If you reactivate your old turntable, you should take a closer look at the tonearm and check whether the tonearm bearing can also move freely. Photo: Bernd Thissen / dpa / dpa-tmn
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(Photo: dpa)
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“If it is a branded device that has not been used for 20 or 30 years and is just gathering dust in the corner, it can be worthwhile to make such a record player fit again,” says Herbert Bisges from the specialist portal HIFI.de. Because the spare parts stock at well-known manufacturers is basically good. The prerequisite, however, is that the turntable is completely intact and the housing is not badly damaged.
Cleaning and functional check
“The first step is a thorough cleaning. The coarsest dust can be carefully removed with a vacuum cleaner with a soft soft nozzle at a low speed, then a damp cloth should be used ”, recommends Matthias Böde from the specialist magazine“ STEREO ”. When cleaning, plugs and sockets should also be inspected.
Before going into the details, Ralph Werner from the hifi test magazine fairaudio.de advises a very first rough function check. “Just connect the device to the power and see whether the plate is still turning and running smoothly and not wobbling,” says Werner. You should also take a closer look at the tonearm: “If it is bent or badly damaged, you can basically forget about it.”
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Next you should check whether the tonearm bearing can also move freely. Werner: “To do this, you lift the tonearm and slowly and carefully guide it over the entire record without putting it down. That should work without resistance. ” If this first functional check has been passed, you should take care of the pickup. “The stylus of a pickup is a wear part, it’s best to play it safe here and replace it,” says the expert from fairaudio.de.
New pickup or rather new device
If the complete pickup is missing, it can quickly become more expensive. Bisges therefore recommends that you first calculate the estimated total costs and then decide whether buying a new turntable is not the better choice. “For a good device you should invest 400 to 500 euros, there are good lathe operators for this, for example from Dual, Thorens, Rega or Pro-Ject,” recommends Werner.
If the pickup has to be replaced, skill is required. Bisges: “Four thin, different colored cables come from the arm with tiny plug-in shoes that can get very stuck. These must be removed when exchanging without damage and must not be exchanged. ” The new pickup must then be correctly set and adjusted again. Then the tracking force of the tonearm has to be adjusted. If this is not set correctly, this will also affect the sound quality.
Look under the turntable
Another construction site with older turntables is usually the drive belt for the turntable. “All rubber parts have to be replaced after such a long time, which is part of the process with belt-driven devices,” says Böde. The price for a replacement belt is around 20-30 euros. And if you have already removed the platter, you should also take a look at the platter bearing and its lubrication.
“The best way to remove the old oil is to use a Q-tip and alcohol and then instill new one,” recommends Böge. After this basic inspection, the turntable only needs to be correctly connected to the amplifier or receiver. As a rule, two variants are used here.
Connect properly
“Very old turntables still have the 5-pin DIN connector. There are special cinch adapters with an additional ground cable to connect the device to a current phono input, ”says Bisges. Newer devices have integrated the two cinch plugs, mostly in white and red. But not all cinch inputs are suitable for turntables. “If you catch a line input, for example for a CD player, it only works in conjunction with a phono preamplifier.” If this is not integrated, it can be bought later. The thin ground cable of the turntable must always be connected to the terminal provided on the amplifier or phono preamplifier, otherwise it will hum.
The records themselves do not need any special care, even after several years of play-free time, unless they used to be played always wet – then they can no longer be played dry. Basically, according to Bisges, records would not lose any of their quality over the years if they were stored correctly, i.e. standing, and not exposed to the sun.
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