[orthobiz]

As some of you know, I've been looking for a turntable for my daughter. This weekend we picked one up along with a pair of Paradigm Atoms. Coupled with the Kenwood amplifier and a Panny CD player, she's got a nice little rig going.

Anyway, put a new needle on the Grado that came with it, set it up to play and...it's a little slow.

Break out the KAB strobe light and it IS slow, but how much? It only has one band of numbers for 33.3333. So,

I get out the VPI Stroboscopic disc and it's about 2 percent slow. The VPI has 3 bands for 33: one dead on and one 2 percent faster and another 2 percent slower. The 2 percent slower one is dead on steady.

This is a belt drive unit and has no speed control that I can find.

Any ideas? Would a new belt make a difference?

Paul

[TheChairGuy]

As some of you know, I've been looking for a turntable for my daughter. This weekend we picked one up along with a pair of Paradigm Atoms. Coupled with the Kenwood amplifier and a Panny CD player, she's got a nice little rig going.

Anyway, put a new needle on the Grado that came with it, set it up to play and...it's a little slow.

Break out the KAB strobe light and it IS slow, but how much? It only has one band of numbers for 33.3333. So,

I get out the VPI Stroboscopic disc and it's about 2 percent slow. The VPI has 3 bands for 33: one dead on and one 2 percent faster and another 2 percent slower. The 2 percent slower one is dead on steady.

This is a belt drive unit and has no speed control that I can find.

Any ideas? Would a new belt make a difference?

Paul

Congrats BoneyPaul...and, yes, a new belt might help.

In the meantime, clean the existing belt (and pulley & platter) first...then boil it (literally, in water).  It should shrink it a bit and make up some if not all of the shortfall in speeds you are experiencing 

If not, then a new belt may be in order.

Fill that hollow baby with plast-i-clay will ya'...the resonances carried in those old plastic decks ain't doing any favors for sonics 

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/marantz/6100.shtml

Hey, I got noticeably slower at 35 also (ha)

John

[orthobiz]

Thanks for the replies. Cleaning the belt, the idler, and the platter AND boiling it for 30 seconds did the trick. Now it's just a tiny bit slow.

Otis, you're right about not investing a lot into the table. It's a good starter table for my 14 year old.

But, who knows, I may start playing with that Plasticlay!!

Paul

[TheChairGuy]

Paul,

Try twisting the belt at the pulley area...it might take up a bit of slack on that old belt and get you a bit closer to speed I probably cannot hear less than 0.1% difference in speed...so if it's in that range, consider the issue mostly fixed.

5-8 lbs and $30 in modelling clay goes a very LONG way in improving those old, hollow Japanese decks.  It may not run roughshod over your Linn, but you'll realize the differences aren't as extreme as you had thought upon purchase.

If you find the arm and access the bearing or bearings...squeeze a shot of silicone 1000cst into it.  Better yet, some super slick additive with MS2 or PTFE/teflon in there.  You're in for more of a treat than you'd have thought for measly money

John

[royphil345]

A new belt might do the trick. Not only do they get slick, stretch and slip, but they also wear on the edges and become narrower over time. The center part of the drive pulley is usually wider, so if the belt gets too narrow and rides the edge of the pulley the speed will slow down. Tweaking the position of the pulley on the shaft a bit can help sometimes. Clean the drive path with alcohol again before installing the new belt. Cleaning and lubing the main bearing might help as well as a drop of lube on the motor bearings.