Vintage Equipment

OnTheRoad said:
@Slimwhit33 you're clearly someone with taste, so let's start a club.

Here's my Sony PS-2250, which I believe to be a close sibling to your 2251. It knocked out my Thorens TD-147 (another one someone would have to pry out of my dead hands), mainly due to convenience given our springy floors and its suspension system. This thing is dead quiet, also holds perfect speed, and always gets some love from the aesthetic crowd.

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Mine came stock with a Shure V15 type II. Couldn't tell if the stylus was good so I snagged a Jico SAS stylus that's been singing for the last few months.
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Very nice! You have to show us your vintage looking receiver too ;)
 
Slimwhit33 said:
My name is Brian and I love vintage turntables. Picked up this Sony PS-2251 and am loving it so far.

The 2251 is Sony’s first Direct Drive table made to compete with the Technics SP10. This one was purchased new in 1973 and stayed with the same owner. It looks amazing (dustcover got some swirls in shipping so going to give that some attention) but more importantly works near perfectly. The only thing I can’t figure out is the tonearm lifter. It’s just too low and doesn’t seem to have a lot of up and down movement. I’ll likely spend a bit more time with it but I plan to replace the PUA-113 tonearm (a weak point on this table by most accounts) with an SME so am not overly concerned about having to manually cue for now.

It’s got what I assume is the original cartridge, an ADC 25 w/blue dot stylus. Have to admit I’ve never heard of this before and information is scarce. If anyone can assist with loading settings that would be great. Set VTF to 1.0 per info I found online.

The table also came with the original manual and service manual, so I set up the table like it was new. Cool set up process. Dropped a few drops of sewing machine oil in the spindle per the maintenance instructions.

Threw on a test album since I had no information on the condition of the stylus and fired her up. She holds dead perfect speed, all the speed adjustments work perfectly. The strobe dot window is SWEET!

Actually sounds really good. Dead silent operation. Shure V15 with a Jico stylus on the way so we’ll see how that sounds on this arm before the SME gets installed.

Couldn’t be happier. I just love these old tables. View attachment 100599View attachment 100600View attachment 100601
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Nice! And I love that you threw in the Thorens with your ‘long-range’ photo. 😃
 
@JohnnyCashFan Here's the full family: my restored 1974 Sansui Eight Deluxe and the Sony TT. The speakers to the left of the system are ADS L710's. They're not lookers at the moment (need a bit of TLC on the grilles and cabs), but they sound superb.

Hanging out in the other room are an almost ready to go Fisher 400 receiver, my Thorens TD-147, and a pair of Dynaco A25s that would otherwise be in my system, but my cat likes to climb them ha.

IMG_9670.JPG
 
OnTheRoad said:
@JohnnyCashFan Here's the full family: my restored 1974 Sansui Eight Deluxe and the Sony TT. The speakers to the left of the system are ADS L710's. They're not lookers at the moment (need a bit of TLC on the grilles and cabs), but they sound superb.

Hanging out in the other room are an almost ready to go Fisher 400 receiver, my Thorens TD-147, and a pair of Dynaco A25s that would otherwise be in my system, but my cat likes to climb them ha.

View attachment 100878
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Sweet. Those old ADS were very nice speakers, I have heard 710 and 910 and they were smooth, warm, efficient, with great bass! Do you know who designed the ADS btw ?
 
Slimwhit33 said:
Experimenting with making my stock shelf hold two turntables. Figured I’d try it for a while before I make it pretty. It’s super sturdy. I kinda like it! View attachment 101576View attachment 101577
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It will be interesting to see if the plywood bows on you. I usually prefer mdf. Did you have surplus or did you have to fight your way through a lumber yard and pay triple for it ? :) One additional thought have you thought about a wall shelf(s) for the tables ? I believe the old target hi fi (not the store) design is made by Project now? and if you like DIY there are certainly ways.
 
AnthonyI said:
I don't mind my Ikea DIY, but am always looking for an affordable, good, better option.............that I still haven't found, lol.

