Difficulty and cost of rebuilding a Lenco L75

[atharva]

Hello friends,

It is no secret that the Lenco L75 is a much sought after TT. Many members have picked it, tweaked it and love it.

From what I've read it is clear that the v-blocks, arm and the plinth MUST be changed. What I wanted to know is how difficult and expensive is this? Of course sky is the limit based on plinth and arm but what is the bare minimum?

Only a couple arms seems to fit AS-IS. Please correct if I'm wrong. Some members have rotated the top plate 90 degrees and then mounted different arms. Isn't this difficult as you need a precision measurement to fit a new arm at the suggested mounting distance? Or need access to some workshop?

What is cost of a new plinth (like the sectioned plywood) and a new idler? And where to get it?

The rest I assume is mostly oiling/cleaning?

Thanks for reading.

 

[navinrao33]

My friend Anvesh Mahajan is an Authority in Lenco L75. He is there on Hifivision and also senior member of Lenco Forum. He can be the best guide. If you are changing stock tonearm, you don't need to change v blocks. You need v blocks only if you want to use stock tonearm. V blocks are available on eBay and you can order them. May cost 2-3k. Plinth in teak wood may cost you another 2-3k.


EnvyRao
Mumbai
Linn M109 Aktiv, Linn M-I, Linn M4100, Linn-MLP12, Linn M-DS, Linn Silver IC, CHAKT74-75-76, QNAP212P

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[atharva]

What is Anvesh's handle?

 

[analogadikt]

Well, this is a bit embarrassing. I do not know about the authority part, but do love playing around with turntables, repairing and tweaking them. Especially like the vintage idler such as Garrards, Lencos, Duals and the odd Pioneer, PE etc. Coming to the original question, as Naveen said, you need to get new V blocks if you are retaining the arm. A new idler wheel is necessary if yours came with a plastic one. Suppliers of V blocks, idlers and plinths can be found on the LencoHeaven forum and also the bay.

The rest I assume is mostly oiling/cleaning?

This, in fact should be the first step, not only with a Lenco but all vintage turntables. You must strip down the motor and spindle bearing for a through service. For Lenco, detailed pictorial guides are available on the LH forum. The idler bushes should be oiled and the mechanism checked for correct operation. Tonearm V blocks should be replaced. After this, the tt, still out of the original plinth, should be placed on four supports at the corners and tested. It is vital to check that the idler is engaging correctly without any juddering of the motor suspension and transmitting the full torque of the motor to the platter. Bare chassis operation like this allows for checking and confirming this. After a week of trial in this form, the tt should be shifted to the original plinth. The springs from the plinth should be taken out and the tt can be directly coupled to the plinth, using the holes at 12 Oclock and 6 Oclock position under the platter. Some good isolating footers should be placed under the plinth. The SQ shall be very good at his juncture and use it for a few months like this. After that you can take a decision on changing the plinth, what type of new plinth, whether you need a new tone arm etc. The original tonearm, with correct set up and new V blocks, performs on par with the SME 3009.

HTH

 

[arj]

Hello friends,

From what I've read it is clear that the v-blocks, arm and the plinth MUST be changed. What I wanted to know is how difficult and expensive is this? Of course sky is the limit based on plinth and arm but what is the bare minimum?

Only a couple arms seems to fit AS-IS. Please correct if I'm wrong. Some members have rotated the top plate 90 degrees and then mounted different arms. Isn't this difficult as you need a precision measurement to fit a new arm at the suggested mounting distance? Or need access to some workshop?

What is cost of a new plinth (like the sectioned plywood) and a new idler? And where to get it?

The rest I assume is mostly oiling/cleaning?

Thanks for reading.

Step 1 Remove it from the standard plinth. you can mount it "nude" with 2 stacked bricks on the corner also and geta good sound
Step 2 Change the tonearm ( V blocks are part of the tonearm). any Linn , Jelco or Decca tonearm is a drop in replacement
Step 3 oil the bearings and if possible grease the motor
you will already be 2-3 times of the standard lenco with this

Finally get a nice Plinth made..can cost anywhere from 2K-10K

 

[reubensm]

I have sourced idler Lencos for myself and a few friends as well. Great turntables, especially the L75. You won't be sorry. What is important for a start, is the platter, bearing assembly, motor, pulley, idler wheel and electricals. It is advised to replace the stock tonearm and stock box plinth.

All my Lenco sourcing was done from ebay.de or through contacts in Germany. Prices can vary between 75 and 200 euro depending on the condition, etc. Shipping is around the 40-50 euro mark and then there's customs duty. I have stayed away from ones from Indian dealers as these tend to need a lot of work (though they may look cosmetically good).

