strange aiwa AP-2600 turntable

melofelo

melofelo

Addicted Member
scored this for a friend who wanted 'something that looks good'

this thing weighs a ton...direct drive with quartz lock and LED readout ..speed adjust + or - 6.8%..auto lift at the end of a record which mechanically resets the lift/lower lever itself to "up"...which was a surprise !

it has one of the heaviest platters i've ever encountered on a direct drive deck... and the turntable feels as if its filled with lead..:D..

also of note is a really quirky tonearm..:scratch2: three metal inserts in the top of the plastic(?) bearing housing ....lock nut type metal counterweight that slides independently of the downforce guage...and the bearing housing itself has some kind of springy suspension when you press down on it..hm..very strange design..:scratch2:

at first i thought the tonearm must be broken as it pivots sideways independently of the vertical bearing to a small degree when you apply a small amount of pressure...yet it feels 'cushioned' and returns to its normal once you release downward pressure..

i suspect that inside that housing is some kind of 'anti resonance device' that aiwa proclaims with a black sticker next to the bearing housing...and even stranger..the arm seems to balance a bit like a uni pivot...
i'm not sure...but it seems more part of the design than a fault...so i decided to reset the downforce..and do some alignment..

the rather humble ortofon cartridge it came with was pretty spot on at two null points..close to baerwald..so i decided to leave it as is..this deck has obviously been cared for..

i gave it a spin and a quick clean...and its a rather sweet sounding deck...the arm swings freely without binding when set to zero downforce... and 0.5 gm of anti skate will return the arm to rest smoothly when it hovers above centre of the record in mid air..so all seemed safe...

delivered it to my friend and gave her a hitachi ha-2 amp,hitachi ft 2l tuner and hitachi de-7 cassette deck i had lying around to make a complete retro system..

needless to say she was very happy with it...

she even went out and bought more records for the first time in many years...

here's a few pics i took before i parted with it...

if you stumble across one of these...its well worth a look...i didn't know aiwa made a decent turntable...but this thing is pretty cool...and very well built...

hope you like the pics...:D

any info on this deck would be greatly appreciated...i think it was made around 1981...but not sure..
 

Attachments

  • aiwa ap 2600-4.jpg
    aiwa ap 2600-4.jpg
    55.9 KB · Views: 239
  • aiwa ap 2600-5.jpg
    aiwa ap 2600-5.jpg
    97.5 KB · Views: 355
Last edited:
I see some Sony influence with the arm and the heavy build: they took cues from the Technics 13/14/1500MK2 with the digital readout. The only thing really missing that I'd expect on a table like this is adjustable VTA.
 
Aiwa made some true "sleepers", very hard to find them here in the USA.

That table is a beaut and makes me a bit green.
 
:yes: agree with hakaplan...it definitely has a touch of upper tier 'sony' about it..and yup its a handsome looking deck:thmbsp:

...i think i'll suggest a modest cartridge upgrade to the vms 5e or (10e if i can find one) just to see what the quirky arm is capable of..
 
Utter noob here (to AK and to a lesser extent, turntables...)
I'm searching for a turntable to compliment my Klipsch Legacy 2 channel setup, and came across an AP-2600 locally. I know this thread is little over a week old, but can all y'all render an opinion on this table? (performance, value, etc?)
The one locally is advertised as having a brand new Audio-Technica cart, which model I'm unaware as yet. Should any AT be considered a match for this table, or should I plan on making it a backup?
 
Probably depends on price, but it looks to be a pretty nice turntable. I wouldn't turn it down.
 
it is a lovely turntable...i wish i had it longer in my possession but it was bought for a friend and so i merely cleaned it up and made sure the cartridge was aligned pretty well...but its a very substantially built deck...the tonearm bearing housing is quite interesting and i'm not sure what to make of the 'springy' element inside it but it works well and seems designed for high to medium compliance cartridges...

i dont think you will regret this turntable...its a joy to use and sounded pretty good to my ears despite only having tried it with a lowly ortofon vms 3e...
it does have a strange tonearm design..and some movement can be detected at the tonearm bearing but as said before it seems to be part of the design and not a fault or indication of wear or bad manaufacturing tolerances...

i think it happens to be a rare turntable too...i've never encountered such a heavy platter on a mass market direct drive design..and the pitch adjustment and digital readout plus quartz lock makes it look very individual to me...

i'd give it a try at the right price...i scored this deck for £70 and if i find another one i wouldn't hesistate to buy it..:thmbsp:
 
melofelo said:
it is a lovely turntable...i wish i had it longer in my possession but it was bought for a friend and so i merely cleaned it up and made sure the cartridge was aligned pretty well...but its a very substantially built deck...the tonearm bearing housing is quite interesting and i'm not sure what to make of the 'springy' element inside it but it works well and seems designed for high to medium compliance cartridges...

i dont think you will regret this turntable...its a joy to use and sounded pretty good to my ears despite only having tried it with a lowly ortofon vms 3e...
it does have a strange tonearm design..and some movement can be detected at the tonearm bearing but as said before it seems to be part of the design and not a fault or indication of wear or bad manaufacturing tolerances...
Click to expand...

