HEADS UP!
While working, this turntable is "not quite right" and the full information relating to this is below ... it is offered 'as is", you can play your vinyl fine but ...
Alternately, use it for spare parts (motor, speed control board, tonearm, cartridge/styli etc)
HISTORY:
In our audio post production business "many moons ago" we used many different types of turntables, from the venerable Technics SP10's, Planar, LP12's, Dual's of various kinds and so many more. I had a personal interest in turntables as well and tended to collect just about any turntable that looked interesting - although in the budget category, this turntable has an interesting feature ...
Multi-play (repeat) function although I never used this, generally you listen to a piece of vinyl once and move on but if ever you wanted to, you could set this turntable to play the vinyl twice, thrice or even for all eternity!
Yes, it's one of those Japanese 'plastic jobbies" but aimed at a slightly higher market segment. Not a suspended type but a good solid diecast plastic, nice rubber mat, direct drive and either MANUAL or FULL AUTOMATIC operation.
Enough of the intro ... let's get down to brass tacks
AKAI (Japan) - Record Turntable
Designed & made in Japan
Designed for the consumer marketplace with some "frills" thrown in for good measure
Australian market model: 240V with a standard Australian plug (no earth pin) mould fitted to the 2 metre lead
Audio output lead has 2x colour coded RCA male plugs & the separate audio Ground wire.
Two speed: 45 or 33rpm
Speed control is completely electronic with "speed lock" indicated on the front panel
Front controls are either soft touch push buttons or slide controls, depending upon the function.
Fitted with the original cartridge, which has Made in Japan on the top and Japan at the rear plus the number 344, I suspect this an Audio Technica
Stylus assembly not easy to remove, very tight fit. Once I got the styli extracted from the cartridge, the styli tip looks fine, if a bit "old" with some blackening of the shaft. The tip has been examined VERY closely (magnifying glass) and looks to be a good shape but, as with all 'unknown' styli) I would strongly recommend changing the styli at the earliest opportunity. The label on the turntable indicates it uses a type RS-85 which can be found online for around A$45 ~ A$50 including shipping in some cases.
The rubber mat is a type D-4 P102181190, measuring 2.95mm thick 289mm diameter and 260g weight. The mat has a bevel rim and there are no cuts or other damage to the mat - nice!
Supplied with the turntable is the original AKAI branded 45 "Dukebox Adapter", very handy if you have a special 7" record that came from a jukebox with those gaping big holes in the centre.
The diecast Aluminium platter weighs 825g and measures 304mm diameter x 18mm height and is stamped AKAI on the underside
I have changed the original base rubber feet as they had fallen apart (rubber has a habit of doing that after many years) Nice fresh rubber acoustic isolation feet are now fitted
The clear perspex hinged top dust cover lid has quite a few scuff marks and a little "cloudiness" but no cracks, burns into the plastic (yes, it happens, I have seen people use the top cover of turntables as an ashtray!) and most importantly, the hinge slots at the rear are undamaged with no cracks or broken sections. I noticed two small rubber cushions which normally are fitted to the front sides of the lid are missing - actually they had fallen apart and I removed them. These are just cushions when the lid is fully closed and they do not affect the operation of the lid.
Both hinges which support the lid are in very good condition with plenty of torque in the spring action - meaning, when the lid is lifted to the fully open position, it stays there!
The turntable topside is reasonably clean, this includes the various controls, the tonearm lifter, tonearm and counter balance etc HOWEVER I did notice some light surface damage to the very front of the turntable and a little spot on the top near the tonearm rest post (which does have the lock clip in place!)
The main section of the casing is plastic which has had a Silver-like finish applied, it is this finish which has been damaged at the front and near the tonearm rest post. Not really terrible but noticeable none-the-less
No damage to the 240V AC power lead or the Audio lead with signal Ground wire
The underneath base plate (undo numerous screws to remove and then it is easy access to the 'internals') is actually made of pegboard. No damage to this base plate.
HOW HEAVY IS THIS TURNTABLE AND WHAT SORT OF SPACE DO I NEED?
Reasonably easy to move around at approximately 6Kg
Shelf space (minimum) is 46cm width x 38cm front to back (allow extra for the cable exit points at the rear)
Height (lid closed) is 10cm but open up the lid and you need around 38 ~ 40cm clearance
TESTING:
OK, 'she' has been in my old business premises stockroom for a long long time - actually forgotten about! Last week I took her out and gave a good 'working out' playing a number of the vinyls I have been listing on my website.
