How to rescue an orphan turntable - and why you probably shouldn't

what do you call one of these  things a phonograph a turntable   or a record player according  to Yorx the answer is yes have you ever come across a turntable  which has the normal left and right RCA   audio output plugs but instead of a normal  power cord which you plug into the wall it   has an unusual connector like this  barrel plug or maybe the only thing   coming out of it is a ribbon cable  with a very weird connector like that I refer to these as orphan turntables  because the reason why they have those   strange connectors is that they were  originally designed to go together   with a matching stereo system which  they have since gotten separated from I have two examples of them here  both from the late 1980s a Yorx Q100   and an Aiwa pxe-770 and there are a couple reasons  why turntables like these can become orphans first   is that people may consider the turntable  the only part of the stereo system worth   buying so somebody might have seen the complete  system in a thrift store but they didn't want   the complete system all they wanted was the  turntable so they bought just the turntable   without the rest of the system only to discover  that they can't use the turntable just by itself or maybe on the opposite end somebody had the  complete stereo system but they thought the   turntable was the only part of it worth selling  or giving away and they just discarded the rest but I think these two examples here may have  been orphans from when they were new because   one thing you'll notice is that they both  appear to be unused they both still have   their stylus protectors in place this one  has a sticker on it that you likely would   have removed once you learned how to operate it  and this one still has a piece of tape holding   the 45 adapter in place where which obviously  someone would have removed if they had used it and the reason why I think that happened  is because by the late 1980s vinyl records   were declining in popularity so rapidly that  the people buying the stereo systems these   originally went with didn't want a turntable  so they didn't buy the matching turntable   to go along with it leaving retailers  of an excess stock of these turntables "there's no demand for it  nobody comes in and wants vinyl" "what's happening is that in the battle  between the old friend that sometimes   scratchy and fragile combination of  stylus and vinyl and the convenience   and sonic splendor of the compact  disc the old friend takes a beating" "in terms of being a mass consumer item the  thing that 99.9% of the population want to   buy I think this year will be the end of  we'll see the end of the vinyl record" or maybe someone did buy the complete system  when it was new but they had no interest in   using the turntable so they just kept it in  its original packaging and put it in their   closet or their attic where it stayed  for 30 years until they discovered it   recently and they thought "hey vinyl  records are back now so I'll try to   sell this on eBay" which is where I found  this in its original styrofoam packaging and I'm sure the vinyl experts are going to chime  in and say that neither of these turntables are   worth saving or using and they do have a point  because by the late 1980s regardless if they were   built in or separate like these the turntables  that were included in inexpensive stereo systems   were really more of an afterthought and did  not include the highest quality components check this out it's a box for  a stereo system from the early   1990s which points out every single one  of its features but the only thing they   have to say about the turntable is  that it has a dust cover... yeah but I'd hate to see these turntables go  to waste after sitting unused for nearly   35 years and if this Aiwa turntable  looks very similar to a new at-lp60x   turntable which now costs about $140 that's  because it is very similar this is basically   the predecessor of the turntable design that  became the at-lp60 and various other popular   entry-level turntables for example even though  it has the Aiwa logo on it this is actually an   Audio Technica at-3600l phono cartridge  which is one of the most popular kinds   used on entry-level turntables today so a  turntable like this could be a perfectly   viable option for a beginner if they're able  to make it work with this weird connector and I just pulled off this piece of tape  that was holding the 45 adapter in place the   tape came off but the adhesive stayed behind so  that shows you how long it's been sitting there I actually paid more for the Yorx than the  Aiwa because I was intrigued by this big   sticker proclaiming it to be a new space saver  turntable plays full-size LPs everything was   getting smaller in the 1980s computers video  cameras cassette players but there's obviously   a limit to how small you can make a turntable  and still have it be able to play full-size   records so the trick they started using is that  it can play a full-size record but when you put   it on the platter and close the lid part of it is  going to hang off the edge and Yorx was not the   only one to do this other companies like Sony and  Kenwood had turntables of the same kind of design and at first glance the Yorx actually  looks a bit more sophisticated than the   Aiwa because it has a replaceable standard  half inch mount phono cartridge and you can   adjust the alignment unlike on the Aiwa  where the phono cartridge is permanently   attached and can't be replaced or adjusted  the Yorx turntable also has what looks like   an adjustment for the tracking force however  spoiler alert appearances can be deceiving obviously the easiest way to make an orphan  turntable functional is to reunite it with   the stereo system it originally went with so for  example if someone was selling the complete system   but you were only interested in the turntable  go back and get the rest of it or if someone   