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Post by rexton on Sept 11, 2022 19:22:45 GMT
Part I - Itch / scratched.....
Hello guys/gals it's been a while since I've done one of these, I'd be hankering after a new project and always wanted a TT2, so when a sorry looking example ended up on ebay I decided to pull the trigger. This example is a sub <500 serial number and as such has the heavier chassis. The TT2 I purchased also had a lot of problems :-
1. No lid
2. No hinges
3. No TT2 badge on the turntable lid.
4. Platter was filthy
5. No baseboard fitted.
6. No baseboard feet.
7. No tonearm
8. Belt filthy.
9. Belt spindle filthy.
10. Suspension completely a kilter.
11. No power lead.
12. No tonearm.
13. No tonearm cable.
14. No platter mat.
15. Thrust pad showed signs of wear.
16. Needed a new oil change.
17. Veneer scratched and dull in places.
18. Black base paint and top plate sctratch and warn.
Apart from all those things it was a mint example of a TT2. The TT2 was purchased as a trip down memory lane with respects to belt drive technology and suspension platter damping! I alreadty own a Thornens TD160 super and whilst this is a nice deck it's not the same as a TT2. The 160 Super has a horid little motor that oftens knocks and is quite noisy in operation, these of course can be fixed but at an expense, there is none of this nonsense with the TT2, it's a very quite deck. The TT2 is the main source in my "REAL SOUND" system which I have documented on another thread elsewhere on forum. OK, next time we shall have some pictures.
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Post by rexton on Sept 14, 2022 19:06:21 GMT
Part II - Crap customer service.
Part of this resto has been getting an arm which works well with the deck and hopefully maximise it's potential. My chosen steed was the Alphason HR100s, my example has been upto Audio Origami and had a full fettle, and, thankfully the arm was in wonderful condition. I have however in the mists of time managed to lose my bias weight which is a big problem when the arm is no longer made and you can't trust sellers to make something that you have no information on. So, Alphason, are still in business and supply spare bits and bobs. A quick email and £28 later I paid my money and expected the new part 1-2 days later. Three weeks pass, a couple of lame excuses and a threat of action results in bugger all from Alphason. Turns out postage (charges at £5) was less than £2, and £26 for the weight itself. Now, I'm all for a company making money but this takes the urine. So, the moral of this story, use the forums and see if someone can weigh the bias weight from their Alphason tonearm and then get someone to turn one of a Lathe, probably no cheaper but probably come through the post quicker without the bullshit. Lesson learned......
Stay tuned.
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Post by robbiegong on Sept 14, 2022 19:19:26 GMT
Part II - Crap customer service. Part of this resto has been getting an arm which works well with the deck and hopefully maximise it's potential. My chosen steed was the Alphason HR100s, my example has been upto Audio Origami and had a full fettle, and, thankfully the arm was in wonderful condition. I have however in the mists of time managed to lose my bias weight which is a big problem when the arm is no longer made and you can't trust sellers to make something that you have no information on. So, Alphason, are still in business and supply spare bits and bobs. A quick email and £28 later I paid my money and expected the new part 1-2 days later. Three weeks pass, a couple of lame excuses and a threat of action results in bugger all from Alphason. Turns out postage (charges at £5) was less than £2, and £26 for the weight itself. Now, I'm all for a company making money but this takes the urine. So, the moral of this story, use the forums and see if someone can weigh the bias weight from their Alphason tonearm and then get someone to turn one of a Lathe, probably no cheaper but probably come through the post quicker without the bullshit. Lesson learned...... Stay tuned. Good on you Andy and yes, if you can get it's weight, someone like 'SpeedySteve' Magna Audio will do a nice one for you, I remember he used to turn out stuf like that all the time. |
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Post by rexton on Sept 14, 2022 19:26:30 GMT
The weight turned up. It was at the sorting office. Tightwad who owned Alphason decided to put a single first class stamp on the jiffy bag, Royal Mail decided he'd not paid enough so I had to pay an extra £1.50 as a fine which means postage actually cost £6.50!!!!!!!! Now Alphason are getting free advertising on several forums. I supposed they did pay for it.........!!!!!!
