I found this video very helpful. Thank you! I would like to add some info as well. Lubricating the motor as you have done is only 1/2 of the lubrication necessary for the motor. Lubrication below the motor drive pulley simply puts oil on the shaft that goes through a brass friction bearing. The oil will quickly travel down the shaft and away from the bearing contact area. My motor was having 'drag' issues - it was squeaking as well. I actually tore the motor assembly down - to do this, I opened up the cover on the bottom and removed the insulator pad and then un-solder the motor connections and the motor control IC as well. I found afterward that opening up the heatsink band around the motor control IC is a better option rather than to unsolder the IC - to do this you must break one of the tack welds. Once the pcb is off of the motor, the cover on the bottom of the motor must be removed and then carefully separate the rotor from the brushes. I swabbed out the brass pilot bearing at the bottom and put lube oil (zoomspout) in the pilot bearing recess. Also, this is an excellent time to clean the brushes (do this first) with very fine grit sandpaper (very fine 1000 grit-maybe lighter) and also the commutator. To re-assemble, you'll need to wedge a small piece of plastic in the slot in the bottom cover between the brushes to hold them apart to put the rotor back into the pilot bearing on the bottom cover - don't forget the washer that goes on the bottom of the rotor shaft! The small plastic wedge will slide out as you insert the rotor back into the pilot bearing. Resolder the motor to the PCB and if you've removed the heat sink band from the IC, put some thermal grease between the IC and the motor housing. The band is for compressing the IC thermal contact side against the motor housing. I simply used small pieces of electrical tape to hold the covers on and the IC band against the motor control IC. One final note - the speed control potentiometers are junk. I plan to replace mine, but I found that the de-oxit didn't really help with smoothing the spot that set the 33 1/3 speed (for the last 40 years). I noticed that without the motor connected to the circuit, there was a little voltage variation in this 'bad' spot. Less noticeable on the 45rpm pot since I had primarily played LPs on the turntable. After a new platter mat and cartridge alignment, a new belt and motor "overhaul", the turntable sounds fantastic!
Thank you! Think some of these lower range tables are great to learn on. It was a nice watch on a stay at home Sunday. And I would love to see more turntable videos from you. Thanks!
You have found the best way to clarify many doubts or unseen facts that makes the difference between a piece of junk and a great turntable with a low budget, I found the same model and now I know how many things to consider, thanks.
Record decks have been a part of my life since the early 1970 The first being a goldring lenco GL 75 Which with benefit of hindsight I should have kept but being keen to try out something different I had a succession of decks similar to your latest project they were ok but not a patch on the old goldring fast forward to today I have a Rega P3 deck and am a very happy as you rightly say Sir vinyl still has it’s merits Finally can I say on behalf of myself and all your wonderful followers thank you for informative entertaining and skilled videos bless you Keep well and safe Kind regards from Mike in the U.K.
Great info Tony. I foolishly sold all my vinyl stuff when CD's came out. I just bought a new turntable and your explanation of alignment is one of the best I've seen on RUclips. I'd love to see some of your gear, especially the higher end stuff.
Would love to see more Turntable work and repair. Thanks for sharing.
2 года назад+1
This was exactly what I needed. I've buyed exactly the same turntable and had to do almost exactly what you did (even the problem with the stylus). I had no trouble with the platter mat, but it was pretty stiff tho... I've put on a Stanton 360 II cartridge and worked pretty good I must say... Have to replace the belt. You gave me the tips I didn't knew about lubrication. Now I'm gonna show the process in Spanish (I'm from Argentina) but surely gonna credit you for all I've learned about this turntable. It is pretty entry level but it performs just fine and is way better turntable than any of the entry level new ones. I'm gonna use it as an alternative for my Pioneer PL-550 for it is semi automatic and the other one is fully manual (I can't fall sleep listening records! 😂). Thank you very much! I'm subscribed.
Excellent video to demystify turntable setup for those who are on the fence about purchasing one. Yes, tracking is always a compromise, but this video was commensurate with the grade/quality of this turntable to have a nice sounding, affordable means of playing records. More turntable videos please!
What Joseph said. This is incredibly helpful! I scored a really nice Dual 1237 in excellent condition for something like $60 at an antique mall a while back, but I'm always reluctant to actually put the needle down for fear of damaging my records. I finally got a nice wooden base for it recently. Now all I have to do is take some time and do exactly what you did to make sure it's tracking right. Thank you.
