Turntable Questions

55Redneck

Canadian Redneck
I was out in my shop a while ago doing some clean up when I decided to dig out some turntables I've had kicking around for quite a while gathering dust. Currently the turntable I'm using in the shop is one I've never heard of before. It's an Aurex SR-Q200. It seems to work OK but I'm thinking of getting one of the other ones going that I dug out today. The first one I dug out is a Pioneer PL-10 with a Shure M97-AH needle on it. Other than needing a belt I know it works fine because I used to run it years ago. The other one is a Technics SL-19 with a Realistic R27ED needle. The Technics will also need a belt and I'll have to fix the dust cover as it broke away at the hinges. By just looking at them I like the looks of the Technics better. It just looks like a better T-table. I also found another one that I'd never heard of. It's a Noresco and it looks to be from the early to mid 60's but I could be wrong.

If you people could only fix up one, the Pioneer or the Technics, which one would you do? I'm just getting into the older stereo equipment at the ripe old age of 51 so I know very little about this stuff. I'm also wondering if I could find a belt locally or would I be better off ordering from a reputable online source? If online who would you recommend dealing with? I haven't really done many purchases online before.

Thank for any help I can get here.

Regards
Red
 
I understand that Aurex is high-end Toshiba, (like Technics is high-end Panasonic) though I am not familiar with that particular deck you have there. I've have rarely come across Aurex gear but it does seem to be of excellent quality.

Why not fix both the Pioneer and Technics as they are decent tables and then you can have a choice as what to use? Can't help on the Noresco table, though.
 
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Technics was actually the hi-fi brand for Matsushita (their brand for other stuff was Panasonic) – Technics made a full line of hi-fi equipment, from budget to top-end. In a similar manner, other Japanese brands also had their own hi-fi brand name at various times – the list includes the following brands, with the hi-fi brand in brackets: Toshiba (Aurex – derived from AU for Audio and REX for king) Sharp (Optonica), Hitachi ( Lo-D ), Sanyo (Otto), Matsushita (Technics) and Mitsubishi (Diatone). That list came from the Japanese Wikipedia website – there were some (e.g. Otto) that I hadn’t heard of. Some (eg Lo-D) were domestic Japanese market only brands – they still badged export hi-fi models as Hitachi. By far the longest serving of those brand names was Technics.

So I’d expect that Aurex made good quality hi-fi equipment. The Q in SR-Q200 indicates that it’s a quartz lock direct drive turntable (that was confirmed by an Ebay ad for a service manual), so it should be capable of quite reasonable performance – the Japanese only used quartz lock, on their mid-range to top-end turntables. Cheaper turntables were usually non-quartz-lock direct drive, with the speed user adjustable with reference to a stroboscope, with the cheapest (from the late-70’s onwards) being belt drive.

According to the picture of the service manual front cover, the specifications for the Toshiba/Aurex SR-Q200 are: wow and flutter less than 0.025% WRMS, rumble -75dB (DIN B weighted), weight 6.5kg, and it was sold in some export markets as the Toshiba SR-Q200. From the weight, I’d suspect that it’s probably a mid-range model, similar to the Technics SL-Q20 and SL-Q30 models, and because it has a straight tonearm, it’s probably a 1980’s model.

I suspect that Toshiba only used the Aurex brand name for a few years, and that’s why it’s hard to find much info about the equipment. According to Wikipedia Japan, they stopped using it in as an audio brand in 1985. However, it’s a fair bet their turntables were quite good. In fact, most of the Toshiba (and Aurex) branded turntables were as good as anything of similar price from other Japanese makers.

I couldn’t find any info on the Technics SL-19 anywhere – it obviously existed at some stage, but doesn’t exist in the very large list at Vintage Technics, or on vinylengine, or my Australian-sold turntable lists from the late 70’s to mid-80’s. It looks (from all the vendors selling belts for it) as though it is a belt drive turntable, so I’d be very surprised if it was as good as the Aurex SR-Q200 in performance.

