sale | HifiShark.com
Used Bang & Olufsen beogram 1500 Turntables for sale on 400+ second hand hifi sites & shops. Use Hifi Shark to monitor pricing and global availability
Edit:
Or a working one for $180:
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In the German Phono Museum I saw a Dual TT within a cardanic mount which played records in any position, even upside down - similar to this one:
Here you can see another model playing in vertical mode:
Cool enough?
Here you can see another model playing in vertical mode:
Cool enough?
Shudder. I serviced Dual in-warranty and some of them where a major pain in the butt. Once I learned to smear the silicon damping fluid around in the proper locations most of them where easy repairs but man alive could they be fussy sometimes.In the German Phono Museum I saw a Dual TT within a cardanic mount which played records in any position, even upside down. Here you can see it playing in vertical mode:
Cool enough?
MaxwellsEq
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What makes a turntable good is probably always invisible. A low-friction, low noise main bearing; good isolation from air-borne and floor-borne noise; a low friction, low-play arm bearing; isolation between the motor, the platter and the cartridge; the right amount of arm mass for the cartridge's compliance.
It's possible to build a beautiful turntable that has none of these features, or an artistically ugly turntable that has them
It's possible to build a beautiful turntable that has none of these features, or an artistically ugly turntable that has them
Music Hall is walnut veneer over MDF.
The Project is lacquered MDF.
The Audio Technica is plastic (I think).
Yeah, to me this looks great:
Start and stop and speed selectors. But even this had rosewood veneer over MDF end caps. I replaced them with actual rosewood.
To my eye the Music Hall looks good at the local shop, and has a built-in phono preamp, will sound fine, and won't break the bank.
Are ^those^ tables delux?
How’s the sound?
Etc. etc. etc.
I found one for sale, but no arms, and no way to tell how it sounds like by playing a test record on it.
And what does one do for motor or spindle issues? And associated parts?
MAB
Major Contributor
I really like the PD-444. It sounds as good as a turntable can sound! It is a very stable machine, and really nice to operate.
I do worry about long term serviceability. The associated parts can be a real problem. I got a new old stock dust cover about 25 years ago for cheap. The arm boards seem to go for tons of money on eBay now. When and if it breaks and is not reasonably serviceable, and I will likely replace it with something modest. But for now its a big old slab of vintage sound.
I guess I would recommend to stay away unless you can get the table and a couple of arm boards for reasonable cost. The few parts available are just too expensive now. For instance:
LUXMAN LUX TP-SG +LS Base for PD444/PD441 Tonearm Arm Base Bracket | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for LUXMAN LUX TP-SG +LS Base for PD444/PD441 Tonearm Arm Base Bracket at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
But if you can get one working with some arm boards it's lots of fun.
OP
Artsfols
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Thanks. Three of those fit the bill appearance wise, and I've not previously seen any of them.
I have ruled out purchasing any kind of older turntable. I definitely admire people who retune the older equipment. My first good stereo had a Pioneer SA 9100 amp, TX 9100 tuner, both top of the line, a Thorens turntable, 2 Infinity speaker towers with tweeter cones and 2 rear speakers from PSB, a KLH tape deck, a TEAC cassette deck later on, Koss headphones. I had a good stereo before I had a car. That's how things were done in those days. First full time job I went to the company credit union manager for a loan. He said, you want to get a car, right? No, it's for a stereo. Denied!
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MAB
Major Contributor
Oh boy. That seems like a ton. The 555 is the vacuum version, looks really similar but is actually much different, but equally cool.
I'll be honest, I have never seen one in real life. I have heard they are high maintenance because of the vacuum, but work fine without even if the vacuum doesn't work.
In my opinion, for $5k it needs to be in demonstrably collectable condition, with all of the pieces in order, and a couple armboards minimum. If so and it is your passion, I would take it over one of those Triangle, Transrotor, or other obscene tower of power turntables.
We just bought our son one of these; maybe it will satisfy both the artistic appearance/nostalgia requirements?
(Note: this was a bit of a parental troll; his taste is even more conservative than ours, and we run a staid Thorens TD-160 table. However, we found a really good deal on this one, which should be an excellent performer.)
(Note: this was a bit of a parental troll; his taste is even more conservative than ours, and we run a staid Thorens TD-160 table. However, we found a really good deal on this one, which should be an excellent performer.)
We just bought our son one of these; maybe it will satisfy both the artistic appearance/nostalgia requirements?
(Note: this was a bit of a parental troll; his taste is even more conservative than ours, and we run a staid Thorens TD-160 table. However, we found a really good deal on this one, which should be an excellent performer.)
That's a Pro-Ject from the Artists Collection.
They do have a wide selection of interesting turntable models in the range below about 3k Euros/USD
Link to their current lineup: https://www.project-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Pro-Ject-Product-Guide-2023-WEB-2.pdf
Yes, it is a special edition of the "Debut Carbon Esprit". It also comes in more normal colors, including a pretty walnut veneer with a satin finish, but a dealer was clearing this one out for around 2/3 the usual selling price.
OP
Artsfols
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That's quite interesting. Not quite for me though.We just bought our son one of these; maybe it will satisfy both the artistic appearance/nostalgia requirements?
(Note: this was a bit of a parental troll; his taste is even more conservative than ours, and we run a staid Thorens TD-160 table. However, we found a really good deal on this one, which should be an excellent performer.)
OP
Artsfols
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Super interesting link and catalogue. The Signature 12 at 11,000 Euros!!
In the artist line I was very surprised to see a 'Hans Theessink' model. Theessink is probably the best 'not well known' blues guitarist in the world. I follow his travels on Facebook because he is a fellow Dutch man.
Bit off topic, but here is a sample.
OP
Artsfols
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The look works for me, but the wood looks like it might be a cheap veneer. Emphasis on 'might be' because it's so hard to tell from a photo. And this is my concern in purchasing a table sight unseen because you can't judge the materials and the fit and finish from a photo.JBL's first turntable looks nice. Just announced.
MaxwellsEq
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A laminate construction is generally more rigid pound-for-pound than a solid material. So a turntable made from a single slice of nice wood will probably be less ideal than one made of fibre-board with a veneer or a material like Formica.
From the photo it might even be printed foil instead of veneer. I wonder if this is yet another table outsourced to the Ya Horng factory, which produces several decent tables (including tables for Denon, Fluance, AT, Teac, and even Thorens) which are all quite similar apart from superficial appearance details. Their finishes tend to look high-end from a distance, close up you can see defects like small ripples in the gloss coat. (The kind of thing you wouldn't even notice until some jerk on the internet calls your attention to it.)
If you like the look of a minimal layout on a walnut plinth, assuming you're in North America you could also look at the U-turn Orbit. Their tables are hand-built in
Massachusetts, very attractive, and you can customize extensively.
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