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Another Linear Turntable

I picked up an SL-5 at a yard sale the other day but I think it's missing the entire cartridge and stylus but I don't really know what to look for. It looks like something is missing.

Are there any detailed on-line photos or drawings of the SL-5 under the hood ?

It is a cool stout little TT and in good condition but it's missing the cables and the piece that keeps the rubber mat centered. I only paid 5 bucks for it but it does power on and spin.

Is the small hole next to the RCA jacks for the ground wire to plug into ?
 
krowmagnum said:
I picked up an SL-5 at a yard sale the other day but I think it's missing the entire cartridge and stylus but I don't really know what to look for. It looks like something is missing.

Are there any detailed on-line photos or drawings of the SL-5 under the hood ?

It is a cool stout little TT and in good condition but it's missing the cables and the piece that keeps the rubber mat centered. I only paid 5 bucks for it but it does power on and spin.

Is the small hole next to the RCA jacks for the ground wire to plug into ?
Click to expand...

A P-mount cart will be required and yes the small hole is for a ground plug (a small banana plug will fit). Nice score. :thmbsp:
 
I love my close and play this is a mcs technics made thing it can be remote controlled with the receiver it mates with but sadly have never been able to find the receiver.

picture.php
 
Thanks for the info. I'll pick up a p-mount cart and see if I can get it working.

Here's a photo under the hood. Definitely missing the cart.

SL-5.jpg
 
krowmagnum said:
It is a cool stout little TT and in good condition but it's missing the cables and the piece that keeps the rubber mat centered.
Click to expand...

the SL-5-7-10-15 have a built-in pop-up 45 adapter. a half-twist pops it up. The adapter may be broken off, tho' I've never seen one this way.
 
vintage 5.0 said:
I have some turntables that are nice but lately I am really liking the linear ones. I first got a Pioneer PL L1000 and use that as my main table. I just purchased a Technics SL J2 and love it. It sounds real good with the Sansui amp and man it is fun to use. It is all touch button operated and it is fun to just put the track in you want to hear and it works like a charm. It is also very small and seems to be fairly simple. Does anyone else like the linear tables?
Click to expand...

Have two...the PL-L1000 and Yamaha PX-3. The L-1000 is my main table with the PX-3 a close second. The other 2 arm types get about 10% use each.
 
I've been trying to shootout my two new tables:

  1. Phase Linear 8000 II (a.k.a. PL-L1000) from SpeakerlabFan and
  2. Yamaha PX-3

....and find that both are amazing, exceeding my expectations. I might start a separate thread, but first a

Chronology (discogchronology?)

  • Kid table: cheap Technics, served well. The Pacific Stereo guy talked me into upgrading the cart. Thank you, Knowledgeable Person, you are remembered.
  • (long miserable silence til 2 years ago)
  • Garage sale Dual CS-5000/AT92E, last pivot-arm I've tried. Quartz speed control and belt driven. I didn't have anything to play on it so I just sat til I sold it! Silly to let it go.
  • Garage sale [U]B&O 4004[/U] w/orig cart, had a detached contact plug row inside when I got it, plugged that back in and it worked. Hints of greatness but it couldn't compete with the bass and noise floor of the Dual; Cantankerous Controls and Proprietary Pieces, it went to a guy who knows more than me...
  • Sanyo TP-1030 pivot arm but twin motor and good action. Old belt makes it warble all over the place. Made me look for Quartz controlled speed to overcompensate. Usually that feature is in DDs.
  • Found a SL-10 with orig. MC line contact boron-cantilever cart. Stylus was severely twisted so I didn't get to hear it right, ...

...until Koseltri fixed the transport belt and tried one of his P carts on it--really decent and surprising sound. Can track roof tiles, even warped ones. Upside down. (Really, it works upside down. Kind of like P!nk on those Crique du Soliel ribbons) :D I still missed my Dual though.

Still count myself as a vinyl newbie here, but my two new ones are making me glad, really glad, that I picked up a few LPs and gave vinyl another look.

.
 
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I have a linear arm and it is a bear (read PITA) to set up. A table where the arm position is set sounds like an improvement. I have always wondered, in the case of a linear table, if the arm comes with a "jig" that allows you to set the stylus in the perfect point in both the vertical and horizontal planes?

I mean, how does it work?
 
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The SL-5 is a durable little table that has gotten great reviews in the past. I recommend an Ortofon OM10P as an inexpensive good sounding cartridge. try the Needledoctor.

Wish I wouldn't have given mine to my son.

krowmagnum said:
Thanks for the info. I'll pick up a p-mount cart and see if I can get it working.

Here's a photo under the hood. Definitely missing the cart.

SL-5.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Susurus said:
Yamaha PX-3

....and find that both are amazing, exceeding my expectations.
Click to expand...