[speculation] Designed-in mechanical hysteresis (I'm an engineer, does it show? :D ) intended to absorb flutter and wow mechanically... rather like a shock absorber. If that's the case, I doubt its' effectiveness given the MUCH higher compliance of the needle.[/speculation]

melofelo said:
i think it happens to be a rare turntable too...i've never encountered such a heavy platter on a mass market direct drive design..and the pitch adjustment and digital readout plus quartz lock makes it look very individual to me...

i'd give it a try at the right price...i scored this deck for £70 and if i find another one i wouldn't hesistate to buy it..:thmbsp:
Click to expand...

Seventy sterling is comparable to the US$200 being asked locally.

I'm going to call the seller and put my eyes on it. If I buy I'll either add to this thread or start a new, depending on the etiquette here!

Thanks for the replies all around, and sorry to the OP for stepping on his thread... this thread is literally one of the only references to this table I've been able to google!
 
please free to add to this thread if you do get it...i couldn't find anything on the turntable either...
 
I am surprised this table is available local. If I wasn't flush with TTs right now, i'd consider it just for it's rarity.

The seller is asking a touch on the high side of what I think it would sell for on eBay or audiogon, as similar Sonys, JVCs, etc. sell for the same and less.

But it'd be pretty nifty owning a rare table like this...
 
hakaplan said:
I see some Sony influence with the arm and the heavy build: they took cues from the Technics 13/14/1500MK2 with the digital readout. The only thing really missing that I'd expect on a table like this is adjustable VTA.
Click to expand...

Aiwa i think is a division of Sony corp.......
 
melofelo said:
scored this for a friend who had inherited some records from her late father but had nothing to play them on...she just wanted 'something that looks good'

this thing weighs a ton...direct drive with quartz lock and LED readout ..speed adjust + or - 6.8%..auto lift at the end of a record which mechanically resets the lift/lower lever itself to "up"...which was a surprise !

it has one of the heaviest platters i've ever encountered on a direct drive deck... and the turntable feels as if its filled with lead..:D..

also of note is a really quirky tonearm..:scratch2: three metal inserts in the top of the plastic(?) bearing housing ....lock nut type metal counterweight that slides independently of the downforce guage...and the bearing housing itself has some kind of springy suspension when you press down on it..hm..very strange design..:scratch2:

at first i thought the tonearm must be broken as it pivots sideways independently of the vertical bearing to a small degree when you apply a small amount of pressure...yet it feels 'cushioned' and returns to its normal once you release downward pressure..

i suspect that inside that housing is some kind of 'anti resonance device' that aiwa proclaims with a black sticker next to the bearing housing...and even stranger..the arm seems to balance a bit like a uni pivot...
i'm not sure...but it seems more part of the design than a fault...so i decided to reset the downforce..and do some alignment..

the rather humble ortofon cartridge it came with was pretty spot on at two null points..close to baerwald..so i decided to leave it as is..this deck has obviously been cared for..

i gave it a spin and a quick clean...and its a rather sweet sounding deck...the arm swings freely without binding when set to zero downforce... and 0.5 gm of anti skate will return the arm to rest smoothly when it hovers above centre of the record in mid air..so all seemed safe...

delivered it to my friend and gave her a hitachi ha-2 amp,hitachi ft 2l tuner and hitachi de-7 cassette deck i had lying around to make a complete retro system..

needless to say she was very happy with it...

she even went out and bought more records for the first time in many years...

here's a few pics i took before i parted with it...

if you stumble across one of these...its well worth a look...i didn't know aiwa made a decent turntable...but this thing is pretty cool...and very well built...

hope you like the pics...:D

any info on this deck would be greatly appreciated...i think it was made around 1981...but not sure..
Click to expand...

VERY nice TT, thanks for the pictures!
Enjoy the music.

Thanks,
John.:music:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

neobium
Aiwa AP-2600 Arm Adjustment
Replies
8
Views
1K
Balifly
Balifly
neobium
Pristine Aiwa AP-2600
Replies
7
Views
674
Thunderbox
Thunderbox
W
Aiwa AP-2600 TT?
Replies
2
Views
663
withmusic
W
D
Turntable Aiwa ap-d60
Replies
0
Views
54
Danish66
D
stratokaster
Cartridge for Aiwa AP-2200?
Replies
4
Views
3K
melofelo
melofelo
Back
Top Bottom