Tech 1 Electronics specializes in the reconditioning, repair and restoration of vintage turntables. The 70's and 80's produced some of the worlds best turntables during the height of the Hi-Fi vinyl years. These machines are now in need of being serviced and repaired to return them back to their former condition.
Many of these turntables simply require to be taken apart and cleaned of the years of dirt, dried grease and minor repairs performed. With some basic maintenance performed you may be amazed at how well your prized turntable can look, sound and operate. These machines are works of art that require routine maintenance.
Some of these vintage turntables need to be fully restored. Restoration is a process that includes the rebuild of all major sections of the turntable. These are: the motor and drive electro/mechanics, the tonearm and wiring, the exterior base, TOP deck and dustcover. This is an involved process and once this is done the results will make your unit close to the original condition.
Once the restoration has been completed the life expectancy can equate to decades of continued usage. The value of the turntable can now exceed the original selling price and in some cases be valued at two or three times the original retail value. This now becomes an investment that provides value and pleasure simultaneously.
Most turntables use a tonearm that pivots and tracks the record in an arc from start to finish. This design works well but requires an anti-skate feature to minimize record wear and distortion. Some companies produced a linear tracking turntable that eliminated the anti-skate design. The arm tracks the record at a 90 degree angle to the record grooves. This design was also the same way the master record was cut by a lathe.
Pioneer made one of the best linear tracking turntables ever produced in the PL-L1000 model. They built two versions over a few years with the model PL-L1000 and PL-L1000a. They also made both of these models for Phase Linear with models 8000 and 8000a. Due to the age and complexity of this design, these turntables now need to be restored for continued use. Once done, they are one of the best sounding turntables ever made.
Turntables have been built in many countries from all over the world. Europe made some of the the most collectable turntables due to their simple minimalist designs with the focus on mechanical noise free performance. Vinyl enthusiast's embrace these models for the ability to tweak and modifiy their simplicity.
The audio performance of a great sounding turntable is three fold. Noise free with stable acurate record rotation, light weight and acurate tonearm tracking and a quality phonograph cartridge/stylus pickup to reproduce the embedded music on the record. It all sounds simple, but all three of these areas need to be in top operating condition to produce the desired results.
The turntables that were produced in Japan have become icons in the United States and many other countries. Many of the brands that came out of Japan have been owned by us at some time in our lives. The mass quantities of these units that are still around make them ideal candidates to be restored and brought back into usage. Originally thought to be low price and inexpensive, these are now thought of as some of the best options available today.
