Micro Seiki owner's club

[JPMelville]

I've had a Micro Seiki DD-24 for about a dozen years and it's always sounded great to me. But now that I'm working from home and listening to a lot of music during the day, I've stared wondering if it can be improved.

I've had a hard time finding info about the DD-24. Mine looks like the one in post 18 with the S shaped tonearm. It seems it might have a variant of the MA-303 tonearm. Does anyone know if that is right?

Where did the DD-24 sit in the Micro lineup? Was it their lowest entry level model? Even if it was, I don't view that as the worst thing in the world because entry level from a high end manufacturer can be great.

What other more common tables does it compare to? For example, I like the looks of the Technics SL-1301 and 1401. Would those be a step up? If I wanted to have a noticeable sound improvement, what level of table would I be looking at?

As background, I have no frame of reference because the only system I've hear for more than a few minutes is my own (current cartridge is AT VM95ML and other gear is a Pioneer SA-7700 amp and Wharefdale Heritage Linton speakers). So I don't know what to expect if I got a new TT. And I haven't fully decided to upgrade. I'm just trying to understand better what I have.

 

[Barncats]

I've had a Micro Seiki DD-24 for about a dozen years and it's always sounded great to me. But now that I'm working from home and listening to a lot of music during the day, I've stared wondering if it can be improved.

You have excellent taste in directors.

 

[KRab]

My new to me Micro Seiki DQ-3. Like I really needed this.....I bought this thing in pieces a couple of months ago. Since I can't find any manuals on the DQ-3, I had to guess at the tone arm wiring....and learn how to solder those teeny-tiny wires into all the right places. I was in doubt as to how to proceed. Then I figured....this is basically the same thing as my DD33...except that were are no servos or auto lift. The MA707 tonearm very close to the CF1 type that's on the DD33. So I took a chance, and duplicated the wiring. Soldering the teeny-tine wires wasn't too bad...but nothing I'd like to do again soon. I bolted an old Grado something I had to a spare head shell, set it to 1.8 grams, and hoped for the best. It still needs some refinement, and I'd like to try a better cart, but it sounds pretty good. But now I have two virtually identical turntables......
Did I mention I really like Micro Seiki turntables?

 

[dogwan]

My new to me Micro Seiki DQ-3.View attachment 1870107 Like I really needed this.....I bought this thing in pieces a couple of months ago. Since I can't find any manuals on the DQ-3, I had to guess at the tone arm wiring....and learn how to solder those teeny-tiny wires into all the right places. I was in doubt as to how to proceed. Then I figured....this is basically the same thing as my DD33...except that were are no servos or auto lift. The MA707 tonearm very close to the CF1 type that's on the DD33. View attachment 1870108 So I took a chance, and duplicated the wiring. Soldering the teeny-tine wires wasn't too bad...but nothing I'd like to do again soon. I bolted an old Grado something I had to a spare head shell, set it to 1.8 grams, and hoped for the best. It still needs some refinement, and I'd like to try a better cart, but it sounds pretty good. But now I have two virtually identical turntables......
Did I mention I really like Micro Seiki turntables?View attachment 1870108View attachment 1870110

Cool, the DQ-3 is very similar to my DQ-43 I posted earlier. I really love that MA-707 arm. I just wish the 707 on mine wasn't the simplified version and had a VTA adjustment and a typical stylus lift lever for cueing.

On the DQ-43 the cue actuator is activated by the push buttons which have micro-switches that trigger a solenoid. Mine has been a little temperamental and sometimes you had to hold the down button for a heartbeat or two until you heard the solenoid finish its cycle. Otherwise the tonearm would lift immediately and shut down the platter.

So, last night I flipped her over and did some long needed maintenance. I followed the service manual and adjusted the voltage going to the solenoid which had drifted a little low. I also sprayed some electronics cleaner into the solenoid and used canned air to blow it out while the cleaner was still wet. Saw some old dried lubricant chunk come flying out I repeated and manually cycled it by hand until it dried out. Then I oriented the table so I could drip sewing machine oil down the plunger and again manually operated the plunger to work the oil into it.

That did the trick and now the cueing works like a charm and you only have to tap the buttons!

