visonik tt's

[karlo]

visonik ... anyone know who made them , what the quality was?

german or jap? i think visonik actually just made speakers and amps in germany and taiwanese car stuff (great stuff) ...now in the u.s. is just a crap chinese rebadge of junky car crap.

the turntables look very sharp, with nice arms . never seen one in person , though.

 

[Dynacophil]

Hi
Visonik was a german Distributor (founded in Berlin, later located in Hamburg) who rebranded and sold solid middle class products froom anywere.
Esp. TTs were a lot C.E.C. products... about which TTs you are talking? In the '80s the C.E.C. BD-5200 was the Visonik Belt-Drive top-model... elegant decent player..

 

[BPFisch]

I've got a Visonik BD-5200 set up in my main system and it is a really nice table. As Dynacophil mentioned, it's a rebadged CEC unit which they also made for companies
like Project.

Nice arm and good controls & adjustment features. It's fairly heavy considering it's got a plastic base (which is my only real complaint).

It compares favorably with a lot of the lower/middle range hifi stuff.

 

[BPFisch]

Here's a pic of my BD-5200. Not the best quality or composition, but it's the only one I have available here on my work laptop.

 

[Dynacophil]

Hi
have you seen one of the very rare BD-5200s with straight UL-Arm and the CEC-headshell-connector? 2 or 3 came up on ebay last year, first I thought of some DIY-Frankentable...

here a pic of a rare Loewe-branded BD-5200, an Loewe (Löwe) RA1010

Tis one was one of my 3 - also a Visonik-brand

but the BD-5200 really is a decent player - except of the plastic bottom...

I've got a Visonik BD-5200 set up in my main system and it is a really nice table. As Dynacophil mentioned, it's a rebadged CEC unit which they also made for companies
like Project.

Nice arm and good controls & adjustment features. It's fairly heavy considering it's got a plastic base (which is my only real complaint).

It compares favorably with a lot of the lower/middle range hifi stuff.

 

[BPFisch]

I've only seen the straight-armed BD-5200 in photos a couple times. Interesting looking beast! Would be fun to see how it compares side-by-side with the S-armed version.

I've never seen the Loewe branded version, but I have seen a Project/One version (DR330).

I keep playing around with the idea of adding some weight to the plastic base of mine and re-doing the base in a real wood veneer. Being a woodworking hobbyist, that plastic wood drives me nuts!!!

 

[Dynacophil]

Hi

I guess this was an variation they made in the late production range when most of the other DD Plastic-Players had the UL-Arms...


The BD-5200 looks so nice and slim...
...so... build a copy of the base in 15mm MDF... to keep the look...
or float it with an inch bitumen

or make rectangular base and kill elegance with stability

i went back a generation, got two BD-7000 (Top-model '70s and one BD-6000 (longer arm and 4channel ability...)

great players...

 

[BPFisch]

Yeah... Not sure how I want to go about re-doing the base, but don't really want to mess up the "sleek" look of it. That's one of the things I liked about it in the first place! I really don't have any stability/skipping issues with it now, so I'll probably just re-veneer the existing base using walnut, cherry, or maybe mahogany and stick to simply covering the plastic "wood".

 

[Dynacophil]

...to simply covering the plastic "wood".

... what isn't the worst plastic-wood i've seen
look wot I dun to the cheap BD-2200 few years ago

this is a very basic model, I used to buy for 10-20$ to get parts for the better models... acryl-cover or Armbase or lift or else...
but with this veneer oiled it looked sharp

 

[jpiroto]

Hi guys

I got a 5200 with the UL-arm off the DEbay a few months ago for a very low price.
The owner was very nice and went the extra mile to pack it correctly. It arrived in Hamburg in perfect condition.
The cover is split diagonally down the middle:tears:, but that was already like that and not from shipping by Hermes.
It is the gray vinyl model. I have attached the sellers pics tomorrow I will post some of mine.
She plays along the Telefunken S600 and the Akai PC307c.
She came with a CEC MC-17, for which I have been unable to find much information.

 

[Dynacophil]

Hi
guess i've seen that one... didn't bid because of the broken lid.
what cartridge are you aiming for, the MC17 is below the MC20 Entry-Level Cart from CEC. Ortofon OM10?

 

[jpiroto]

Hallo,

Dont know yet, I have free a Ortofon FF15Xe MkII, the MC-17, a MC-11, a Micro Seiki LF-3 and a very beautiful Shure V15 III.
I cant find any info on the stylus, compliance or weight for the MC-17, MC-11 and the LF-3, so I am unsure of their performance.
I have the HiFi News test LP, but haven't had the time to test them out yet.
I am tracking a OMB10 on the bay, so lets see what happens

What do you suggest?:scratch2:

 

[likchan]

5200 specification

hi,

does any1 have any technical specification of the 5200. i am going to get 1 set and sort of worry for future replacement if i do not have the technical specification.

btw, i am from Singapore.

 

[Dynacophil]

Hi
you don't need much, its a midweight arm (if you have the common one with S-Arm)with SME-Type connect.
I can check my stuff if i have a manual of it somewhere...
Helge

 

[SwedishChef]

Let's bring this Visionik HI-FI thread back to life!

After using a Fluance RT-85 for a few years, I decided that it was time to get something vintage again for 2026. I was looking for a few things in a vintage turntable, mainly I wanted something that was fully automatic this time around, I wanted belt drive, and I also wanted an S-shaped tonearm if possible. Bam! I landed on this Visionik HI-FI BD-4200. It checks off all three of those boxes that I was looking for.

From what I've been reading online, the BD-5200 was semi-auto, and this BD-4200 that I scored last month is fully automatic. It works flawlessly, so I'm going to throw a new cartridge on, and upgrade the rubber platter mat because I don't really like it. The seller replaced the belt, degreased and re-lubricated before selling.

I figured that CEC made some awesome automatic turntables, why not grab this one? CEC badged turntables are kind of rare, so it's safe to say Visionik HI-FI is considered Ultra Rare, they're just not around. If they are, their owners must keep them and use them.

It's extremely well built, like I wouldn't hesitate to grab another CEC or a Visionik HI-FI turntable. She's a keeper!