Headshell alignment was taught to me differently... Between the 0 degree points an error angle exists (about maximal in between the 0 degree points and also increasing beyond the 0 degree points).. You want that angle as small as possible. Therefore you've got to figure out where to place the optimal 0 degree points so that the + and - error degrees are about the same. To find the optimal 0 degree points you've got to indicate the portion of the groves on your paper. Devide that in 1:2:1 portions and mark the boundaries.. On the points of those boundaries you set the 0 degree points of the headshell .
You are correct, and I suspect that a lot of folks that have experience with turntable setup will bring this up as well. I didn't want to get into null points and different stylus geometries in this video because I felt it would make it too long and too complicated for those who are just starting to have interest in vinyl. I'm thinking that I may have opened up a can of worms, however, as there are a good number of comments just in the short time this video has been up (Michael Fremer is probably cringing at this moment, if by chance he sees this video ;)). I'm glad to see so many people interested in the subject. Maybe I'll do another video where I can explain some things in more detail. In reality, I consider myself a total amateur in this subject, as some of my friends from the past were waaaay more into this than I ever was. I guess it's never too late to learn, though! Thanks for the comment!
I have never seen a rubber mat leaking "oil". I know rubber may become brittle because it dries out, but then there is no fluid on it, it just evaporates. Some types of rubber, like the drive belts in tape decks, they do not dry out but they become sticky, like gum. I suspect the former user of this turntable may have tried to lubricate the spindle and the bearing under it. That should be done from time to time. He probably did the lubrication the wrong way, without removing the platter; so the oil seeped under the mat making a mess.
Hi Tony, great stuff as usual. Juste one more basic ajustement that are forget a lot of time is the azimuth........ I juste put a straight edge across the head shell and is very easy to evaluate. Merci and stay well.
Except for the very minute movement of azimuth of headshell itself as perhaps is with this table, these don't usually have it at all. My budget Kenwood, which is roughly the same quality as this Hitachi and was built/sold in 1985 has a tiny amount before tightening down the grub screw as Tony showed here to secure the ADC headshell that these tables tend to use but there is a very tiny bit of one. Many tables don't have this adjustment at all, particularly many arms are now cast as one piece like the Rega arms (Roy did this to ensure proper rigid mounting all all aspects of the arm/cart/table here, a compromise, but one that has more benefits than not, as long you don't go to crazy with using radical stylus tips.
Tony...You should balance the arm AFTER cartridge alignment. By moving the cartridge around in the headshell, after balancing, you have changed the tracking force. Great job, anyway.
The oily film of the mat is the plasticiser that leaks out from the vinyl, that's why it also becomes brittle. You can get liquid plasticiser (ATBC) and try to rub it back in.
Reminds me of a turntable I have, somewhere. To clean that gooey rubber mat try washing it in warm soapy water and let dry. You can use either 303 Aerospace Protectant or Eagle-One Rubber Vinyl Cleaner and Protectant. Either should do the trick.
Vinyl defies logic. While there is no doubt it is an imperfect way to reproduce sound it is still very pleasing to most ears. I would not argue against a digital reproduction being much cleaner and scientifically a much more perfect representation of the recorded material, yet I would rather hear a vinyl record. Does nostalgia play a big part? Yeah, sure it does. The handling of the medium, the fascination of the mechanical/analog nature of it, and even the album artwork and inner sleeves and inserts...Even down the the mythology of the record album for people of our generation...Yeah...Argue all you want, I will just relax with a stiff drink and a few vinyl records. Works for me...
Thank you for this video. The vinyle is still a great subject for technicians and audiophiles. It's always interesting to see the maintenance and settings of different models. I've got a little collection of these, and I'm always curious to see the different approaches and solutions, different technologies... You said you have a direct drive Pioneer in list, and I hope you'll show one of these quartz PLL models. Some are also special as the arms use different technologies, from electronically controlled parameters in high end Sony's or Denon's, other with tangential movement... Your alignment procedure is quite interesting and effective, but many finicky vinyle users would say it's inaccurate or missing points, like overhang dimensions, angle of shell, arm geometry. There is a complete subject for a video, as substantial as the debate in the choice of these protractors, alignment points... Even this lab disc with a out of phase signal as a way to correct the final alignment: you should get perfectly equal levels and disphasing at this position of the disc, and you could use XY mode to demonstrate that... Is another video topic! The fact is many young people have never touched or heard one of these, but the mode is back, and so records player. Some have inherited huge amount of discs from their elders, other are curious, and some have simply been been introduced to the club... As you said, the CD is so easy to use, digital medias on internet even simpler. And when it comes to real audio, with a good CD player, amp and speakers, you can beat MP4 or quite every digitally compressed format. You perfectly get the point, you will need much more time and money to get a really top quality sound from a record player. But when it comes to the relative quality of this simple Hitachi, what you call entry level is not so, relative to the fact you can adjust it, change the cartridge... Even your basic conical cartridge is certainly a fairly good moving magnet compared to some basic ceramic cartridges you can find on many new MP3 converters! It's just to the point these retro players are doing better for the money than many new ones. One last thing, I've already tried to save some of these decomposing mats in the past. That's a frequent problem, you first get oil, then your mat can become sticky and even glue to the platter. And with a clean metal base, a new mat is mandatory, whatever the material (felt, cork, rubber...).
