-
SEPTEMBER 2025 CLUB MEETING
Hi Guest: The next RS meeting will be Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held outdoors at the fabulous Golden Gate Canyon Grange. Click here for directions and all the details.
⦿ If you are eligible for club membership, please fill out an application in advance of the meeting and bring it with you.
My old Dual Turntable
- Thread starter Hulk
- Start date
Thanks, Jeff, this was the answer to my problem. I bought the Cambridge Audio Azur 551P today from Gold Sound. And holy cow, it sounds GREAT! I need to do a little A/B testing, but I have a feeling that this standalone phono preamp is a significant upgrade to what's built-in on my old H/K receiver. I was just blown away when I played some Paul Simon.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Yup, that's not surprising. I believe the 551P is a 2-stage NE5532. This is a pretty common, good sounding topology (it's very faithful to the RIAA curve) phono stage at this level. It would likely benefit if you replaced all the caps. My bet is they are cheap generics. I don't find it necessary to use anything exotic, but it does help to use at least standard issue Panasonic, Rubycon, Nichcon, Sprague.
Rzeppa
Rising Sun Member
Glad that helped Matt. That less than 1 db spec on the RIAA curve is pretty much the main thing, other than the impedance matching between the cartridge and line level input of whatever preamp stage you are using. Balanced inputs are seldom found on home audio, they are mainly reserved for pro stuff.
As far as the quality of the caps, the good stuff is so cheap compared to how less cheap the Chinese stuff is, it's hard to imagine anyone using something that costs a penny or two less when they're manufacturing something for audiophiles.
That said, I have replaced all the electrolytic caps in the crossovers in my mains with Japanese manufactured polypropylene. They're kinda big and expensive, but the main difference in sound is at each end: The microphone (or in this case the stylus) and the speaker. Generally speaking, the amplifying (and equalizing) electronics in between is an order or more of magnitude down there in their effect on coloration as long as the gain structure is respected. The latter is least respected in pro audio - there are bunch of sound men out there who have no clue on gain structure. But that's kinda off this topic.
Really, when it comes to pushing audio signals around, impedance is a big deal. In general, you want the lowest impedance paths for your longest paths.
As far as the quality of the caps, the good stuff is so cheap compared to how less cheap the Chinese stuff is, it's hard to imagine anyone using something that costs a penny or two less when they're manufacturing something for audiophiles.
That said, I have replaced all the electrolytic caps in the crossovers in my mains with Japanese manufactured polypropylene. They're kinda big and expensive, but the main difference in sound is at each end: The microphone (or in this case the stylus) and the speaker. Generally speaking, the amplifying (and equalizing) electronics in between is an order or more of magnitude down there in their effect on coloration as long as the gain structure is respected. The latter is least respected in pro audio - there are bunch of sound men out there who have no clue on gain structure. But that's kinda off this topic.
Really, when it comes to pushing audio signals around, impedance is a big deal. In general, you want the lowest impedance paths for your longest paths.
Last edited:
I've been thinking about acquiring a second system to put in my office. Over the weekend, I purchased a Sansui 6060 receiver at a garage sale and a Dual 1219 from a guy on Facebook Marketplace. I got them going last night with a pair of headphones.
The turntable is in very good shape. The receiver sounds great but the balance knob is a little flaky. I bought a can of Deoxit and will see if that helps.
The turntable is in very good shape. The receiver sounds great but the balance knob is a little flaky. I bought a can of Deoxit and will see if that helps.
Info about the Sansui 6060. This isn't a highly desirable Sansui receiver.
The Sansui 9090DB is the hot one. I saw one at Electric City Repair a few weeks ago. It had just sold for $2500.
The other insanely desirable receiver is the Pioneer SX-1980 Receiver. There's one on ebay right now for $9500! That seems absolutely insane.
A rebuild kit for the Sansui 6060 costs $130 on eBay.
The Sansui 9090DB is the hot one. I saw one at Electric City Repair a few weeks ago. It had just sold for $2500.
The other insanely desirable receiver is the Pioneer SX-1980 Receiver. There's one on ebay right now for $9500! That seems absolutely insane.
A rebuild kit for the Sansui 6060 costs $130 on eBay.
Last edited:
That is insane for the 1980, even if it was in "like new" condition. Had one when the first came out in 1980 and it blew up about once a year. Sold it in 1985 and never looked back. The distortion wars were in full bloom and the amount of negative feedback to lower the distortion specs was insane, too. Sounded pretty wiry and not like tube gear of the era that it replaced, which sounded so much more like the real thing. Had a 1219 in the early '70s. Cool to see that you are familiar with Electric City Repair. I sell them records from time to time.Info about the Sansui 6060. This isn't a highly desirable Sansui receiver.
The Sansui 9090DB is the hot one. I saw one at Electric City Repair a few weeks ago. It had just sold for $2500.
The other insanely desirable receiver is the Pioneer SX-1980 Receiver. There's one on ebay right now for $9500! That seems absolutely insane.
A rebuild kit for the Sansui 6060 costs $130 on eBay.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Definitely re-cap it, if that has not been done. That's a blanket statement on anything electronic, though.
Just my $0.02 opinion but there's nothing about old audio gear that makes it impossible to recreate and I really don't think they're worth the silly money you see them going for, at least on specification and circuit design.
The 6060 was mid level but stick the same direct-coupled, class-AB, negative feedback circuit into a box in 2025 and you'd see "mid level audiophile" on marketing cut sheet. In fact your 6060 has a true complementary output, which makes it more similar to the 9090DB than the older 9090 (which was quasi-complementary).
It's a solid amp but it has a big enough power supply, which is the real key to those old 70s amps. By the 1980s they listed kind of ridiculous power ratings but they were starving them. Your 6060 has 40 watts/chan and it'll do that without breaking a sweat. A bunch of single sided or at most double sided PCBs, through-hole discrete and minimally integrated chips, lots of hand wiring. Some of that does make a difference but not always positively.
Just my $0.02 opinion but there's nothing about old audio gear that makes it impossible to recreate and I really don't think they're worth the silly money you see them going for, at least on specification and circuit design.
The 6060 was mid level but stick the same direct-coupled, class-AB, negative feedback circuit into a box in 2025 and you'd see "mid level audiophile" on marketing cut sheet. In fact your 6060 has a true complementary output, which makes it more similar to the 9090DB than the older 9090 (which was quasi-complementary).
It's a solid amp but it has a big enough power supply, which is the real key to those old 70s amps. By the 1980s they listed kind of ridiculous power ratings but they were starving them. Your 6060 has 40 watts/chan and it'll do that without breaking a sweat. A bunch of single sided or at most double sided PCBs, through-hole discrete and minimally integrated chips, lots of hand wiring. Some of that does make a difference but not always positively.
SteveH
Hard Core 4+
Neat! I have that exact Dual 1219 turntable. Bought it in college at a thrift store for $15.00. Works exceptionally well.
Have you ever replaced the idler wheel?
SteveH
Hard Core 4+
No, but it has never given me any reason to do so.
Rzeppa
Rising Sun Member
Ha! This is a cool thread. I have upgraded my living room stuff to the 21st century, but in my band room in the garage I have 7000 watts of Crown amps going into 9600 RMS watts worth of JBL speakers. When I sit back and listen to Metallica's black album, the thumping on my chest is so satisfying.