Lenco GL75
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Redboy
a few good watts
In standard form, they can be quite respectable tables provided that the arm and drive assembly are operating at 100%, and that you pair the arm with an appropriate cartridge.
What the L75 has that gives it such potential is a good bearing, a heavy platter, and a very quiet motor. The common modifications further unlock that potential and take a good turntable into excellent territory:
What the L75 has that gives it such potential is a good bearing, a heavy platter, and a very quiet motor. The common modifications further unlock that potential and take a good turntable into excellent territory:
- A heavy plinth knocks down motor and bearing vibrations
- A better tonearm simply improves on the standard issue arm, which is an average grade vintage tonearm
- Bearing modifications or replacements are icing on the cake - the stock bearing is quite good, but better is... better!
- Aftermarket top plates allow for better coupling of the bearing and tonearm to the plinth, and better motor isolation. All good things.
Arkay
Lunatic Member
If you want to get the most out of one of these, it doesn't really matter what shape the plinth is in; you'll want to replace the plinth, anyway. Probably the single biggest improvement you can get from these TTs (after correcting any actual problems from abuse or age) is to transplant them into a big, massive, vibration-sinking plinth.
The bearings are very durable, and rarely have any issues. It probably helps that the Lenco design has the idler wheel pushing UP against the bottom of the platter, not sideways against the rim; this reduces potential strain and wear on the bearing.
Check the idler wheel. Lenco issued several different types (you can find pics of them online): some were metal, and some were plastic. The metal ones can have two or three or five holes in them. The 5-hole metal ones are considered the MOST desirable. All the metal ones had rubber outer portions that tend to have held up well; you might check them, though, to make sure they still are okay. The plastic ones mostly had some kind of nylon or other material, which tends to have deteriorated by now, and sometimes the plastic wheel itself may have warped. If you get a plastic type, you might figure on replacing it. Metal ones usually just need a little cleaning up, to work fine.
The tapered spindle on them can show signs of rust, if they are kept in a humid or corrosive (seaside or polluted air) environment. If there is rust on yours, that isn't critical; you can sand/polish it off with the motor running, but of course, if you need to take off too much material you may end up having to fudge the idler-wheel position to get exact/correct speed. you also should be careful to keep the spindle round and with a linear taper (where it was originally linearly tapered). The nice thing is that the wheel is "infinitely" adjustable, so this isn't a big issue.
Check that the motor turns. If you are really going to get the most out of these, you'll want to strip it down, clean, oil and adjust it, but this isn't a job for the non-mechanical novice, unless you're willing to be careful and patient. If you're just looking for a TT to play as-is, you might get away with a drop or two of fresh oil without disassembly, as long as the motor runs smoothly and quietly when you get it. Don't be afraid of a motor that "hums" or vibrates noticeably, though, if you are willing to disassemble and re-build it. These motors put out so much torque that if they aren't in perfect shape, there will be some vibration; that's what the rebuild and the massive plinth are for -- and it's that kind of torque that you want, to get that great sound!
Check the color of the tape on the motor: US/60 Hz models, I think, should have green tape. Red or yellow tape was used on the 50 Hz models sold in overseas 220V/50 Hz countries. Voltage adjustment isn't a problem, but Hz correction is. You can always just "fudge" the speed to the correct speed by sliding the speed control a bit, but that might not be so much fun if you change speeds a lot, because the pre-set positions won't be accurate, or you might be able to create a power supply that would correspondingly slow the motor speed, but the best thing to do is just get one that is appropriate for the location you are in.
These are relatively simple designs (especially compared to some of the idler-wheel changers!), extremely well-made, and highly tweak-able -- not so hard to work on, and extremely rewarding sonically , of the time you put in.
If you want to keep one stock but still improve it, consider "filling in" the inside of the plinth with a CLD (laminated plywood) core, leaving only modest space around the mechanism, and leaving the outer frame of the plinth for appearance. Make sure the top plate is bolted securely to this inner "core"; don't use the bouncy springs that the Lencos originally came mounted on (but leave the springy motor supports!). This won't have quite the effect of a really massive plinth, but it will still improve the sound noticeably.
I just picked up two more of these L-75s this week (posted about separately), the cleanest and newest ones I've ever found. I plugged one in today, and had to double-check that the electrical switch was on; the motor ran so smoothly and quietly that I couldn't tell at first that it was on, even with my finger on the top plate! That's what a good-condition Lenco motor will do.
Arkay
Lunatic Member
A few more thoughts: Besides Leak (a UK brand), they most commonly appeared in the States as "Goldring", or "Goldring Lenco". Those models often added a G to the model name, so an L75 became a GL75. I think some also were sold under the "Bogen" name, and one or two other names, but those aren't so common.
The Tonearm: You'll have to decide whether to keep/use the original tonearm, or upgrade it. The biggest problem with the original tonearms is usually that two parts may have deteriorated over time:
First, the V-blocks that the bearings rest in. In many cases, these were made of a plastic that will have deteriorated over the years, and it may be crumbly today. VERY bad! These can be replaced. If you are lucky, yours may have metal blocks, but these are not common.
The other thing to check is the connection between the front (long) part of the tonearm tube, and the rear (short) portion. these were held together by a tube of rubber-like stuff inserted into both of them, with a thin joint visible as a black line where they join. The back end of the arm will sag slightly from rock-straight, because the rubber is soft, but if it sags too much, and has lost too much rigidity, then that is bad. Again, VERY bad. There are some work-arounds, but again, this problem, combined with the V-block issue, makes a lot of people feel the repair work isn't worth doing, when the end result when it is all fixed up is a nice enough, but not spectacular, arm.
