[Wayner]

Over the last 2 weeks I had to turn down 2 people looking for decent TTs that they didn't have to shell out a lot of cash for. So, yesterday, I picked up a Sony PS-X5 in totally mint condition. It even has the peel off plastic protector cover on the dust cover. There are no blemishes of any kind and it's like it came out of a time machine considering that it is 33 years old. It's a direct drive.

 

I hope to get it by Friday so I can post some more pictures of it. I'm lead to believe that the three tables (x5, x6 and x7) where awesome decks weighing in at 25 pounds with cast metal platters and plinths. I have several pounds of plasticlay waiting.

My plan is that this will be the Longhorn testing deck and the Technics SL-Q2 will be on the stock shelf, waiting for a new home. If anyone is counting, I now am back up to 6 working decks, and 4 in various stages of parts and/or waiting for parts to be completed.

I received a beautiful Empire 498 from Bill Bernt last week. This is a strange deck that is a cross-over from the 298/398 design to the more modern sub-sprung sub chassis models of the 598/698. The platter and sub-frame are massive, needing a motor to make it a real project.

Wayner 

[starkiller]

Looks real nice!  I am beginning to get back into the vinyl thing again and while there is not another rega planar 3 with Grace F9E in my future i would like to find a decent table with a stylus with lots of use left.  Most of the folks on ebay or craigslist don't have a clue and forget the thrift's!

Let me know if you run across one that's a good deal that would need to go to seattle

[orthobiz]

My Linn Sondek is from 1977 and in near-daily use. It was a very good year!

Missed you at AKFest!

Paul

[royphil345]

I had one of those before I bought my Technics 1200. The plinth is not metal, it's made from thick Sony bulk mold compound which is a pretty tough and "dead" sounding material. The main bearing didn't seem the most precise and there was a bit of play in the tonearm bearings, but it sounded really nice and I still miss the automatic functions sometimes! I liked the PS-X5 enough that I stuck with direct-drive over "budget audiphile" belt drive. The feet have hollow threaded plastic shafts that break very easily. So, careful with the feet. Hopefully they'll survive shipping for you. The mat in the photo is upside-down. I still have one I'd give you if the other side turns out to be damaged. I had feet and original headshells too, but I already gave away the headshells and threw out the feet because nobody needed them for so long.

Good luck with the Sony! I got a lot of enjoyment out of mine.

[Wayner]

The table came in today. Impressive. This table is like it is brand new. There are no scratches or digs anywhere, the dust cover is clear of any kind of scratches and I even got the original owner's manual. I am missing the small add on counterweight for cartridges over 8 grams, but probably won't ever need that anyway. Unit powers up, speed is dead on and I'm listening to it right now. I put in a Grado Gold Longhorn am tracking at 1.64 grams. The anti-skating also works very well.

 

 

I have the cartridge loaded at 20K right now, but that may change.

Wayner 

[starkiller]

Very  nice!  Now I have to find one

[Wayner]

Right now I have to say (after 4 LPs) that the Sony sounds better then the Technics SL-1200MKII. This might piss off a few folks, but I hear what I hear. The platter on the Sony is razor flat as it rotates. I did remove the hard table mat, replacing it with my own design. Very 3D and very, very quite background. Tomorrow, I'll listen again and see if I have the same opinion.

Now I have to watch the Twins kick some Baltimore ass.

Wayner 

[starkiller]

I would say the same thing about my Mariners but it would be "wipe", not kick

[twitch54]

Now I have to watch the Twins kick some Baltimore ass.

Sorry Wayner.....it didn't quite happen that way ! ....

regardless, I like your new tt, I still have fond memories of my 70's era tt....a Kenwood KD-500, Premier mmt arm, Grace f9e super.

[Wayner]

Yes Dave. Painfully quiet bats.

Wayner 

[Wayner]

Today I paid more attention to the details of the table and noticed that I had some horizontal play from loose needle bearings for the tonearm. Thank God I had a spanner screw driver! For those that have this style of tonearm, there are setscrews on each side that are used as needle bearings or pivots to set  the vertical movements of the tonearm. You can tell they are loose when you hold the pivot shaft assembly and then move the arm tube. You shouldn't feel any slop. The trick is that this style of pivot has another setscrew about the first setscrew to act as a lock nut. You will not be able to adjust the needle bearing without loosing up the outer concentric setscrew and it requires a spanned head slotted screw driver. After loosening the outer locking setscrew, you can adjust the needle bearing until the slop is gone. This is a little tricky. Too tight and the tonearms vertical travel will bind and not track properly. If it's too loose (the reason we went in there in the first place) then there will be excessive slop and total control of the cartridge will not be realized. When the needle bearing is finally set, tighten the out setscrew with the spanner screw driver and mission accomplished.

Wayner 

Later added: I also added some 1000 centistroke liquid silicone for some nice damping effect.
 

[royphil345]

Nice job on the Sony and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

I had absolutely no complaints about the sound of mine. Mine developed a problem and I tried to replace it with the same model twice. Both times they were completely destroyed by eBay sellers shipping them improperly, even after I provided info on how to ship and why. That's when I gave up and bought the new Technics instead, which I think sounds very similar. Sure do miss the auto functions at times though! I think the PS-X5 is probably the best model. The PS-X6 and X7 have a light and optical sensor to activate the auto-return that can become troublesome. When I looked inside the PS-X5, it doesn't look like anything on the tonearm has to move or make contact with anything else until the needle is in the lead-out groove anyway. Seems to make the optical sensor a moot point.

I recently picked up a cheap, non-working Dual 522 mostly because I wanted the cartridge that was on it. But, after replacing the infamous Dual steuerpimpel, tightening a few things and making a few adjustments, replacing the drive belt and cleaning and lightly lubricating everything... it works like brand new and the cosmetic condition is well above average. I've been having a lot of fun with this table... and it shuts off when a side is done playing! I don't think it has quite the detail of the Technics. But, it has a nice, warm sound that's hard not to like.

Here's a photo and a rip done with that table, an old Audio Technica PRO13E cart and my Jolida JD-9A... (cart in the photo is an Audio Technica AT13Ea)

http://www.4shared.com/photo/DnWQnd1V/Dual_522.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/AoLubIvC/dual.html