Sansui FR-5080 bent tonearm

[wgbeatty]

Hello all-
Just acquired this Sansui table and it sustained some damage in shipping. Back of tonearm was bent (counterweight was left on) and the arm was also slightly bent just after the tonearm rest. The arm was locked in the rest, and the arm was just slightly bent. I did some careful straightening and got the arm bent back to what looks like where it should be. There are still two small creases/dents under the arm in the area where is was locked to the rest. Indentations from the rest actually. I also bent and re-screwed in the back where the counterweight attaches.

Mounted a Grado Red1 on the arm and did some testing - all sounds OK to me. Tracking is OK.

I've been looking for an arm replacement on eBay - no luck there or anywhere on the Internet yet. Wondering if the arm is really OK since it plays fine. Could I just replace the arm tube from the bearings to the headshell? The I'm wondering if I could just use the tube from another Sansui table. There is someone selling the arm from a Sansui P-50 which looks to be a similar s-shape arm, at least in regards to the tube.

Any thoughts? Table sounds great to me, so I think I'd like to keep it rather than ship the whole thing back to the seller. Strange enough, the seller packed the platter and dust cover nicely in another box and just lacked the protection in the box the table was in.

I've uploaded a couple shots of the "repaired" arm from each side and a top down photo. Not sure if that will help at all. You can see the small indentation in one of the photos.

 

[bberkom]

I've had to take a slight bend out of an arm tube before right by the tonearm rest, and I didn't worry about it after I fixed it. There was a slight dent/crease where it was bent, but it is what it is. It may affect the sound of the arm ever so slightly, but I don't believe enough in my ability hear the difference. If you can get the cart aligned and set up properly, you can still enjoy the table.

Could always ask for a partial refund if you want to keep the table but are still worried about the damage.

 

[Balifly]

Hello all-

I've been looking for an arm replacement on eBay - no luck there or anywhere on the Internet yet. Wondering if the arm is really OK since it plays fine. Could I just replace the arm tube from the bearings to the headshell? The I'm wondering if I could just use the tube from another Sansui table. There is someone selling the arm from a Sansui P-50 which looks to be a similar s-shape arm, at least in regards to the tube.


I've uploaded a couple shots of the "repaired" arm from each side and a top down photo. Not sure if that will help at all. You can see the small indentation in one of the photos.

The effective length of most of the tube in that series is 220 mm.

 

[Nat]

I don't see any bend. Its possible the tone arm is twisted so that the S bend that is supposed to be only in the horizontal plane is vertical also, but that can be fixed by loosening the screws at the back of the arm and correcting the angle and retightening.
I'd ignore it. There are a plethora of imperfections that are always available to obsess about, but many of them don't have any audible effect, even with careful listening.

 

[eidling]

Sounds like you may be fine with what you have, but if you do decide you want to replace it, I have a FR-5080 and might be able to help. You can PM me if that turns out to be the case.

 

[sfrost]

Can't see the arm damage in the pictures but I would check the alignment of the cartridge, hard to believe it would be that far back in the headshell. If the arm balances and your tracking fine and the azimuth of the cartridge is good then you should be good to go, just check the alignment.

 

[wgbeatty]

Thanks for all the input. Haven’t done anything yet as I’m not sure the damage is enough to matter. Essentially only two small creases/indentations from the arm rest. It seems to be playing OK.

As for the alignment, I aligned with a tool (mirror surface protractor) and it seems to sound fine. I’ve read about others having their cart all the way to the front of the head shell. Not sure how to measure overhang exactly on this Sansui. I believe it’s 15mm.