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Heathkit BSR McDonald AD-140

J

justinbowser

New Member
Howdy, Y'all! First time post but have read the forum for a while and have some questions about a TT I just bought.

Just received a Heathkit BSR McDonald AD-140 turntable purchased from a Goodwill auction and I have not been able to find much info on it so any thoughts on it would be appreciated. When I received it the shipper had not secured the tonearm so it was flopping around and the cartridge was detached! :-( Looking at the cartridge the stylus was mashed so I have ordered an aftermarket replacement from Amazon.

Turntable came with a Shure M-93E cartridge which seems to have good reviews for an "economy" cartridge so hopefully it will sound OK. The platter is fairly heavy and made of metal instead of plastic so hopefully that it hints at a better quality TT. I plan on stuffing it into a 1941 Philco console radio which I picked up with a missing turntable. I have a very cheap and generic turntable installed right now but I wanted something with at least a cueing lever and this looked like it would fill the bill.

Regards,

Justin B.
 
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A belated welcome to the Audiokarma community. I can identify with your situation. That's how I started out in audio. Not sure if it was Philco, but a record player was in the bottom half of a console TV. At some point, I decided to change out the phono cartridge for a better one. And as they say, the rest is history. I eventually upgraded the tonearm, then the amplifier and finally the speakers. Of course, back then it was all monaural. But it didn't take long to get bitten by stereo.

The Shure M93 is a stereo cartridge, which of course you can use in a mono system. One issue, though, is whether the Shure cartridge has a high enough output for the
amplifier in the Philco. What is the cartridge in your old turntable, is it moving magnet or a ceramic?
 
The original turntable was missing and I picked up a generic no-name turntable off FleaBay and a Go Groove phono preamp and am able to get pretty good sound but the TT lacks a couple needed features so time for this upgrade.


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This radio is a 1941 Philco 41-629P and in fine shape.


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The Needle is supposed to get here Wed so hopefully everything will test out OK.

Regards,

Justin B.
 
Looking closely at the left side of the tonearm, it looks like there is the turnover tab used to switch the needle from the one for 33 to 78rpm records. Ceramic cartridges typically have a high voltage output. With the Shure M93 cartridge, you are in lower voltage territory. Through my crystal ball, I expect that the music through the amp and speaker is going to sound different. Is the Go Groove phono preamp set up for moving magnet cartridges?
 
Good eye! I didn't know that was a "tell" for a ceramic cartridge. The preamp is a GoGroove Pro model and I have to have the gain turned down to minimum or the clipping LED starts flashing so I'm assuming it has a fair amount of gain. A little searching reveals it has RIAA equalization and suitable for Moving Magnet (MM) and Moving Coil (MC) cartridges.
 
Well, Hound, you're correct! Needle got here today and the BSR was swapped into the radio and it sounds great and actually had to turn up the preamp gain to the mid-point. :-) The only problem being the dust cover is so tall I can't close the TT shelf/compartment. But, no biggie since the cover just sits on the TT and is easy to take off.

I have one last question that I hope you can answer. The preamp has a "Filter" button to switch between "Low Cut" and "Flat." I really can't tell any differencein the sound regardless of position. Right now I have it set at "Flat" and everything sounds fine.
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Now to cycle through a bunch of albums I haven't played in a loooong time!

Regards,

Justin B.
 
Congratulations! It's beautiful. And it reminds me of our old TV console with the record player below that pulled out. If you are using the audio in the Philco and its speaker, you might not hear any effect with the cut switch. Actually, there might be less distortion in the cut position if that filters out some of the frequency extremes, so that they don't strain the audio system in the Philco. If your upgraditis "infection" continues, you might look into a stereo chip amplifier (class D or used Tripath amp. They are small, some even tiny, and could be tucked somewhere in your cabinet.
 
Thank you! This was a GoodWill auction find and other than cleaning it up and oiling it down the cabinet is in as found condition. I have re-capped it and also had to re-string the dial and build a dial pointer. It was a fun project!

The sound is perfectly fine for this old dog and if I need better fidelity I can use my stereo system. I am torn between leaving this turntable in the Philco or swapping around with the Sansui that is hooked up to my Denon receiver.
 
I would think that your Sansui is a better turntable. The stacking spindle on the BSR looks good in the Philco. Have you tried the GoGroove with the Denon? That would probably show the difference between the flat and cut positions on the GoGroove.
 
No, picked up the GoGroove specifically for the Philco, I have a Rotel preamp/equalizer on the Denon. I reckon I'll leave well enough alone, then, and just enjoy the music!

Thanks for the discussion. :-)

Regards,

Justin B.
 
justinbowser said:
The original turntable was missing and I picked up a generic no-name turntable off FleaBay and a Go Groove phono preamp and am able to get pretty good sound but the TT lacks a couple needed features so time for this upgrade.


View attachment 3591679

This radio is a 1941 Philco 41-629P and in fine shape.


View attachment 3591681

The Needle is supposed to get here Wed so hopefully everything will test out OK.

Regards,

Justin B.
Click to expand...
Nice work on this Philco. A note, quite the upgrade.
 
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