JELCO SA-750L 12" Tonearm
- Thread starter rx7rotary
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Jelco has made arms for several major well known brands. My AR ES-1 came with a Sumiko MMT which was made by Jelco. The table arrived damaged due to the seller's poor packing skills, and the tonearm had to be replaced. I bought a Jelco SA-250. Our buddy Marc Morin did the repairs/upgrades, and he says the arm was a good choice and that it tracks like a Bloodhound.
From my perspective, you are using one of the best tonearms for the money.
From my perspective, you are using one of the best tonearms for the money.
+1 :yes: They offer a very nice, matching DIN cable.From my perspective, you are using one of the best tonearms for the money.
i'm using one right now on a Lenco slate ptp4. It works well with a variety of cart compliance due to its damping capabilities. It would be hard to find another 12" arm of its' quality for similar $ used. As mentioned Jelco has made arms for a variety of companies Linn and Sumiko included. If you can locate a Audio Technica 1500 series maybe an option but lucky if as inexpensive.
The 750L is a very good arm and a very good value.
The quality is fine but a caveat is they are higher capacitance then I'd like for use with mm carts. My example measured about about 400 pf which will impact dialing in performance. It won't be a bother with mc carts however.
CasualKiller
Active Member
Must be a thing with Jelco and Lenco. I am setting up my Lenco to use both the 750D and the 750L:
This is a rough mock up, the top plate has been sent away to Jim Howard at Applied Fidelity to be filled in and for hammertone finishing. He also built the bearing for it. It's a sapphire thrust plate oil bath bearing. I'll add a proper thread after it's finished, approx 4 weeks or so.
This is a rough mock up, the top plate has been sent away to Jim Howard at Applied Fidelity to be filled in and for hammertone finishing. He also built the bearing for it. It's a sapphire thrust plate oil bath bearing. I'll add a proper thread after it's finished, approx 4 weeks or so.
jkilla
Out of Touch
Jelco tonearms are huge bang for your buck. I suspect their price reflects the fact that they don't have to do the amount of marketing that a lot of hifi brands do. It's been a design thats has been relatively unchanged for many years now, and their focus has been on build quality and high quality bearings etc.
My only gripe is the way their VTA adjustment is done with the collar piece. It has been noted on the internet that it causes small issues with the azimuth. Also the screw that sets VTA really scrapes the paint off the shaft of the tonearm, making it a little unpleasing aesthetically.
I think the 750D i'm using really performs superbly, with options to support a whole range of cartridges of various compliance ranges (via the use of damping fluid, heavier counterweight available for purchase, etc)
My only gripe is the way their VTA adjustment is done with the collar piece. It has been noted on the internet that it causes small issues with the azimuth. Also the screw that sets VTA really scrapes the paint off the shaft of the tonearm, making it a little unpleasing aesthetically.
I think the 750D i'm using really performs superbly, with options to support a whole range of cartridges of various compliance ranges (via the use of damping fluid, heavier counterweight available for purchase, etc)
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CasualKiller
Active Member
The issue is fairly small. If someone was that worried about it though I know there's a couple people on Lencoheaven that offer custom collars for around 80.00 each shipped. There's also the TTweights guy that has an interesting solution but at a premium price:
http://www.ttweights.com/catalog/item/8885978/10041075.htm
http://www.ttweights.com/catalog/item/8885978/10041075.htm
The newer model SMEs are about as good as it gets for me. Starting with the 309. A used 309 in good condition is about twice the cost of a new Jelco and also worth the difference if you are going up-scale. Wonderful TAs.
