ELAC Miracord TT -share all about 'em
- Thread starter illinoisteve
- Start date
Got myself another 50H, but my first II. I've had a few other 50H's that I've since sold off, but luckily kept a few extra head shells, one of which has a nice Elac STS444 cart and 444E stylus on it. Lucked out with a local sale. Seller had gotten it from an estate sale, and it's pretty much as fresh and clean as the day it came out of the box. This one has the record size in both inches and centimeters which is pretty cool. Also has a compartment for keeping spindles, etc, and a nice dust cover. I love having the speed control on it, and once making a minor speed adjustment it's up and running and sounding incredible. This will now become my go to for 78's in addition to shuffling in between the other tables in my signature.
illinoisteve
Super Member
I like that compartment on the 50HII base!
Me too. Never saw one before.
MtnBeachBum
Active Member
Well, another Elac Miracord found me today! I went ahead and picked up an Elac Miracord 45 today to go with my 50H. I didn't really need it, but I waited the guy out for a month and picked it up cheap. Haven't had a chance to go over it yet. I'll be on the lookout for a new headshell on eBay as well as a new cartridge. It has some Sansui cartridge on it sans stylus. It sounds like Shure is the way to go? M91ED, M75ED, or M97xe are the ones I have been reading about. To the Elac 45 owners out there what cartridge are you rocking? Also, does anyone know of a source for TAS 1 headshells other than eBay that I am not aware of?
Thanks,
Chris
Thanks,
Chris
likebike23
Addicted Member
I have a 40A that I'm running with a Realistic R47ED (Shure M75) and a Pfansteihl 4760-D6 conical at 3gr. I have to say, it is the best combo yet. I've run an AT10 conical that was meh. The EVG 4760 DE was sibilant so I moved it to a Technics SL-1900 where it is not sibilant. That cheap Pfansteihl sounds the best, tracks well, and opened up the soundstage dramatically. I know a lot of people like to bash them, but it is a damn good sounding stylus.
Edit: I will add that I like running conicals on my changers now as they are less fussy with alignment. Also, I'm not sure if it is true if all Miracords, but my 40A likes to destroy styli. You have to be really careful when manually cueing or just being in the vicinity of an unlocked tonearm. If you aren't careful, the tonearm will leap toward the spindle, crashing into any record or mat on the platter. I've done it a few times and refuse to run a stylus that costs any money, YMMV.
Edit: I will add that I like running conicals on my changers now as they are less fussy with alignment. Also, I'm not sure if it is true if all Miracords, but my 40A likes to destroy styli. You have to be really careful when manually cueing or just being in the vicinity of an unlocked tonearm. If you aren't careful, the tonearm will leap toward the spindle, crashing into any record or mat on the platter. I've done it a few times and refuse to run a stylus that costs any money, YMMV.
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illinoisteve
Super Member
I like Stanton 680-681 /Pickering XV-15 cartridges on my 50H, though I sometimes use others. I've only seen pictures of the 40A, so I don't know if it has other cartridge needs. Any of the Stanton and Pickerings I mentioned can use the current Stanton 680E stylus. It's a very tough .3x.7 elliptical, with a stout cantilever, intended for DJ use, but it sounds very good, and its slight roll-off in the high treble quiets down some of my more worn and scratched thrift-shop record finds. I think you'd find it rather unbreakable, too.
My flimsiest cantilevered stylus is the D81S for my Stanton 881S cartridge; I don't worry about my 50H breaking it, but I would worry that some of my records could demolish it. But it sounds so good on my few really pristine records. You probably don't want to put that cart/stylus combo on a needle-eating 40A.
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My flimsiest cantilevered stylus is the D81S for my Stanton 881S cartridge; I don't worry about my 50H breaking it, but I would worry that some of my records could demolish it. But it sounds so good on my few really pristine records. You probably don't want to put that cart/stylus combo on a needle-eating 40A.
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likebike23
Addicted Member
I don't know much about the Pickering/Stanton's, I've got a Stanton 500 I need to get a stylus for. I'm sure it would be a good match for mine though. IDK, the 40A definitely likes to eat AT and Shure styli, maybe it won't like the flavor of the Stanton .
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illinoisteve
Super Member
I doubt that most of the needles available for the Stanton 500 (Pickering V-15) would be considered fragile.
MtnBeachBum
Active Member
Started in on the miracord 45 today. Overall, so far it doesn’t look too bad. The power cord is pretty gnarly and ill have to replace that. The RCA cables need replaced. It looks like someone has attempted this once before, it’s kind of a rat’s nest under there. If I decide the table is worth fixing up correctly (monetarily) I’ll have someone redo this. I was stumped when I looked into the headshell contacts at the end of the arm. There is a wire bridging two teeth of the contacts. Is this the way it left the factory?
illinoisteve
Super Member
Maybe a previous owner was running a mono cartridge in it, or bridging stereo carts to mono by modding the tonearm contacts instead of other ways. If one had one heck of a great mono amp connected to the turntable, and wanted any cart you had set-up on a Miracord cart holder to automatically run as mono anytime you plugged it into that turntable....well I guess that could make sense....??????
MtnBeachBum
Active Member
Ok, good to know. Thanks. I haven't plugged table in yet so hopefully, it doesn't hum.
MtnBeachBum
Active Member
There is a Shure M91ED close on CL. Would this cartridge be a good match with Elac 45 arm?
Yes.
MtnBeachBum
Active Member
Ok, thanks.
MtnBeachBum
Active Member
Well, I can’t get the spindle out! I have hit it with the blow dryer many times as well as deoxit hoping it would work into it and help break up the crud. I don’t want to bang on it and break something. I can’t tell if the black body is plastic or black metal. I’ve read to keep wd40 away from turntables, i think it doesn’t do plastic any good. Any ideas to get this sucker out?
likebike23
Addicted Member
PB blaster? Let it soak in for a day or two. Reapply a little bit a few times during the soak. Good luck
MtnBeachBum
Active Member
Ok, I’ll give that a try.
malden
Addicted Member
Not really, the M91ED is too compliant for those early ELAC arms. The 45 arm is an improvement over the massive chrome plated 10 and is even better than the arm of the 40 which has no antiskate but the 40 and 45 arms do not have great bearings. I have a couple of each and the bearings are stiff. They are really better suited to medium compliance cartridges, something that tracks between 2 and 3 grams.
You can easily test the arm yourself. With the cartridge mounted and balanced to zero, with a gentle nudge it should float freely, rocking gently up and down until at rest. If it stops abruptly at some random position then the bearings are not working properly.
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