HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Oh and it is the original plinth, these were only available in gloss rosewood in the uk, but this is from germany. The german market got the satin black ones. I thought from the photos when i bought it that it had had a pai tjob but it is actually completely original down to the jvc z1 eb cart. Ill get a new stylus for that too

Ant, its good to see you and your skills back in action. I suspect you could revive any deck in almost any condition

I wouldnt go that far, if the programmed ic had failed on this one that would have been that. And it would have only been good for parting out
But most things are fixable if some time and effort is put in.

Abit more done on it today, I ordered an elliptical stylus for the z1 eb cart it came with from musonic, and spent a couple of hours polishing the platter up.
The one on the my ql-y5f was badly corroded and had to be painted because it wouldnt polish out, but this one was just about salvegable.
Had to give it a really good go over with wet and dry , then wire wool then 400 grit, then polish.
It still has a few marks in it but its perfectly acceptable for a 42 year old turntable. With more elbow grease i could get it shinier but i cant be arsed. There are many more jobs to do on it for it to be that important

Got the last of the functional bits done on it today, got some feet made and got a new stylus on the cart.
I priced up some aluminium, some acetal and some brass to see about making the feet, and came to the conclusion that I could just buy some feet for the cost of materials.

However, as I am such a cheapskate git, while out shopping I saw a cheap nylon plastic chopping board for £2.50, and thought "that'll do'

Jvc ql-y3f restoration feet by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

First had to turn an arbor to hold the blank cut from the board, it's secured via an m5 bolt in the front of the arbor, then turned it down to diameter

Jvc ql-y3f restoration feet by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

It is then glued to the top of the big rubber foot

Jvc ql-y3f restoration feet by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

A lick of paint and a 6mm stud through the centre hole, and we have a functional foot (or 4)
I am debating wether to swap the new feet over onto the y5 and put its original feet on this as this one is much more original than the y5 is

The new elliptical stylus arrived from Musonic so I've also fitted that, I'm quite surprised how nice the z1 eb cart sounds. Smooth and detailed, is seems pretty neutral. The shibata upgrade will be done at some point if I keep it

Jvc ql-y3f restoration z1eb + new stylus by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

So, mechanically and electrically the deck is now spot on. It's just abit cosmetically challenged.

Onwards!

I'm following this with added interest as I am also a bit cosmetically challenged

Any plans to try other cartridges on it?
How highly would you rate the arm on it?

Ill put some other carts on it, ive got plenty knocking around. Probably my dv20. The arm on it is pretty good, similar to things like the r200. All the auto bits are non contact bits, optoelectric sensors, so its not connected to a set of nylon gears like other auto decks so its not hamstrung by the friction of all the gubbins usually associated with auto. Only 2 extra bits are a pretty big ring magnet on the end of the pillar and a plastic cam that blocks the optoelectric sensors to tell the ic where it is

You must have turntables everywhere at the moment

Yes.
There is the y3 and y5 plus a lenco and the jbe set up in the living room, an oracle delphi in its box in the dining room, 3 lencos, the roksan and the garrard on top of wardrobes in the front bedroom. Other stuff is in cupboards but i cant see them so i dont care

The dining room is a disaster area, the lathe and millig machine are set up in there on a big bench, (no way they were going in the shed they cost too much for the theiving scum around here to know they exist) there are tools and materials all over the place in there. At least the living room looks fairly neat and tidy even though it does look like a dealers dem room

Sounds like me and guitars.