I had bought one brand new in 1980, they listed for $149. thats $466. in today's money lasted for 20 years before the head shell wouldn't make contact with the tone arm, moving ahead found another one on ebay just needed a belt and I replaced the audio technica with the pickering I saved from the first one
With an undersized strobe disc like that, you can easily put it on top of a record, and then play the outer track of the record as you adjust the speed, adding the effect of stylus drag. I would say that the speed is way off. It's showing about 6% fast, and I've never seen stylus drag lower the speed by more than about 0.5% at most.
YES!!!! Please fix up some more turntables, and it's totally okay if it is some really cool ones. This particular one is a classic 80's plastic model of the type that typically was part of a budget stereo rack system. Personally I wouldn't refer to it as vintage, because in my opinion vintage is stuff from the 70's or older. The 80's doesn't quite fit the term, and though it was a great decade in many ways, it also was a terrible one when it came to a lot of music gear. It truly was the decade of plastic, and inflated watt specifications etc, and the wood/silverfaced look was replaced by boring black boxes, or even worse colored plastic looking like toys. Having said that, don't take it as critique for fixing this one up. I had a great time watching this. The only reason that I point this out, is that I would really like to see you fix up some 70's models. They were better quality, and quite often made in pretty interesting ways. For instance some of the Duals, or the Philips GA 212 would be such a treat. Thanks for always making great and entertaining videos. Stay safe and awesome.
Thanks a lot, although i have a direct drive HT-354 (slightly different inside) it helped me repair mine yesterday and put all the pieces back together which would have been a disaster without your help😅Merci beaucoup. I think my pb came from that little "lead ball" being rusty..cleaned it oiled it... I have a special oil pen with a needle , (normally used for my saxes) that came very handy. Best wishes for 2023!
I'm not into vinyl anymore, nor likely to be, but this was fascinating. That Hitachi looks suspiciously like the one I bought for my wife (new) before we were married. I'm usually not one for exaggeration or hyperbole, but the scope views of the 1 kHz square wave were mind-blowing. Makes me wonder: how good is the square wave on the test record? What is the best you've seen with this test with other turntables and cartridges? Thanks for another good video.
Hi Tony, another interesting video, thanks. Off topic, if I may, I noticed a charcoal colored bracket with 4 BNC connectors right below the o scope. I was wondering if that or something similar might be readily available. I need to set connectors just like that for my 8903 that has option 001 so no jacks on the front. I’m sure you know what I am talking about.
The bracket with 4 BNC connectors is actually my 4 channel USB oscilloscope. When you see the O-scope traces on the monitor at the back of the bench, you are seeing this scope. Thanks for the comment!
Hello, first time getting a turntable and I’m trying to restore it. Can I buy any head shell for the Hitachi ht 356 or does it have to be a specific one? I’m also having to buy a stylus and cartridge
Hi! j got hithaci 12 what is also same ,without cartrige less different. You don't say nothing about auto return system ,where j have a problem? My tonearm is don't coming back to zero? What to do?
That cartridge alignment method is not accurate! When looking along a tangential line like you drew on the paper, the cartridge can only be square with the line at two distances. Otherwise, it would be a linear tracking arm! The distances from the center of the record where the stylus is perfectly tangential are called the null points, and will vary slightly depending on which alignment protocol you're using. The mirror protractor you showed has its null points marked at 2.6 inches (66 mm) and 4.76 inches (120.9 mm), which corresponds to the popular Baerwald alignment. This would be a good pair of points to use on your straight line paper protractor. The other problem is that you are adjusting so the line on the paper is parallel with the front edge of the cartridge, when you really need to be checking with the stylus is sitting directly on the line. Finally, it's pretty important to punch the spindle hole really accurately, so the line really does go through the center. When you use Baerwald alignment with an older Japanese turntable like this, you often end up with the cartridge not sitting square in the headshell, because these arms have geometry that's optimized for Stevenson alignment, using null points at 60.325 mm and 117.42 mm. Sorry to sound so pedantic, but care and precision really makes a sonic difference when doing this stuff.
