Turntable dust covers protect the mechanism well, but are often killed or badly injured in active service. This was certainly the case for my Dual 505, which was rather tatty, scratched with a big crack in the side.


Vintage HiFi. Sounds great, looks cool, costs peanuts
Turntable dust covers protect the mechanism well, but are often killed or badly injured in active service. This was certainly the case for my Dual 505, which was rather tatty, scratched with a big crack in the side.

If you want to accommodate a heavier cartridge on your Dual 505 turntable, a supplementary balance weight is available as an accessory.

This is a 21.5 gram brass weight that you can screw on to the standard balance weight to increase the total mass by 30% to around 93 grams. Continue reading “Supplementary balance weight for dual 505”
I’ve got my records off the floor and out of the various boxes and cases into a proper shelf unit at last.

This is the physical size limit of my collection. That doesn’t mean that I’m not still collecting. It does mean that I will be getting rid of some and replacing it with better quality recordings or more interesting stuff. 50 odd albums went to the charity shop last week. I doubt I will miss those Phil Collins, or the Village people for that matter..
When I changed the cartridge on my turntable for a Goldring E3 I also positioned an electronic tally counter nearby to monitor usage.

Paloma Faiths “The Architect” was the 200th side to be played. At 20 minutes per side that approximates to 67 hours of playback so far. Continue reading “Paloma Faith is 200th side on Goldring E3”
In 1984 the Dual CS505-2 was the go to budget turntable for the HiFi enthusiast. I treated myself to the standard version for the princely sum of £80.

Granddad liked to place a couple of bob on the horses, then settle down in front of the telly to watch his chosen filly come trailing in at leisure. It didn’t always work out that way though. Quite often we would arrive to find the TV on the kitchen table in bits.


This beauty harks from the 1970’s. The Garrard Zero 100 was top of the range at the time. The deck is very much a Hi-Fi piece. It features several innovative features. Continue reading “Garrard Zero 100”

Audio Timers are basically glorified alarm clocks. Indeed most are based on the very same chips and circuits used in your bed side clock radio. Continue reading “Audio Timer. JVC TA-10”