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Ugliest or Dysfunctional CD players, Turntables, Pre-amps and other gear

Wes

Wes

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as the audio jewelry thread peters out, it seems appropriate to have a thread for the opposite...

(no speakers here please; use the ugly speaker threads for those)
 
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Just rename the “audio jewellery” thread? A lot of horrid stuff posted there. . .
(Especially the CD transports and Turntables. . . Sorry. . .)
 
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The Philips 312 turntable. Looks like a reasonable bit of kit. Own one, and one encounters an LP playing device that will always oscillate, for which no adjustment will result in desired playback. If you encounter one of these at a thrift store or yard sale and you're thinking of buying one, DON'T!

R631799d3ad2a46e5e079e226b092ea21.jpg
 
Robin L said:
The Philips 312 turntable. Looks like a reasonable bit of kit. Own one, and one encounters an LP playing device that will always oscillate, for which no adjustment will result in desired playback. If you encounter one of these at a thrift store or yard sale and you're thinking of buying one, DON'T!

View attachment 135178
Click to expand...

Buy it for the cartridge and throw the rest in the bin. Truly horrible TTs.
 
Robin L said:
The Philips 312 turntable. Looks like a reasonable bit of kit. Own one, and one encounters an LP playing device that will always oscillate, for which no adjustment will result in desired playback. If you encounter one of these at a thrift store or yard sale and you're thinking of buying one, DON'T!

View attachment 135178
Click to expand...

A quick search reveals the Philips 312 is “circa 1978”, surely the Technics SL1200 was the reliable choice at the time?

I used to have 2x SL1200 Mk2’s (the golden model in my opinion), and 1x Mk3.
One Mk2 broke by being knocked over with the platter attached (developed platter wobble). And I sold the other Mk2 for a good price around the time I moved to CD’s.
I kept the Mk3 it still works flawlessly, but I have moved onto Digital files so it gets to collect dust. . . (not really it has a cloth over it)

Some people have their opinions on Direct-Drive but I could not fault it, was the best motor available at the time I thought.

Robin L said:
DON'T!

View attachment 135178
Click to expand...

Reminded me of the film “Don’t Breathe” (IMDb), under-rated gem disguised as a horror movie.

Or maybe it was this grindhouse trailer directed by Eli Roth.

 
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mononoaware said:
A quick search reveals the Philips 312 is “circa 1978”, surely the Technics SL1200 was the reliable choice at the time?
Click to expand...

Technics SL-1200mk2 was released in April 1979. And yes, the original SL-1200 was still being made in late 1978.

That Philips horror was sold from 1977 onwards.
 
Robin L said:
The Philips 312 turntable. Looks like a reasonable bit of kit. Own one, and one encounters an LP playing device that will always oscillate, for which no adjustment will result in desired playback. If you encounter one of these at a thrift store or yard sale and you're thinking of buying one, DON'T!

View attachment 135178
Click to expand...
I purchased a McIntosh MC240 power amp, and MX110 tuner/preamp at an estate sale. One of these TT's was attached to it. The fellow kept telling me to take the TT since I'd purchased the other two. I kindly declined. I knew how 'good' they were already. Fellow said he had a Thorens, but it quit working so he replaced it with the Philips 312. So sad.
 
Altmann Attraction DAC. Yes on a piece of wood is how it came from the maker. You had to supply your own battery. It cost over $3000 for one that worked at 44.1 khz/16 bit only. For several hundred more you could add other sample rates and 24 bit.

1623487861392.png

1623487873383.png
 
restorer-john said:
And yes, the original SL-1200 was still being made in late 1978.
Click to expand...

I admit I have no knowledge/experience with the original Mk1 Technics SL1200.
 
mononoaware said:
I admit I have no knowledge/experience with the original Mk1 Technics SL1200.
Click to expand...

The mk2 was an improvement in every respect, but the original was an excellent turntable for 1972. Massive motor, diecast body and a decent amount of torque. The reason the "bubble" is over the tonearm on all 1200s after is due to the fact it sold as an SL-120 (armless) and came with a precut aluminium armboard/tonearm base to mount the wildly popular SME-3009 tonearm which was rather tall.

No Quartz PLL meant it wasn't as stable, nor as resistant to drag.

The SL-1200 Mk2 is the pick if you ask me.
 
Blumlein 88 said:
I purchased a McIntosh MC240 power amp, and MX110 tuner/preamp at an estate sale. One of these TT's was attached to it. The fellow kept telling me to take the TT since I'd purchased the other two. I kindly declined. I knew how 'good' they were already. Fellow said he had a Thorens, but it quit working so he replaced it with the Philips 312. So sad.
Click to expand...
I was very happy for years with an 212 with a GP412!
 
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