@Etienne Okay, but if you're going to the trouble to try and do any kind of alignment at all, why not use a tool that is just as easy to use, yet delivers far more accurate results? You can download and print out free protractors at VinylEngine.com, and he even shows some of those at 36.15, before he switches to the paper with a line on it.
Sorry Sr. but the turntable´s platter mat is the original, I´ve this turntable and it has the same model of mat, obviously .... that mine is not dripping oil .... hahaha.
Set the anti-skate to the same number as your tracking force. If tracking is set to 2 grams, then set the anti-skate knob to 2. You can then fine tune it by ear.
@@xraytonyb The odds of it being accurate is small.. If you can get a disc with no grooves, just a smooth (yeah, I know they're not readily available)surface, lower the stylus onto it and adjust anti skate so the tonearm slowly drifts towards the spindle. When a record is placed on the player the grooves will create an outward force on the stylus. Most ant skate settings at best are approximations. Looking straight on to the stylus and looking for a deflection one way or the other is a simple(sort of) way to adjust anti skate but even that would probably change over two or three positions on the record. One more thing, players with no arm height adjustments present issues in down force. Adjust down force in the middle or even low part of its range and add 1/10th of a gram of weight at a time to the tracking force and listen to the difference. Their is a sweet spot.
woah! where did you get that vinyl with test tones on it? I didn't know that such a thing existed. Also, I have read somewhere that the bass frequency in vinyl is mixed to mono which is one of the reasons why vinyl sounds the way it does... apparently it's got something to do with the track width. Not many people know about it. I have a few turntables but my favorite is a belt driven Pioneer PL120, this thing sits on the timber floor right next to the subwoofer and refuses to skip a track at any volume level, mind you I also have Realistic 15" 3 ways speakers alongside the B&W 12" subwoofer. I also have an Audio Technica direct drive turntable that is literally a copy of the Technics SL1200, but if you breathe on it, it skips a track. Not all turntables are created equal and while the Pioneer is old and cheap, it sounds amazing and never skips a beat, that's the most important thing at the end of the day.
This was a terrible turntable when it was new. Why spend anything on it? The problem with old turntables is servicing the belts and tonearm and platter bearing. Dual and Thorens are probably the turntables to invest time and money. There were a couple of good direct drive tables. Maybe some massive commercial tables. A modern Rega turntable probably blows most old turntables away. Linn Sondek could be refurbished like new from the 80s model.
I found this video very helpful. Thank you!
I would like to add some info as well.
Lubricating the motor as you have done is only 1/2 of the lubrication necessary for the motor. Lubrication below the motor drive pulley simply puts oil on the shaft that goes through a brass friction bearing. The oil will quickly travel down the shaft and away from the bearing contact area. My motor was having 'drag' issues - it was squeaking as well. I actually tore the motor assembly down - to do this, I opened up the cover on the bottom and removed the insulator pad and then un-solder the motor connections and the motor control IC as well. I found afterward that opening up the heatsink band around the motor control IC is a better option rather than to unsolder the IC - to do this you must break one of the tack welds. Once the pcb is off of the motor, the cover on the bottom of the motor must be removed and then carefully separate the rotor from the brushes. I swabbed out the brass pilot bearing at the bottom and put lube oil (zoomspout) in the pilot bearing recess. Also, this is an excellent time to clean the brushes (do this first) with very fine grit sandpaper (very fine 1000 grit-maybe lighter) and also the commutator. To re-assemble, you'll need to wedge a small piece of plastic in the slot in the bottom cover between the brushes to hold them apart to put the rotor back into the pilot bearing on the bottom cover - don't forget the washer that goes on the bottom of the rotor shaft! The small plastic wedge will slide out as you insert the rotor back into the pilot bearing. Resolder the motor to the PCB and if you've removed the heat sink band from the IC, put some thermal grease between the IC and the motor housing. The band is for compressing the IC thermal contact side against the motor housing. I simply used small pieces of electrical tape to hold the covers on and the IC band against the motor control IC.
