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Best reasonably priced cartridge/stylus for '70s Miracord turntables; obnoxious noise on tonearm auto-return

Malibyte74

Malibyte74

New Member
Hi all - new on this forum.

I'm resurrecting my '70s-vintage setup - Marantz 2270, Miracord 770h and 50H MkII turntables, Sony TC-366 open-reel tape deck, in addition to a Kenwood dual cassette deck and Sony CD player. I am looking for well-regarded but reasonably priced cartridge/stylus package for the Miracords. I have been looking at the Sumiko Rainier (about $200 USD). I'd like to know (1) if it's fully compatible with my turntables, and (2) if anyone has experience with it, how does it sound?

Also, both tables have an issue - they function normally, but at the end of the record, during the tonearm auto-return sequence, they cause very loud, obnoxious random noise through the receiver (it once blew a fuse in the receiver). An AI search came up with it being caused by the grease in the mechanism getting old and hard and causing vibration, but that doesn't seem to make sense as the noise is coming through the receiver. Thoughts?

Thanks for any help!
 
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Malibyte74 said:
Hi all - new on this forum.

I'm resurrecting my '70s-vintage setup - Marantz 2270, Miracord 770h and 50H MkII turntables, Sony TC-366 open-reel tape deck, in addition to a Kenwood dual cassette deck and Sony CD player. I am looking for well-regarded but reasonably priced cartridge/stylus package for the Miracords. I have been looking at the Sumiko Rainier (about $200 USD). I'd like to know (1) if it's fully compatible with my turntables, and (2) if anyone has experience with it, how does it sound?

Also, both tables have an issue - they function normally, but at the end of the record, during the tonearm auto-return sequence, they cause very loud, obnoxious random noise through the receiver (it once blew a fuse in the receiver). An AI search came up with it being caused by the grease in the mechanism getting old and hard and causing vibration, but that doesn't seem to make sense as the noise is coming through the receiver. Thoughts?

Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...
AI is wrong

The German turntables had mechanical mute switches. Go under and clean the contacts.

Also, there is usually a capacitor across the AC power used for noise suppression, they can go bad after this many years
 
The Rainer should play pretty nicely with the 770h arm.

No clue on the sound. What cartridge is on it now?
 
If you are running them through the 2270 and the preamplifier transistors have been replaced, this is a common occurrence.
There is a thread on this.

Steven Tate

Thread 'Phono "motorboating" solved(?)'

I have had recurrent problems with low frequency "motorboating" on several 2230/2245/2270's after updating the phono boards. There has been a lot of discussion about it here, with no definite fix determined that I could find. The closest I have come was thinking that the KSC1845's often used to replace 2SC458's were not as good of a match as KSC1815. In most of my cases, when I had the problem, I had replaced the 2SC458's and the four 2SC1000's with KSC1845's. That muddied the water a little bit as to the source of the problem. Well, today I had a 2245 that I did a complete...
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Malibyte74 said:
I have been looking at the Sumiko Rainier (about $200 USD). I'd like to know (1) if it's fully compatible with my turntables,
Click to expand...
the Sumiko tracks at 2 grams which should be fine with the 770H tonearm but if your headshell sleds look like this, you won't be able to mount the Rainier

IMG_5295.JPG



IMG_5296.JPG


1789415058532.png
 
I installed a VM95ML in my 50H a few weeks ago and so far am very pleased with it. Low record noise and, at least to me, older records that have seen a lot of wear once again sound very nice. Happily tracking at 2 grams.
Know, however, that the pre-threaded mounting holes are not helpful. The matching screws are too big to fit in the stock headshell but smaller ones will work with some patience. Also, the stylus sits farther forward than other cartridges I have used. Even with the adjustment screw cranked all the way overhang is about 2mm more than optimum.
 
curtisw99 said:
AI is wrong

The German turntables had mechanical mute switches. Go under and clean the contacts.

