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Proposal of a Modest Turntable: Hitachi's HT-50S

I had a very nice HT-41 up until about three years ago. Bought new in 1980 at Tech HiFi and was still going strong until the piece on the tonearm that holds the headshell cracked and she wouldn't track properly. Could have fixed it with some superglue and benchblocks I guess, but discarded her not thinking it would be so hard to find another semi-auto turntable :(

Came from Tech Hifi with an ADC 95QE installed. Still have the cart and must have the headshell somewhere, but two Regas and a Dual later I still miss that Hitachi.
 
I have a couple of old hitachi tables.. all hold their speed very well. Actually better than most others I have. Sound is very clean and all seem well built for a low level table.
 
266C686F-89D0-41DF-90DB-DB749C3C3C7D.jpeg I own an entire Hitachi vintage system ... it’s topped with a ‘budget’ HT-50s and it’s the best TT for clarity I’ve heard. I added an ortofon head and stylus, and the rest is history - it’s awesome.

Ultimately Hitachi made some superb hi-fi, reliable too.
 
Isn’t it amazing how a wonderful a little table like this can deliver some beautiful performance.

Like Walt said, being made w plastic and a light weight platter, most just pass them buy. Hitachi s like this are also very dependable. I don’t have the same dependable performance from the same era JVC or Sony, even Pioneer or Technics. The Technics are in 2nd place w arm lift or cable failure. Hitachi made some good choices w switches and lift mechanics.
 
A little followup: If you're running high-compliance styli as I usually am, you'll probably want to avoid later Hitachi models (eg, HT-51, photo below) that had something they called the Hi-Tech Damped Arm. This has an arm tube made of stainless steel (!) that's been chemically treated to create tiny fissures in the metal which are claimed to absorb vibrations. All well and good, but I have a couple of these tables and have found the arms much heavier than the one in my HT-50S. Perfectly suited to the current vogue for heavier-tracking carts and styli, and good turntables overall, but not what you want for, say, your Empire 2000Z or ADC 10E Mk IV.
img0137vq.jpg
 
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wualta said:
A little followup: If you're running high-compliance styli as I usually am, you'll probably want to avoid Hitachi models (eg, HT-51, photo below) with something they called the Hi-Tech Damped Arm. This has an arm tube made of stainless steel (!) that's been chemically treated to create tiny fissures in the metal which are claimed to absorb vibrations. All well and good, but I have a couple of these tables and have found the arms much heavier than the one in my HT-50S. Perfectly suited to the current vogue for heavier-tracking carts and styli, and good turntables overall, but not what you want for, say, your Empire 2000Z or ADC 10E Mk IV.
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Thanks Walt. Good to know. I don't have one but since I might, just maybe, like the Empire 2000Z I'll avoid the Damped Arm in any further purchases. But I do like how easy it is to get decent results from this family of Hitachi tables. I picked up one for super cheap just for the dust cover. It was from a college radio station and had that Stanton 500 cart on it. They seem really cheaply made but I do like your inital write up and the positive points these have. Mine is never a question of it performing. Some of my old JVC tables that are similar are always in question. But again, great info.
 
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desertrat748 said:
Isn’t it amazing how a wonderful a little table like this can deliver some beautiful performance.

Like Walt said, being made w plastic and a light weight platter, most just pass them buy. Hitachi s like this are also very dependable. I don’t have the same dependable performance from the same era JVC or Sony, even Pioneer or Technics. The Technics are in 2nd place w arm lift or cable failure. Hitachi made some good choices w switches and lift mechanics.
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Fully agree - not having deep pockets I’ve spent years trying different budget late 70s/early 80s ‘tables. My dad passed down his old Pioneer PL-112D, which had a very decent stylus and new belt - professionally installed. In spite of the family ties, I found the sound disappointing, sure they look and feel robust and should theoretically outperform the Hitachi - but it didn’t, not even close. Yep - the Hitachi is a plastic creation and ‘light’ but I was blown away by the consistency across genres - the tonearm does (again) feel very light, but performs exceptionally whether playing John Barry or Deep Purple - that and the fact it was made circa 1981 (the year I was born) adds to the sentiment I guess :)

When the motor is running, it’s virtually silent, I added a cork mat to further dampen any interference and, well, it’s better than many, many of its counterparts... when you consider the Pioneer would still fetch £100+ and I paid £45 for the Hitachi - small margins I suppose, but in terms of aural pleasure the actual comparison puts the Hitachi in the £200-300 category for me.