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Post by robbiegong on Sept 14, 2022 20:18:36 GMT
The weight turned up. It was at the sorting office. Tightwad who owned Alphason decided to put a single first class stamp on the jiffy bag, Royal Mail decided he'd not paid enough so I had to pay an extra £1.50 as a fine which means postage actually cost £6.50!!!!!!!! Now Alphason are getting free advertising on several forums. I supposed they did pay for it.........!!!!!! sounds like in the end everyone's a winner  |
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Post by rexton on Sept 17, 2022 20:25:56 GMT
Part III - A little cosmetic progress. The TT2 was very dirty and quite tatty when it arrived. A quick look under the hood revealed the dust and crap that had collected for many years. A look under the platter showed an oil leak, grease and general gunk.
This is just some of the dirt, grease, oil, that was removed after a basic cleaning session with IPA.
 The platter was extremely dirty, so out came the bench polisher and this is what was achieved.   No baseboard.... and then we have a lovely new fabricated baseboard but no feet . 
This did give me the idea oppotunity to make sire that all the springs were properly aligned with the red triangles. Walnut veneer and black base quite tatty, that's another job for another update.
Finally, a quick shot showing the TT being completely level and this enabled the setting up of the spring suspension and the platter.  I'll discuss some of the fun and games setting the TT up next time. Stay tuned... |
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Post by rexton on Oct 2, 2022 18:55:52 GMT
Part IV - More progress in the midst of a MM cart shoot out. Hello pop pickers! The TT2 continues to be slowly restored. I've had a solid two weeks listening to a Ortofon 2M Black on the TT2 and have come to the conclusion that it's an excellent synergy between the TT2+2MB+Alphason arm. I'm very lucky to have found such a wonderous trio. Time moves on and I'll soon be plumbing the Shure SC35C + JICO SAS/B stylus back into the mix to conclude my MM cartridge shoot out, this will be phase 3 of a few very long sessions getting to grips with the TT2 and the various Shure+Ortofon carts. It's been a blast and the "REAL SOUND" system has proven to be amazing! I've found a few new pics of the TT2. The first picture shows what the belt spindle looked like after nearly 40 years.
As we can see a load of old rubber. This was cleaned off with IPA and we now have a lovely clean pulley. This TT2 runs @ 33.5 rpm which fits with what Shane mentioned with regards it's design. I would say that the Thorens have the better speed stability and on occasion I've had several running @ 33.3rpm, but usually within +/- 0.01 rpm. I'm not going to get into buying new belts for this TT2 and view the original belt as being more than adequate, especially after 2-3 weeks solid listening producing excellent sonics. I would say that the TT2 has the better motor than the Thorens decks, it seems to have more torque and more importantly is silent, non of the dreaded Thorens knock on this motor. The next picture is quite important as it shows quite a few things that have been bought for the TT2.  Firstly we have some nice new original (LINN) hinges which are I believe exactly the same as the original TT2. The dust cover is from a Thorens TD160 and will for the moment have to do. I also managed to get a new TT2 metal badge made for the dust cover and at some point I'll get an original dust cover made, these can be purchased from eBay to the exact Linn measurements. You'll also notice a black felt platter mat.
The above picture shows the now complete full loom of Dueleund "REAL SOUND" cabling. I whipped up a quick tonearm cable and terminated it with Duelund RCA's. You can also see the new TT2 badge . Finally and probably not very importantly I finally managed to get the cabling all nice and tidy. I made several new power leads from odds and sods in my spares box, cabling was belden screened which I use in all my systems and I had a few decent plugs that I fitted, all IEC at the other end were pure copper Furutech jobbies. Overall not bad!
I started out with quite a list of jobs which needed doing on the TT2 of which most have been completed. The paint and veneer need to be restored but that's for another day. This week see's the installation of the SC35C for comparison up against the 2M Black. Stay tuned...... |
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Post by antonio on Oct 3, 2022 4:09:48 GMT
Nice work, looking forward to your comparison of the two cartridges.
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