Also, there is usually a capacitor across the AC power used for noise suppression, they can go bad after this many years
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for this! I figured that the AI had to be wrong on this one.
Would anyone know where I might be able to find a service manual (not user manuals, I have those) for the 770H and 50H MkII? I tried to register at VinylEngine but they are not currently taking new registrations.

Much appreciated!
 
loudnoises said:
The Rainer should play pretty nicely with the 770h arm.

No clue on the sound. What cartridge is on it now?
Click to expand...
Right now, I'm looking for a TAS 4 head sled for the 770H (apparently rare as hen's teeth) so haven't ordered a new cartridge for it yet. The 50H MKII has an Audio-Techinica cart (which it came with when I acquired it), not sure which model.
 
malden said:
the Sumiko tracks at 2 grams which should be fine with the 770H tonearm but if your headshell sleds look like this, you won't be able to mount the Rainier

View attachment 3836692



View attachment 3836693


View attachment 3836694
Click to expand...
Thanks for the comeback. Yes, those are the Miracord headshell sleds for these models, so I guess I will pass on the Rainier. The one on the right in your first photo is the TAS 4. I need one! Do you have an extra you're willing to sell??
 
malden said:
as usual


yes, the muting contacts develop carbon build-up. A soft pencil erasure works well.......... Deoxit, does not
Click to expand...
Newbie question - would you have a photo or a copy of a service manual page showing me where the muting contacts are? Thanks!
 
Bruno Primas said:
If you are running them through the 2270 and the preamplifier transistors have been replaced, this is a common occurrence.
There is a thread on this.

Steven Tate

Thread 'Phono "motorboating" solved(?)'

I have had recurrent problems with low frequency "motorboating" on several 2230/2245/2270's after updating the phono boards. There has been a lot of discussion about it here, with no definite fix determined that I could find. The closest I have come was thinking that the KSC1845's often used to replace 2SC458's were not as good of a match as KSC1815. In most of my cases, when I had the problem, I had replaced the 2SC458's and the four 2SC1000's with KSC1845's. That muddied the water a little bit as to the source of the problem. Well, today I had a 2245 that I did a complete...
  • Like
Click to expand...
Thanks. I hope that's not the problem, but I suspect it might be, as the 50H II was plugged into another system without the issue before I got the 2270 back. I have asked the guy who worked on it about this....! Much appreciated.
 
Chilibrother said:
I installed a VM95ML in my 50H a few weeks ago and so far am very pleased with it. Low record noise and, at least to me, older records that have seen a lot of wear once again sound very nice. Happily tracking at 2 grams.
Know, however, that the pre-threaded mounting holes are not helpful. The matching screws are too big to fit in the stock headshell but smaller ones will work with some patience. Also, the stylus sits farther forward than other cartridges I have used. Even with the adjustment screw cranked all the way overhang is about 2mm more than optimum.
Click to expand...
Will look into it - thanks!
 
Malibyte74 said:
Thanks. I hope that's not the problem, but I suspect it might be, as the 50H II was plugged into another system without the issue before I got the 2270 back. I have asked the guy who worked on it about this....! Much appreciated.
Click to expand...
If he used KSC1845s as replacements, then it is almost DEFINITELY the issue.

Even if he used 1815s, it still might not work correctly, as the case with my 2245. In that case, a 10pf cap is soldered across the leads of the base and collector of H701 and H702.
 
Thanks. We're in discussion as to how to deal with this. He has offered to send me another phono board with the 1845s replaced by 1815s. I assume that the original transistors are now unavailable? Also, should he put a 10pF cap across all of the 1815s, assuming he uses them, or just H701 and H702?

Again, thanks for your help!
 
Bruno Primas said:
If he used KSC1845s as replacements, then it is almost DEFINITELY the issue.

Even if he used 1815s, it still might not work correctly, as the case with my 2245. In that case, a 10pf cap is soldered across the leads of the base and collector of H701 and H702.
Click to expand...
what is it about the KSC1845 that makes it a problem?
 
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