One final note - the speed control potentiometers are junk. I plan to replace mine, but I found that the de-oxit didn't really help with smoothing the spot that set the 33 1/3 speed (for the last 40 years). I noticed that without the motor connected to the circuit, there was a little voltage variation in this 'bad' spot. Less noticeable on the 45rpm pot since I had primarily played LPs on the turntable. After a new platter mat and cartridge alignment, a new belt and motor "overhaul", the turntable sounds fantastic!
First all, "Always Quality Time." Spent with your videos. Second, please do more with T/T's. 1 hour of good learning. Thanks.
Thank you! Think some of these lower range tables are great to learn on. It was a nice watch on a stay at home Sunday. And I would love to see more turntable videos from you. Thanks!
You have found the best way to clarify many doubts or unseen facts that makes the difference between a piece of junk and a great turntable with a low budget, I found the same model and now I know how many things to consider, thanks.
I recently inherited my parents old Hitachi HT-51 model - this video was SUPER helpful! Thanks!
Great explanation on the alignment of the table, some of us old timers need a little memory jog time and again👍
Record decks have been a part of my life since the early 1970 The first being a goldring lenco GL 75 Which with benefit of hindsight I should have kept but being keen to try out something different I had a succession of decks similar to your latest project they were ok but not a patch on the old goldring fast forward to today I have a Rega P3 deck and am a very happy as you rightly say Sir vinyl still has it’s merits Finally can I say on behalf of myself and all your wonderful followers thank you for informative entertaining and skilled videos bless you Keep well and safe Kind regards from Mike in the U.K.
I appreciate you sharing your knowledge Tony. I like all the videos you do on all electronic repairs as well as the theory behind them.
Interesting stuff Tony, All be it a low end turntable, Just doing all the fine tuning and setup just makes us appreciate Vinyl even more! Stay safe.
Great info Tony. I foolishly sold all my vinyl stuff when CD's came out. I just bought a new turntable and your explanation of alignment is one of the best I've seen on RUclips. I'd love to see some of your gear, especially the higher end stuff.
I picked up a Thorens TD-124 a couple of years ago and haven't yet gotten around to restoring it but this video is perking up my ambition.
Sell it to me! :)
Would love to see more Turntable work and repair. Thanks for sharing.
This was exactly what I needed. I've buyed exactly the same turntable and had to do almost exactly what you did (even the problem with the stylus). I had no trouble with the platter mat, but it was pretty stiff tho... I've put on a Stanton 360 II cartridge and worked pretty good I must say... Have to replace the belt. You gave me the tips I didn't knew about lubrication. Now I'm gonna show the process in Spanish (I'm from Argentina) but surely gonna credit you for all I've learned about this turntable. It is pretty entry level but it performs just fine and is way better turntable than any of the entry level new ones. I'm gonna use it as an alternative for my Pioneer PL-550 for it is semi automatic and the other one is fully manual (I can't fall sleep listening records! 😂). Thank you very much! I'm subscribed.
Excellent video to demystify turntable setup for those who are on the fence about purchasing one. Yes, tracking is always a compromise, but this video was commensurate with the grade/quality of this turntable to have a nice sounding, affordable means of playing records.
More turntable videos please!
Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
What Joseph said. This is incredibly helpful! I scored a really nice Dual 1237 in excellent condition for something like $60 at an antique mall a while back, but I'm always reluctant to actually put the needle down for fear of damaging my records. I finally got a nice wooden base for it recently. Now all I have to do is take some time and do exactly what you did to make sure it's tracking right. Thank you.
more pls!!! I will share all the knowledge you share with us among younger people
Thank you! Just what I needed!
excellent just finished a pioneer pl640,sounds amazing at least my old ears
Headshell alignment was taught to me differently... Between the 0 degree points an error angle exists (about maximal in between the 0 degree points and also increasing beyond the 0 degree points).. You want that angle as small as possible. Therefore you've got to figure out where to place the optimal 0 degree points so that the + and - error degrees are about the same. To find the optimal 0 degree points you've got to indicate the portion of the groves on your paper. Devide that in 1:2:1 portions and mark the boundaries.. On the points of those boundaries you set the 0 degree points of the headshell .
You are correct, and I suspect that a lot of folks that have experience with turntable setup will bring this up as well. I didn't want to get into null points and different stylus geometries in this video because I felt it would make it too long and too complicated for those who are just starting to have interest in vinyl. I'm thinking that I may have opened up a can of worms, however, as there are a good number of comments just in the short time this video has been up (Michael Fremer is probably cringing at this moment, if by chance he sees this video ;)). I'm glad to see so many people interested in the subject. Maybe I'll do another video where I can explain some things in more detail. In reality, I consider myself a total amateur in this subject, as some of my friends from the past were waaaay more into this than I ever was. I guess it's never too late to learn, though! Thanks for the comment!