gives you one of these ask them if they have the  rest of the system it came with even if they say   it's broken it may still be functional enough  to serve as the power source and pre-amp for a   turntable as long as that part of it is working it  doesn't matter if the rest of the system is broken but if you have to or want to just get the orphan  turntable working on its own one like this which   has standard audio plugs on it is going to be a  lot easier you just need to figure out a way to   power it and you may think you can just use a  standard wall wart power supply but notice the   problem here yeah that's not going to work and  besides there is no sticker on this anywhere   saying what kind of voltage it runs on not  even on the bottom and that's very important   to figure out you don't want to put the wrong  voltage in this and possibly burn out the motor so since this is a Yorx turntable I started  looking on eBay for Yorx stereo systems that   this may have originally come with and first I  found a Yorx model 2210 stereo system and sure   enough it has a jack on the back for powering  a turntable which looks like it uses the same   connector and it says DC 12 volts 70 milliamps  maximum so now we know the correct voltage but   there's one thing it doesn't say and that  is the polarity of that DC power output jack I know these days people assume that anything  that runs on 12 volts DC and uses a barrel plug   like that is going to be center positive  which is what this diagram is indicating   and these days center positive is the norm but  especially back in the '80s and early '90s you   definitely could not assume that because a lot  of equipment used center negative for example   Sega video game consoles like the Master System  Genesis and Mega Drive all used center negative   Casio musical keyboards are center negative even  though they don't give any indication of it and   most portable cassette tape recorders use the  center negative power jack as this one indicates so I kept looking on eBay and I found another  Yorx stereo system with the same kind of DC   output jack on the back for the turntable this  one is the Yorx model 2320a and sure enough when   I look on the back it says phono DC out 12 volts  0.1 amps and it shows the diagram indicating its   center negative so I could just chop off this  plug on the turntable and then take this DC 12   volt power supply chop off its plug and wire  them together but in case I ever come across   one of those matching Yorx stereo systems I  wanted to preserve the originality of this   turntable so that made me look for a pre-made  plug-and-play solution for getting this to work but before we go down that route what if  you can't find any information about the   voltage and polarity the turntable runs on  then you're going to have to open it up and   look at the a circuitry inside which on a  turntable like this is really just going to   be a motor and a switch and interestingly  I can see three sets of holes marked 33   and 45 so this clearly was designed to  accommodate several different mechanisms   and I have seen these Yorx turntables  with different mechanisms one of which   looks nearly identical to the kind used  today on suitcase style record players   from brands like Crosley and Victrola so this  was really the ancestor of that kind of design "I find them really easy to identify  I mean just look at that if you see   that in the top of something I would  suggest running a mile away from it" but I'm going to unscrew and remove  this bottom cover there's several   screws around the outer edge I  can hear a snapping sound when   loosening these screws so clearly  this has never been opened before I think that should be it so let's try to  remove this cover and there it is just as   simple as they thought this is the power going  in as a switch on the turntable which is part   of the auto stop mechanism it shuts off the motor  when the tonearm gets to the middle of the record   here's the motor itself a speed selector  switch for 33 and 45 and two LEDs which   tell you what speed it's running at and over  here is where the audio cables connect to and   that just goes directly into the tonearm so  there's no built-in pre-amp or anything on   this and we can see the wire with the stripe  on it going into the auto stop switch and   when it leaves the switch it becomes a red  wire which means this is the positive lead now we just have to figure out whether the wire of  the stripe on it is connected to the center or to   the outer shell of the barrel plug obviously I  already know this is going to be the outer one   because this is a center negative plug but I just  want to confirm it so I have my multimeter here   set to the continuity position so if it's making  continuity it's going to beep and I think I can   just about stick the probe in here and get it  to make contact with the switch so now I just   need to test which part of this barrel connector  is connected to this positive wire so let's try   the middle no beep now the outer shell we get a  beep so this is center negative outer positive and while we're in here these are the trimmers for  adjusting the speed it's built into the circuit   board that goes to the switch it's marked 33 and  45 so you can just stick it in a small screwdriver   and adjust those trimmers if you need  to adjust the speed there we can see   the motor itself is made by Matsushita  Electric in other words Panasonic and it   was actually made in 1985 so it's  a little bit older than I thought unfortunately so far there's no indication  of who designed this mechanism maybe I'll   see something when I remove the platter  I want to get in here anyway to check the   condition of the belt and see if it needs to  be replaced so as typical there's a little clip   on the center here that you need to pry  off to be able to remove the platter so there it is luckily it didn't go flying so now we should be able to just pull up on  the platter