While I was in there I also did a couple tweaks....

• I added a bunch of chassis damping with some noise barrier sheets and Mortite (rope caulk). Not over the top, but still pretty extensive.
• I put some highly viscous oil (Phil's Tenacious) on all the pivots of the few levers and linkages. The stuff is just sticky enough to keep the connections from rattling without interfering with the function in any way.
• And then, I added some silicone damping fluid to the guideways of the switches to provide a little resistance to their action for a more of a quality feel. This had the added benefit of preventing backlash or snap-back that would echo through the chassis to the stylus.

Overall it the deck has a much more solid sound to it now and the control (and solenoid) don't transmit noise nearly as bad as they did before.

Sorry, I didn't take pictures.

 

[KRab]

Thanks for posting this, Dogwan. Your DQ sounds more akin to my DD33 with the microswitches and the solenoid cuing . The buttons on my DD33 hang up every once in a while. Good to know that there is a fix. It's odd that default position for the tonearm is in the "up" position.
Also appreciate the links for the foot repair. I have two decks that sorely need it.
Did your DQ come with the auxiliary tone arm weight? The one that screws into the back of the tonearm. Neither of mine did, so I'm also not running the front aux tone arm weight. Seems to work OK without it, but it would be nice to have all the pieces.

 

[dogwan]

Thanks for posting this, Dogwan. Your DQ sounds more akin to my DD33 with the microswitches and the solenoid cuing . The buttons on my DD33 hang up every once in a while. Good to know that there is a fix. It's odd that default position for the tonearm is in the "up" position.
Also appreciate the links for the foot repair. I have two decks that sorely need it.
Did your DQ come with the auxiliary tone arm weight? The one that screws into the back of the tonearm. Neither of mine did, so I'm also not running the front aux tone arm weight. Seems to work OK without it, but it would be nice to have all the pieces.

Yeah, I bought my DQ-43 from the original owner and it came with both the auxiliary weights for the tonearm. If you need, I can dig out the extra rear counterweight and measure and weigh it for you.

Also, I found this useful doc for the 707 tonearm.... it tells you where to place the adjustable effective mass weight for some common cartridges at the time. I am running an Adcom XC-LT II and I matched compliance and cartridge weight to be similar to an Shure M95 so I put the extra weight at "3" and it sounds spot on. Saved me a lot of guesswork.

I also have a Sonus Blue/Gold and I find it interesting the attached guide tells us to put the weight at "5" (higher effective mass). Seems odd because the Sonus is supposedly very high compliance and wants a very light arm?

 

[KRab]

Thanks, once again. I've always found that chart interesting, in that there was no way I was ever going to own any of the carts they used for examples. I'd love to own a Grace f9....maybe in another life....
My DD33 came with a Shure M91 with worn out stylus. I replaced with a Jico SAS back when they were reasonably priced. It last about a year before the cantilever collapsed. Sounded superb up to that point. Then, one of the wires broke out of the OEM head shell. I've never been able to figure out how to fix it. I bought a couple of re-pops on the auction site. Way too much money, even for the cheap ones, but reasonable quality. Keeps these tables spinning. The DQ came w/o a head shell at al, Last night to test it I mounted a Grado ZT with an 8MZ stylus, set to 1.8g. It actually sounds pretty good, which surprised me because it never sounded that good on the DD33. The D33 is currently running an AudioTechnica AT7V right now, which may be a bit of a mismatch but actually sounds very clean, running at 2.1g and no additional weights. Someday I'll look up the compliance specs on these carts and better match them....

 

[ontheroad303]

Following along as I missed out on an opportunity to grab a really nice BL-51 locally from the owners son a few years ago. I had a silly bachelor party to attend and funds couldn't be stretched for both.

Really enjoying this thread.

 

[dogwan]

one of the wires broke out of the OEM head shell. I've never been able to figure out how to fix it.

At some point the headshell on mine was repaired too. I didn't realize it until I went to change out the cart.

What they did was punch out the plastic holding the pins so the headshell was hollow exposing the cavity back to the pin sockets. They found some wire rod around the same diameter as the pins and cut to an appropriate length then soldered cartridge leads to them and heat-shrinked them. It took me a few minutes to figure out the intent.... now you insert the wires into the socket in the correct order, then feed the wires through the newly punched hole (collar?) and slide the headshell back onto the arm. At first I was kind of disappointed then I realized the repair was actually kind of clever.

