My new vinyl Experience with JP

kuruvilajacob

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My dear friends,

Couple of days back, I got a fairly large wooden based TT from one of my contacts (who had offered me a EMT sometime back but I did not take it as I did not know it's value at that time!). He told me this looks as special as an EMT but had no idea about it's pedigree but informed it's belt drive with a huge motor and it's name is JP. I decided not to pass it and make the same mistake i made last time. I got it couple of days back and my mechanic who has serviced several hi end players like Garrard 301 , Dennon DP 60 L and several others told me the moment he opened the bottom cover that this is so special that he predicted this will outperform all your other players by a mile if not more. He was dead right! It has changed my vinyl listening to a much higher level. Unfortunately, due to some technical problems ,I cannot post pics right now. I will post about the TT which appears nowhere on the web because it has never sold commercially and no cost restraint on the quality of the motor, platter or arm. I will request John.K.Anthony to post pics he took when he came to my home yesterday and also post his experience on the difference in listening level om this player which was hooked on to a modest Sansui G-5500 receiver and AR 925 speaker with no room acoustic and with the worst speaker placement possible. If anyone can get me some information for the player, i will be grateful. It's model no is JP Belt Drive player model T-500 . I know JP stands for Japan Phonomotor Co. One of our forum member informed me that he once saw a JP player in an AIR radio station way back in 1988 when he was in the 6th standard and he can still remember it's description vividly etched in his mind. Long live vinyl!
 
Congratulation Sir on this acquisition!

After we spoke, I tried looking up the net for information on this TT, however I was not able to find a single piece of information on this JP T-500 TT.

Looking forward to the pics and reviews on the JP T-500.

Cheers...
 
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wow !!

My experience with record players was in the late 1970's when i was little and my uncle used to have and play many records. They are still etched in my mind long after.

In between came the tapes and CD's and those ugly mp3's..

The next real vinyl experience was at prems place in Mumbai this year where i could experience real high quality vinyl. That was an enjoyable evening.

Wish you good luck with this new find. I am not too much into vinyl now but i suppose these would be moments of tingling excitement for you.

Am happy and also hoping that maybe just maybe someday i could get to listen these.

Vinyl communicates like no other format does....

Looking forward to the pics and the report.

best regards
mpw
 
My dear friends,

Couple of days back, I got a fairly large wooden based TT from one of my contacts (who had offered me a EMT sometime back but I did not take it as I did not know it's value at that time!). He told me this looks as special as an EMT but had no idea about it's pedigree but informed it's belt drive with a huge motor and it's name is JP. I decided not to pass it and make the same mistake i made last time. I got it couple of days back and my mechanic who has serviced several hi end players like Garrard 301 , Dennon DP 60 L and several others told me the moment he opened the bottom cover that this is so special that he predicted this will outperform all your other players by a mile if not more. He was dead right! It has changed my vinyl listening to a much higher level. Unfortunately, due to some technical problems ,I cannot post pics right now. I will post about the TT which appears nowhere on the web because it has never sold commercially and no cost restraint on the quality of the motor, platter or arm. I will request John.K.Anthony to post pics he took when he came to my home yesterday and also post his experience on the difference in listening level om this player which was hooked on to a modest Sansui G-5500 receiver and AR 925 speaker with no room acoustic and with the worst speaker placement possible. If anyone can get me some information for the player, i will be grateful. It's model no is JP Belt Drive player model T-500 . I know JP stands for Japan Phonomotor Co. One of our forum member informed me that he once saw a JP player in an AIR radio station way back in 1988 when he was in the 6th standard and he can still remember it's description vividly etched in his mind. Long live vinyl!

Congratulations on your new acquisition Sir. Yes I vividly remember the huge and intimidating (for a class six kid in 1988 used to national Panasonic flat tape reorder) turntable at the AIR station at Dibrugarh.
 
Hi,

Here are some images of the JP turn table I took yesterday at Mr Kuruvila Jacob's "Vinyl Heaven". Sorry for the low quality as I had to click them in a hurry as my son was cranky and we had to leave early.

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I am going to visit Mr Kuruvila Jacob some time this week for a detailed audition of his treasures :). I could only spend only 30 mins at his home yesterday. I could get some time to listen to couple of songs from his GARRARD 301 with SME 12" arm fitted with Ortofon 2M Red. The music was DEVINE. I just realized how good a turn table can sound!. He was always telling me that the Project Debut III I am having is a toy. I just realized what he meant when I listened to his restored Garrard. There is not absolutely no comparison with the Project Debut III I have. The vocals were amazingly natural. The instruments sound so real and make a great symphony. All this is just after listening to a few songs. The stereo imaging and sound stage were astonishing. I was really surprised to hear the music coming from the center with the speakers "vanishing" :).

Then he quickly demonstrated his DIY vacuum cleaner based record cleaning setup. Its so simple and extremely effective. Will post the pictures in my detailed audition thread later.

