A quick tour: Zenith CV 660 Linear Tracking Turntable

JoeDotCom

Super Member
Hi Gang, Picked up this interesting TT the other day. I have not seen a linear TT before. I took some pics and wanted to share. Having read up on Ak a bit now, i see a few members own the 660, but i have not been able to find any pics of the unit as of yet, so here is my contribution. :)

As far as my thoughts on the unit, the drawer functionality is cool, and I expect it is moving as slow as it does due to its age. What is cool about this one is that i think it have never been used. When I got it, it still had all of the shipping locking hardware in place that I removed and saved before testing it out.

**sorry, not sure why tapatalk resized some of the pics and not others.


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Well.....finally someone ELSE found one of these things! I found mine, along with matching Zenith CV-670 Cassette Deck, and Zenith CV650 Receiver. All work fine, and cost $6.50, if I remember correctly. I did have to buy belts to make the transport operate better, and they are not too hard to install.
Mine was used, but had a new cartridge.

If you find any literature (manuals, or whatever), please let me know, Joe. I can't find ANYTHING about the Turntable. The CV-670 Cassette deck appears to be a rebadged JVC KD-V400.

I purchased the belts from TurntableNeedles.com, but had to use measurements from my old ones, as they had never heard of this TT either.

Good luck with yours.:thmbsp:
 
I've always loved these sum bitches, looks like you got a good one. It would be hard to pass one up if the price is right, if for nothing else other than too listen and judge for myself.
 
Well.....finally someone ELSE found one of these things! I found mine, along with matching Zenith CV-670 Cassette Deck, and Zenith CV650 Receiver. All work fine, and cost $6.50, if I remember correctly. I did have to buy belts to make the transport operate better, and they are not too hard to install.
Mine was used, but had a new cartridge.

If you find any literature (manuals, or whatever), please let me know, Joe. I can't find ANYTHING about the Turntable. The CV-670 Cassette deck appears to be a rebadged JVC KD-V400.

I purchased the belts from TurntableNeedles.com, but had to use measurements from my old ones, as they had never heard of this TT either.

Good luck with yours.:thmbsp:
Mine was on the shelf along with the matching CD player and tape deck (which i passed on) judging by the weight of everything, the receiver sounds like it could have been pretty cool. :)

I will let you know if anything turns up. I was/am hoping that posting this thread generates some leads on that stuff. I see some adjustment screws and I would love to know what they do. :)
 
Congratulations.... nice one :thmbsp:

The cartridge can also have its stylus upgraded to an eliptical HE or Shibata...
http://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGATN3472HE.html
http://www.turntableneedles.com/Needle-213-Dshibata_p_960.html
http://www.turntableneedles.com/Audio-Technica-ATN3472SE-Needle-213-DSE_p_961.html

So you can take the cartridge from its basic standard config, to being a quite high end config.... the underlying generator is very good, and is the same used in the AT92 and AT95 families...

bye for now

David
 
Yes, Joe....both the cassette deck and receiver work fine. The TT works ok, but even with the new belts, it is pretty slow opening and closing. Probably needs the old grease removed, and new put in, but without a service manual, I wouldn't want to tackle taking it apart.

I don't know anything about adjusting the tracking or position of the cartridge on these things, so it is just being stored right now. It would be great for a small compact stereo system, since even the TT can be placed anywhere in a stack.

These three pieces were just sitting on the floor, dusty with stuff stacked on it. When I saw the price of $6.50, I assumed it was just for the TT, but when I looked closer, it was for all three pieces! I figured I was just buying some junk for my parts bin, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out everything worked! :D
 
I was playing mine in the kitchen just last night. Had it hooked up to a "Sears Audio by Fisher" receiver I've been cleaning up hooked to some Canton XXL speakers. I put a new Audio-Technica AT92ECD cartridge on it and it sounds pretty good.

I think the P-mount you showed is the one that came off of mine - I may have to follow the suggested upgrade for it.

The track location feature rarely works on mine, and its been said before, this thing is slow to start playing.

Unfortunately the kitchen table is my workbench.:thumbsdn:

I cleaned up a bunch of cool thrift vinyl while listening to it before watching the HBO George Harrison bio.
 
