With this (loong) post, I seek not so much to elicit responses (though always welcome) but more to convey information which corrects certain misconceptions which lead to the erroneous dispensation of misinformation leading others astray.
Rumble in the Jungle???
A properly operating Lenco does not rumble.
This post is partly inspired by a thread citing this ‘issue’ - found here; https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/lenco-l78.798368/
But, instead of posting there and resurrecting that thread, I thought it better to post with a title specific to this issue, so that others seeking relevant info will more easily find it under this and similar headings.
I'm quite sure that quite a lot of mis-leading information is based on personal experience (though hear-say is also often a factor) and is usually honestly conveyed in good faith, with all the best intentions. But generalizing about one bad experience and disparaging thousands of perfectly operating gear (or a whole brand of equipment) is just as damaging as misinformation conveyed with sinister intent.
Perhaps we could be a bit more careful of that.
The road to 'disaster' is paved with good intentions, as the saying goes.
Before I go further, be advised that I have and have had other TTs which some would claim to be ‘better’ than the Lenco I also possess (even as others tout the ‘magnitude’ of a Lenco’s giant-killing quality). Nevertheless, with alternatives which are deemed ‘better’ in some ways, I’m not motivated by a desire to defend the ‘honor’ of my one and only prized possession. Moreover, I also share the opinion that there are aspects of the Lenco which are surpassed by at least one of my other TTs (specifically at deep-bass, midrange tone, and low-level detail & nuance).
Still, despite the standard Lenco’s small shortcomings in the areas mentioned (one or two of which I’ve thankfully improved slightly in my own unit) it, and some other idlers too, are world-beaters in other very important areas, such as; dynamism and midbass tightness & ‘punch’ – attributes which idlers have always excelled at, but which the audiophile world has only recently awakened to, after chasing less important aspects (like soundstaging) for decades. In these attributes, idlers like the Lenco, Thorens, EMT, and Garrard allegedly outperform most of the world’s very best TTs (especially my favorite belt-drivers, many of which cannot hold a candle to idlers in these regards).
These are the attributes which account for the fact that the Lenco and other idlers (in recent decades) have been replacing some TTs which are widely regarded as some of the world’s best – i.e. according to the former owners of the ousted ‘super-tables,’ even as they acknowledge that the ousted TTs are (still) more detailed and refined. (More evidence of the fact that ‘the best-sounding TT’ is in the ear of the beholder – and this is also dependent on which attributes are in vogue in whichever era, bye the way, as the same idlers were once ignored and discarded in the eras after their own hey-day).
I could posit that it is very highly unlikely that so very many owners of super-tables (all of which feature what’s commonly described as ‘an inky-black back-ground’) would now foolishly replace those with noisy and rumble-prone idlers.
That fact alone should put the issue to bed.
However, since I’m most familiar with my own Lenco, I’ll confine my arguments to this brand and repeat my assertion that; a properly operating Lenco does not rumble – not in the least – as it’s as quiet as my direct-drive Technics and, also, as my belt-driven Thorens 125 and my former Linn (which was put aside for its midbass colorations).
I’ll go further to assert that any properly re-conditioned Lenco which rumbles is not only not operating properly but also should be dumped and replaced with a better unit. It’s better to do that than to unfairly disparage the brand on a wide-scale basis.
But before dumping, every area should be addressed to eliminate any noise.
And this is where I suspect many disillusioned detractors have failed – as I suspect one important area is generally neglected, due mainly to a lack of information.
That area is the lubrication of the idler-wheel’s ‘axle.’
I haven’t seen this stressed in either of the two Home-Despot threads, and neither have I seen this stipulation made anywhere else (though I might have missed it somewhere).
My point is, though, that the scarcity of this specific instruction might have caused many would-be Lencophiles to neglect that area, which (my own experience tells me) would definitely cause a noisy and ‘rumbley’ effect.
Briefly, I’ll simply relate that after receiving and preparing my own NOS Lenco 75, three or four years ago, I was disappointed to hear annoying rumble (even as I marveled at the realistic dynamism and slam).
Eventually, I surmised that the idler’s axle is the only area I hadn’t lubed. And so I did that…
…and the result was…
…no more rumble!
Dead quiet!
An ‘inky-black silence’ between tracks!
Therefore, I’d respectfully suggest to the nay-sayers who allege that Lencos are rumble-prone that they should address the idler-axle and all other possible sources of said rumble.
And, if all areas are addressed, with rumble still in evidence, then dump that particular Lenco unit and recognize the experience as your misfortune in nabbing a defective unit (which might well occasionally occur with 50 year-old items of any sort). Neither does a Lenco need a heavy plinth to suppress noise - that's a myth (addressed in part 2 of this post, here; https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...at-ignore-claims-that-you-must-modify.895853/). If a Lenco rumbles, it's defective - dump it and get a properly operating unit, or something else.
Again; I have no doubt that some mean well and are honestly only relating what they’d heard of or had experienced themselves. But it would be better if they did not use hear-say or their own bad experience with one or two units as their basis to disparage ALL Lencos, erroneously discouraging potential Lencophiles with the implication that all are rumble-prone.
They are not.
I repeat; a properly operating Lenco does not rumble.
