Lenco-ed! - Goldring GL 75

[jls001]

Brought this baby home late last night.

Some pictures here on my flickr album.

Turntable is in perfect playing condition. Comes with what looks to me like the stock plinth, and stock arm. Cartridge is a Shure M44-7. Veneer on plinth is peeling off and needs immediate attention.

First impression: lives up to the famous L75 bass slam. And I guess the cart helped matters. The rest of the audio spectrum is not very well covered but I suspect things will improve with proper cart alignment and tonearm balancing. Had not fitted the antiskate as I don't know which notch to fix it at. Have downloaded the manual and mounting template to crosscheck spindle distance and overhang, and to learn about balancing. Will finally get to try the Shure Mx97E cartridge which has been lying in deep storage (not even opened).

Next up: to clean it up thoroughly. Arm tube chrome plating is falling off in flecks. Will try re-chroming if I can get a workshop that does this type of things. Pointers welcome. Even headshell's aluminium-like coating is falling in small flecks. Also thinking of checking the brass knife edge of tonearm, provided it is not too involved. And finally to get a new baltic birch plinth.
Joshua

 

[santhosh]

Congrats Joshua on becoming a proud owner of a superb TT. Err.. make that owner of two superb TTs (including your Thorens). All the best for your restoration:cheers:

 

[G401fan]

Congrats, Joshua! The L-75 is another legendary idler drive, which can match most of the other brands once set up optimally.

My suggestion: Change the tonearm (which is one of the least attractive in the business, plus this one's peeling badly) and try and locate an SME or Rega as a substitute. You'd then have to get a new plinth made (as you're planning already), which would raise the performance by several notches. The Goldring versions were cosmetically somewhat of an improvement over the stock Lencos, which had a more industrial look. Great find!

 

[arj]

welcome to the Lenco club...the best option is a Rega 300..but a Linn arm fits in exactly into the Lenco slot. thats why i went for one.

If you want to put an MC, apparently the rega is a better option.

 

[sachu888]

Brought this baby home late last night.

Some pictures here on my flickr album.

Turntable is in perfect playing condition. Comes with what looks to me like the stock plinth, and stock arm. Cartridge is a Shure M44-7. Veneer on plinth is peeling off and needs immediate attention.

First impression: lives up to the famous L75 bass slam. And I guess the cart helped matters. The rest of the audio spectrum is not very well covered but I suspect things will improve with proper cart alignment and tonearm balancing. Had not fitted the antiskate as I don't know which notch to fix it at. Have downloaded the manual and mounting template to crosscheck spindle distance and overhang, and to learn about balancing. Will finally get to try the Shure Mx97E cartridge which has been lying in deep storage (not even opened).

Next up: to clean it up thoroughly. Arm tube chrome plating is falling off in flecks. Will try re-chroming if I can get a workshop that does this type of things. Pointers welcome. Even headshell's aluminium-like coating is falling in small flecks. Also thinking of checking the brass knife edge of tonearm, provided it is not too involved. And finally to get a new baltic birch plinth.
Joshua

Hi,
Great buy.The only weak point is arm which you can replace later.There are some good plinth design at lanco heaven.This is one of them:
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=4128.0
This is a good forum for Lanco lovers.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[jls001]

Congrats, Joshua! The L-75 is another legendary idler drive, which can match most of the other brands once set up optimally.

My suggestion: Change the tonearm (which is one of the least attractive in the business, plus this one's peeling badly) and try and locate an SME or Rega as a substitute. You'd then have to get a new plinth made (as you're planning already), which would raise the performance by several notches.

Thanks, Eddie.
Yes, the tonearm does look ugly with chrome plating peeling off. The tonearm will eventually have to go for something more appropriate.
Joshua

 

[jls001]

welcome to the Lenco club...the best option is a Rega 300..but a Linn arm fits in exactly into the Lenco slot. thats why i went for one.

If you want to put an MC, apparently the rega is a better option.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I dilly-dallied for the last 2 weeks post your advice BUT it just couldn't go off from my mind So I had to take the plunge:lol:.

Will a Rega RB 250 sing with a Denon DL 103?

And which Linn arm do you use?
Joshua

 

[prem]

Yes a Rega 250 will sing with the DL 103. You also need to change the bearing. You can check with our residential Lenco expert Arj as to what he uses. Ideally you should go for the Thomas Schick arm

 

[jls001]

Hi,
Great buy.The only weak point is arm which you can replace later.There are some good plinth design at lanco heaven.This is one of them:
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=4128.0
This is a good forum for Lanco lovers.

