I recently swapped out a defective Astatic cartridge with a Pfhansteil P51 on my personal 1015. Since the swap the audio seems to have lost a lot of low end and sounds “tinny.” Years ago when I restored it, I had added a Bill Bickers upgrade to the volume control box to improve the bass response. Obviously I’d like it to sound like it did before the swap.
I’ll be interested to find out your solution for this. I did the same thing on my Rock-Ola 1478 and believe it lost the low end bass. I’m questioning the quality of the new model P51. Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef> ________________________________ From: Jukebox Repairman via Jukebox-list <jukebox-list@lists.netlojix.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 4:07:37 PM To: Jukebox mailing list <jukebox-list@lists.netlojix.com> Cc: Jukebox Repairman <jukin510@gmail.com> Subject: [Jukebox-list] Audio Question I recently swapped out a defective Astatic cartridge with a Pfhansteil P51 on my personal 1015. Since the swap the audio seems to have lost a lot of low end and sounds “tinny.” Years ago when I restored it, I had added a Bill Bickers upgrade to the volume control box to improve the bass response. Obviously I’d like it to sound like it did before the swap. _______________________________________________ Jukebox-list mailing list -- jukebox-list@lists.netlojix.com To unsubscribe send an email to jukebox-list-leave@lists.netlojix.com %(web_page_url)slistinfo%(cgiext)s/%(_internal_name)s Searchable Archives: https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjukebox.markmail.org%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C1ba6b01a08b14360ec8908dbcf5d954c%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638331773065641797%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ula7uwIS2H6%2FuIINauletSRAe6CDw6D6GoGeXLkJlgY%3D&reserved=0<http://jukebox.markmail.org/>
The mod schematic I saw showed a tapped 3 meg pot along with some resistors and capacitors. That should be fine for any ceramic. If the input was updated to provide at least 1 meg Ohm load (higher is better) the fault falls on the cart itself Many years ago when stereo ceramic carts were still considered contenders for hi-fi use, one of the major reviewing publications put the Sonotone 8T under test. Their verdict was the two sides (L & R) were "two different cartridges" in one envelope. Consistency has always been a problem with piezoelectric's. Now, with who-know-what quality control from foreign manufacturers the quality problem is likely worse. RobNYC On Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at 05:08:36 PM GMT-5, Jukebox Repairman via Jukebox-list <jukebox-list@lists.netlojix.com> wrote: I recently swapped out a defective Astatic cartridge with a Pfhansteil P51 on my personal 1015. Since the swap the audio seems to have lost a lot of low end and sounds “tinny.” Years ago when I restored it, I had added a Bill Bickers upgrade to the volume control box to improve the bass response. Obviously I’d like it to sound like it did before the swap. _______________________________________________ Jukebox-list mailing list -- jukebox-list@lists.netlojix.com To unsubscribe send an email to jukebox-list-leave@lists.netlojix.com %(web_page_url)slistinfo%(cgiext)s/%(_internal_name)s Searchable Archives: http://jukebox.markmail.org/
Is the Bill Bickers upgrade inside the volume control box? If not, just try bypassing it. Also, have you gutted the volume control enclosure of it's caps, chokes, and pot and replaced it all with a single 100K pot? Sometimes they add a few resistors in there but I've never really had the need. Some people say that the exact potentiometer value used can be as high as 1 meg but I have not tried it (reading down more I see some do go a lot higher). Before trying anything major, try only the pot to see how it sounds, you may easily get a hum since it's not shielded, but try it just as a test. If it tests good and the Bickers kit is in the volume control box, you may want to try to find another volume control box to put the single pot in. Also, those Pfhansteil P51's aren't exactly the best of quality, but they aren't _that_ bad for the average person. You could even buy another one and try swapping it out, it might sound different. How long has it been since a new needle of the proper size for whatever type of records you are playing? Is this kit the one that uses a bit of silicone sealer to allow for the heavy tone arm weight? Each one is a new needle with the silicone applied by hand so each one may sound a little different. Although the bit of silicone "glue" is much more likely to affect the highs not the lows. Tony On 10/17/2023 6:07 PM, Jukebox Repairman via Jukebox-list wrote:
I recently swapped out a defective Astatic cartridge with a Pfhansteil P51 on my personal 1015.
Since the swap the audio seems to have lost a lot of low end and sounds “tinny.”
Years ago when I restored it, I had added a Bill Bickers upgrade to the volume control box to improve the bass response.
Obviously I’d like it to sound like it did before the swap. _______________________________________________ Jukebox-list mailing list --jukebox-list@lists.netlojix.com To unsubscribe send an email tojukebox-list-leave@lists.netlojix.com %(web_page_url)slistinfo%(cgiext)s/%(_internal_name)s Searchable Archives:http://jukebox.markmail.org/
participants (4)
-
Chan Gade -
Jukebox Repairman -
Robert Sylvester -
Tony Miklos