I currently have a decent Sony turntable I use. It seems to work well. Yes, I would be interested to see more videos like these!!!
I have never seen a rubber mat leaking "oil". I know rubber may become brittle because it dries out, but then there is no fluid on it, it just evaporates. Some types of rubber, like the drive belts in tape decks, they do not dry out but they become sticky, like gum. I suspect the former user of this turntable may have tried to lubricate the spindle and the bearing under it. That should be done from time to time. He probably did the lubrication the wrong way, without removing the platter; so the oil seeped under the mat making a mess.
Yea, More on Turntables would be nice to See.. Your giving me Pennsauken Trading Post High School Job Flashbacks..
Hi Tony, great stuff as usual. Juste one more basic ajustement that are forget a lot of time is the azimuth........ I juste put a straight edge across the head shell and is very easy to evaluate.
Merci and stay well.
Except for the very minute movement of azimuth of headshell itself as perhaps is with this table, these don't usually have it at all. My budget Kenwood, which is roughly the same quality as this Hitachi and was built/sold in 1985 has a tiny amount before tightening down the grub screw as Tony showed here to secure the ADC headshell that these tables tend to use but there is a very tiny bit of one.
Many tables don't have this adjustment at all, particularly many arms are now cast as one piece like the Rega arms (Roy did this to ensure proper rigid mounting all all aspects of the arm/cart/table here, a compromise, but one that has more benefits than not, as long you don't go to crazy with using radical stylus tips.
Parallel with the edge of this platter...a round shape being parallel....geometry blown. BOOM
Tony...You should balance the arm AFTER cartridge alignment. By moving the cartridge around in the headshell, after balancing, you have changed the tracking force. Great job, anyway.
I'd love to see , ore turntable videos, especially thoss featuring setup for shibata needles.
Love to see the Pioneer...
Tony, you are not holding any of your knowledge back. Thank you for that!
The oily film of the mat is the plasticiser that leaks out from the vinyl, that's why it also becomes brittle. You can get liquid plasticiser (ATBC) and try to rub it back in.
Looks a lot like my Scott turntable which was also made in Japan. They certainly shared some parts and basic design.
Most likely all made by CEC
Reminds me of a turntable I have, somewhere. To clean that gooey rubber mat try washing it in warm soapy water and let dry. You can use either 303 Aerospace Protectant or
Eagle-One Rubber Vinyl Cleaner and Protectant. Either should do the trick.
Vinyl defies logic. While there is no doubt it is an imperfect way to reproduce sound it is still very pleasing to most ears. I would not argue against a digital reproduction being much cleaner and scientifically a much more perfect representation of the recorded material, yet I would rather hear a vinyl record. Does nostalgia play a big part? Yeah, sure it does. The handling of the medium, the fascination of the mechanical/analog nature of it, and even the album artwork and inner sleeves and inserts...Even down the the mythology of the record album for people of our generation...Yeah...Argue all you want, I will just relax with a stiff drink and a few vinyl records. Works for me...
Thank you for this video. The vinyle is still a great subject for technicians and audiophiles. It's always interesting to see the maintenance and settings of different models. I've got a little collection of these, and I'm always curious to see the different approaches and solutions, different technologies... You said you have a direct drive Pioneer in list, and I hope you'll show one of these quartz PLL models. Some are also special as the arms use different technologies, from electronically controlled parameters in high end Sony's or Denon's, other with tangential movement...
Your alignment procedure is quite interesting and effective, but many finicky vinyle users would say it's inaccurate or missing points, like overhang dimensions, angle of shell, arm geometry. There is a complete subject for a video, as substantial as the debate in the choice of these protractors, alignment points... Even this lab disc with a out of phase signal as a way to correct the final alignment: you should get perfectly equal levels and disphasing at this position of the disc, and you could use XY mode to demonstrate that... Is another video topic!
The fact is many young people have never touched or heard one of these, but the mode is back, and so records player. Some have inherited huge amount of discs from their elders, other are curious, and some have simply been been introduced to the club...