Then we were about to leave and he insisted that I should listen to his new acquisition - the JP T-500. I was little skeptical about the sound as the table looked old and the tone arm looked pretty simple. He played a Jim Reeves LP on it. Oh Boy... goose bumps. What a SOUND. Jim Reeves sounded so real and the music was just flowing and flowing. I didn't want to leave the room. It was that good.

I have to agree with Mr Kuruvila Jacob on the fact that JP T-500 sounded much more musical and warm and lush compared to Garrard. Please note that I am not a big audiophile and haven't listened to different high end vinyl setups. But the Garrards and JP T-500 blew my away.

I was always thinking that I should always get a new table paying insane money. But Mr Kuruvila Jacob proved me wrong. I am going to start my vinyl journey again taking a baby step with Mr Kuruvila. He said I can start with a restored Dual 1019 with a decent MM cart. I will get the details when I visit him in couple of day.

Guys.. yesterday was the day of revelation :clapping:. I am really really glad that I visited Mr Kuruvila Jacob. He saved me from spending insane money on an expensive new Table. :yahoo:

-John.
 
Super stuff John. Thanks for sharing.

Mr. Kuruvila Jacob - Sir, can we call this a new discovery? A hidden treasure found and unveiled first on HFV. Speculations that the JP T-500 outperforms the Sir Garrad 301!! A revelation indeed. Awaiting more FLASH NEWS on this....
 
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I am going to spend some quality time with Mr Kuruvila Jacob on this Thursday :D. Can't wait to go to his place and listen to his different setups and understand some basics on spinning discs :).

I will definitely update you guys with the details.

-John.
 
Thanks to John for the pics. as soon as possible, I will be posting quality pics of the TT. It is a grease bearing TT with a huge AC motor . It has a magnetic speed control system similar to garrard 301. It's platter is not as heavy for a transcription player but there is absolutely no ringing. Because it is belt driven, there is no resonance at all. It has one of the most silent motors you could ever imagine . The arm is a combination of SME and EMT arm and the Cartridge I am using is Nagaoka AS 300 which is exceptionally smooth and flowing. I have not made a direct comparison with my Garrards but I know it will sound better as there is no idler wheel friction and the torque of JP player is as strong as Garrard without the friction wheel! That is what makes it a true Transcription player. I wish I could compare it with an new AVID or one of the top end Clear Audio or Pink Triangle TTs. I am sure it will stand up to them with it's head raised high . More reviews after it runs for at least 50 hrs as I know it will improve . The thing that impressed me most is the sensitivity of the tone arm and the simplicity of of its construction. It has no arm lift nor anti-skating but it is so very steady. Truly the very best Japanese precision crafting. More later
 
Super stuff John. Thanks for sharing.

Mr. Kuruvila Jacob - Sir, can we call this a new discovery? A hidden treasure found and unveiled first on HFV. Speculations that the JP T-500 outperforms the Sir Garrad 301!! A revelation indeed. Awaiting more FLASH NEWS on this....

Yes, it was a hidden treasure which has come to my hands. If it had reached wrong hands, it could have been damaged permanently as the platter is removed in a special way and if someone tried to force it up, it would have damaged the platter and shaft. Also all the grease in the bearing had dried up and using it would have being too much of a strain for the motor
 
Hi,

Kuruvilajacob congratulations on your new turntable.

The tonearm looks a lot like the Neat tonearm.

NEAT Tonearm

Neat was a Japanese company that made turntables,tonearms etc for the broadcast market. Not much information on the web but they made some pretty good products.

The TT looks similar to the later REK O KUT belt drives which may have been sourced from Japan.

Regards
Rajiv
 
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Dear Rajiv,
It looks like a NEAT tonearm with fixed head shell and no arm lift. I will search the web for REK O KUT models to see any similarity with JP. I need to do some more work on the tone arm bearing and VTA and SRA to get the full potential of this TT. I want to complete it by Thursday when I am going to have a more detailed review with John.K.Anthony. The cartridge is a Nagaoka AS 300 which appears to do well with the tone arm
 
I wish to post some more pics of JP TT which is sounding better and better everyday. I have got the arm serviced and provided better grounding . The motor is quite huge and it is made by Japan Phonomotor company. The arm is very sensitive, and if there is even slight dust on the tip, it will easily show up in the play back. It really shines when you play soft instrumentals and good and clean records of Jim Reeves and the like but not really good to play hard rock and heavy metal. The Garrards are better to play all kinds of music. Maybe the higher torque of Garrards may be a reason for this.
 
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Temptation growing by the day courtesy yourself! Wondering when I will join this bandwagon !
 
Hi everyone.
I am not an expert on these turntables even though i grew up in the 60s listening to all my vinyl, Stones Beatles etc etc.
I found this forum by chance really.
I was,and still am researching a turntable that i have .
It is a JP T-425.
It was used in conjunction with a SME 3009 in an old Radiogram which i came across.
It sounded very good but as i say i am not an expert.
As the Gram was not in a good condition i decided to remove the turntable arm amp etc for future possible projects.
I have tried but with no luck to find anything regarding this particular turntable but came across this thread and thought that maybe someone with knowledge of these JP turntables may be able to shed some light on this particular model.
I will post some photos as soon as i figure out how to
 
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