SWEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!! find

poorboy

Member
good day, went down to the local pawn shop, looking around killing time until my wife and i went to ultra sound (first kid, 19.5 weeks). I was looking at all the over priced crap they had around. After some looking i found a DUAL 701 in very good condition for the amazing price of 9.99 cdn. it works very well but i need to give it a good cleaning. The cartridge it came with is a "ADC QLM 34 mkIII". Seems to be okay but i haven't found any information on it. If anybody knows anything about please let me know.

shibby
Allan
 
Great score Allan! IIRC the 701 is the one of the direct drive models with larger strobe markings and a very nice arm. I had one of the ADC QLM carts a long way back. The range was known for a smooth detailed sound and I would agree with that. That was in the late 70's. If it's in decent condition and you can find a replacement stylus, it may be worth resurrecting. Either way, the Dual is a great buy!

cheers
Jack
 
at closer look at the qlm, the needle is pretty much dead, i have an empire 2000E that i'm going the throw onto it. Otherwise the 701 is in very good condition. Maybe i'll check into getting a new needle for the qlm, i don't know if it would be worth it

shibby
Allan
 
well did a little research on the adc cart, it's nothing to right home about. I ended up replacing the ADC needle with my Empire 2000E which seems to sound better.
This turned out better than i expected, now just gotta find the little blue lights.....

shibby
Allan
 
yeah, the ADC was a budget cart but it did have a good rep. Being that old however, unless it was in really good condition and you can find a stylus dirt cheap, it's probably not worth trying to revive it. I'd go with the empire too.

Oh, I was thinking of the Dual 704 when I posted before so ignore my previous comments about the TT. :) I did find a link on the 701 (which you probably have) and it looks great! TOTL at the time, I believe.

cheers
Jack

http://www.compassnet.com/concept/tables/701.htm
 
Jack, i don't know if it was TOTL at the time, i just impressed with the dollar figure that the dual classic web site gave it. I've been playing it now for a day with the empire and it sounds better than the QLM.

i plan to upgrade the power cable, the interconnects and the platter cover. For the platter i'm going to try one that my friend uses with cork and something else. Also my brother is going to make me a record clamp out of machined alum.

I don't know what to use as a power cable, any ideas?

For the interconnects i'm going to add some gold plated rca plugs and use my own cables.

shibby
Allan
 
Just my opinion, but if the power cord is delivering power to the motor then it probably doesn't need 'upgraded'. Unless you want to use something shielded (but then it has to terminate at the motor, so you would probably want to shield that too).

I can buy the concept of cables that carry low-level signals (from a cartridge) being upgraded, but one 120/240VAC power cord isn't gonna deliver power differently than any other, unless you want to get into some audiophile silliness about different power cords 'sounding different'. Just 2c.

Edit -- as for the platter mat, I wouldn't recommend plain cork (cork combined with something else may be different). I've heard plain cork mats and imho they don't do much for the sound (and they tend to gather static and stick to the record when you take it off).
 
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Moogfan,

thanks for the suggestions. The power cable on the 701 is old and worn, i wasn't going to try anything crazy just one, as you suggested, that was shielded.
Likewise the interconnects are old, and i think there is some kind of grounding problem (slight hum turns into big hum, then back again).
will try to get to it in the next couple of day's

BTW, the cork mat i'm thinking of has some self adhsive sound deadening stuff on the bottom, can't think of the name right now.
i listened on my friend tt and it seem to help. i'll look closely to the static that is drawn from it.

shibby
Allan
 
PB

If the mat your thinking of is called the Rigmat ( I think thats it ) then you may want to pass on this one. One of our members RichM has given it a definate thumbs down.

grumpy
 
Allan,

I saw the price of $400 too - you gotta be happy with that.:) For what you paid and that it sounds better than the QLM, you may as well stick with it and try and iron out the problems. I know next to zip about power cords but new interconnects and gold RCA's can't hurt. About the mat, the original would be rubber that also dampens the platter. I guess if you can try out the cork mat that you mentioned as well as any others you can get your hands on that would be good. Have fun with the project.

cheers
Jack
 
I see why this person gave it to goodwill.
I think the start/stop switch is hooped, i was using the switch a couple of times and then the humming started and the table would not turn off.
i'll have to look into it. Can the switch be bypassed but the auto return still work?

BTW, any changes to power cords or interconnects will be homebrew specials, and they normally cost me around 10 bucks to make.

shibby
Allan
 
Originally posted by poorboy
I see why this person gave it to goodwill.
I think the start/stop switch is hooped, i was using the switch a couple of times and then the humming started and the table would not turn off.
i'll have to look into it. Can the switch be bypassed but the auto return still work?
shibby
Allan
I'm not clear on this specific turntable, but if the start/stop switch merely turns the motor on & off (perhaps even if it doesn't) then you could do the following:

(1) Bypass it so the motor stays on all the time.
(2) Install a power switch inline with the power cord, the way it's done sometimes with lamps. Shouldn't be too hard to do. Maybe you could even find a power cord from an old lamp that has an on/off switch already connected to it.

Alternately, you could perhaps replace the power switch if you could find a workable replacement.
 
Moogfan,
thanks for the ideas, i think it's the start/stop switch only, because this doesn't happen when i use cueing lever and manually place the needle.
i just gotta get in there and look inside

thanks everyone for the advice, i'll let ya know how it goes

shibby
Allan
 
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