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TT Pain


MC39693

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Nice amplifier!  It looks to be really full-featured.  It should be fun to use.  Do you have any idea when it was made?  If it's really old, like made before 2000, you may find that your modern AVR has better sound, in spite of it seeming to be the more "mid-fi" of the two units.  Switching the lightbulbs to LEDs is really good.  The incandescent bulbs in my 1977-78 Yamaha CR-1020 seemed to need to be replaced every 3-4 years.  When I lived in 'Toronto, I could pop it over (more like lug it over.  That receiver was heavy!) to Yamaha Canada Music to have the bulbs and the power switch replaced.  After the second time (luckily, the main power switch would fail in the On position, so I'd have to unplug the receiver to turn it off) I had the Power switch replaced, I just bought a power bar and used that to turn the receiver on and off.  Toronto is The City of Head Offices in Canada, but if you live anywhere else, things are not so convenient.

 

As for those spring terminals, yes, they don't accept big cables.  I run into the same thing with the Jubilee compression drivers, which have a different style of spring terminals.  They seem to be made to accept pins, so I separate enough wire strands from the 10 gauge tweeter cables to barely fit into the terminals, then wrap the rest of the strands around the terminal.  Then I secure everything with twists of stainless steel wire (safety wire).  In your case, I'd suggest you see how many strands will fit into the terminal, then bend back the rest of the strands and apply solder to both those strands and the ones going into the terminal, to keep any stray strands from causing any short circuits.  That way, you'll have, in effect, a "pin" of the maximum size, and the "extra" strands will stay out of trouble.  Any extra resistance caused by that style terminal allowing only some of the strands of the speaker cable to enter the terminal will be negligible.

 

The SL-1500 Mk 2 could be good, as could the Kenwood, but when things get old, their individual condition is more important than their specs when new.  Any turntable should be totally silent when the platter is turning, either with power on or when turned by hand.  On the Technics, the Phono cable may be non-removable without some disassembly of the turntable.  If it's in poor condition, it's not just a matter of unplugging it and popping on a new one.  This issue was finally addressed on the new post-2015 models.  I'm not at all familiar with Kenwood turntables, so I can't say anything about them, except the obvious things I mentioned.

 

The tonearm should line up with the platter properly, and have no bends other than the ones it came with.  Inspect them both carefully, and see which one is the best deal in every way, and if neither seems good enough, keep your money in your pocket and keep looking.

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Not sure re. US sales. There’s a CSA certified sticker on the unit, I suspect Akai submitted a sample ser for the certification.

 

@Islander It seems this amp model was made in 1976/77. There’s a follow on couple of models later. I really think some one did some cleanup as it is very clean inside. The power caps may have been replaced too. I worked on my 8awg in similar fashion to your suggestion, and have them in the spring terminals, not great but functional for now. I think I’ll order those binding posts maybe after a few questions to the seller. I’m very pleased with the sound. I hope to do a more thorough review with my Martin Logan tower speakers soon. 

 

The TT front is quiet but I’m still looking.  

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4 hours ago, MC39693 said:

Not sure re. US sales. There’s a CSA certified sticker on the unit, I suspect Akai submitted a sample ser for the certification.

Akai sold a lot of high end products in the US, under the Akai brand as well as some  under the Roberts brand.

 

I have an Akai GX630 RTR, that was highly regarded.

 

 

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The u-turn Audio TT are interesting, sort of build your own. Seem to be only available via Amazon in Canada, the retailers are asking a pretty high price. Rega, Pro-ject and Audio Technica seem to be the big dogs. A sale on Prime days or Black Friday may be my best bet, unless a good, well priced vintage table shows up.

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15 minutes ago, MC39693 said:

The u-turn Audio TT are interesting, sort of build your own. Seem to be only available via Amazon in Canada, the retailers are asking a pretty high price. Rega, Pro-ject and Audio Technica seem to be the big dogs. A sale on Prime days or Black Friday may be my best bet, unless a good, well priced vintage table shows up.

Found an Akai TT on Craiglist in Coral Springs, so they're out there.

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23 minutes ago, MC39693 said:

The u-turn Audio TT are interesting, sort of build your own. Seem to be only available via Amazon in Canada, the retailers are asking a pretty high price. Rega, Pro-ject and Audio Technica seem to be the big dogs. A sale on Prime days or Black Friday may be my best bet, unless a good, well priced vintage table shows up.

Would be cool to get an open box or returned refurbished. Keep forgetting your location.

Guess I'm really just wanting to hear your Akai.

Lol

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On 10/7/2020 at 2:06 PM, MC39693 said:

Not sure re. US sales. There’s a CSA certified sticker on the unit, I suspect Akai submitted a sample ser for the certification.

 

@Islander It seems this amp model was made in 1976/77. There’s a follow on couple of models later. I really think some one did some cleanup as it is very clean inside. The power caps may have been replaced too. I worked on my 8awg in similar fashion to your suggestion, and have them in the spring terminals, not great but functional for now. I think I’ll order those binding posts maybe after a few questions to the seller. I’m very pleased with the sound. I hope to do a more thorough review with my Martin Logan tower speakers soon. 

 

 

Yes, binding posts are the better way to go.  My old Audio Logic speakers came with spring clips that could only accept 16 or maybe 14 gauge wire.  When I had the woofers re-surrounded, I also had the spring clips replaced with proper binding posts.  That allowed me to use 8 gauge cable connected to BFA bananas with them, which made a definite improvement in the sound.

 

So your new-to-you amplifier sounds as good as it looks?  Nice!  Happy listening!

 

BTW, have you checked out canuckaudiomart.com ?

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With the resurgence of vinyl and with friends knowing that I “still listened to records”, I have been asked many times “what turntable should I get”. Usually with the qualifier of not wanting to spend a lot of money and not wanting something complicated. Not surprising that a lot of the requests are from friends of my adult kids. From experience, I can say that the uturn option is a good one for an entry tt - particularly considering the cost and the option of having a built in phono stage. With more money to spend, I would say that the best option under a grand would be the pioneer PLX-1000. Bullet proof build, and performance well beyond its price point.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-4

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23 minutes ago, joshnich said:

With more money to spend, I would say that the best option under a grand would be the pioneer PLX-1000. Bullet proof build, and performance well beyond its price point.

 

I think a direct drive table would be better for a lot of casual vinyl listeners. I have an older Technics turntable, as well as my SL-1200MkII. The lower priced model is currently not working, but I think it may just be caps on the controller board. It's over 30 yrs old, so when I ended up getting the SL-1200MkII, I have let the other model sit there.

 

I was actually looking this a.m. at the Pioneer REKORDBOX DJ, two phono preamps with line outs and a usb connection (interface for 24bit/44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz).

 

Ahhhh, the price is a little high, but could sure be handy. You can switch the inputs between line/phono, so it is pretty much a 4 input interface.

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Interface2--pioneer-dj-interface-2

 

 

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