I like the cartridge, nice sound - not up there with my Shure's but this is a budget turntable afterall. Both channels seem balanced and levels are fine with no 'strange sounds'!
The platter rotates nice and quietly, silent running. I like the platter and mat most of all on this turntable, while not a true 'slip mat', if you hold the edge of the vinyl record so that it is stationary, the platter continues to spin happily underneath the mat - I did this to check the speed control and recovery when the platter was obstructed.
I like the torque of the drive system, spin up to the correct speed is fast and when artificially slowed down (hand on the platter) it quickly recovers the speed once the hand is removed.
Both speeds (45-33) checked and are as expected - all is GOOD indicated by a clear easy to view Green Bar LED display.
Setting up the correct stylus pressure could be a little 'messy' as the Service Manual (supplied if requested) does mention a scale to assist with setting the stylus pressure, I couldn't see it! I set the pressure and anti-skating to a "safe setting" around 1.5g but to set up the turntable "properly" it would be a good idea to have a stylus pressure gauge on hand. If not, well the Service Manual does have a rather crude method outlined to set the stylus pressure.
OK, this is it folks! Here is what I mean by "Not Quite Right!"
Please read this section carefully, digest and consider ...
Auto - Manual function is not working correctly!
Here is what happens, in detail ...
Slide the POWER switch to ON, the platter rotates - speed very quickly locks, what happens next depends upon the MANUAL - REPEAT slide switch
MANUAL - You need to manually position the arm in the run-in area and lift off when the run out area is reached by the tonearm
When you manually return the arm to the rest post, the platter CONTINUES to rotate i.e it does NOT turn off
REPEAT (Automatic operation)
The tonearm glides across gently and slowly lowers to the CORRECT area of the run in. The record is played as you would expect. Once the run-out area is reached, the tonearm lifts gently and glides back to the tonearm rest post. It sits there for perhaps one second and away it goes again ... gliding across to the run-in area and the record plays once again.
At no time does the platter stop rotating, in fact the only way you can stop the rotation is to move the POWER slide switch to OFF. There are no 'strange' noises while the tonearm is moving around (to the record, lowering and then at the end of the record, lifting and returning to the tonearm rest post before going once again to the record .... repeat)
The Cue UP & DOWN soft touch button works fine, gentle slow lowering and raising of the tonearm off the vinyl
The CUT/RETURN soft touch button also works exactly as it should.
SUMMARY ...
Yes, the turntable will play your records (at the correct speed) but ad-infinitum! This turntable (presently) just doesn't know when to stop playing your vinyl!
In normal operation, once the tonearm has returned to the rest post it should "take a break" if in manual mode and power down the platter - it doesn't OR if in Auto mode, it should 'do it's thing' for the set number of times and then once again, take a break on the tonearm rest post - the turntable just keeps on keeping on ...
While your music may be fantastic, do you really want to listen to it repeatedly until the end of time? A look 'under the hood' is required.
I am not about to start once again in the world of "servicing", I am very "time poor" and just don't have the inclination to service equipment any longer - I am supposed to be doing other things these days. I would believe this to be a simple adjustment that is required and if needed, I can supply the Service Manual although the manual really only talks about various tonearm movement adjustments (tonearm drop and tonearm raising positioning, speed adjustments etc), stylus pressure and anti-skating - it really doesn't go into a lot of detail about the tonearm at rest 'turn off' function. I haven't looked inside in detail but I suspect this will be due to a microswitch (the ON-OFF tonearm switch) not meeting properly with a mechanical plunger OR the switch shaft is 'stuck' in the ON position ... that's my guess anyway!
SHIPPING:
Being a rather delicate piece of mechanical equipment, I have already prepared this turntable for shipping (very rarely do clients wish to pickup because I am usually not available in person anyway) - the mat, platter, 45 adaptor have all been removed and safely packed in bubblewrap. The tonearm does have the locking clip but I have placed a plastic tie around this to ensure that the tonearm cannot move anywhere!
The lid and hinges have been removed, the hinges being a friction fit so there are no screws to worry about. These items are also safely wrapped in bubblewrap.
The complete turntable will be packed in a very strong custom made cardboard box with copious amounts of packaging protection, no matter what the orientation of the box when being shipped.
When received by the new owner, it is a simple matter to refit the platter (no circlips), the mat, the hinges and the lid and Oh ... don't forget to remove that tie from the tonearm rest!