Technics invented direct drive in 1970, and all their best turntables after that were direct drive, with only the very cheapest (but still quite competent) models being belt drive, as belt drive is cheaper to produce. None had performance to equal the specs I quoted above for the Toshiba/Aurex, although they weren’t far short. As Technics, with their huge resources, made many more turntable models (see * below) than any other manufacturer in the 1970’s and 1980’s, it’s no wonder their models looked good – they had a lot of practice!:D Looks don’t equate to performance, though.

*In a 1981 list of Australian-sold turntables, which included 36 different manufacturers, the number of Technics models (17:bigok:) more than doubled that of the next most-prolific manufacturers - there were quite a few who had 7 or 8 models.

The Pioneer PL-10 was a 1970’s belt drive model, quite competent, but the specifications indicate that it’s no match for their direct drive models, or the Toshiba/Aurex SR-Q200. Here are the Pioneer specs: wow and flutter less than 0.1% WRMS, rumble -47dB, weight 7.5kg. So the only area where it could be considered slightly better than the Aurex SR-Q200 is in a slightly heavier weight. The performance of the Aurex should be much better, and it should sound better (it's almost 30dB quieter, which is about 8 times quieter, as we hear sound).

Based on the limited specs that I have shown, and my guess of the likely performance of the elusive Technics SL-19, based on many other Technics belt drive models, I’d put their quality, as:

Aurex SR-Q200 (best)
Technics SL-19 (an informed guess)
Pioneer PL-10

However, as Pioneer were one of the first to offer really good quality hi-fi turntables at affordable prices, don't discount it as rubbish and throw it away. If you don't want to keep it, there will be plenty of buyers on used markets. The PL-10 was one of their early models from the 1970’s, and really helped make the reputation of Japanese manufacturers of hi-fi equipment. It’s also a very simple turntable, with no electronics, so people understand them, and are keen to buy them still. All it needs to keep on going for years is simple maintenance (oiling and belt replacement), and it will probably still be going 40 years from now!
 
Thank you both for the info, especially you ETI. WOW!!! That's some awesome stuff you dug up there. I had no idea about the Aurex being that good though I must admit, it sounds pretty good out in my shop when I feel like spinning an LP. The one thing I don't like about it is the switch to raise and lower the needle is direct so I have to be carefull when putting a record on so as not to let the needle drop to fast.

P.S. Don't worry about me tossing either turntable in question. I've still got some Chevelle and Beaumont parts I've been packing around for 30 years.:D For now though I think I'll just stick with the Aurex and if my Fisher turntable in the house craps out I'll see what I can do for one of the other two.

Thank you again.:thmbsp:
 
The one thing I don't like about it is the switch to raise and lower the needle is direct so I have to be carefull when putting a record on so as not to let the needle drop to fast.

The cueing device should be (silicon) oil damped, but what often happens after 30 or more years of use, is that the oil dries up or leaks out, and so they lose their damping. That causes it to drop or raise very fast, and is one of the most common faults with turntables a few decades old - I've seen it on quite a few, and I've owned less than ten in my lifetime (I'm about a year younger than you) - some people on here have huge collections.:D

There are numerous threads about replacing the silicon oil in cueing on here, with advice about how to do it, but it basically means either: 1.) pulling the cueing device apart, which depending on model, is done either from the top, or from below, and replenishing the oil and then putting it back together; or 2.) raising the cueing lever and smearing or squirting oil into the cueing rod, and working it up and down. The second method is easiest, but may not be as successful, due to the difficulty of getting enough oil in.

Here are some of the threads about it – there are many more if you do a search:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=222479
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=343587
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=291755
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=260556
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=235728
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=387163
 
Noresco was the Canadian distributor for "Dual" turntables and the Noresco name was printed on the plinth. Look at the table itself to identify the model # of the Dual and report back.
 
