Aug 16, 2020
Butler
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Butler
Sony PSHX500 Hi-Res USB Turntable
Every music lover knows that the best quality of sound can be found in a turntable and vinyl records. There’s just a level of clarity that can’t be found anywhere else. However, that being said, there is always a chance that your vinyls will wear down and become unplayable. To combat this problem, we introduce the Sony Hi-Res USB Turntable.
Sony PSHX500 Hi-Res USB Turntable
Every music lover knows that the best quality of sound can be found in a turntable and vinyl records. There’s just a level of clarity that can’t be found anywhere else. However, that being said, there is always a chance that your vinyls will wear down and become unplayable. To combat this problem, we introduce the Sony Hi-Res USB Turntable.
Beautiful Sony PS-22 Turntable Repair
Join me as we look at another great and affordable vintage vinyl spinner, the Sony PS-22 direct drive turntable! You’ve got Liquid Mike in low power mode today, but that won’t stop me from writing an article about this lovely Sony PS-22 direct drive turntable I’ve just repaired. I’m a few kg and some energy and cash lighter than this time last week, recovering from the worst gastroenteritis I…
What goes around......
I wonder what the story is. I saw my old Sony 2251 La on Craigslist.
The old girl looks good. But she has the wrong arm. I had a Grace 707 on her. Rare bird that, and that arm was for sale by a separate listing a few weeks ago. This ad says they just put a new Denon arm on with a new arm board made by Innovative Audio's wood working shop.
There are a few 2251s out there, but almost none of the La type. That means from the factory with no arm. (La=less arm) Make no mistake this is an excellent turntable. It is far better than any Dual or Thorens of similar vintage. I think it is a bargain to the right home and to someone with a good steady hand to cue the records.
There was a 2250 for sale in the interior of BC listed for $1200. It was there for a while. There is another in Ontario for $745 but no box for shipping. My old girl has the original box and factory packing and the shipping screws and a manual. I was an audio hoarder.
So I guess the guy was parting it out or trying to make it more purely Japanese? The Grace Arm was Japanese. Denon is a bigger brand. There is a story I am sure.
Flotsam and jetsam.
My obsessive checking of classified ads can lead to darkish moments. I sold my Sony 2251 Turntable a long time ago. It is good and rare and I have seen mine pop up on rolling seascape of on-line listings twice. Both were oh dear moments. What went wrong? Has it failed? Is it not in a happy home?
The first was the person I sold it to apparently having a bad turn in his health and offering it for a lot less than he paid for it. I almost got in touch, but no my time with it was past. There are a couple out there and they command good prices. I hoped it was to go to a good new home.
Recently I saw it again. Actually I saw a photo of it as just the tonearm was for sale. It was the Grace 707 from back in the day of high compliance 45khz cartridges for quadraphonic. I did not see it as a parting out, but the Sony originally had an SME 3009 tone arm and the arm board was drilled out for that. If an aficionado had it they may have recognized that and wanted to restore it to an SME. At least that is the story I tell myself. Why else sell just the tonearm?
I have to be really careful. My system has a nice balance and I like where its at. My one itch is a MOSFET power amp. At least I tell myself that. Oh and if a Beogram 4002 came up for a good price I would be hard pressed to resist. I recently saw a Mosfet amp for sale for a hot number. The company that made it rode high for awhile, but is now gone. I have not been able to find a definitive schematic as I always look at those.
I am not mentioning where or the brand as I do not want someone grabbing it before I have convinced myself to not get it. This always makes me feel doubt. Still working on that.
I found photos of the interior which evolved over a few years. Apparent that the large power supply is shared by both sides which is a strike against it. There is lots of room to add capacitors, and a bridge rectifier which is a tick in the good side box. But apparently there is a large circuit board on the power supply on later versions for mysterious reasons. Regulation? Some kind of protection system? If I could get a schematic that described it that would really help. If I bought it I would have to split the power supply as that does really help the image clarity.
