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The craziest idler-wheel TT of all time?

Urchinn

Urchinn

AK Subscriber
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You know, there really isn't alot of info on this table. Too bad, because its kinda cool looking. But is it practical? It does reach speed, but the curious cart (photos to come) is missing a stylus. Anyway, who has used one of these machines? And how 'bout that wood tonearm? Adaptable to other tables? Please clue me in if you know anything about this "Weathers" table. Does anybody sell replacement wheels (no, they are not little mushrooms...there are two of them driving the light platter). By the way, I have no idea where that bottle cap came from...I just used it for "scale."
Thanks
 

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Vintage Hifi at its finest, or more peculiar, depending on who you ask.

As I recall the cart that is mated to the tonearm was its own thing, but you can swap them out. These are early 60s things, and only played 33rpm if I am not mistaken. They were aimed at the audiophile market, and got some good reviews. I also recall there is some company out there that has old warehouse stock of them, so you can buy parts and full NOS decks for somewhat big money. If I ran across one at an estate sale I would pick it up out of years of curiosity.

Here is an interesting review:
http://www.stereomanuals.com/articles/jack-holmes_linear-turntables.htm

Update:
Found the NOS stuff:
http://www.surplussales.com/Equipment/Audio.html
 
Here are some photos of the cartridge. As you can see, the entire assembly slides out of the wood. The design seems sound! Any suggestions about easily available replacement cartridges?
 

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They were well thought of in their day. The image is from a 1964 Allied Radio catalog. Standard 1/2" cartridge mounting.
 

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Interesting! Weathers turntables seem to be highly esteemed by owners who post online, but I've never seen or heard one in real life. Get it cleaned up and tell us how it sounds, please!
 
Yea, Thanks eb2Jim. Those are both excellent links. Jack Holmes says that the Weathers sounds better than his Oracle Delphi with an SME III arm and a Grado Sonata cartridge! And this is due primarily because of the lack of resonance of the stiff wooden arm and tightly fit bearings.

And Surplus Sales of Nebraska has NOS Weathers TTs, Tonearms, and parts! Tempting...
 
eb2jim said:
Vintage Hifi at its finest, or more peculiar, depending on who you ask.

As I recall the cart that is mated to the tonearm was its own thing, but you can swap them out. These are early 60s things, and only played 33rpm if I am not mistaken. They were aimed at the audiophile market, and got some good reviews. I also recall there is some company out there that has old warehouse stock of them, so you can buy parts and full NOS decks for somewhat big money. If I ran across one at an estate sale I would pick it up out of years of curiosity.

Here is an interesting review:
http://www.stereomanuals.com/articles/jack-holmes_linear-turntables.htm

Update:
Found the NOS stuff:
http://www.surplussales.com/Equipment/Audio.html
Click to expand...

I've seen the Weathers arms turn up at auction from time to time over the past few years and wondered what they'd be like to use. VERY interesting article. Obviously Weathers gave considerable thought to their design and did the best they could within the technology of the time. That the results are so good is nice to hear.
 
Gorgeous looking table.

Urchinn, won't a conventional phono cartridge fit in that shell, or are you trying to keep it all original? If that's an Empire 880p cartridge, then the Needle Doctor has replacements. Easier to just change the stylus than replace the whole cartridge

http://www.needledoctor.com/Empire-880P-Replacement-Stylus

Hard to see from the small photo at the Needle Doctor, but it looks like the same stylus. Good luck!
 
Paul Weathers' TT system and FM cartridge was a unique and highly regarded playback system back when, I remember the balanced twin synchronous clock motor belt drive in the ad but not an idler drive. I didn't understand the rationale of the lightweight platter approach tho', it doesn't seem to do much to mass-load the record. The damped unipivot arm and the FM cart really made this thing something special.
Needle Doctor's stylus photo makes no sense, I know what the stylus assy is supposed to look like since I have 2 of those carts in my junk box.
 
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Two things: that photo of the stylus at Needle Doctors looked odd. And the stylus assembly on my cart just doesn't want to come out. Should I just use force since the stylus is gone anyway?
 
The Weathers FM Modulated cartridge system was very advanced in that era. Very light turntable and balsa wood arm. Very excellent sonics when working well but very finicky in use (the discriminator oscillator required constant adjustment to perform best). Tracked at 1 gram. Mono only! Not recommended then for clumsy people or family use. Best suited for bachelors then.
 
The cartridge was very interesting and worked well, better sounding than many then existing. They also produced a stereo version at the end of their life with similar results but the cost was so high in relation to others that it did not make financial sense in relation to the sound quality. Audio Lab in Cambridge had one setup and it was outstanding. Surpisingly, they were using it in the Marantz SLT 12U and the combination was as good and better than any I'd every heard. I had the Marantz and wanted the cartridge but by the time I decided to go for it, there were no more to be found.

The tables were considered broadcast quality and the tonearm at the time was for those wanting no compromise. You have the makings of a really nice table / arm system.
 
The cartridge in there is an Empire 880. You have to remove the cartridge from the holder and then the front cover comes off and there is a set screw to remove the stylus.

Doug
 
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Here are some views of an Empire 880P, unmounted
 

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