GIGANTIC N TREMENDOUS Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) Hi Guys, I recently acquired the below Dual 1229 w/ Stanton 681EEE cart, in pretty good condition. However its starting to show signs of the usual Dual hardened lubricants and old age, so I've decided to service/restore/relube it myself. Really jumping into the deep end here, this being the first turntable I've pulled apart. Armed with service manuals, DIY guides, 3 different types of lubricant and a reasonable mechanical aptitude I'm pretty confident on the mechanical/relube side of things. What I need your help on is the Plinth, power cord, interconnects and tone arm wire. 1) The Plinth Don't really have the tools or expertise to build something new and I don't mind it aesthetically. Any suggestions on improvements? I was thinking of using a light but rigid philosophy to its design. First stiffening the bottom board which is bowing in the photos, probably by simply inserting and attaching a 12mm MDF board on top of it. I was then thinking of doing something like sealing up the cut outs and using expanding foam to fill all the unused voids? 2) Power Cable/Earthing I want to change the power cord as the old one has a two prong plug for plugging into the back of an amp and the receiver I plan on using doesn't have this. As you can see in the photos and the next point below there is no earth on this TT, if I'm replacing the power cord should I provide an earth or should I just provide one between the TT and the receiver? Don't want to create an earth loop problem. 3)Interconnects and Tonearm Re-wire. I would like to replace the interconnects, was think of just getting a pair of the Blue Jean Cable interconnects unless someones got a better suggestion for the price? Now I'm no whizz with the soldering iron so would be getting someone else to do this (who should I be using in the Melbourne area?), should I simply cut the plugs off one end and solder wires and shields to were they use to be? Or is it better if the interconnects are solder directly to the tonearm cables and considering the tonearm cables have gone green and oxidized should I be replacing the tonearm wires aswell? And as per above there is currently no earth wire, should I provide one between TT and receiver? Sorry for the long post. Cheers Campbell Edited April 3, 2013 by Campbell
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Answers: 1) No, to all your suggestions. Not necessary, nor desirable. 2) If you provide an earth for the turntable through the mains, then you may need to disconnect the earth to the amp. If the Dual was released today, it would either need to be earthed, or redesigned to deal with regs. 3) If you change interconnects, try to use nice flexible ones, as still ones will interefere with the excellent suspension system. You will need to strip the motor down, clean the upper and lower bearings and re-lube with light machine oil. Clean and re-grease the parts of the auto mechanism, where the grease has hardened. Nice old TT.
GIGANTIC N TREMENDOUS Posted April 3, 2013 Author Posted April 3, 2013 Answers: 1) No, to all your suggestions. Not necessary, nor desirable. Thanks for the reply Zaphod, but since no one else is weighing in here could you elaborate some? Is it a case of solid high-mass plinth or nothing else? What would be the ideal plinth for a suspended table? Has anyone out there had experience with the Blue Jean LC-1 Interconnects? "LC-1 Audio Cable uses a heavy double-braid shield, with one bare copper braid laid directly over another for extreme high coverage and high conductivity to ground; this is the identical shield configuration to Canare LV-77S" is it flexible enough for this application?
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted April 4, 2013 Posted April 4, 2013 Thanks for the reply Zaphod, but since no one else is weighing in here could you elaborate some? Is it a case of solid high-mass plinth or nothing else? What would be the ideal plinth for a suspended table?. It doesn't matter. The suspension provides the isolation. The plinth is not relevant.
GIGANTIC N TREMENDOUS Posted April 22, 2013 Author Posted April 22, 2013 You will need to strip the motor down, clean the upper and lower bearings and re-lube with light machine oil. Clean and re-grease the parts of the auto mechanism, where the grease has hardened. Nice old TT. Hi Zaphod, Finally started pulling the old girl apart, getting the motor apart she was being real stubborn! How exactly do you clean the bearings? Just flush with isopropyl alcohol?
Recommended Posts