What he didn't tell you was that he was Johnny-on-the-Spot and got his PX-3 off the local CL with the original MC-705 MC cart, orig. extra headshell, and all in the orig. box, for a single Franklin. Way to go, Steve!

Grainger49 said:
I have always wondered, in the case of a linear table, if the arm comes with a "jig" that allows you to set the stylus in the perfect point in both the vertical and horizontal planes?

I mean, how does it work?
Click to expand...

In the case of a mass-produced table, you need no jigs, and no protractor for cart setup. You simply fit the cart into the heashell so that it is parallel to its centerline, and align the stylus tip with the center of the spindle. Setting VTF is the same as any table. If it's a p-mount arm, plug in the cart, done. A seperate arm (such as a Souther or ET) and seperate table combo is another matter, if the arm doesn't have adjustable VTA, it will have to be set up for a particular cart. Most of the better LT TT's that use a standard headshell also have adjustable VTA.
 
Some of the p-mount linear trackers, such as my Technics SL-M3, do have adjustable tracking force. Others are set at the factory to match the T4P standard of 1.25g tracking force and a 6g cartridge mass. It all depends on the model.
 
koseltri said:
. . . In the case of a mass-produced table, you need no jigs, and no protractor for cart setup. You simply fit the cart into the heashell so that it is parallel to its centerline, and align the stylus tip with the center of the spindle. Setting VTF is the same as any table. If it's a p-mount arm, plug in the cart, done. A seperate arm (such as a Souther or ET) and seperate table combo is another matter, if the arm doesn't have adjustable VTA, it will have to be set up for a particular cart. Most of the better LT TT's that use a standard headshell also have adjustable VTA.
Click to expand...

Thanks, as I said I have always wondered and never sold one.
 
man, I just listened to my akai LT this morning, did one final shootout against my dual with stanton eee to see. preferred the akai's sound (could be I don't like the stanton's sound, but whatever, I'm on a tight budget so can't experiment too much).

My dual is well setup (by me, protractor and all). played different parts of the LP. got to the very end of a side, inner groove sound check. notably better from the akai LT in the last minute of the side where the dual started to sound a little fuzzier.

Sorry pivotal arm... you're leaving me forever.

It's LT or nothing for me now.

Will be posting an ad on craigslist asap to sell both my duals and the stanton and shure carts.
 
SA-708 said:
Some of the p-mount linear trackers, such as my Technics SL-M3, do have adjustable tracking force. Others are set at the factory to match the T4P standard of 1.25g tracking force and a 6g cartridge mass. It all depends on the model.
Click to expand...

The SL-M3 is a rare exception. One of the few LT's with the arm placed to move back-to-front rather than the standard side-to-side. Rare period, which is why it's on my short list: "LT's I'd like to own" or "LT's I'm unlikely to ever own due to going rate of selling price"--the titles are interchangeable. :D
 
dkelley said:
Sorry pivotal arm... you're leaving me forever.

It's LT or nothing for me now.
Click to expand...

Well, I wouldn't go that far. My VPI clearly outshines my Mitsubishi (though it's my only turntable that does so). Leave the door open for a few pivot arms.....if only a few....:D

But for what the LT-20 and many other good linear trackers go for, they're some of the best deals in turntables right now, I think.
 
yes, exactly. I can't afford a totl pivotal. and if I did I would be very picky to find one who's tracking angle specs would be nearly as good as from my LT. So it wouldn't be your every day pivotal LoL.... maybe a custom built 2 foot long arm or something LoL
 
A little late to jump into the thread...

I got a Technics SL-QL15 as a "bonus" with a 90xx rack mounted system. I wasn't looking for the TT but it was a package deal.

For a plastic little thing, it sure works like a charm. The track selection is pretty accurate and it also offers programmable track selection. Well, there are not too many tracks on an LP to choose from, but as a novelty it's fine.

That certainly wasn't my first LT table. Most of the LTs I have are Revox (B790, 791, 795, some in top condition, others are projects).

I also have another Technics, SL-M3 that is in works fine but both the plinth and the dust cover need prosthetic surgery. But it's one fine piece of engineering.

And there's a Dual, CST100, that works but the tonearm lowering is too heavy.

Most of my listening experience is from the B791 with an Ortofon MC20 or MC10 and all I can think of to describe it is dreamy. Channel balance, tracking, sound quality are all on a different level from anything else I've heard before.

The SL-M3 and QL15 are infrequently used and their sound is somewhat inferior, probably due to the cart and stylus with lots of hours on them. Perhaps an OMP40 might change the sound a lot but it's too much just for trying it out.

One of the negative things about LTs is that they became popular (and cheap) late, when almost everything was cheaply built. So, with some notable exceptions, most of them are not very appealing from a built quality standpoint.
 
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