Optonica Rp-3636 MK Turntable

rusputtin

New Member
I've never heard of this brand, but looking at the image, this unit look heavy and pretty darn kool. I'm new in the vintage scene and looking for experts opinion from here. The unit I'm looking at has a cracked cover; so, first question can you get an after market cover for this since OMD is probably not possible?
2nd: In a perfectly good condition how much do they run usually and what would be a fair price for a unit with a cracked cover? Lastly, do u guys recommend this over vintage Marantz or similar?

Thanks!
 
I've never heard of this brand
Oh, it's quite famous for being Sharp's sub brand for it's top tier products. Kinda like 'Technics' by Panasonic.
I've just found out wiki has an entry. The 3636 is mentioned too. Interesting!
Can't discuss prices here but I'd take a high end Optonica over a Marantz TT blind folded.

EDIT: Sorry, this is the D&S forum. We can discuss prices here. All I'm gonna say is those Marantz aren't Marantz -
they are CEC's with a "designed in California" disclaimer. They are ridiculously over priced for their look. It's just a hype.

FWIW: "Sharp" was named after a mechanical pencil invented by founder Tokuji Hayakawa in 1915.
Apparently the invention grew very popular world wide and was known as the "Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil".
The corporation's name is derived from that.
 
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Agree with you Tom. Always loved the look of those rock looking Optonica's but always felt they were ripping off the Kenwood series.
 
So the unit i'm looking at has never been serviced and has a cracked case that is pretty badly cracked. Can u even buy a cover for this unit? How is the repair cost if I were to repair it for any reason?
 
So the unit i'm looking at has never been serviced and has a cracked case that is pretty badly cracked. Can u even buy a cover for this unit? How is the repair cost if I were to repair it for any reason?
That varies wildly by geographic area. The arm appears to be passive which greatly reduces chances for failure.
 
I had one, and I would rate it the same as I would rate the Kenwood Rock. In fact, I might rate it higher! But it has been a while since I did have it. Does yours have the metal weight on the cover?

I’m not sure about a replacement though. That might be challenging.
 
Do you mean a cracked dust cover? You can always have some plexiglass workshop custom out a dust cover for you or look up ePay for a substitute.
It never stopped me before. They are a storage hygiene accessory as far as I'm concerned. Repair cost vary by the who and what and often by availability
of NLA components. I can't answer that w/o a concrete issue to deal with.
 
I have one, it is a solid mid fi performer and looks good doing it! Quite heavy!
 
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