Time To Upgrade My Turntable

[Jack in Wilmington]

My vintage Dual turntable is starting to give me trouble, so I've been researching a replacement. Looked at Rega and Project, but I really liked the Music Hall MMF 2.2 LE. Does anybody have this or the regular 2.2 and how do you like it? Thanks Jack

[emaidel]

My vintage Dual turntable is starting to give me trouble, so I've been researching a replacement. Looked at Rega and Project, but I really liked the Music Hall MMF 2.2 LE. Does anybody have this or the regular 2.2 and how do you like it? Thanks Jack

I don't have either turntable, but members here have had both, and all have had nothing but praise for either one. The Rega can also be upgraded with an "Achroplat" platter that makes a pretty big difference, and I don't think such a platter is available for an MMF turntable.

I'd suggest giving the folks at The Needle Doctor a call: they don't put on the high pressure to make a sale, and often provide genuinely helpful information regarding which product is better than another.

Just curious: which "vintage Dual" have you got that's giving you trouble?

[Jack in Wilmington]

I don't have either turntable, but members here have had both, and all have had nothing but praise for either one. The Rega can also be upgraded with an "Achroplat" platter that makes a pretty big difference, and I don't think such a platter is available for an MMF turntable.

I'd suggest giving the folks at The Needle Doctor a call: they don't put on the high pressure to make a sale, and often provide genuinely helpful information regarding which product is better than another.

Just curious: which "vintage Dual" have you got that's giving you trouble?

That's basically what I've heard about all three. My local HiFi shop handles Project and the place where I just bought my speakers carries Rega and VPI.

My Dual is the 1225. I'm having trouble with the right channel cutting out occasionally.

[emaidel]

My Dual is the 1225. I'm having trouble with the right channel cutting out occasionally.

This is a common ailment in older Duals (and Garrards) that's usually quite simple to fix. It's primarily caused by corrosion either on the terminals in the tonearm that the headshell butts up against, and/or the pins in the headshell itself. There's a terrific product called "DeoxIT" readily available online (abouat $8) that fixes that problem in an instant. Just spray it on all the metal parts that connect with one another (be careful so that, like me, you don't use too much!) and that'll usually fix things up.

Still, any of the turntables you're discussing is a notably better turntable than the 1225, and you should enjoy much better sound after purchasing one of them.

[Jack in Wilmington]

This is a common ailment in older Duals (and Garrards) that's usually quite simple to fix. It's primarily caused by corrosion either on the terminals in the tonearm that the headshell butts up against, and/or the pins in the headshell itself. There's a terrific product called "DeoxIT" readily available online (abouat $8) that fixes that problem in an instant. Just spray it on all the metal parts that connect with one another (be careful so that, like me, you don't use too much!) and that'll usually fix things up.

Still, any of the turntables you're discussing is a notably better turntable than the 1225, and you should enjoy much better sound after purchasing one of them.

Just ordered the Music Hall MMF 2.2 LE. You're right. It is an upgrade over the 1225. But I took your advice and ordered some Deoxit from Needle Doctor. It can't hurt and if it gets the Dual up and running again, I can sell it and recoup some of my money. Thanks for the heads up on Deoxit. Any suggestions on a good record cleaning brush and solution?

[jrhymeammo]

Congrats!

Mobile Fidelity Record Brush works wonders and is the best brush I've never tried.
Replacement Pads are vastly available and is priced reasonably.

I like solution by Record Research Labss. Some people will disagree, but Iso-H2O mix adds surface noise and do not like it. For your clean and new records, I have not been disappointed by a carbon fibre brush by Audioquest. One of my friends bought a cheaper one for 10 clams, but brush is much stiffer and I personally do not feel comfortable using them. Do you have a stylus brush?
I sometimes use my AQ Carbon Fibre brush to clean off deburis off of my needle. It really helps to have a soft brush.

JRA

[Jack in Wilmington]

Congrats!

Mobile Fidelity Record Brush works wonders and is the best brush I've never tried.
Replacement Pads are vastly available and is priced reasonably.

I like solution by Record Research Labss. Some people will disagree, but Iso-H2O mix adds surface noise and do not like it. For your clean and new records, I have not been disappointed by a carbon fibre brush by Audioquest. One of my friends bought a cheaper one for 10 clams, but brush is much stiffer and I personally do not feel comfortable using them. Do you have a stylus brush?
I sometimes use my AQ Carbon Fibre brush to clean off deburis off of my needle. It really helps to have a soft brush.

JRA

I do have a stylus cleaning brush that came with my last shure cartridge. I also have a record brush by Discwasher and their solution. I'll check into the MF brush and the Audioquest also along with the RR Labs solution. Thanks

[emaidel]

I don't know if the Discwasher SC-2 stylus cleaning "brush" is still available, but I always swore by it. It consists of a round "pad" of very densely packed bristles to which the user applies a drop or two of the supplied solution. Then, you place your stylus in the pad and pull it toward you a few times. If you push the pad back, you'll all but destroy your stylus!

In many a cartridge "clinic" performed by numerous manufacturers during the 70's, almost all used the SC-2 to dramatically illustrate (via a microscope) the terrific job the SC-2 did. A stylus firmly embedded in a pile of crud, and completely unplayable, often proved to be just fine after a cleaning with the SC-2.