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Sony PS-LX500 / LX510 / LX520 / LX55 / LX57 knowledge thread

rread13 said:
What albums do you own that have sibilance problems?
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U2 - No Line On The Horizon. Side 2 - "Moment of Surrender". The ultimate sibilance torture test. The only time I've ever heard that clean is at a very high end shop on a LINN turntable.

Other than that I've listened to about a half dozen albums with this stylus so far and I'm pretty wowed. It sounds VERY good indeed! The bass on the Easy Star All Stars' "Easy Star's Thrillah" was earth shaking. High end is noticeably cleaner than the ATN3472SE elliptical that it replaced, but not as clean as the AT440MLa on my other turntable.
 
Caution: the ps-lx510 turntable does not have a ground wire, and other models listed in the thread title may not either.

Please consult the documentation at vinylengine.com to aid in the proper installation of these turntables.
 
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I have a LX510 I bought new in 1983. Been in a box for about 25 years and just got it out to try playing my old vinyl. Turntable spins, but arm won't move.
What should I check first? I had the whole remote control system at that time, now only had TT and Cassette deck. Bought a beat up 550 receiver that goes with this on EB, but touch pads on front don't work. Any ideas what to do for that?
 
CMC Guy said:
I have a LX510 I bought new in 1983. Been in a box for about 25 years and just got it out to try playing my old vinyl. Turntable spins, but arm won't move.
What should I check first? I had the whole remote control system at that time, now only had TT and Cassette deck. Bought a beat up 550 receiver that goes with this on EB, but touch pads on front don't work. Any ideas what to do for that?
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The answer to your question is in this thread. You'll need to lube the rail that the arm runs along, open up the bottom and clean out the gunk on the mechanism which moves the arm, and apply lube there. I used silicon spray lube.

Also replace the belt. Google "Sony PS-LX510 tonearm belt" I'll bet you find some for sale. Put the new belt on. That should give your turntable new life. You may be surprised how nice it works.
 
Hello all, just wanted to say I picked an LX55 at the dump yesterday. This thread has been a big help.

Mine didn't seem to work at all at first, no response when hitting any buttons except the record speed. I thought maybe a bad board or buttons, so I opened it up. Turns out the tone arm can get sort of 'locked' near it's rest position, and if the belt is loose and the arm is sticky, it will act like it's dead. I removed the buttons and lifted the board they attached to, but all was fine. I turned the drive mechanism for the arm by hand, and got the tone arm to move. When I powered it back up, the play/stop button and the arm jog started working. I lubed it, put on a new belt, and it's working fine now. Thanks everyone.
 
PhilBiker said:
Awesome! Sounds like yours was in the same situation that My 520 was in. Over a year later and it's still working great.
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Nice! I'm hoping for similar results. I spoke a bit too soon though-listening to it right now and getting a little 'boom' as the arm sticks and releases every now and then. I'll cycle the jog back and forth a bunch and do a better job of getting it lubed. Also, I probably should get a better 'belt' than the elastic band I stuck on there for testing!
 
I used the silicon lube that I use for my treadmill for the arm on mine. It needs to be well lubed on that rail to move back and forth freely.
 
Ok, I put a new belt on my PS-LX510 I bought new in 1983, reassembled by old system with strvx750 receiver I got off EB, (my strvx550 push buttons wouldn's work and I couldnt get them to work) and matching autoreverse tape deck. Had some trouble with the Grado cartridge that's original, but cleaned it out and got it to work. Luckily, much to my wife's chagrin I save everything including boxes and manuals. Only issue is sound from LP's is muted compared to radio. Is that normal, or is problem with cartridge or phono input? I still have my Bose 301's, but they need refoam. Advent Legacy III's I'm using sound great. Super happy to have revived this for man-cave.
 
CMC Guy said:
Ok, I put a new belt on my PS-LX510 I bought new in 1983, reassembled by old system with strvx750 receiver I got off EB, (my strvx550 push buttons wouldn's work and I couldnt get them to work) and matching autoreverse tape deck. Had some trouble with the Grado cartridge that's original, but cleaned it out and got it to work. Luckily, much to my wife's chagrin I save everything including boxes and manuals. Only issue is sound from LP's is muted compared to radio. Is that normal, or is problem with cartridge or phono input? I still have my Bose 301's, but they need refoam. Advent Legacy III's I'm using sound great. Super happy to have revived this for man-cave.
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How is your turntable connected to your set up? And muted in what way? Significantly quieter or muted like a muted trumpet compares to an unmuted trumpet?
 
Turntable is set up through the TT inputs on receiver. It is significantly quieter than tuner. You have to turn volume up much higher to get same level of sound.If I remember from years ago, it was same with my old strvx550.
 
I was just curious to know if there are any significant differences between the 55, 55ii, 500,510, and 520? Really I guess, in terms of sound quality. I know my 55ii is not nearly as wide as the 520 but they are probably the same weight, etc.....but in terms of wow/flutter/rumble, etc are they all generally exactly the same stat wise? Or are some models a level up from others...or as I'm thinking just rehashed new models over that time period......One reason I ask is that someone game me a 500, to go with my 55ii and 520; but it's going to need some work. I'm familiar with working on all the usual suspects that need to be done on these tables, but my gut tells me this one will need a little extra work....the mat was upside down on it and it did make me realize there is a cartridge alignment diagram on them that I hadn't noticed b 4....not sure why they are there considering these are T4P cart tables......Anyway, I was just wondering if there was a particualr model in this series thats better than the others? Eventually I'll have everything set up to try and make easy a-b-c comparisons, but being so old I guess whatever table is still in best shape could skew those results possibly.
Anyway, I've become fond of these little tables.......I've auditioned various old vintage tables over the last few years when I just had that fever to get something new with a pretty wooden pinth, etc....but then I play one of these little generally ridiculed linear trackers but with a decent cart I always ended up changing my mind when doing an a-b comparion between the one I was going to buy and the good ol 520.....then when you factor in the super automatic and repeat functionality, I just can't seem to get away from using them.....although there is someone trying to sell a ps-x900 with biotracer arm for 300 right now that is tempting, but I still don't know if that would be that much of an increase in sound quality......I just figure I'd have too spend 600 or maybe 900 dollars on a new table to significantly replace my 520 (and I do have a marantz 6300 as well for comparison purposes)
 
I had a mint condition PS-LX500 I bought and found it WOULD NOT play 180 gram LP's either. The PS-LX520 I have does have some changes in the arm and electronics servo's that some how are different over the earlier models and it does play the 180 gram albums. Ultimately I let the better condition 500 model go in a garage sale last year and kept the 520 as a bedroom table.
 
rread13 said:
I had a mint condition PS-LX500 I bought and found it WOULD NOT play 180 gram LP's either. The PS-LX520 I have does have some changes in the arm and electronics servo's that some how are different over the earlier models and it does play the 180 gram albums. Ultimately I let the better condition 500 model go in a garage sale last year and kept the 520 as a bedroom table.
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Great to know, thank you. I'll keep using it in the basement for my 80's records...those babies are thin.
 
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