As you said, the CD is so easy to use, digital medias on internet even simpler. And when it comes to real audio, with a good CD player, amp and speakers, you can beat MP4 or quite every digitally compressed format. You perfectly get the point, you will need much more time and money to get a really top quality sound from a record player. But when it comes to the relative quality of this simple Hitachi, what you call entry level is not so, relative to the fact you can adjust it, change the cartridge... Even your basic conical cartridge is certainly a fairly good moving magnet compared to some basic ceramic cartridges you can find on many new MP3 converters! It's just to the point these retro players are doing better for the money than many new ones.
One last thing, I've already tried to save some of these decomposing mats in the past. That's a frequent problem, you first get oil, then your mat can become sticky and even glue to the platter. And with a clean metal base, a new mat is mandatory, whatever the material (felt, cork, rubber...).
A higher grade turntable would be a nice departure from the regularly scheduled repairs.
Enjoyed the video alot. Stuck indoors is not my thing. I would like to see a turntable with a idler wheel fix and setup. Peace to you.
My similar Scott turntable has strobing and speed adjustment on the top. It needed speed tweaks every say 30 minutes.
Another turntable repair would be a nice change of pace:)
Turntables, yes please.
Analog is great! More TT's please. Maybe 8 Tracks & Cassettes also! :)
Fantastic video
I had bought one brand new in 1980, they listed for $149. thats $466. in today's money lasted for 20 years before the head shell wouldn't make contact with the tone arm, moving ahead found another one on ebay just needed a belt and I replaced the audio technica with the pickering I saved from the first one
With an undersized strobe disc like that, you can easily put it on top of a record, and then play the outer track of the record as you adjust the speed, adding the effect of stylus drag. I would say that the speed is way off. It's showing about 6% fast, and I've never seen stylus drag lower the speed by more than about 0.5% at most.
More info, thanks.
I know I'd like to see the Panasonic & Quad get worked on!
Thanks a lot for your very useful video! My hitachi ht20s spins a little bit faster (around 35rpm), what can I do?
YES!!!! Please fix up some more turntables, and it's totally okay if it is some really cool ones.
This particular one is a classic 80's plastic model of the type that typically was part of a budget stereo rack system. Personally I wouldn't refer to it as vintage, because in my opinion vintage is stuff from the 70's or older. The 80's doesn't quite fit the term, and though it was a great decade in many ways, it also was a terrible one when it came to a lot of music gear. It truly was the decade of plastic, and inflated watt specifications etc, and the wood/silverfaced look was replaced by boring black boxes, or even worse colored plastic looking like toys. Having said that, don't take it as critique for fixing this one up. I had a great time watching this. The only reason that I point this out, is that I would really like to see you fix up some 70's models. They were better quality, and quite often made in pretty interesting ways. For instance some of the Duals, or the Philips GA 212 would be such a treat.
Thanks for always making great and entertaining videos.
Stay safe and awesome.
TheSoundrookie Just wait for what’s coming. You will be pleased!
Thanks a lot, although i have a direct drive HT-354 (slightly different inside) it helped me repair mine yesterday and put all the pieces back together which would have been a disaster without your help😅Merci beaucoup. I think my pb came from that little "lead ball" being rusty..cleaned it oiled it... I have a special oil pen with a needle , (normally used for my saxes) that came very handy. Best wishes for 2023!
by the way very nice jazz tune on the soprano here!!!
Yes let's just have a few turntables on the bench for a change.
I'm not into vinyl anymore, nor likely to be, but this was fascinating. That Hitachi looks suspiciously like the one I bought for my wife (new) before we were married. I'm usually not one for exaggeration or hyperbole, but the scope views of the 1 kHz square wave were mind-blowing. Makes me wonder: how good is the square wave on the test record? What is the best you've seen with this test with other turntables and cartridges? Thanks for another good video.
not a bad performing tt there im it was very common in the 1980s .
Tony, can you provide the details on what model and brand magnifying glass light is?
The one foot by the tonearm base looked collapsed or missing the spring.
It is, and I have to fix it (put it on the list...). Good eye!
No thought of recapping that little speed control board Tony?
I have the HT-40s and the tone arm lowers too quickly.. How do I fix it?
Hi Tony, another interesting video, thanks. Off topic, if I may, I noticed a charcoal colored bracket with 4 BNC connectors right below the o scope. I was wondering if that or something similar might be readily available. I need to set connectors just like that for my 8903 that has option 001 so no jacks on the front. I’m sure you know what I am talking about.
The bracket with 4 BNC connectors is actually my 4 channel USB oscilloscope. When you see the O-scope traces on the monitor at the back of the bench, you are seeing this scope. Thanks for the comment!
