Realistic R-8000

[poppachubby]

Scored this for $10 today at a local thrift. Couldn't resist. The arm looks fantastic. Solid wood plinth, weighs roughly 17 lbs. Belt driven w/ a metal base and platter. It has an original Realistic cart with a Shure RS70 stylus. The headshell has an awesome retro look.

I'm getting ready to set it up, think I'll throw the OMB-10 on it...

[poppachubby]

Wow. Sounds great...

[audio amateur]

Looks pretty old skool. Still saving your pennies for the RD11?

[poppachubby]

I am, but who knows, a few tweaks and maybe this thing could be as good. The OMB-10 sounds amazing on it. Still need to experiment some more...

[02audionoob]

Very, very nice, Chubbs. It looks like you're rockin' the CEC Japan turntable. That weight might be a bit much for that table, though. Impressive score!

[poppachubby]

The springs are wound super tight, but I am using a smaller weight now. It was made in Japan, I'll look up CEC. It sounds crazy good, I'm in disbelief...

[audio amateur]

Isn't Realisitc a really cheap brand? I suspect they actually had decent stuff in the past?

[02audionoob]

Realistic brand was always re-badged gear from major manufacturers. Some of it is pretty decent. CEC made turntables for major names like Marantz. Sometimes you might see a Fisher turntable that looks much like a Marantz...which is because they're both CEC turntables.

[poppachubby]

CEC made arms for SME back in the day, which is why the arm is so nice. Realistic used to turn out great stuff. Think of Grant Fidelity, rebadging the best of Chinese gear. Realistic did the same...

[Luvin Da Blues]

Realistic used to turn out great stuff.

Where are you getting your info???? A few decent pieces maybe but...

[poppachubby]

Where are you getting your info???? A few decent pieces maybe but...

Right, for a short time. I have no illusions about realistic LDB. They certainly aren't on par with Grant either, just an example of rebadging for my man Tony.

[02audionoob]

It looks like the upper rod of the anti-skating device isn't positioned on top of the rod coming out of the tonearm. Is the lower rod, with the weight on it, just resting with its tip on the deck?

[thekid]

Nice pick-up.

I have said it before here re other components but early RS gear can be surprisingly good. I think that is because as was mentioned, they were a big enough player back then that the main stream manufacturers of the time allowed RS to re-badge their gear and also in comparison to the cheap stuff they sell today the quality stands out.

[poppachubby]

It looks like the upper rod of the anti-skating device isn't positioned on top of the rod coming out of the tonearm. Is the lower rod, with the weight on it, just resting with its tip on the deck?

Yes. If you are interested, I'll take some pics when I get home so you can walk me through the adjustment...

[02audionoob]

Yes. If you are interested, I'll take some pics when I get home so you can walk me through the adjustment...

Sounds like a plan. I'll see if I can find a manual for a comparable turntable.

[gillsev]

Nice score Pops! Can't beat that for 10 bucks even if it's a poor man's Thorens. I like the woodbase, and a sexy arm too. Very typical 70's. Congrats Pops!

[whell]

This table was also sold under other brand names. When I owned it, it had a gun metal gray plinth and was called a Sanyo TP-626.

[poppachubby]

Thanks whell. That's it alright. Can you share any other thoughts or info from your experience? One area I'm interested in finding out more about, is the tonearm. TIA, Chubbs.

[hifitommy]

until you get the rd11. i too went through quite a few TTs until i settled down. i have a maplenoll athena that i must get running one day. the sound of the air bearing tables is VIVID. the sota is no slouch however.

a cut above like when i found the ARC sp3a1.

i didnt know that cec was doing oem products but it shouldnt surprise me. a friend has the belt drive cd transport coupled with a sonic frontiers tubed d/a. nice.

my best cd sound comes from a sony cd/dvd/sacd player, the ns500v. rbcd sounds better on it than any player i have had in the house. it was $160 delivered and only recently stopped recognizing sacd discs so i bought a used one for $35 usd on ebay and have been happy ever since as well.

[poppachubby]

OK, cleaned everything up. Fully dusted in/outside. All contacts cleaned with Deoxit. OMB-10 mounted onto headshell and aligned using Stevenson protractor. Just need to adjust the anti-skate. Sounding excellent...

[02audionoob]

Here's how I check my VTA...

[poppachubby]

Oooo I like your VTA creation. So simple...as I said mine may be off a hair. The photo is hard to be 100%, but it shows it's quite there.

[whell]

Thanks whell. That's it alright. Can you share any other thoughts or info from your experience? One area I'm interested in finding out more about, is the tonearm. TIA, Chubbs.

Tonearm: static balance, s-shaped

Effective length: 215mm

Tracking force range: 0.5 to 3.5g

Maximum usable cartridge weight: 20g

For more info, check this out: http://www.vinylengine.com/library/sanyo/tp-625.shtml

If you don't have a log in, you can create one for free. This will enable you to download the manuals.

[poppachubby]

Thanks, yes I have an account there. I should have been more specific. CEC made arms for companies like SME and the like. What I am curious about is if the arm is actually a SME arm, or maybe some other brand. I'll go and grab that manual, thanks.

[poppachubby]

For anyone who arrives here via Google, I have a couple of pics to share.

Today I oiled the spindle. I also damped the plinth. You can see on the chassis, at 12 and 6 o'clock the transport screws. These also control the suspension. Unfortunately, they are screwed into the plinth. I enjoy using weights, but this will mean having the chassis screwed down hard to the plinth, pulling up all and any vibration it experiences. To defeat this I damped the plinth using carpet underlay. I went as thick as possible, on the side walls also while leaving room for the motor. Right now, I have the chassis floating freely with the screws undone entirely.

I will be experimenting in the coming days...