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Realistic LAB 400 With a Shure Stylus RS 8T

Jody Thornton said:
What about the LAB-395 (circa 1982)? Who made that for the Shack? I wish someone had a pic of that one.
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If you search for "Lab-395" there is quite a bit of information on it posted on AK including a picture and a reference to the Lab-395 possibly being a re-badged Technics in this thread: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171904&highlight=Lab-395 . There is also a lot of excellent information on the excellent Lab-400 as well that can also be found by searching. I have a Lab-400 that I purchased new way back when and I have enjoyed it's outstanding and reliable performance ever since. I do agree that it is probably the best TT that RS ever carried, at least under their own name.

By the way Metalownz, those pictures of your headshell and cartridge are outstanding! They are some of the best photos that I have seen on AK or elsewhere. Are you a professional photographer or just darn good at taking pictures with an excellent camera? :thmbsp:
 
Ultra-Hog said:
By the way Metalownz, those pictures of your headshell and cartridge are outstanding! They are some of the best photos that I have seen on AK or elsewhere. Are you a professional photographer or just darn good at taking pictures with an excellent camera? :thmbsp:
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I think you may be referring to the ones I took of my V15 Type IV a few posts up. They were taken with a Sony DSC-F707 camera in macro mode. It's an older 5 megapixel camera but really does take a nice photo. I'm just an amateur, btw, and thanks so much for the compliment! :)
 
Ultra-Hog said:
If you search for "Lab-395" there is quite a bit of information on it posted on AK including a picture and a reference to the Lab-395 possibly being a re-badged Technics in this thread: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171904&highlight=Lab-395 . There is also a lot of excellent information on the excellent Lab-400 as well that can also be found by searching. I have a Lab-400 that I purchased new way back when and I have enjoyed it's outstanding and reliable performance ever since. I do agree that it is probably the best TT that RS ever carried, at least under their own name.

By the way Metalownz, those pictures of your headshell and cartridge are outstanding! They are some of the best photos that I have seen on AK or elsewhere. Are you a professional photographer or just darn good at taking pictures with an excellent camera? :thmbsp:
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Ha ha, i didnt take those pictures. That was another AKer on here. By the way, lead me to the direction of info on the LAB 400! I havent really seen much info on the net, or here for that matter.
 
Never had a LAB 400, I wish though. Nice turntable! I had a cheap LAB 89 during 1980 when I purchase that and a STA-52B receiver (I wish I still had ) with Minimus 1400 (?) bass reflex speakers on layaway when I was a teen.
 
AnalogDigit said:
Never had a LAB 400, I wish though. Nice turntable! I had a cheap LAB 89 during 1980 when I purchase that and a STA-52B receiver (I wish I still had ) with Minimus 1400 (?) bass reflex speakers on layaway when I was a teen.
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Do you know of anyone who owned a LAB 400? From what im told, they went for $400.00 back in 78. I own 2 STA-90 Realistic receivers, and love them both.
 
Fellow LAB400 owners-

I am still trying to figure mine out. I do not have a stylus for the Cartridge yet, and am hesitant to buy one thinking the table needs repairs.

Question: How easy is it to stop or slow the motor while turning? I can stop mine from spinning without much force at all. I have used the strobe to try getting it stable at 33rpm- but again- I can't play it yet to nake sure.

My cueing lever goes up- but not enough to even lift the tomearm. I pulled the bottom steel cover off to look, and then I pull the top screws holding down the armboard... I still can't figure out what the problem is. Guess I gotta relax and spend some time tearing down.

In the meantime- maybe I can find a $10 table with a cartridge crap cartridge just so I can briefly listen to this.

Chris
 
reidcc said:
Fellow LAB400 owners-


Question: How easy is it to stop or slow the motor while turning? I can stop mine from spinning without much force at all. I have used the strobe to try getting it stable at 33rpm- but again- I can't play it yet to nake sure.


Chris
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Since my Hitachi PS-48 is your LAB 400's twin, I'll tell you that the advertising brochure stressed their "Uni-Torque" direct drive motor system - mine even says it right on the control plate.

