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BIC 960 vs new sub $300 turntable - Which is better?

Z

Zigzagger

New Member
Hello all,

I'm new to the whole vinyl thing, looking to get my very first set-up. My plan has been to pick-up a U-Turn Orbit or a used deck for less than $300 off eBay (I'm on a tight budget for this) ... but I just dug a BIC 960 out of my in-laws closet. I've poked around a bit and it sounds like it could be a solid deck. But which deck is better?

The BIC 960 will need some repair work to get it going ... though a fraction of the cost of the U-Turn.

Will be connected to a Nakamichi Receiver 1 (with built-in preamp) and some good B&W speakers.

Any thoughts you guys have are greatly appreciated. I'm casting around in the dark a bit on all this.

Thanks much,

ZZ
 
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Hey Zigzagger
I would encourage you to fix the BIC. It'll get the job done, and cheap is good ! Look up the manual and clean it up .What cart is on it? Do you plan on playing old records? Looks like you've got some decent gear. People on here will try to direct you to things you don't need yet. A decent cart and a simple(conical) stylus will get you going.Save your money for the records. It is always easy to upgrade later, but it takes a lot of money these days to improve on that T.T.
 
Keep the BIC. Have fixed up several in the last couple of years. Have too many turntables kicking around here. Sold one and gave the other away. Would have kept one but the Mrs factor would kick in. I did like how they performed though. The Shure cart is an keeper. You can get an EVG stylus from Gary at Voiceofmusicenthusiest for around $20. I have been using one on a Shure M91ED on a Dual 1219 and another for a Shure V15 type 3 on a Garrard Zero 100. Both sound good.

After fixing the BIC auto set down at 7 inches when it should go to 12 inch for an LP, it played well. It's made much better than an Orbit. The Orbit is being sold through Barnes and Noble. They look rather chinzy and flimsy. I have always worked with little funding. Keep what you have. You can alway go up as money comes available. And welcome to AK.

Eric
 
That Nakamichi is nice, too. I was running a Receiver 2 until very recently. Same unit minus MC input and lower watt rating.
 
I have a 960, bought new in the late '70s. Still running. The common issues you will run into have been mentioned above (possible stuck platter; setdown point on autoplay stuck at 7"; both dried grease issues), plus the vertical viscous damping of arm having degraded (silicone fluid in reservoir needs replenishment). Read here and over at forums at vinylengine for the best ways to address these. All are easily fixable with a little work. And if your platter spins, the two other issues don't prevent you from using in manual mode to check it out.
 
Yea ... platter is definitely stuck. I'm handy in the home/yard kind of way ... but have always been a little intimidated by electronics. I'm in the western suburbs of Chicago and there are a handful of repair shops around the city. I'm tempted to just take it in ... but I'll start taking a looking at the manuals tonight and see if I can't figure some things out.
 
This is a mechanical issue, not electronic, so maybe you will feel inclined to try. My platter wasn't stuck, but I recall others using gentle heat on/in the spindle hole area to soften the dried grease down there, so that the platter can be pulled up (take off the split ring retainer first). Again, read here and at vinylengine for more details; these things have been done many times by others.

Edit: instructions you find for 940 and 980 will be the same for most of the mechanical issue.
 
I got the one and only BIC turntable I've ever encountered (which happened to be a 960) back in working order a couple of months ago.

If you plan on removing/changing the cartridge for any reason, take note of how the headshell comes off the tonearm. It's the goofiest arrangement I've ever seen. Not impossible, but a second headshell, if you ever want one, will be harder (that might translate to more expensive) to find than the so called "universal headshell".

And take extra care not to loose the nut which keeps the headshell on the tonearm. It would be a really good stroke of luck to get another.

Other than being a bit quirky, they seem to play fine and look pretty good. I have yet to see the value in "programming" the table to play the same side of a record up to 6 times, but what do I know.

Another bit of caution concerns the two springs inside the gimble. One is for tracking force, relatively large, in plain sight and easy to see. The other is for anti-skate - smaller/finer, tucked out of the way and not that noticeable. I didn't notice it and mauled it to the point of uselessness. I'm not that concerned about the absence of anti-skate so for me it's no biggie not to have it.

FWIW, the reason I destroyed that spring was fishing new wires through the tonearm tube, but that's another story.

Did I mention BIC's have goofy headshells?
 
The 960, when fitted with the long spindle and plug-in edge support post (that is what that hole in the top of the deck is for), could play a stack of records. The 6 plays on the slide switch is for playing 6 records consecutively, but as you say, will also play the same record 6 times if the stack was not fitted.

As for the headshell, I rather liked the BIC design, with the side mount. It also has a simple way to adjust vertical tracking angle, but care is needed to loosen the locknut before trying to adjust. New units also came with a plastic part that made it easy to adjust stylus overhang.
 
Zigzagger said:
Yea ... platter is definitely stuck. I'm handy in the home/yard kind of way ... but have always been a little intimidated by electronics. I'm in the western suburbs of Chicago and there are a handful of repair shops around the city. I'm tempted to just take it in ... but I'll start taking a looking at the manuals tonight and see if I can't figure some things out.
Click to expand...
Don't do that. The Bic is a simple table to fix and to help you on your way there is a 5 part video on youtube that will guide you every step of the way. Just search rebuilding Bic 980 turntable. The 960 and 980 are basically the same. Watch it a couple times and you should be good to go.
 
As someone who owned a BIC 960 from the latter 70's till about 1990 I will say it was a good sounding turntable. IMO it was a poorly made compromised TT. Mine had to have the cueing repaired 4 times under warranty and when it died again after warranty I gave up. The alignment even with the jig always resulted in IGD. That wonky headshell was a pain IMHO. My cart was a Shure M95ed. The equipment to go along with it was a Technics SU-7700 amp and JBL L36 speakers.

Back in 2011 I bought a new Music Hall MMF 2.2 for approx $300 Worked perfect right out of the box, perfectly aligned with no IGD and SQ at least as good as the BIC 960. Not a great TT but has a VERY good tonearm and 6 lb platter and no speed issues of any kind which could not be said of the BIC. When I wore out the original Goldring stylus I upgraded it with a HE stylus from LP Gear. The SQ took a dramatic leap upwards.

If you can get the BIC going for a $100 or so, I would go that way and save your money for something better than either the BIC or a modern $300 TT.

Good luck getting into vinyl.
 
Penetrating oil and a hair dryer didn't loose the platter. I've got a soldering iron on the way via Amazon.

Progress is slow going but I've watched the videos and read the manuals and I'm hopeful to be able to rehab this deck myself.

ZZ
 
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