Welcome, Bob, from another Broadcast Engineering veteran. 50 years of fun and challenges, and finally retired last year. Still have my fingers in it, though. Seems I can't get it entirely out of my bloodstream!
I was at Brett's shop, HiFi Heaven, this past Friday, and he had several Dual Automatic TTs for sale. I would think a 1219 or 1229 would fit the bill nicely.
jD
OP, if you haven't done so already, start testing all tubes you buy prior to use. That way, you have a benchmark you can test against after time in use.
Especially with old testers, results are "relative". More important is the "life test", gas test, and leakage.
Good luck.
jD
I purchased one of your DR-7D needles a couple of months ago. So in order to send the EV 0.5, do you want me to buy the ebay needle and you'll substitute the EV? Or, let me know if I'm wrong.
The elliptical lost the tip; never heard it. The mod I performed was removing the glue at the end of the armature, and making sure the dampers were as free of glue as possible. It made all the difference.
My Decca was a 70s vintage. Tracking was fair. Was a vinyl wrecker at times. So far, the GE hasn't done that. It's been too long ago to remember, but I'm liking the GE alot.
My interest in the GE carts started in the early 70s while going to GWU in DC and finding a VRII, and a couple of unused styli in the campus radio station. Mounted it in a Gray 108 damped tonearm on a Rek-O-Kut TT and was amazed at the quality playback with the many mono rock albums I had. It...
Your modifications were a revelation, and allowed me to recover the 0.5 mil, which is my favorite, and a couple of other 0.7's, both of which I need to rotate the armature to have the azimuth correct, and the stylus I bought from you off ebay.
I ordered about 10 styli from a guy about 10 years ago (can't remember his name offhand, but he had a big business on ebay, and has since retired), and all but 2 were awful. And those 2 were not great.
I've collected 3 over the past 12 years or so. Found them all at local hamfests when they were worth going to. The VR1000 0.5 and elliptical models I got with the original boxes. The other one was loose. I don't think I paid more than $5 each for these.
Sorry John. Get well. Absolutely no rush on my part.
Health is of #1 importance to guys of our "vintage" (I have a couple of years on you, but samey same)
John
John,
You posted you still had some 0.5mil styli available for the VR1000. As I've stated before I have one and love it. If any of yours are available, I'd be interested in a purchase.
Just let me know.
Thanks. And thanks for all of your work on these great carts.
John Diamantis