okay a little bit of prying from   both ends got it loose so now I should be  able to just pull it up and the belt will   come off so the belt may be a little bit  stretched out but otherwise it looks okay   it still has its elasticity and otherwise  extremely simple in here just a center spindle   the motor and this is part of that auto  stop mechanism I'll show you how this   mechanism works because it's rather unusual  and it's not immediately obvious about how to   work this thing that's the reason why they  put this sticker here saying note to start   operation lift tonearm from the rest and pull  tonearm to the right until the click is heard so normally on a record player to get spinning you   just move it on top of the record and it  automatically starts spinning the platter   but this one if you do that nothing happens  that's because you have to pull it the other way   until you hear that click that switches  on the motor now you can play the record   until it gets to the middle you'll see it start  moving that mechanism there and eventually that'll trigger the auto stop I think  it does that better when you're actually   playing a record than when you're trying  to move it by hand here but that triggered   the auto stop so that shuts off the platter  it doesn't lift up the tonearm and bring it   back you have to do that by hand but it will  shut off the motor at the end of the record and to reinstall the belt you put it around  this center part of the platter and stretch   it out onto this peg and then when you put  it down that stretched out part is right   here you put that down on top of the motor  so it goes like that and then you rotate it until you hear it pop the belt off of that peg and   onto the motor now I can put that  clip back on the center spindle okay it's on so as mentioned I could just  cut off this plug cut off the plug of my   12 volt DC power source wire it together  and I would have a working turntable but   I don't want to do anything destructive  to this turntable so I'm going to use a   couple different products to make  this work without cutting anything   the first is this "12 volt 5.5 millimeter  by 2.1 millimeter DC ... able wire ends plug   barrel" that doesn't make much sense but  what it is is a coupler it takes the plug   and converts it into a socket so you would think I  could just plug in my power here and we'd be good   to go but remember this is center negative not  center positive so what we need is one of these   from Mr. Power it's a "reverse pole ... effect  pedal one pieces" what they cut off there is   reverse polarity and this is converting it from  center negative to center positive so if I plug   this in here finally we have a socket that can  accept 12 volts DC center positive from any   standard 12 volt DC power source and now we have a  functional turntable with no cutting of the wires and right now I'm actually powering this off a  battery pack this has eight AA batteries in it   so it supplies 12 volt DC so I can  open the lid put it on my record   swing the tonearm to the right and it  starts to rotate and I can play my record   don't have it connected to any speakers  right now but at the end of the record when it reaches the lead out groove   it stops now we've got the power source all sorted  and the turntable is spinning away merrily but   what about the audio you may think we can just  connect this to any phono preamp and we'd be good   to go but remember what I said about appearances  can be deceiving first of all what may look like   a knob for adjusting the tracking force is just a  decoration it does not use a counterweight instead   it actually uses a c... why is that so fast it  does not have a counterweight instead it actually   uses a spring to act as a counterbalance and more  importantly this is not a magnetic phono cartridge   it's a chuo denshi cz-680 ceramic phono cartridge  which will not work with a standard phono pre-amp if you connect a ceramic cartridge to a phono  pre-amp designed for a magnetic cartridge you'll   get a very distorted sound and if you connect  it to a standard line level input it'll sound   very tinny so you really need a special phono  input designed for a ceramic cartridge and   therein lies the problem because we're trying  to use this orphan turntable without the   cheap 1980s stereo system it was originally  sold with and what is the cheapest and most   readily available device that has a ceramic  phono input? a cheap 1980s stereo system since this is a standard half inch mount cartridge  I could actually replace this ceramic cartridge   with a magnetic cartridge and then adjust that  spring to the correct tracking force for it but   I think that would be an example of the sunk  cost fallacy because by the time you buy a   turntable like this and then buy all these  adapters so you can connect it to a standard   12 volt power source and then upgrade it to a  magnetic phono cartridge and add a pre-amp for   it with all that time and expense spent on  making this turntable usable you could just   get a turntable that has a magnetic cartridge  and a built-in pre-amp that you can just plug   in and use like a used at-lp60 I think those  things sell for around 50 to 60 dollars which   is what you would end up spinning on this  trying to achieve the same thing and that's   really not worth spending on such a cheap low end  turntable even if it is nice and small and cute nonetheless since I've already gotten this  far I'll give you a brief sample of what   this turntable sounds like with a  stereo system very similar to the   one it originally would have come with  except this is a Soundesign instead of   a Yorx but they were very similar  cheap low end brands of the 1980s "Command records are recorded wide range from 10  cycles to well beyond 15,000 cycles our recording   characteristics are in addition based on RIAA  standards and your compensation or tone control   should be set to the RIAA point as indicated  on your