(Incidentally, Lenco did make one very GOOD arm; it's the clunkier-looking one found on the earlier L70. It's a somewhat higher-mass arm, though, that has to be paired with an appropriate cartridge before it really shines. A lot of modern carts are not suitable for it. Also, due to age, it usually needs to be disassembled and cleaned, before it really performs well. This can be a little tricky, as it has some tiny ball-bearings that are easy to lose!)
The Tonearm: You'll have to decide whether to keep/use the original tonearm, or upgrade it. The biggest problem with the original tonearms is usually that two parts may have deteriorated over time:
First, the V-blocks that the bearings rest in. In many cases, these were made of a plastic that will have deteriorated over the years, and it may be crumbly today. VERY bad! These can be replaced. If you are lucky, yours may have metal blocks, but these are not common.
The other thing to check is the connection between the front (long) part of the tonearm tube, and the rear (short) portion. these were held together by a tube of rubber-like stuff inserted into both of them, with a thin joint visible as a black line where they join. The back end of the arm will sag slightly from rock-straight, because the rubber is soft, but if it sags too much, and has lost too much rigidity, then that is bad. Again, VERY bad. There are some work-arounds, but again, this problem, combined with the V-block issue, makes a lot of people feel the repair work isn't worth doing, when the end result when it is all fixed up is a nice enough, but not spectacular, arm.
(Incidentally, Lenco did make one very GOOD arm; it's the clunkier-looking one found on the earlier L70. It's a somewhat higher-mass arm, though, that has to be paired with an appropriate cartridge before it really shines. A lot of modern carts are not suitable for it. Also, due to age, it usually needs to be disassembled and cleaned, before it really performs well. This can be a little tricky, as it has some tiny ball-bearings that are easy to lose!)
Redboy
a few good watts
Hah! I walked away from my computer for a while and I see that Arkay has already said most of what I was going to say... :thmbsp:
Lenco made many different models and they fall broadly into "heavy platter" and "light platter" categories. If you're considering the full complement of mods, you'll want to seek out a heavy platter model like the L75 you're asking about.
I'm the last guy that should make cartridge recommendations to you. There are so many carts out there and I have only limited experience with a few.
I'm guessing you've figured out by now that there are entire forums dedicated to Lenco turntables. Lenco Heaven is a great repository of excellent information about these turntables, and home to some really good people, too. We have some fans here at AK but Lencos haven't yet hit the big time here.
Lenco made many different models and they fall broadly into "heavy platter" and "light platter" categories. If you're considering the full complement of mods, you'll want to seek out a heavy platter model like the L75 you're asking about.
I'm the last guy that should make cartridge recommendations to you. There are so many carts out there and I have only limited experience with a few.
I'm guessing you've figured out by now that there are entire forums dedicated to Lenco turntables. Lenco Heaven is a great repository of excellent information about these turntables, and home to some really good people, too. We have some fans here at AK but Lencos haven't yet hit the big time here.
Arkay said:
How do I get inside the arm to figure out if you have metal V-blocks or not?
Arkay
Lunatic Member
NO, NO, don't be put off by what looks like a lot (probably more because of my "diarrhea of the fingers" than anything else). Lencos are relatively simple and there isn't much that goes wrong with them, so Lencos are relatively easy to fix up, compared to may vintage TTs, and they can sound better than the vast majority of turntables, vintage or modern. Even if you just lube it a bit and run it stock, an L75 is a pretty nice TT. And if you want to go further and really fix one up, there is a LOT of helpful stuff online, esp. in Lenco Heaven. Don't avoid getting one just because of "potential for stuff to be wrong"... I haven't found an L75 yet that wasn't a fairly easy fixer-upper. Don't be afraid of them!
Arkay
Lunatic Member
Remove the retaining nuts underneath the tonearm pillar, and remove the whole tonearm. The parts of the tonearm will then separate, and you can see the V-blocks inside the top part. If necessary, they then basically just pull out. Use care if they aren't already broken, though; otherwise you'll HAVE to replace them.
Oh, one other thing to be aware of, when re-mounting the tonearm: the friction in the horizontal bearing is affected by how tight those nuts underneath the tonearm pillar are; use them to adjust the horizontal friction to the minimum that still allows stability in the tonearm.
You might find these links useful:
Arm construction (and terminology):
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=69.0
Possible V-block replacements:
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=2049.0
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=878.0
(You can find these for sale on eBay at under the title "
Goldring - Lenco GL72, GL75 & GL78 - V Block Up-grade")
Here's another suggestion, which I haven't seen discussed. If you can find one of those old chemistry balances, such as were used in schools before everything went digital, they often have excellent brass, bronze or steel (or other metal) V-blocks in them. You can cut these down to fit, if you have the machining skills and gear, for an often-excellent set of V-blocks. I find those old scales in the government-surplus outlet here, in numbers. (They're also a great source for tonearm bearings in general!). Just make sure they haven't been over-used or abused (visual inspection will tell you).
Be aware of a possible trade-off: in general, the harder the V-block material, the more precisely and accurately the arm will track; i.e., the more information will be transferred. However, that also means that any motor vibration passing from the motor to the top plate will also be better transferred through the (harder) V-blocks to the tonearm. It's a trade-off or compromise to consider, when upgrading these. How quiet can you make your motor, or are you going to isolate it completely from the top plate, by mounting it to the base underneath? If so, perhaps you should go for brass V-blocks. Otherwise, perhaps those hard plastic ones (closer to the original Lenco designer's intentions) would be better. Then again, if you are going to all the work of isolating the motor, perhaps you'd just want to upgrade to an inherently better arm?
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