liemjerry
Well-Known Member
Vinyl Engine has many BSR manuals. Most of the mechanisms (apart from the X10 series) were quite similar even if not identical, so if you find a table that looks like yours, the manual may be just fine for any problems you encounter.
It's easy to overstate how bad these tables were - most (again, apart from the X10 series) had fairly audible rumble, and the arms weren't particularly low friction, but they were reliable, and didn't damage records. Most buyers would not be the least bit likely to spend more money on a table, so doing a pretty good job at playing records was perfectly satisfactory. And for people who don't take any care with records, a changer may end up protecting them more than a table that requires lots of handling.
Obviously, I agree with those who protest that the 810, 610, 510, and any other in the series were different, and better, than the average BSR. Their mechanism is dramatically different from that of any other changer, and while it may, in fact, have great advantages over the more normal mechanisms, its unfamiliarity to repair people (and apparently the people who built them to begin with) means than they had some teething problems, and getting them fixed was a major challenge. On the positive side, if it works now, it probably will work for a good long while.
I have an 810 which works nicely and sounds good. Not better, I don't think than Dual/Miracord/PE/Garrard, but not worse, either.
why does BSR turntable not so famous as Garrard, for instance?