Hope that makes sense. I can take pics. However, I am hesitant until I need to change something out. I want to re-do it with longer wires, but need to get the clips 1st.

There are other signs the original owner either was, or had a competent tech work on it at some point. The tonearm wires were changed out. There are a number of caps underneath that had been changed, etc. All done very cleanly.

 

[KRab]

Look on the auction site under Micro Seiki and you"ll see the head shells for the SC1 and MA 707 types. They run 80-180. Not the sturdiest things but good to have just in case. I can vouch for the cheap one at least working. The fix you describe makes a lot of sense. The clips in the tonearm get corroded over time. Im guessing when he had the tonearm re-wired that he put better clips in it as well. You've posted a lot of good ideas here, and am grateful for the knowledge you've shared with us. Pictures are great, but I also understand not wanting to mess something up when it's working.

 

[awionik]

Hi, I'm new in the Club and introduce myself with my MR-611
I'm living at the North Sea Coast of Germany.



I just added the Micro-Shockabsorber to the Chassis, because the stands were sunken in. By the way, the spindle makes suddenly some noise. Usually it's lubricated with Bearing-Oil. What's the correct lubrication: Oil or grease?

Best regards

Axel

 

[awionik]

Hi, I'm new in the Club and introduce myself with my MR-611
I'm living at the North Sea Coast of Germany.

View attachment 1894377

I just added the Micro-Shockabsorber to the Chassis, because the stands were sunken in. By the way, the spindle makes suddenly some noise. Usually it's lubricated with Bearing-Oil. What's the correct lubrication: Oil or grease?

Best regards

Axel

Just a few more pics,







Today, there‘s a MC 9 on it. Further i have a Elac ST 444 for it.

 

[totem]

I just wish the 707 on mine wasn't the simplified version and had a VTA adjustment and a typical stylus lift lever for cueing.

I'm sure there are other manufacture's but Micro comes to mine with tonearms that came with tables and when sold separately
were full blown featured versions like the MA 505 sold on its own and supplied on a TT.

 

[DaaDaa]

saw this on a website, liked, shamelessly stole it

 

[markpilk]

My main table right now is the Micro BL-91 with MA-505 arm, pretty much stock but in very nice condition. Currently running with a Clearaudio Concept MC cartridge, but also using a Benz Micro Wood SL and AT-OC9/III.

Also have a Micro Seiki DD-40 with Audio Technica AT33PTG/II right now, a few cosmetic mods and remote power supply, love this table, simple late 70s direct drive without all the digital circuitry...

These are beautiful tables and the BL-91 seems to catch my eye every time I see one. What is the price point to start with a nice working Micro table...preferably the BL-91?

 

[The Slider]

These are beautiful tables and the BL-91 seems to catch my eye every time I see one. What is the price point to start with a nice working Micro table...preferably the BL-91?

The one pictured was about $1500 with new dustcover, minus cartridge and record weight. I polished the platter and changed the oil, but both those steps are optional, the table was in very nice condition. The pricing is all over the map, so very hard to say, and depends some on the tonearm, mine came with the MA-505XII, which is what I wanted.

 

[awionik]

I just took service to the bearing oft the platter and I wonder, if it has a sinter bearing or if it's made of brass. So I have to decide, if i should take grease or oil in it. Is there anybody, who has a servce manual, where it is described?

 

[M Roboto]

New member here looking for some help.

I have this micro seiki tone arm that is having a bad day.

I believe the internal brass tube has sheered and needs to be replaced. Additionally it needs to be rewired as a result of the damage.

Is this repairable? Am I just stuck trying to find a new tone arm?

What would you do?

Thanks!

 

[MX117.MC7150]

Is this repairable?
Am I just stuck trying to find a new tone arm?
What would you do?
Thanks!

If were me I would call Steve Leung at VAS. https://vasnyinc.com/
He can tell you what is possible with your TA and do the work, should you decide to have it repaired.

 

[AudioWaters]

Your MR-611 is beautiful.