Easily impressed with NEW, after a decade of 'Vintage'

B

b_sdaddy

Well-Known Member
So after 15 years with the same TT, a 'stock' Lenco L70 with bakelite headshell, and a reserve L78 (also 'stock'), I've sold them on, and heading to new.

I've just lost 80% of the readers, sorry. For the 20% that continue to read.......

So after listening to a Lenco L70 with nude Tonar Diabolic e, and a Lenco L78 with a Ortofon Red, for the last decade, I'm in the market for a new(ish) TT.

The issue I have, is that, due to the limitations of my old TT's, with a budget of €700, I'm always going to be very impressed.

New gets me a Rega Planar 2 with AT-VM95ML. Or a Pro-ject EVO Carbon with Ortofon Blue.

Secondhand, I can get a Rega RP3 with external power & Shure M97xe (+€100 change)
or
a Music Hall 5,1 se & VM 95 shibata
or
Linn Axis with Akito tonearm @ Nagoaka MP110

The pros and cons for keeping with 'vintage' or going 'new' aside, which will impress much, much more, or am I always going to be impressed?

cheers

bye bye Lencos
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Linn Axis was discontinued what, 30 years ago? It's hardly new or modern.

They are also well known for failing speed control PCBs due to Linn being very cheap and using bottom-of-the-barrel components.

The Akito tonearm was not well thought of even when it was new. I know some people (former Linn dealers if you can believe it) who claim that the original Akito is worse than it's immediate predecessor, Basik Plus, and that one was not a great tonearm either.

If I was you, I would get a used Planar 3 with external PSU.
 
Always fancied dropping a basik plus into my L78, but never got round to it.

Would love to get the Planar 3 and PSU, but it's €125 over budget!
 
I recently renovated a tube amp & got myself some very nice speakers. These suddenly made the Lencos the weakest links. Was never going to upgrade the Lencos, so replace was the only option. Bang for Buck, and reliability/availability of spare parts, means that 'vintage' is only going to become for the die-hards. (I know, I have a classic car!)

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b_sdaddy said:
I recently renovated a tube amp & got myself some very nice speakers. These suddenly made the Lencos the weakest links. Was never going to upgrade the Lencos, so replace was the only option. Bang for Buck, and reliability/availability of spare parts, means that 'vintage' is only going to become for the die-hards. (I know, I have a classic car!)

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At first I was going to write that you would get much better results by modding one of your Lencos with a PTP6 and buying a decent vintage tonearm, then I remembered that my last three vintage tonearm acquisitions didn't go particularly well, so you're probably right :(
 
I'll take new or old. I'd like to have an MG TC AND a new corvette in my carriage house. They both have their advantages and "feel". If I'm going on a kentucky back road trip on a nice spring day with my wife, I'm taking the former.
 
There's a maker of tonearms called Silver Note that's a drop in for L75 (probably work on L78 if auto mech is removed).
That arm gets god feedback from the Lenco community (no affiliation or experience myself though).
Could be an alternative path for upgrade.
Seller has a Facebook page with info.

Update: ah, sorry! Misread and didn't catch that you already sold the Lencos.

Not that familiar enough with new decks to place any advice.
 
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b_sdaddy said:
Always fancied dropping a basik plus into my L78, but never got round to it.

Would love to get the Planar 3 and PSU, but it's €125 over budget!
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Ah...can't you get a new Planar 3 and get the NEO PSU later ?

I don't know what Rega's cost in Europe other than less than in the States. What do the P2 and P3 sell for where you are ?
 
b_sdaddy said:
I recently renovated a tube amp & got myself some very nice speakers. These suddenly made the Lencos the weakest links. Was never going to upgrade the Lencos, so replace was the only option. Bang for Buck, and reliability/availability of spare parts, means that 'vintage' is only going to become for the die-hards. (I know, I have a classic car!)

View attachment 2095032
Click to expand...
Sounds like you didn't improve your system at all by going to the tube amp and speakers. If these components make the Lenco sound less than it was before, the problem is not your TT it's the new things you bought. Because you changed 2 things at once you can't know for sure where the problem is. Go back and try your old amp or back to the old speakers and make an informed decision. I did the exact thing 2 years ago. Bought a Rega Brio integrated and picked up a nice set of Jamo Concert 11s. Sounded horrible, no bass and overly brite. I ended up paying money I didn't need to spend trying to correct for those problems. Replaced all the caps in the crossovers. Bought TT interconnects with different capacitance. I even bought a sub which I have now sold. Nothing helped. Sold the Brio and the problem was solved. It is so easy to get lost in this hobby. I think you should re-evaluate the speakers or the tube amp. Your new amp is not new it's old. Those capacitors and tubes may need replacing also.
 
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You misunderstand. I had a 'budget' system: Cambridge Audio pre/power amp (+/- €250) and a pair of Leak Sandwich speakers (€250). My Lenco L70 with bakelite headshell & €50 cart worked well together, for many years.

I have just fully restored a beautiful vintage tube amp, and a pair of ultra-rare Belgium speakers. The amps worth about €1500, and the speakers about €2000. The L70 has become the weakest link through no fault of it's own.

(I'm putting approximate values to give you an idea of where these products are, in the grand scheme of things. I know that money isn't everything)


The Lenco actually sounded 'better' due to the fact that the other two components are immeasurably better than their predecessors. (The speakers are in the Rogers LS3 territory)

The issue now is, that with a 1950's TT, with it's bakelite headshell and 'basic' tonearm, the TT cannot deliver.

The system needs a new TT.
 
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