Realistic LAB-400: finally got one

[Hooligan1]

A quick follow up on my LAB 400. The veneer on mine looks so nice that I began doubting whether it is truly made of walnut. It doesn't feel plasticky at all, and I'd like to think I can tell the difference, but I wanted to be sure. Since I'd rather not sand something in such good shape, I did a little sleuthing courtesy of Google, eBay, and radioshackcatalogs.com. Now I'm fairly convinced it truly has a wood veneer. Firstly, the LAB-400 first appeared in the '78 RadioShack catalog as having a real walnut veneer, whereas subsequent years ('79 and '80) says it went to vinyl wrapped. According to this date code key, my table was made in July of '77 (7A7). So that suggests it should have been one of the first ones made.

Here's a photo of the serial number and date code sticker on mine (7A7):

View attachment 2207741

Secondly, even though the catalog number on the LAB-400 didn't change from year-to-year in the printed catalogs, the actual number on mine says "42-2960" (see photo above), whereas all the vinyl wrapped ones I've found on eBay and elsewhere have a model number of "42-2960A".

Here's an example of a vinyl wrapped LAB-400 (not mine) built in July '78 (7A8) with the 42-2960A catalog number (photos courtesy of one for sale on eBay).

View attachment 2207728

View attachment 2207730


Anyway, I think that's fairly definitive evidence that mine has the real walnut veneer. Just sharing in case others want an easy-ish way to tell the difference between the vinyl-wrapped versus walnut-wrapped versions when thinking of buying from a distance. Just look at the date codes and the catalog numbers [i.e. 42-2960 (walnut) vs. 42-2960A (vinyl)]. Of course, the 'WALNUT GRAINED VINYL VENEER" sticker is a dead give away, but a lot of people have removed those over the years.

Thanks for posting that info. I am going to check mine out now. I think mine might have the veneer. I actually have a Lab 300 as well and I like them both very much. I put an Ortofon 2M red cartridge on the 400 based on some research I did.

Apparently the tone arm is better suited with cartridges tracking around 2 grams.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...recommendations-for-realistic-lab-400.608124/

My Lab 300 has that same head shell you have on your 400. Does it have the RE1000 Cart? I believe the 300 and 400 have the same or very similar tone arm.

IMO, the both sound very good with the 400 sounding slightly better. That could be chalked up to the setup it’s in.

From what I have seen, the Lab 400 is a pretty sought after TT and I can see and hear why. Congrats on getting yours!

 

[Realistickit]

A quick follow up on my LAB 400. The veneer on mine looks so nice that I began doubting whether it is truly made of walnut. It doesn't feel plasticky at all, and I'd like to think I can tell the difference, but I wanted to be sure. Since I'd rather not sand something in such good shape, I did a little sleuthing courtesy of Google, eBay, and radioshackcatalogs.com. Now I'm fairly convinced it truly has a wood veneer. Firstly, the LAB-400 first appeared in the '78 RadioShack catalog as having a real walnut veneer, whereas subsequent years ('79 and '80) says it went to vinyl wrapped. According to this date code key, my table was made in July of '77 (7A7). So that suggests it should have been one of the first ones made.

Here's a photo of the serial number and date code sticker on mine (7A7):

View attachment 2207741

Secondly, even though the catalog number on the LAB-400 didn't change from year-to-year in the printed catalogs, the actual number on mine says "42-2960" (see photo above), whereas all the vinyl wrapped ones I've found on eBay and elsewhere have a model number of "42-2960A".

Here's an example of a vinyl wrapped LAB-400 (not mine) built in July '78 (7A8) with the 42-2960A catalog number (photos courtesy of one for sale on eBay).

View attachment 2207728

View attachment 2207730


Anyway, I think that's fairly definitive evidence that mine has the real walnut veneer. Just sharing in case others want an easy-ish way to tell the difference between the vinyl-wrapped versus walnut-wrapped versions when thinking of buying from a distance. Just look at the date codes and the catalog numbers [i.e. 42-2960 (walnut) vs. 42-2960A (vinyl)]. Of course, the 'WALNUT GRAINED VINYL VENEER" sticker is a dead give away, but a lot of people have removed those over the years.

Well, I don't know why mine doesn't follow the rules. It has to be vinyl, but no A and no numbers after the serial number.

 

[Old Guy8]

Another vinyl version.
Came with R1000E cart. Ran LP Gear Vivid microline stylus.
Now Grados Gold2 or ME+ Mono. Slight Grado hum, near record end.

 

[kdlc]

I haven’t started a “look what I got!” thread in a few years, but I’m pretty jazzed about this one. I’ve always had a soft spot for Realistic gear, but ever since @mibag6 gave me a LAB-300 (a sweet, simple semi-automatic) back in 2013, I’ve wanted to try a LAB-400. Well, a deal for one finally arose local to me that was too good to pass up. It’s in terrific shape with an AT-VM95E cartridge, or at least that’s what the number on the stylus suggests. The real walnut veneer is a nice touch. The cover is in great condition too, but I’ll probably polish it to remove some fine scratches. Anyway, I’m looking forward to having some listening sessions this weekend.

View attachment 2203368

Do you know if that is the orginal headshell and cartridge ?