Good Luck!
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JohnnyCashFan said:
It will be interesting to see if the plywood bows on you. I usually prefer mdf. Did you have surplus or did you have to fight your way through a lumber yard and pay triple for it ? One additional thought have you thought about a wall shelf(s) for the tables ?
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It’s 3/4” Birch plywood. It’s only 45” long, and 18” deep. The weight of each table is centered on the old posts, so I’m hoping they won’t bow. My son who weighs around 150 lbs stood on the board and it didn’t budge. To be sure, I’ve measured the distance from bottom of board to top of Forte (exactly 1”) to check periodically.

Paid about $30 for the birch ply, and $10 for paint to match the other shelves.

We’ll see how it goes. I really don’t hate the way it looks.
 
I've had about two weeks with the PS-2251/V15 (non-jico stylus) and its official. I'm head over heels about the combo. The best sounding table I have owned.

The PS-2251 gets up to speed immediately and stays dead on accurate throughout 8-10 hour listening sessions. It is the quietest table in operation that I have owned. I can put my ear against the plinth and not hear the motor at all. I could hear my UDeck from 2-3 feet away. To my eyes, it's absolutely beautiful as I'm a sucker for the 70's aesthetic. Love the button feel and operation, and shut the front door about the Stroboscope window and it's orange glow.

As for the Shure V15 III.. I love it. It makes music sound the way I feel like it should sound. Great bass extension, excellent instrument separation, and pleasant highs. Classic rock albums, of which my collection is heavily slanted, have never sounded so classic rock-like. I'll soon have the Jico stylus for comparison.

I'm on the prowl for an SME 3009 V2 to have mounted and when that is getting done I will have my tech give the rest of the electronics a once over to be sure it lasts me a good long time. I feel like this table is worth the expenditure. As a matter of fact, I'll likely forego the 1200G if/when I get word on availability. For about half the price all in I'll have the Sony/SME/Shure V15 and the Thorens TD-160 with the DL103. Forever is a long time in audiophile years, but at the moment I couldn't really imagine needing anything else. I am in 70's heaven.
3717BA28-AAD3-416A-A12C-19383C07845A.jpeg
 
Slimwhit33 said:
I've had about two weeks with the PS-2251/V15 (non-jico stylus) and its official. I'm head over heels about the combo. The best sounding table I have owned.

The PS-2251 gets up to speed immediately and stays dead on accurate throughout 8-10 hour listening sessions. It is the quietest table in operation that I have owned. I can put my ear against the plinth and not hear the motor at all. I could hear my UDeck from 2-3 feet away. To my eyes, it's absolutely beautiful as I'm a sucker for the 70's aesthetic. Love the button feel and operation, and shut the front door about the Stroboscope window and it's orange glow.

As for the Shure V15 III.. I love it. It makes music sound the way I feel like it should sound. Great bass extension, excellent instrument separation, and pleasant highs. Classic rock albums, of which my collection is heavily slanted, have never sounded so classic rock-like. I'll soon have the Jico stylus for comparison.

I'm on the prowl for an SME 3009 V2 to have mounted and when that is getting done I will have my tech give the rest of the electronics a once over to be sure it lasts me a good long time. I feel like this table is worth the expenditure. As a matter of fact, I'll likely forego the 1200G if/when I get word on availability. For about half the price all in I'll have the Sony/SME/Shure V15 and the Thorens TD-160 with the DL103. Forever is a long time in audiophile years, but at the moment I couldn't really imagine needing anything else. I am in 70's heaven.
View attachment 101858
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It's magic when you find the right table and combinations. Musical Valhalla. I may do they same one day if I find the right vintage table. Is the Sony there with the Thorens in rythm and pace, and PRAT ?
 
I've seen the term Prat on here before but honestly have never looked up what it was so not sure about that.. lol

The Sony has great pacing and speed stability, and sound wise it feels a bit more forward that the TD160, but that could very well be the carts, not the tables.

I just really love the act of using both of them..
 
Slimwhit33 said:
It did.. lol.
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Sorry to hear. Stress on untreated plywood layers over time will do that. There is MDF which can be stronger but I'm not sure I would do it the same way. Well, there other ways to go. Do you have the space to go to a double space rack ? Or can you straighten out the plywood with weights ? You could then mount that to the wall or piece of MDF then the wall with two Home Depot heavy duty wall shelf brackets, they make them in white and black. Or there is the authentic wall shelves idea for your tables.
 
