Did a little more TT maintenance recently, so I thought I'd give the Luxman PD-277 some run time in the system. This is a full auto table, with a repeat function even. I suppose for those times when Ravel's Bolero needs to go on and on and on.....
Since I rescued this a few years ago it's mostly been sitting. This is the one I bought new in 1979, and it served me well for a number of years until I went digital. I did enjoy using it at all times, and it was a nice improvement over my first table - a JVC QL-A2.
I eventually sold it to a friend, who used it for some time and in turn loaned it out to someone else. Apparently for a decade. One wine fueled evening we were discussing this stuff (he's not an audio enthusiast) and he recalled it was still around. It took him about a year to reacquire it from the loanee, Poor old table was reputed to be stored in a garage of all places.
It needed a good cleaning (dust cover still to do - its intact though scuffed). I ended up replacing the cartridge leads, the aluminum tags looked dodgy and I was unsure of their condition. I found out you can't buy leads in the required length off the shelf, and this had to be fabricated. Oddly enough this fixed headshell design terminates the phono leads to a set of fixed pins and not just running the full length to the cartridge. So you need cartridge leads like you would with a removable headshell. Only longer.
The anti-skate thread had been broken so that was replaced. Finicky. When I first tested the auto function, the arm jammed halfway to the record - the part which internally depresses the power switch had gotten sticky and prevented it from moving freely. Once that was freed it worked - although groaning in protest.
The service manual for this table is readily available at VE; though I found it a little vague in some descriptions. So I took a video of the start function from below the table to understand how all the moving bits moved. Greased where appropriate, and now it operates correctly and mechanically sounds like it used to. The tonearm swings effortlessly.
I wanted a 1970's cartridge for this and was able to obtain some cartridge bodies from our own @JohnVF . (Thanks John !) Currently mounted is an Empire 999 XE/X with an aftermarket elliptical stylus.
Spent some time spinning Donald Fagen's "Nightfly" today and messed with settings. Currently have the Phonomena at 40 db gain and loading at 100K and capacitance at 300 pf which seems to work well. VTF set at 1.5 g. Have to fine tune the alignment, but for now it's working.
How does it sound ? Not bad at all. It's sins are of omission - it doesn't have the frequency extension (at both ends) of the usual table with the AT OC9ML/II. Or the transparency. But it does sound quite pleasant - there's that vinyl warmth that I read so much about. I'll spend more time with it this week. I've always like the Luxman turntable design aesthetic - to my eyes this one is Classic.
Since I rescued this a few years ago it's mostly been sitting. This is the one I bought new in 1979, and it served me well for a number of years until I went digital. I did enjoy using it at all times, and it was a nice improvement over my first table - a JVC QL-A2.
I eventually sold it to a friend, who used it for some time and in turn loaned it out to someone else. Apparently for a decade. One wine fueled evening we were discussing this stuff (he's not an audio enthusiast) and he recalled it was still around. It took him about a year to reacquire it from the loanee, Poor old table was reputed to be stored in a garage of all places.
It needed a good cleaning (dust cover still to do - its intact though scuffed). I ended up replacing the cartridge leads, the aluminum tags looked dodgy and I was unsure of their condition. I found out you can't buy leads in the required length off the shelf, and this had to be fabricated. Oddly enough this fixed headshell design terminates the phono leads to a set of fixed pins and not just running the full length to the cartridge. So you need cartridge leads like you would with a removable headshell. Only longer.
The anti-skate thread had been broken so that was replaced. Finicky. When I first tested the auto function, the arm jammed halfway to the record - the part which internally depresses the power switch had gotten sticky and prevented it from moving freely. Once that was freed it worked - although groaning in protest.
The service manual for this table is readily available at VE; though I found it a little vague in some descriptions. So I took a video of the start function from below the table to understand how all the moving bits moved. Greased where appropriate, and now it operates correctly and mechanically sounds like it used to. The tonearm swings effortlessly.
I wanted a 1970's cartridge for this and was able to obtain some cartridge bodies from our own @JohnVF . (Thanks John !) Currently mounted is an Empire 999 XE/X with an aftermarket elliptical stylus.
Spent some time spinning Donald Fagen's "Nightfly" today and messed with settings. Currently have the Phonomena at 40 db gain and loading at 100K and capacitance at 300 pf which seems to work well. VTF set at 1.5 g. Have to fine tune the alignment, but for now it's working.
How does it sound ? Not bad at all. It's sins are of omission - it doesn't have the frequency extension (at both ends) of the usual table with the AT OC9ML/II. Or the transparency. But it does sound quite pleasant - there's that vinyl warmth that I read so much about. I'll spend more time with it this week. I've always like the Luxman turntable design aesthetic - to my eyes this one is Classic.