When shipping these, I have always asked the senders to send the deck without the box plinth, to save on shipping

The only reason why I don't have a Lenco currently is as I have the Garrards. Bragging rights after all

I also strongly recommend the SME 3009 2nd edition improved tonearm. Though a bit expensive and difficult to find in pristine condition, these are definitely one of the best out there.

 

[jls001]

Step 3 oil the bearings and if possible grease the motor
you will already be 2-3 times of the standard lenco with this

To add: one of the biggest improvements in sound came from cleaning the motor thoroughly and then calibrating it for the lowest noise. And it is actually easier to do this than one might think.

Also, the stock arm (with new V blocks) is a high mass arm, so suited for low compliance cartridges.

 

[atharva]

Reuben, I have asked a few people on EBay if they will ship to India and everyone flatly refused. :sad:

 

[navinsinha]

There are ways and means of letting the sellers ship it to India indirectly, but the major issue now a days is the customs - they are creating serious problem for import of used electronics.

 

[atharva]

Navin, could you elaborate on "problems"?

 

[reubensm]

Reuben, I have asked a few people on EBay if they will ship to India and everyone flatly refused. :sad:

There are 4 types of sellers on ebay.de namely:

1) those who ship worldwide
2) those who ship to some specific countries
3) those who ship within European union
4) those who ship locally within Germany

and of course, there are those who prefer local pick up.

I have analysed adverts on ebay and responses from ebay sellers over a period of time, and have noted that the primary reasons why sellers prefer not to ship internationally are as follows:

1) packaging is a problem, more intense packaging is required to prevent damage, resulting in higher packaging costs, buyers normally expects the seller to bear the cost of packaging materials

2) international shipping requires more paper work

3) the seller may have to driver a longer distance to a post office which excepts international shipments

4) the buyers can get tricky and cheat, raise claims, exchange a good working item with some other faulty item and send it back claiming a refund, etc. Some sellers are very particular about shipping to countries where they feel people are more trustworthy and openly refuse to ship to Russia, China, South Asia and Africa. There is history of many buyers from these reasons reporting goods as "goods not received" forcing the seller to refund. As most of the couriers in Germany (except the international ones) use India post as their India partner, it is almost impossible for the seller to track the item sent, once it enters the custody of India post.

I usually strike up a friendly conversation with the seller showing my genuine interest in the item. I also give him some tips which he can use to answer queries received from other prospective buyers. This helps strengthen the relationship. I introduce myself as an audiophile who selectively buys items from abroad for my own use (and my ebay feedback is also given as reference). I also offer to pay extra for packaging and transportation charges (can cost you 15-20 euro more ) and pay using only paypal (at times the seller may be backward to accept paypal payments due to the processing charges of paypal. I offer to pay these as well). Even after all this if they refuse to ship, I wish them all the very best and offer to help with more info if they require the same.

On another note, in my opinion, when venturing out to buy expensive gear, one has to spend a few extra bucks for better stuff

 

[prem]

Atharva, do you have a lot of vinyl? If not, vinyl today is quite expensive. Yes if you listen to a lot of pre 80s music and u can source original pressings it makes sense. Most new vinyls of older titles are pressings from digital masters of old titles and not from the analogue masters. Plan your software first before getting into vinyl

 

[atharva]

Prem, yes I have the software! In fact I made sure I got the vinyl first, used it for over a year (made sure I was committed) and then decided to improve on the table.

 

[atharva]

Reuben, I have followed most of your suggestions except offering advice as I'm no expert. Some of them told me they've had bad experiences shipping to India in the past.

I agree that one needs to accept to spend a bit more when importing like this. This is of course the last resort if the items are not available locally. I recently missed out on Navin's 301 as I was quite busy with work and hadn't paid much attention to the ads. How frequently does a 301 come on sale on our forums?

 

[prem]

Great atharva. All the best in your search

 

[atharva]

Thanks Prem!

 

[prem]

If you haven't already bought a Lenco 75, you can get a PTP audio table with tonearm and be done with. It might cost a little more but you will be saved all the hassles of experimenting. Peter mods for Lenco 75 are what many follow. So I guess his table should be very good. And since it's new no issue of getting it into India

 

[ajeshkumarts]

May keep a watch on hifi shark . Also check eBay Italy. Many out there ship world wide. Talk to them and ensure bomb proof packing even if it costs extra.
Happy hunting

 

[kuruvilajacob]

If you know someone abroad who could buy online abroad and ship it to you, that would be the most advisable. You can make the decision about buying and send them the link.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

Regarding modifying Lenco L 75, the stock arm must be replaced. The arm is a misfit for such a fine turntable. A Jelco 750 arm is the most suitable replacement in my opinion. The plinth of course needs to be a multi layer plinth and you can get several write up about it in various forums and Lenco heaven.