pre-amplifier for the following tests" "my sound is quite appealing that  no one can dispute and I'm cute to boot I'm Newt the flute" you can also use it with a cheap 1970s stereo  system obviously the styling doesn't match but   I think you'll agree with me that the  sound quality is actually a lot better "ladies and gentlemen Ronnie Gaylord  and Burt Holiday The Gaylords" let's move on to the turntable that probably  is worth saving if we can figure out how to   adapt it to this connector this is where it  comes in handy to be an electronics hoarder   and constantly acquiring parts just  in case you might need them someday   so I got this pack of 20 pin jumper wires  which is way more than what we need but we'll   use some of this and just recently I came  across this bag of random car stereo wiring   and it has RCA cables that go to wires that we  can cut off and wire to this and that will be our   solution for connecting this to an audio amplifier  if we can figure out the pinout of this connector well unfortunately I think this is where I will  need to do a destructive modification and just   cut off this plug and strip it down to bare wires  because I tried using some of that ribbon wire my   plan was to get five of these pin sockets and just  plug it directly into the pins of this connector   but when I do that it just doesn't hold  tightly enough to make a good connection   it just slips right off because I think  those little pins in there are smaller   diameter than what these were designed to  accept so it's just not a good solution and   I don't have anything smaller that would  fit on those pins so I'll just need to cut   off this plug strip it down to bare wires  and then I can use this audio cable that   I got from that bag of car radio wiring I  stripped the ends of that down to bare wire   so that'll be ready to attach to this  once I figure out which wires go where I also got this barrel jack the same kind  that can fit onto our 12 volt DC power   supply because this is almost guaranteed to  use another 12 volt DC motor just like that   Yorx turntable so this will be my solution for  the power strip that down to bare wire so I can   just connect that to the relevant wires of  this connector this has got to be 12 volts   DC and ground for the motor and left right and  common cround for the audio that's pretty much   the universal kind of pin out it uses on these  you just need to figure out which one is which after reluctantly cutting off the end of  this cable and stripping the wires that's   what I've got I saved enough of the wire  on this connector so if I ever did have a   use for it I could connect it back together  and once again I did some searching online   and I actually found the service manual for  the stereo system that this Aiwa turntable   originally came with and sure enough in  the schematic it shows the pin out for   the phono connector pin one is the left  channel pin two is the ground pin three   is the right channel pin four is the motor  ground and pin 5 is 12 volts DC for the motor so now I just need to figure out which end  of this is pin one this side has a stripe   on it which you could assume that size is  pin one on it but just like assuming that   these barrel plugs are all center positive  that's not always right so once again I'm   going to open up this turntable and trace  out the wiring so we can know for sure this time there's only one set of  holes for the speed adjustment trimmers and with this amount of circuitry here this might  actually have a built-in pre-amp which I did not   expect but here are those speed adjustment  trimmers which are separate from the motor   there is the motor itself the speed selector  switch and if you've ever seen the inside of an   at-lp60 or similar turntable you recognize these  metal rods going to the mechanism it shows the   date as 76 but that's not 1976 that's year 76 of  the traditional Republic of China calendar which   is used in Taiwan but we don't need to look  up what that's equivalent to in the western   calendar because right here on the plastic molding  it shows it was made in 1987 and it's upside down   and almost hidden by the wiring but this also uses  a Matsushita motor and it has a date of May 1987 and as for the pinout of the cable Aiwa  made it easy for us because it's listed   right here on the board you can see  left and then it's blank which is the   ground for the audio which is that striped  wire then right then ground for the motor   and B I assume that means like B+ for the  motor and the side of the stripe is pin one and Aiwa probably did sell this as a standalone  turntable because here's is where the power   transformer would have gone there's the notch  where the power cord would go out and there's   the notch where the audio cable would go  out and connect to the built-in pre-amp after doing some quick and dirty wiring I have  my 12 volt DC power input jack center positive   and my left and right line level audio outputs "listen now to Enjoy Yourself" so this has been a look at two orphan turntables  and how you can get them working again without   the stereo system they are originally meant to  go with and why you probably shouldn't because   these kinds of turntables were the low end of the  market when vinyl records were rapidly falling out   of favor with the general public so they use the  cheapest possible components and they were just   not very good quality to begin with and today  35 plus years later they're probably not worth   your time unless you can reunite them with the  stereo systems they originally meant to go with

Channel: VWestlife

Views: 121,664

Keywords: turntable, vinyl, record, player, phonograph, vinyls, stereo, system, integrated, all-in-one, matching, yorx, soundesign, aiwa, sony, pioneer, wiring, power, supply, plug, connector, wire, cable, modify, ceramic, cartridge, phono, adapter

Id: 0GdaDT8Nmto

Length: 28min 56sec (1736 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 19 2022