I have a cheaper model of Technics,I can't recall which,I'd be willing to sell.I 
know it works.

Roger

 





________________________________
From: Frank Forman <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, November 23, 2010 1:11:33 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Technics SL-1500MK2 Problems

Frank Forman here. You know me either personally or from my ARSC Journal 
discographies, one with Kenzo Amoh on Eygeny Mravinsky and the other, a 
three-part article on acoustic chamber music sets.

I inherited a Technics SL-1500MK2 workhorse turntable from the late Allen 
Mackler after he got such an overdose of music working at WETA-FM, in the DC 
area, where both of us lived, that he abandoned music altogether, despite having 
a splendid collection of classical 78s and LPs.

It worked splendidly for a long time, but now one or the other channels goes out 
randomly. The problem can't be frayed wires, for I need merely unplug and replug 
the extension cable to the cable that comes out of the unit, and the sound comes 
back in correctly, but only for a while, a decreasing while over the years.

I downloaded a manual (not a step-by-step instruction guide but rather a set of 
exploded diagrams and a parts list) off the Web, and it seems to me that all the 
fancy electronics in the turntable is given over entirely to speed control, not 
to the matter of the sound from the needle to the shell down the tone arm, and 
out of the unit with a pair of RCA-type male plugs, which plug into my 
integrated amplifier.

Best would be to get the turntable fixed (and not buy a used one on eBay, which 
goes for $600-$800), but barring that I'd like recommendations on a turntable 
that is "good enough" for me to make transfers to my computer, using a little 
box called INport, into which I use RCA-type plugs from the tape output of the 
amp on one end and a USB port to go into my computer on the other end. What is 
vital is that I be able to use two needles, one a 1 mil conical needle and the 
other a 0.7 mil elliptical one.

Ion's USB turntables seem all to come with a cartridge that is a fixed part of 
the tone arm, so it seems I'll need a different brand of turntable. Since I have 
the INport box, I don't need a turntable that is USB-ready. I'll have no further 
use for a turntable after I have made computer files of my remaining LPs, so 
please don't recommend anything expensive, like over $200.