Cheers
Rumble in the Jungle???
A properly operating Lenco does not rumble.
This post is partly inspired by a thread citing this ‘issue’ - found here; https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/lenco-l78.798368/
But, instead of posting there and resurrecting that thread, I thought it better to post with a title specific to this issue, so that others seeking relevant info will more easily find it under this and similar headings.
I'm quite sure that quite a lot of mis-leading information is based on personal experience (though hear-say is also often a factor) and is usually honestly conveyed in good faith, with all the best intentions. But generalizing about one bad experience and disparaging thousands of perfectly operating gear (or a whole brand of equipment) is just as damaging as misinformation conveyed with sinister intent.
Perhaps we could be a bit more careful of that.
The road to 'disaster' is paved with good intentions, as the saying goes.
Before I go further, be advised that I have and have had other TTs which some would claim to be ‘better’ than the Lenco I also possess (even as others tout the ‘magnitude’ of a Lenco’s giant-killing quality). Nevertheless, with alternatives which are deemed ‘better’ in some ways, I’m not motivated by a desire to defend the ‘honor’ of my one and only prized possession. Moreover, I also share the opinion that there are aspects of the Lenco which are surpassed by at least one of my other TTs (specifically at deep-bass, midrange tone, and low-level detail & nuance).
Still, despite the standard Lenco’s small shortcomings in the areas mentioned (one or two of which I’ve thankfully improved slightly in my own unit) it, and some other idlers too, are world-beaters in other very important areas, such as; dynamism and midbass tightness & ‘punch’ – attributes which idlers have always excelled at, but which the audiophile world has only recently awakened to, after chasing less important aspects (like soundstaging) for decades. In these attributes, idlers like the Lenco, Thorens, EMT, and Garrard allegedly outperform most of the world’s very best TTs (especially my favorite belt-drivers, many of which cannot hold a candle to idlers in these regards).
These are the attributes which account for the fact that the Lenco and other idlers (in recent decades) have been replacing some TTs which are widely regarded as some of the world’s best – i.e. according to the former owners of the ousted ‘super-tables,’ even as they acknowledge that the ousted TTs are (still) more detailed and refined. (More evidence of the fact that ‘the best-sounding TT’ is in the ear of the beholder – and this is also dependent on which attributes are in vogue in whichever era, bye the way, as the same idlers were once ignored and discarded in the eras after their own hey-day).
I could posit that it is very highly unlikely that so very many owners of super-tables (all of which feature what’s commonly described as ‘an inky-black back-ground’) would now foolishly replace those with noisy and rumble-prone idlers.
That fact alone should put the issue to bed.
However, since I’m most familiar with my own Lenco, I’ll confine my arguments to this brand and repeat my assertion that; a properly operating Lenco does not rumble – not in the least – as it’s as quiet as my direct-drive Technics and, also, as my belt-driven Thorens 125 and my former Linn (which was put aside for its midbass colorations).
I’ll go further to assert that any properly re-conditioned Lenco which rumbles is not only not operating properly but also should be dumped and replaced with a better unit. It’s better to do that than to unfairly disparage the brand on a wide-scale basis.
But before dumping, every area should be addressed to eliminate any noise.
And this is where I suspect many disillusioned detractors have failed – as I suspect one important area is generally neglected, due mainly to a lack of information.
That area is the lubrication of the idler-wheel’s ‘axle.’
I haven’t seen this stressed in either of the two Home-Despot threads, and neither have I seen this stipulation made anywhere else (though I might have missed it somewhere).
My point is, though, that the scarcity of this specific instruction might have caused many would-be Lencophiles to neglect that area, which (my own experience tells me) would definitely cause a noisy and ‘rumbley’ effect.
Briefly, I’ll simply relate that after receiving and preparing my own NOS Lenco 75, three or four years ago, I was disappointed to hear annoying rumble (even as I marveled at the realistic dynamism and slam).
Eventually, I surmised that the idler’s axle is the only area I hadn’t lubed. And so I did that…
…and the result was…
…no more rumble!
Dead quiet!
An ‘inky-black silence’ between tracks!
Therefore, I’d respectfully suggest to the nay-sayers who allege that Lencos are rumble-prone that they should address the idler-axle and all other possible sources of said rumble.
And, if all areas are addressed, with rumble still in evidence, then dump that particular Lenco unit and recognize the experience as your misfortune in nabbing a defective unit (which might well occasionally occur with 50 year-old items of any sort). Neither does a Lenco need a heavy plinth to suppress noise - that's a myth (addressed in part 2 of this post, here; https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...at-ignore-claims-that-you-must-modify.895853/). If a Lenco rumbles, it's defective - dump it and get a properly operating unit, or something else.
Again; I have no doubt that some mean well and are honestly only relating what they’d heard of or had experienced themselves. But it would be better if they did not use hear-say or their own bad experience with one or two units as their basis to disparage ALL Lencos, erroneously discouraging potential Lencophiles with the implication that all are rumble-prone.
They are not.
I repeat; a properly operating Lenco does not rumble.
Cheers
Last edited:
... ). So not sure if this buzz caused hum through the stylus to the speakers or not since I fixed it before mounting it after servicing.