And if you dig back through the old day reviews as I do you may find reference to FET haze. I assume it is rather like tube haze and FETs are always being compared to the vacuum tube. Vacuum tubes do add something not in the recording. Call it haze or mist or space whatever it is not quite right.
Audiophile neurosis.
My ARC preamp signal path is all FET where it is not a 6DJ8 tube. That works fine for me.
Old school transistors are still used, and every mosfet amplifier I have looked at still has those in critical places. And there are many respected power amps with no FETS anywhere inside. See I have almost convinced myself.
The Sony TT is gone.
The guy came over and took the Sony. I unboxed it so he could see the condition. Then he gave me 11 $100 dollar bills.
Later he texted me that it was up and running and he loved the sound. He had a friend over to help him set up (recent surgery) and now that guy wants one just like it!. I am glad it has a new home with a person who appreciates it.
Turntables have a sound. More specifically as they get better they have less and less sound. There are basically three levels of TT quality.
First level is a device that spins a record, and generally works OK. Most new ones you see today are that. Many have USB outlets. Good place to start, but it is just a toe in the water.
Second level is a major company is making a serious shot at doing it well and makes a line of TTs up to including a statement unit. The Sony I had was a statement unit in the 70s. Classic units from the 80s and 90s are great hunting grounds for deals.
Third level is boutique which are usually far too expensive for mere mortals to consider. Some of the older ones of those can be good value and may even work. My transcriptors was like that. Typically they are not cost effective.
I am back down to two TTs. That is a bit of a relief, and I plan on not spending the cash. Hopefully I can keep to that plan and no great deals appear!
The Classified AD swamp.
The ground is sticky for sure.
I regularly peruse / troll several online listings. If I won the lottery I would be a collector. I would have a few cool preamps, but mostly turntables. Some are sculptures. Some are amazing mechanical devices. Many actually play records well.
In the last week I saw two that made me twitchy. One was way under priced and while I was still seriously thinking about it was sold. A Bang and Olufsen 8000. Gorgeous sleek and high performance. The description was it had a function problem, but the fix was obvious to me. Cheap at under 200 bucks. But like I said it got jumped on.
The other one was today. A JVC turntable. The price was pretty much what it was worth at just under 800 bucks. It was one of a very rare breed with electro-mechanical tone arm damping and tracking force. Sony made something similar called Biotracer. They go for a lot more. Technological tours-de-force at the very end of the first Vinyl era.
I keep looking as my Big Sony fails to sell at what I thought was a fair price. I see another of a similar but not quite as good model selling for $1300. I started out at $1200. Dropped it to $900 then still no joy. I want to keep my finger on what these things go for. That $1300 listing is a specialist store. They can wait I guess.
Still if my expectations are of the "what is he smoking" type other people are far more crazy. Dual was a big name in the 70's and lasted until the 90's intact. They made some good stuff. My first turntable was a Dual. I saw one listed locally at $800 bucks which is far more than the best one they ever made I think is worth. Typically they run around $200 bucks for a good one. Perhaps there are serious collectors out there, but they must be smoking something.
I often see a listing in one place like Craigslist for a thing and another wanted listing in another place. Sometimes its in the same listing. I suspect some people list a thing for sale then use a burner account to put a wanted listing up to create demand.
That JVC TT is being looked for in Ontario while it is listed for sale here on the West Coast. I am thinking about telling the guy...maybe.
I have three TTs and really need to rehome two of them. I cannot use them all. The Phazer is boss. The Sony is very good, but not as good. The Harman Kardon is really good, but I have space for only one TT in the steam powered system. I have about $500 bucks into it and it works well. They are listed on Ebay for about $300 bucks for a "parts" unit and $1300 bucks for a nice TOTL unit. Mine is not TOTL. I would take anything over $700 for it, but.... There are lots of parts around. They are rare as fully operational units.