I'd pick the Aurex SR-Q200 just beeing nosy because I really found nothing in the net. The higher models look nice so :)

Q seems tho say Quartz locked

L was for linear Trackers, D for Direct Drive in the model names
 
Thanks to you all for the replies and a special thanks to you ETI.:thmbsp: The raising and lowering of my t-table arm might just go on the back burner for a bit as I've kinda got used to it now. Part of tomorrows plan is to test out my latest 2 dollar score Yamaha R-300 Receiver to see how it sounds. Been on a nice roll for scores the last couple of weeks.:D
 
Technics was actually the hi-fi brand for Matsushita (their brand for other stuff was Panasonic) – Technics made a full line of hi-fi equipment, from budget to top-end. In a similar manner, other Japanese brands also had their own hi-fi brand name at various times – the list includes the following brands, with the hi-fi brand in brackets: Toshiba (Aurex – derived from AU for Audio and REX for king) Sharp (Optonica), Hitachi ( Lo-D ), Sanyo (Otto), Matsushita (Technics) and Mitsubishi (Diatone). That list came from the Japanese Wikipedia website – there were some (e.g. Otto) that I hadn’t heard of. Some (eg Lo-D) were domestic Japanese market only brands – they still badged export hi-fi models as Hitachi. By far the longest serving of those brand names was Technics.

So I’d expect that Aurex made good quality hi-fi equipment. The Q in SR-Q200 indicates that it’s a quartz lock direct drive turntable (that was confirmed by an Ebay ad for a service manual), so it should be capable of quite reasonable performance – the Japanese only used quartz lock, on their mid-range to top-end turntables. Cheaper turntables were usually non-quartz-lock direct drive, with the speed user adjustable with reference to a stroboscope, with the cheapest (from the late-70’s onwards) being belt drive.

According to the picture of the service manual front cover, the specifications for the Toshiba/Aurex SR-Q200 are: wow and flutter less than 0.025% WRMS, rumble -75dB (DIN B weighted), weight 6.5kg, and it was sold in some export markets as the Toshiba SR-Q200. From the weight, I’d suspect that it’s probably a mid-range model, similar to the Technics SL-Q20 and SL-Q30 models, and because it has a straight tonearm, it’s probably a 1980’s model.

I suspect that Toshiba only used the Aurex brand name for a few years, and that’s why it’s hard to find much info about the equipment. According to Wikipedia Japan, they stopped using it in as an audio brand in 1985. However, it’s a fair bet their turntables were quite good. In fact, most of the Toshiba (and Aurex) branded turntables were as good as anything of similar price from other Japanese makers.

I couldn’t find any info on the Technics SL-19 anywhere – it obviously existed at some stage, but doesn’t exist in the very large list at Vintage Technics, or on vinylengine, or my Australian-sold turntable lists from the late 70’s to mid-80’s. It looks (from all the vendors selling belts for it) as though it is a belt drive turntable, so I’d be very surprised if it was as good as the Aurex SR-Q200 in performance.

Technics invented direct drive in 1970, and all their best turntables after that were direct drive, with only the very cheapest (but still quite competent) models being belt drive, as belt drive is cheaper to produce. None had performance to equal the specs I quoted above for the Toshiba/Aurex, although they weren’t far short. As Technics, with their huge resources, made many more turntable models (see * below) than any other manufacturer in the 1970’s and 1980’s, it’s no wonder their models looked good – they had a lot of practice!:D Looks don’t equate to performance, though.

*In a 1981 list of Australian-sold turntables, which included 36 different manufacturers, the number of Technics models (17:bigok:) more than doubled that of the next most-prolific manufacturers - there were quite a few who had 7 or 8 models.

The Pioneer PL-10 was a 1970’s belt drive model, quite competent, but the specifications indicate that it’s no match for their direct drive models, or the Toshiba/Aurex SR-Q200. Here are the Pioneer specs: wow and flutter less than 0.1% WRMS, rumble -47dB, weight 7.5kg. So the only area where it could be considered slightly better than the Aurex SR-Q200 is in a slightly heavier weight. The performance of the Aurex should be much better, and it should sound better (it's almost 30dB quieter, which is about 8 times quieter, as we hear sound).