Regards,
Sachin

I'd been silently trawling this forum ever since I became serious about the L75. Just registered myself. Thanks for the pointer.
Joshua

 

[prem]

The Jeremy bearings are really nice. In fact prior to the EMT, my mind too was set on the Lenco L75. Somehow i could not strike a deal with Jean Nantais and hence the EMT

 

[santhosh]

FYI Joshua, the stock arm you have currently is supposedly made by SME(or they played a part in its design)
Make

While you are at it, check out the main link as well, a trip down TT lane. A collection belonging to someone?
Listed in order of age, oldest first.

 

[avidyarthy]

http://www.hifivision.com/sale-owner/16246-lenco-l75-tt.html

Is this still around? Some collectors here need to lap it up ...!

 

[jls001]

Yes a Rega 250 will sing with the DL 103. You also need to change the bearing. You can check with our residential Lenco expert Arj as to what he uses. Ideally you should go for the Thomas Schick arm

Hi Prem,
Thanks for the confirmation of RB250-DL103 pairing.

When you say bearing, do you mean the tonearm's knife-edge, brass bearing or the motor bearing?

Thomas Schick for now will have to remain a future prospect. I was thinking I'll upgrade the TD 124 with the Schick when funds permit, and be happy with an RB250 for the Lenco (if such a thing is possible). The baltic birch ply plinth which I have ordered (for the 124) can accommodate a 12 incher.

I believe arj is awaiting delivery of his Schick. Lucky fellow
Joshua

 

[prem]

Hi Jls001

Its the bearing assembly i am talking about. Lencoheaven will have all the details about Jeremys stuff.

 

[stevieboy]

Congrats Joshua!!!

So where did you score the beauty from?

regards

 

[jls001]

Congrats Joshua!!!

So where did you score the beauty from?

regards

Thanks, Stevie.

This is from a Mumbai dealer of used electronics. He's got some serious electronics hoping to find new homes, including a Rega P3-24, a Rotel DD (can't remember the exact model number but I think it was some RP3300 or RP3000), a number of Technics DDs, and Yamaha DD.
Joshua

 

[arj]

Hi Prem,
Thanks for the confirmation of RB250-DL103 pairing.

When you say bearing, do you mean the tonearm's knife-edge, brass bearing or the motor bearing?

Thomas Schick for now will have to remain a future prospect. I was thinking I'll upgrade the TD 124 with the Schick when funds permit, and be happy with an RB250 for the Lenco (if such a thing is possible). The baltic birch ply plinth which I have ordered (for the 124) can accommodate a 12 incher.

I believe arj is awaiting delivery of his Schick. Lucky fellow
Joshua

As mentioned by Prem , Jeremy sells at the Traders subforum of Lenco heaven. you can drop him a mail..his waiting time was more than 6 months when i enquired. I got one made by Mirco, whic is pretty good but The plinth+ arm would be the best upgrade and i would suggest holding on to the bearing upgrade for the time being..up can always service the standard bearing yourself with great benefit as the lenco motor is really powerful to take care of any bearing efficiency increase/decrease

I use a Linn Akito IIB primarily as i was not too confident of getting the effective length adjustment for the Rega done..on hindsight i would have just gone for it.

 

[jls001]

Last night I changed the bruised and battered signal cable to spanking new Draka video cables (75 ohms, double shielded) as advised by sachu888 in one of his postings. DAC video cables were not available from the usual shop. I made a big mistake by choosing the thickest cable I could get. It became quite tough to route it properly in the small hole near the tag block where it meets the tonearm wires. Had to do quite a bit of jugglery to ensure that the new cables don't disturb the thin tonearm wires. Further, the only hole leading out of the plinth box became too narrow for the new cables. Especially when the newly fitted (thicker) power cable wanted to get out too.

Anyway, in the end I managed to squeeze in all the cables through the narrow hole, refitted the bottom plate of the plinth (looks like cork or it could also be MDF), and then finally re-fitted the platter. Mounted it back on the rack and checked for free rotation of the platter. There was a grating noise and I could see that the platter was rubbing the body. There was no gap between the platter and body. Took out the platter, fitted it back, but still no luck. Did the same exercise once more and came up with the same results. As it was getting rather late, I thought I will wrap up for the night. So I was cleaning up my mess, and lo and behold, there was this shiny steel ball on the sofa! I instantly realised that while turning the table to its side to access the bottom, the ball had slipped out from spindle hole. Luckily, I had shone a torch to this hole to check if there was at least some oil, and had seen the ball. Reshone the torch and the ball was missing.

Took out platter, put back the ball and now the platter rotated smoothly without rubbing the body. I had some heart stopping moments there and was beginning to wonder what I had screwed up (literally!).