I just tested mine and compared it to my Technics direct drive models - and the Hitachi's motor is maybe a little stronger. So your's shouldn't be easy to stop while spinning. The pitch control on these is also only +/- 3% I believe - so not much room for adjusting a weak motor. According to my strobe - it's speed is dead on accurate right in the middle of the adjustable range.

I'll look at my cueing lift mechanism and see if it's adjustable next....

Rob
 
No luck Chris, with mine, anyway. I see no way to adjust it's lift height from the top of the table - maybe from below. Maybe it's just gummed up from damping fluid gone bad, or just really low on fluid?? Mine lowers VERY slow....

Rob
 
I am not familiar with the intricasies of the LAB 400 or the PS-48, but there has to be a set screw or some mechanism that allows the height of the lift bar to be adjusted. Every turntable has that adjustment.

As far as the damping fluid--it can get gunked up over the years and cause the cueing to be too slow, or it can dry up or leak out and be too fast. Ideally one should figure out how to remove the cylinder or housing that holds the lift bar shaft, disassemble it, clean it, apply new goop, and reinstall it.

But, it pays to at least try the short cut because it certainly won't hurt anything, and it might work. And that would entail using some light oil, or silicone/teflon spray lube directed into the housing to try to loosen it if the cueing is too slow. If the cueing is too fast, then one would obtain some of the goop, known officially as silicone damping fluid, at least 300K (300,000) weight viscosity, from turntablebasics.com or possibly an RC hobby site where it would be called differential (diff) oil. You might need that anyway if you over-loosen a gunked up cylinder.
 
Thanks guys-

I actually found the service manual for this on vinylengine, registered and downloaded it. Took a real quick read last night, and it does in fact mention cue lever height, and how to adjust it.

Will try to find a cheap cart over weekend.

Thanks Again
Chris
 
reidcc said:
Thanks guys-

I actually found the service manual for this on vinylengine, registered and downloaded it. Took a real quick read last night, and it does in fact mention cue lever height, and how to adjust it.

Will try to find a cheap cart over weekend.

Thanks Again
Chris
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Great News! My stylus arrived yesterday(replacement M91ED), and popped in to play. It sounded great- airier than my Technics SL-L20 with P Mount AT450. I still had the cueing issues, and I had not tweaked any arm setting until this point.

I looked at the arm settings and went through the procedure to set up in the Service MAnual, and realized how unbalanced everything was. I zeroed out the Counterweight and arm, and then set tracking for a gram- NO MORE CUEING ISSUES.

The motor seems to wander a bit until warmed up, but who knows how long this thing has not been used. The only issue that bothers me is how LOW the cartridge sits! There does not seem to be a lot of space between the bottom of the cartridge and my vinyl I have never seen one ride so low. Could this be an issue?

Sound wise- this will keep me from buying a new table/cart for a while, as I am happy with the noticable difference in sound.

Thanks
Chris
 
That is great news Chris. So where was the adjustment screw for the cue lever height? I tried to register at Vinylengine so that I could view it, but they wouldn't send me a confirmation email to complete my registration.


Also, what do you mean my your new cart/stylus sounding more airy than the AT 450? I ask because I have about three AT450's that I use, and always wonder how others sound compared to it.

Thanks,
Rob
 
Hifirob2 said:
That is great news Chris. So where was the adjustment screw for the cue lever height? I tried to register at Vinylengine so that I could view it, but they wouldn't send me a confirmation email to complete my registration.


Also, what do you mean my your new cart/stylus sounding more airy than the AT 450? I ask because I have about three AT450's that I use, and always wonder how others sound compared to it.

Thanks,
Rob
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Rob-

I didn't need to touch the adjustment screw. Once I balanced the arm and weight to Zero, and set proper force for cartridge- it worked perfectly on its own. The adjustment screw is a small slotted screw on the right of the cueing arm(as you look at it from front. Unloosen, and pull up, and tighten.

As for sound- I can't say what it is. Soemwhere between the different table, different arm, and the Shure cartridge- it just sound more natural and subtle and laid back than the PMount AT450.

Chris
 
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