Based on the limited specs that I have shown, and my guess of the likely performance of the elusive Technics SL-19, based on many other Technics belt drive models, I’d put their quality, as:

Aurex SR-Q200 (best)
Technics SL-19 (an informed guess)
Pioneer PL-10

However, as Pioneer were one of the first to offer really good quality hi-fi turntables at affordable prices, don't discount it as rubbish and throw it away. If you don't want to keep it, there will be plenty of buyers on used markets. The PL-10 was one of their early models from the 1970’s, and really helped make the reputation of Japanese manufacturers of hi-fi equipment. It’s also a very simple turntable, with no electronics, so people understand them, and are keen to buy them still. All it needs to keep on going for years is simple maintenance (oiling and belt replacement), and it will probably still be going 40 years from now!
I'd pick the Aurex SR-Q200 just beeing nosy because I really found nothing in the net. The higher models look nice so :)

Q seems tho say Quartz locked

L was for linear Trackers, D for Direct Drive in the model names
Thanks to you all for the replies and a special thanks to you ETI.:thmbsp: The raising and lowering of my t-table arm might just go on the back burner for a bit as I've kinda got used to it now. Part of tomorrows plan is to test out my latest 2 dollar score Yamaha R-300 Receiver to see how it sounds. Been on a nice roll for scores the last couple of weeks.:D


I was just wondering if anyone had any knowledge on the Aurex SR-Q770? I bought said TT from a now closed hi-if retailer as an old stock ex demonstrator, 27 years ago. I was advised that the TT was approx 12 years old at that point. However, would love to know more accurate data if anyone has it. TT wasn't working 100% when I purchased it (the automatic functions were a bit ropey) but I've never felt the need to do anything about it. I've used it (manually) for all these years without any issues and really quite like the machine, but am no audiophile so would like to know what others think. Thanks in advance.
 
OK, I can't comment on any of these tables but the 55 Chevy has always been one of my favorites. The front end with that grille is gorgeous.

:biggrin:

Doug
 
I was just wondering if anyone had any knowledge on the Aurex SR-Q770? I bought said TT from a now closed hi-if retailer as an old stock ex demonstrator, 27 years ago. I was advised that the TT was approx 12 years old at that point. However, would love to know more accurate data if anyone has it. TT wasn't working 100% when I purchased it (the automatic functions were a bit ropey) but I've never felt the need to do anything about it. I've used it (manually) for all these years without any issues and really quite like the machine, but am no audiophile so would like to know what others think. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the AK turn table forum.

Could you post some pictures of the Aurex SR-Q770.

Do you still have some of the manuals? :idea:

It may have a different name and model number depending on the area it was sold.
 
IMG_0628.JPG IMG_0632.JPG IMG_0632.JPG IMG_0630.JPG
Welcome to the AK turn table forum.

Could you post some pictures of the Aurex SR-Q770.

Do you still have some of the manuals? :idea:

It may have a different name and model number depending on the area it was sold.

Sorry, never had any manuals for it (never even had the dust cover), but I'll have a go at adding some pics....
IMG_0628.JPG
 
Sorry, never had any manuals for it (never even had the dust cover), but I'll have a go at adding some pics....

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Appears to be a TOTL turn table sold under Toshiba/Aurex brand name.

Google turn up far more information when using the "Toshiba SR-Q770" model name. :)
 
Appolgies for resurrecting a necropost but I just came across it while researching a turntable I recently aquired. Mine is an Aurex SR-Q300 as shown below.

IMG_1585.jpeg

Visually, it is identical to the SR-Q770 previously posted. The only difference I can find is the model number and the fact that it does not have Toshiba in the description. Fair passing strange methinks.
 
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