Most people no longer have a CD player either. The distortion of the vinyl record is what people read as "warmth."
What speakers do you use? I can’t seem to find any that can work with the included cords.
Hello, first time getting a turntable and I’m trying to restore it. Can I buy any head shell for the Hitachi ht 356 or does it have to be a specific one? I’m also having to buy a stylus and cartridge
Would it not easy, to print the protractor-line on the plate itself? No paper, no printout.
Hi! j got hithaci 12 what is also same ,without cartrige less different.
You don't say nothing about auto return system ,where j have a problem?
My tonearm is don't coming back to zero?
What to do?
You'll have to open it up an look at the mechanism. There are plastic parts in there that are greased. Maybe something is broken?
That cartridge alignment method is not accurate! When looking along a tangential line like you drew on the paper, the cartridge can only be square with the line at two distances. Otherwise, it would be a linear tracking arm! The distances from the center of the record where the stylus is perfectly tangential are called the null points, and will vary slightly depending on which alignment protocol you're using. The mirror protractor you showed has its null points marked at 2.6 inches (66 mm) and 4.76 inches (120.9 mm), which corresponds to the popular Baerwald alignment. This would be a good pair of points to use on your straight line paper protractor.
The other problem is that you are adjusting so the line on the paper is parallel with the front edge of the cartridge, when you really need to be checking with the stylus is sitting directly on the line.
Finally, it's pretty important to punch the spindle hole really accurately, so the line really does go through the center.
When you use Baerwald alignment with an older Japanese turntable like this, you often end up with the cartridge not sitting square in the headshell, because these arms have geometry that's optimized for Stevenson alignment, using null points at 60.325 mm and 117.42 mm.
Sorry to sound so pedantic, but care and precision really makes a sonic difference when doing this stuff.
@Etienne Okay, but if you're going to the trouble to try and do any kind of alignment at all, why not use a tool that is just as easy to use, yet delivers far more accurate results? You can download and print out free protractors at VinylEngine.com, and he even shows some of those at 36.15, before he switches to the paper with a line on it.
I sent you a mail, but the adress couldn't be found
👍👍😎✌️🤟
Sorry Sr. but the turntable´s platter mat is the original, I´ve this turntable and it has the same model of mat, obviously .... that mine is not dripping oil .... hahaha.
there not that low end the original price was around $150.00 in 1980
How do you adjust the anti skate knob?
Set the anti-skate to the same number as your tracking force. If tracking is set to 2 grams, then set the anti-skate knob to 2. You can then fine tune it by ear.
@@xraytonyb The odds of it being accurate is small.. If you can get a disc with no grooves, just a smooth (yeah, I know they're not readily available)surface, lower the stylus onto it and adjust anti skate so the tonearm slowly drifts towards the spindle. When a record is placed on the player the grooves will create an outward force on the stylus. Most ant skate settings at best are approximations. Looking straight on to the stylus and looking for a deflection one way or the other is a simple(sort of) way to adjust anti skate but even that would probably change over two or three positions on the record. One more thing, players with no arm height adjustments present issues in down force. Adjust down force in the middle or even low part of its range and add 1/10th of a gram of weight at a time to the tracking force and listen to the difference. Their is a sweet spot.
How fuck you turn it on
woah! where did you get that vinyl with test tones on it? I didn't know that such a thing existed. Also, I have read somewhere that the bass frequency in vinyl is mixed to mono which is one of the reasons why vinyl sounds the way it does... apparently it's got something to do with the track width. Not many people know about it. I have a few turntables but my favorite is a belt driven Pioneer PL120, this thing sits on the timber floor right next to the subwoofer and refuses to skip a track at any volume level, mind you I also have Realistic 15" 3 ways speakers alongside the B&W 12" subwoofer. I also have an Audio Technica direct drive turntable that is literally a copy of the Technics SL1200, but if you breathe on it, it skips a track. Not all turntables are created equal and while the Pioneer is old and cheap, it sounds amazing and never skips a beat, that's the most important thing at the end of the day.
Haha I don’t want to watch the whole video is there a time frame anyone can send me that talks about speed adjustment? Thanks lol
This was a terrible turntable when it was new. Why spend anything on it? The problem with old turntables is servicing the belts and tonearm and platter bearing. Dual and Thorens are probably the turntables to invest time and money. There were a couple of good direct drive tables. Maybe some massive commercial tables. A modern Rega turntable probably blows most old turntables away. Linn Sondek could be refurbished like new from the 80s model.