Next up, I adjusted the tonearm as per the instruction in the user manual. This basically involves pushing the small counterweight at the front riding on the outrigger as far back as it will go, lock it, then move the large counterweight to produce a balance. After achieving the balance, loosen the front counterweight (small one) and move n number of notches (each notch being 0.5 gms) to compensate for the tracking force. Since the recommendation for the cartridge (M44-7) is 1.5 to 3 grams, I chose 2 gms.

Then came the antiskating weight adjustment. Firstly, I must say that I got only one weight and I honestly don't know if this is the 2 gms or the 4 gms weight. But for the purpose of my adjustment I bravely assumed that it was 4. Tied the antiskate to the notch for 2 gms and I started playing. It played well for the about 2 and half tracks. Midway into the third track, it skipped and re-played the same part of the song. When this happened twice, I got up and placed the stylus on the next track. The stylus did not track but just moved towards the periphery of the LP. Immediately I removed the antiskate and tried playing again on the same part of the song and I found that audio is coming only from left channel. Note that this is on the inner side of the record close to the spindle. On the outer tracks it played fine and one can hear both channels even without antiskate weight.

OK, time now for some questions:

1. is the tracking force of 2 gms adequate, considering the recommended range is 1.5 to 3 gms? I have seen someone recommending 4 gms for the same arm and cart (on lencoheaven).

2. what kind of wire is recommended to hang the antiskate weight? I used the only wire I could lay my hands on that was thin enough to thread into the tiny hole of the weight (steel wire that's not very malleable). I feel a thin nylon string will do just fine but I didn't have any at hand.

3. While playing, the mids have some sort of harmonics, like the vocals are constantly hitting the limits of playout system (even on a very soft volume setting). What could be the source of this distortion? One thing I can change immediately is the cartridge. Will try this tonight. Any other things I could possibly look at?

4. cartridge mounting distance was OK to within 1 mm so I didn't bother to tweak it. Should I go anal retentive and try the Baerwald geometry thingie?

Some observations:
1. the plinth is like a shoe box - top one fitting into the smaller bottom. Upper half of the box is particle board with teak or mahagony veneer. The particles are falling off. How I hate particle boards! Especially old particle boards.The lower half of the box is of softwood ply, also peeling off. I hate old, soft plywood too (talk of being fair and displaying equal malice towards plinth materials).
2. the turntable is spring suspended. The springs will go as soon as the new plinth arrives.
3. will replace the new (thick) signal cable to something thinner.

 

[sachu888]

Last night I changed the bruised and battered signal cable to spanking new Draka video cables (75 ohms, double shielded) as advised by sachu888 in one of his postings. DAC video cables were not available from the usual shop. I made a big mistake by choosing the thickest cable I could get. It became quite tough to route it properly in the small hole near the tag block where it meets the tonearm wires. Had to do quite a bit of jugglery to ensure that the new cables don't disturb the thin tonearm wires. Further, the only hole leading out of the plinth box became too narrow for the new cables. Especially when the newly fitted (thicker) power cable wanted to get out too.

Anyway, in the end I managed to squeeze in all the cables through the narrow hole, refitted the bottom plate of the plinth (looks like cork or it could also be MDF), and then finally re-fitted the platter. Mounted it back on the rack and checked for free rotation of the platter. There was a grating noise and I could see that the platter was rubbing the body. There was no gap between the platter and body. Took out the platter, fitted it back, but still no luck. Did the same exercise once more and came up with the same results. As it was getting rather late, I thought I will wrap up for the night. So I was cleaning up my mess, and lo and behold, there was this shiny steel ball on the sofa! I instantly realised that while turning the table to its side to access the bottom, the ball had slipped out from spindle hole. Luckily, I had shone a torch to this hole to check if there was at least some oil, and had seen the ball. Reshone the torch and the ball was missing.

Took out platter, put back the ball and now the platter rotated smoothly without rubbing the body. I had some heart stopping moments there and was beginning to wonder what I had screwed up (literally!).

Next up, I adjusted the tonearm as per the instruction in the user manual. This basically involves pushing the small counterweight at the front riding on the outrigger as far back as it will go, lock it, then move the large counterweight to produce a balance. After achieving the balance, loosen the front counterweight (small one) and move n number of notches (each notch being 0.5 gms) to compensate for the tracking force. Since the recommendation for the cartridge (M44-7) is 1.5 to 3 grams, I chose 2 gms.