I was playing mine in the kitchen just last night. Had it hooked up to a "Sears Audio by Fisher" receiver I've been cleaning up hooked to some Canton XXL speakers. I put a new Audio-Technica AT92ECD cartridge on it and it sounds pretty good.

I think the P-mount you showed is the one that came off of mine - I may have to follow the suggested upgrade for it.

The track location feature rarely works on mine, and its been said before, this thing is slow to start playing.

Unfortunately the kitchen table is my workbench.:thumbsdn:

I cleaned up a bunch of cool thrift vinyl while listening to it before watching the HBO George Harrison bio.

Post some pics!!!! WHo else owns this one? Lets see it in its native habitat!

Yah, i cant figure out the track features ether. the 1-9 buttons don't do anything when I press them.

A manual for this would be wonderful!!!
 
Well, mine looks just like yours, and the native environment has mostly been the closet shelf. It come out for testing purposes mostly but it might just gain a spot in my kitchen system.

I got it in a package deal with a little Marantz receiver that I wanted and was surprised to find that it worked when I got it home. It doesn't seem a like a bad table at all. Very plug and play for someone new to vinyl.

I did notice that the track skip feature was working. I don't know how to use the track numbers...

I wonder what it cost new?
 
I take it Zenith copied Technics,it certainly looks like it,especially the arm.I don't believe I ever saw one of these before.I wasn't aware Zenith was still into vinyl playack in the mid to late 80s,when I would guess this was made.Was it made in Korea?
 
Rare Find

I almost bought a p-mount linear tracker but the seller never shipped. This was the cart I wanted to put on it.

Now that I have a Yamaha PX-3 I am sold on linear tracking! I really liked the slide out drawer. You can stack the amp on top of the turntable.

http://www.lpgear.com/product/ORX1MCP.html

X1_MCP.jpg


-Type: Moving coil
-Output voltage @ 1kHz, 5cm/sec: 2mV
-Frequency range: 20 - 25,000 Hz
-Recommended load impedance: 47k ohms
-Channel balance @ 1kHz: <2db
-Channel separation @ 1kHz: 22dB
-Stylus tip: Elliptical
-Compliance: 13 µm/mN
-Tracking force: 1.25 - 1.5 g
-Recommended tracking force: 1.25 g
-Internal impedance: 6 ohms
-Body material: Noryl
-Color: Blue
-Weight: 6 g
 
Any luck finding a manual for the Zenith Linear Trackable Turntable

I have model # CV 660. It works perfect, except the general complaint about opening slow. I don't have a receiver for it, we just hook it up to our TV's :) I'd like to sell it, but can't find out much info. If anyone has a link to a manual, that would be great!
 
Hello everyone. Bringing this post back to life. I recently inherited the CV series from my grandfather. He was the Vice President of Operations at the Zenith plant in Springfield MO when he retired after 30 years with the company. Anyway, I thought I would share some information I have.

The Zenith CV series is in fact rebranded JVC units made in Japan. Here are the corresponding part numbers.
Zenith CV650 Digital Synthesizer Stereo Receiver (JVC R-X350VB)
Zenith CV660 Linear Tracking Turn Table (JVC L-E50B)
Zenith CV670 Stereo Cassette Deck (JVC KD-V400)
Zenith CV680 Compact Disk Player (JVC XL-V300)
Zenith CV2000 speakers (actually made by Zenith)

The JVC manuals should be easy to find but if anyone needs, I have the manuals and would be willing to scan them and share them.
 
This is a bit late for this thread, Would anybody have a copy of the operation and service manual for zenith cv-660 ( JVC L-E50B ) I would really appreciate it.
 
Hello. Does anyone know how to remove the platter on this TT? I've been searching for hours now and have found nothing. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Hello. Does anyone know how to remove the platter on this TT? I've been searching for hours now and have found nothing. Any help would be appreciated.

It's the same turntable as this JVC: http://www.vinylengine.com/library/jvc/l-e50b.shtml

I had a look at the service manual and there is no indication that the platter is held by anything other than a gravity or friction fit. In other words it should just pull off. However, like most platters it often takes a bit of a tap or 2 on the spindle to help release the platter as you pull up on it. I use a screwdriver handle usually.
 
Hmmm. Yeah I've been trying that to no avail. I'll keep trying I suppose. Just wanted to make sure that was the case before I broke something.
 
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