The partnership with my HA-170 seems to work too - a very, very underrated amp... super rare too! Which I picked up for £39.

This is it, the actual pics (above) from the listing - which had 12 watchers in approx 30 mins... I didn’t hesitate! Again, the best amp I’ve owned - it’s revealed things I’ve never heard, that said my JBLs do help - (the only non Hitachi element), but finding decent vintage Hitachi speakers at the right price - is a quest I’m still on ... one day.
 
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Hello Hitachi fans: I just picked up an HT 50S curbside yesterday. In cleaned up beautifully. It has an AT DR400E cart and stylus with very little wear. It's performing and sounding great. The only issue is the LOCKED Unitourque light will not come on. My question is: Is this due to a burned out lamp or is the Quartz lock function not working. The platter speed is 33.2 rpm but does waver a little which is not audible. My sense it that the lamp it burned out. Any thoughts??? Thanks.
 
Hitachi made very decent consumer-level stuff back in their heyday. I realize they are probably different divisions, but my parents had a Hitachi 19" color TV from approximately the same time period for many years and never had a problem. And my wife and I had a large late-80s Hitachi microwave until just a couple of years ago, when it went belly-up and we couldn't find parts.
 
gregj said:
Hello Hitachi fans: I just picked up an HT 50S curbside yesterday. In cleaned up beautifully. It has an AT DR400E cart and stylus with very little wear. It's performing and sounding great. The only issue is the LOCKED Unitourque light will not come on. My question is: Is this due to a burned out lamp or is the Quartz lock function not working. The platter speed is 33.2 rpm but does waver a little which is not audible. My sense it that the lamp it burned out. Any thoughts??? Thanks.
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I have had it happen to older Hitachi models and it was not locking up properly. For the last one, I downloaded the Hitachi manual off vinyl engine and repaired it. Lights do go bad but maybe see if there’s a repair manual available to check if it’s working properly?
 
Owning two Hitachi tables I agree they are easily overlooked. The best of the two is a 1980 HT-561 that truly sounds fantastic. The second is a thrift find 1973 PS-12 for $12.99. It still had the cardboard tags attached to the inside and was for practical purposes unused. It ran quite slow but I took it to the repair shop where I lived and the tech somehow made it run spot on.

The 561 is tremendously engaging. Silent, beautiful, very smooth running, and has superb sound. The PS-12 is also surprisingly good. Hitachi are quite simply hidden gems.

Gerard
 
desertrat748 said:
I have had it happen to older Hitachi models and it was not locking up properly. For the last one, I downloaded the Hitachi manual off vinyl engine and repaired it. Lights do go bad but maybe see if there’s a repair manual available to check if it’s working properly?
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Thanks. VE has the HT50S owners manual and schematic but not the repair manual. Maybe a service manual for another Hitachi TT model with Quartz lock will address the issue.
 
See if anyone has the service manual for the very similar-looking HT-41S, which has the quartz-lock feature and the status light.
This might be useful:
https://archive.org/details/manual_HT41S_SM_HITACHI_EN
Something to try:
While the platter is spinning, give it a bit extra spin with a finger. See if the light comes on.
 
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bluscombe said:
Did you ever find the service manual?
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HT350S service manual is available at electrotanya. I have not seen the innards of the 50 ( I have a 350) but my guess is that the only difference these two tables have is in the tonearms. 350 has a S shaped one that takes universal headshells.

Regards,
 
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