Then came the antiskating weight adjustment. Firstly, I must say that I got only one weight and I honestly don't know if this is the 2 gms or the 4 gms weight. But for the purpose of my adjustment I bravely assumed that it was 4. Tied the antiskate to the notch for 2 gms and I started playing. It played well for the about 2 and half tracks. Midway into the third track, it skipped and re-played the same part of the song. When this happened twice, I got up and placed the stylus on the next track. The stylus did not track but just moved towards the periphery of the LP. Immediately I removed the antiskate and tried playing again on the same part of the song and I found that audio is coming only from left channel. Note that this is on the inner side of the record close to the spindle. On the outer tracks it played fine and one can hear both channels even without antiskate weight.

OK, time now for some questions:

1. is the tracking force of 2 gms adequate, considering the recommended range is 1.5 to 3 gms? I have seen someone recommending 4 gms for the same arm and cart (on lencoheaven).

2. what kind of wire is recommended to hang the antiskate weight? I used the only wire I could lay my hands on that was thin enough to thread into the tiny hole of the weight (steel wire that's not very malleable). I feel a thin nylon string will do just fine but I didn't have any at hand.

3. While playing, the mids have some sort of harmonics, like the vocals are constantly hitting the limits of playout system (even on a very soft volume setting). What could be the source of this distortion? One thing I can change immediately is the cartridge. Will try this tonight. Any other things I could possibly look at?

4. cartridge mounting distance was OK to within 1 mm so I didn't bother to tweak it. Should I go anal retentive and try the Baerwald geometry thingie?

Some observations:
1. the plinth is like a shoe box - top one fitting into the smaller bottom. Upper half of the box is particle board with teak or mahagony veneer. The particles are falling off. How I hate particle boards! Especially old particle boards.The lower half of the box is of softwood ply, also peeling off. I hate old, soft plywood too (talk of being fair and displaying equal malice towards plinth materials).
2. the turntable is spring suspended. The springs will go as soon as the new plinth arrives.
3. will replace the new (thick) signal cable to something thinner.

Hi,
Darka Video cables are very stiff and thick,try some medium sized cables.
1. IMO 2 gram should be ok.Its a DJ cartridge with conical tip,so you can try little more like 2.75.
2. Nylon thread/Silk thread should do fine.
3. You need to align your cartridge with Baerwald two point protractor or you can print suitable Protractor for your arm with the help of Conrad Hoffman cartridge arc alignment template and strobe disk generator Conrad's Free Stuff
4. You should try Baerwald two point protractor.
Setting Cartridge alignment using a Two Point Protractor - bkearns - Vinyl Asylum

If stylus pressure is 2gram with 4grams of anti skating weight,so you should set anti skating at notch4.Anti skating is explained in page no 10 of Gl-75 manual.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[jls001]

Some quick updates:

1. I re-read the manual and realised that I had glossed over and ignored quite a few critical points on balancing. I think I got it right this time.

2. Tried a thin plastic thread for hanging the antiskate and it now works fine.

3. Audio coming only on left channel is not antiskating problem - there is some other problem, most likely the soldering on one of the tonearm wires could have come loose due to the constant moving. I checked phono pre and beyond with another table and it is fine.

4. Checked the V block of tonearm bearing. Mine happens to be the dreaded yellow coloured type, and not the black rubber type. It is a bit knackered but otherwise in surprisingly good condition for something that must be nearing 40 years old. But there is quite a bit of play when arm tube is moved along its lenght. Not a good sign at all. IMHO, the tonearm mounting design is really poor. I think even if I am to change the V block to a synthetic rubber available from an UK seller, it still won't make great music because I feel it is already compromised by the poor bearing design.

So for now its back to my trusty Thorens TD 160 B Mk II. I finally fixed the the looseness of the arm tube which used to adjust the azimuth on its own accord. It took a small tube of superglue costing 5 bucks! I don't know why I waited so long Music now sounds more coherent and last night, I ended up listening into the wee hours of the night. No wonder I have been buying new records and have not really bothered to even open many of them. I now realise on hindsight that this was because my player wasn't really playing to its optimal capability and that took away much of the enthusiasm to listen to records. That a new source had joined the rack did not help matters either

Will spend the weekend fixing a slimmer and more compliant signal cables and fixing the right channel problem.
Joshua

PS: as part of my ongoing audio tweakery (and general tomfoolery), I moved my speakers a further 6 inches, taking it to 3 and half feet from the front wall. Last position was 3 foot. I guess I have now arrived at the sweet spot in terms of musical balance and the furthest I can let the speakers intrude into the rest of the room. Bass is now much more tuneful though lesser in absolute amount, and soundstage depth and clarity are also much improved. So if you have bass boom, try moving away the speakers as far away as you can afford from the front wall. This seems to be an universal cure constrained only by the availability of the room to maneouvre.