Slimwhit33 said:
I've had about two weeks with the PS-2251/V15 (non-jico stylus) and its official. I'm head over heels about the combo. The best sounding table I have owned.

The PS-2251 gets up to speed immediately and stays dead on accurate throughout 8-10 hour listening sessions. It is the quietest table in operation that I have owned. I can put my ear against the plinth and not hear the motor at all. I could hear my UDeck from 2-3 feet away. To my eyes, it's absolutely beautiful as I'm a sucker for the 70's aesthetic. Love the button feel and operation, and shut the front door about the Stroboscope window and it's orange glow.

As for the Shure V15 III.. I love it. It makes music sound the way I feel like it should sound. Great bass extension, excellent instrument separation, and pleasant highs. Classic rock albums, of which my collection is heavily slanted, have never sounded so classic rock-like. I'll soon have the Jico stylus for comparison.

I'm on the prowl for an SME 3009 V2 to have mounted and when that is getting done I will have my tech give the rest of the electronics a once over to be sure it lasts me a good long time. I feel like this table is worth the expenditure. As a matter of fact, I'll likely forego the 1200G if/when I get word on availability. For about half the price all in I'll have the Sony/SME/Shure V15 and the Thorens TD-160 with the DL103. Forever is a long time in audiophile years, but at the moment I couldn't really imagine needing anything else. I am in 70's heaven.
View attachment 101858
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I’ve been perplexed about your comment about the MoFi being noisy. Mine was noisy when I first got it (early production model) because the bearing didn’t have enough grease on it. After that, super quiet. And no one else has mentioned the noise you have to the best of my recollection.

I must have stored your comment in the back of my mind because I finally came up with a possible explanation for your issue. The MoFi uses an AC synchronous motor. It’s not susceptible to changes in performance based upon wall voltage variance, but it does need a clean 60Hz signal from the wall. If your incoming power is dirty/noisy, that could certainly explain your experience.

A DC motor will speed up/slow down depending on line voltage. That’s why they add a servo system to compensate so it will keep steady speed regardless of voltage. Noise on the line doesn’t matter.

Here is some info on your Sony. Looks like the model was introduced in March 1971.

Sony PS-2250 on thevintageknob.org

vintage Sony turntable bestseller with TTS-2500 drive and many custom bases and tonearms
www.thevintageknob.org www.thevintageknob.org
 
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HiFi Guy said:
I’ve been perplexed about your comment about the MoFi being noisy. Mine was noisy when I first got it (early production model) because the bearing didn’t have enough grease on it. After that, super quiet. And no one else has mentioned the noise you have to the best of my recollection.

I must have stored your comment in the back of my mind because I finally came up with a possible explanation for your issue. The MoFi uses an AC synchronous motor. It’s not susceptible to changes in performance based upon wall voltage variance, but it does need a clean 60Hz signal from the wall. If your incoming power is dirty/noisy, that could certainly explain your experience.

A DC motor will speed up/slow down depending on line voltage. That’s why they add a servo system to compensate so it will keep steady speed regardless of voltage. Noise on the line doesn’t matter.

Here is some info on your Sony. Looks like the model was introduced in March 1971.

Sony PS-2250 on thevintageknob.org

vintage Sony turntable bestseller with TTS-2500 drive and many custom bases and tonearms
www.thevintageknob.org www.thevintageknob.org
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I could hear the motor turning from a foot or two away. It was plugged into a Panamax power conditioner.. I never gave it much thought when I had it because the sound had long since disappeared by the time I sat down in my seat. It very well could have been a lubrication or power issue. I really only thought about it after I was using the Thorens instead (silent other than initial belt whir) and then the Sony, which I can't tell is on with my ear on it.

On the flip side, the MoFi UD/UT combo was quieter in the grooves than the Sony/Shure combo. I am hoping that the Jico SAS stylus will close that gap a little.

I bought the Sony from the original owner who had all the manuals and sales flyers from the store. Fun stuff to read. 9F101C6E-B909-4E29-9D98-60EADB06F9AD.jpeg
 
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