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I joined the Elac Miracord 50H club!

jviss

jviss

Well-Known Member
I just purchased an Elac Miracord 50H in fine condition, and in a beautiful plinth with cover. I didn't do as well as you thrift store wizards, I paid $150; but I'm happy with that.

It came with the "magic wand" stacker spindle, but no single play spindle.

It has the original cartridge and stylus - the stylus is imprinted with "Elac" - but, unfortunately, one "leg" of the plastic stylus carrier snapped off when I removed the stylus. Probably due for a new cartridge and stylus anyway. (The broken piece fits back perfectly, might be a crazy glue candidate.)

It works! Only issues are that when I attempt to lift a record off the magic wand it won't pass the "fingers," no matter what I do, and I have to pick the record up and remove the stacker spindle from the top. And, that cueing damper is a bit sluggish, but I think it can be exercised into condition. It has already improved a bit with some exercise.

It also seems the plinth, but not the cover, was varnished or shellacked or something, while the cover retains its beautiful oiled walnut finish. I may try to scrub the varnish off the plinth and oil it.

I found a user manual online, but I can't get to those other manuals on vinylengine, as I don't have an active account. It someone could be so kind as to download those other docs from vinylengine and email them to me I will be eternally grateful. :)

What attracted me to this turntable is that I read a discussion comparing it to the Dual 1019. I am a big Dual 1019 fan. The discussion was such that folks asserted that the Elac 50H was the best automatic, ever, better than the 1019. So, I had to have it!

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Greenie said:
The long spindle is (poorly imo) designed like that. You're supposed to remove it, then the records :)
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Oh, wow, that's an odd design choice! Glad you told me, though, so I don't spend any time trying to "fix" it!

Was there ever a 45 stacker?
 
jviss said:
Oh, wow, that's an odd design choice! Glad you told me, though, so I don't spend any time trying to "fix" it!

Was there ever a 45 stacker?
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I've never seen a 'large hole' stacker in the wild though google brings up the SA382 usually for silly prices.
Most of my 45 - 7" single are small hole so the standard wand works fine. It's also great for stacking 12" singles.
 
Greenie said:
I've never seen a 'large hole' stacker in the wild though google brings up the SA382 usually for silly prices.
Most of my 45 - 7" single are small hole so the standard wand works fine. It's also great for stacking 12" singles.
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I guess I could just put those plastic "spider" adapters in the 45s and use the regular stacker.
 
Also, any recommendations or tips on removing the varnish, or whatever it is, on the plinth are welcome. I was thinking I'd try something relatively mild, like alcohol, first. Then maybe just mechanical means, like bronze wool.

Also should clean and lube this thing. I don't think it's been touched since new.

Also, it occurs to me, after all my angst about Dual 1019 cartridge carriers, it will probably be impossible to find additional cartridge sleds for this thing! I guess a better course would be to use an AT-VM95 cartridge with a selection of stylii for various purposes.
 
jviss said:
Also, any recommendations or tips on removing the varnish, or whatever it is, on the plinth are welcome. I was thinking I'd try something relatively mild, like alcohol, first. Then maybe just mechanical means, like bronze wool.
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why?
 
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It came with what I imagine is the original cartridge and stylus, an Elac STS-344 cartridge. My microscope isn't set up yet, so I don't know the condition of the stylus, or even what type it might be. But it's in a white plastic holder, and imprinted "Elac D344-E." Any guesses?

Update - found this on vinylengine:

Specifications:​
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Stylus: D344-17, D344-E​
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Stylus tip: 6/18 biradial (E), 17um diamond (17)​
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Frequency response: 20 to 22,000Hz​
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Tracking force: 1 to 2g​
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Weight: 6.5g​
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Output: 11mV​
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Channel balance: < 1.5dB​
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Channel separation: 24dB​
​
Load: 47k ohm​
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Tracking angle: 20 degrees​
​
So, I have a biradial. I don't know what that is! :). And, until I set up the 'scope, I don't know in what condition it is.
 
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Yes, there was a 45rpm stacker, one of these should work. I use the white one with my Braun P600 (in my thumbnail), a derivative of the ELAC automatic TT. The record removal technique is the same. Pull up and out the adapter, remove records. No clicks, latches, or fuss. No issues except you have to know it. No fuss is good design in my book. But each to his own. YMMV
Good luck with your new turntable, they are excellent when properly maintained, and in the pics it looks to have been taken care of.
ELAC 45rpm Adapters.png
 
Hajidub said:
That's what it means, very rare IMO. I'll post a pic of mine next week; dark, rich wood combination.
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Yes, it's very solid. Nice wood. As I said previously, someone varnished the bottom part of mine, I'm going to try to revert it to the oiled finish.
 
I went through about half dozen different search terms. Also, looked on A-Gon, here at AK, USaudio, and Reverb. Use at least
45rpm adapter, Elac, Miracord, Radio Shack 45 adapter, etc.
 
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