Vintage record player set up

[needhamgraham]

Hi all,

Pretty new to all this so please excuse the lack of knowledge and if things could be explained to me in laymens terms that would help immensely. I started collecting these bits some years ago after having a plug and play all in one record player. Now I have a daughter and would love to get her into my old records!!

These are the components I have (unsure if they even work together so if not would be great to understand why and what I would need):

- Garrard SP 25 MK 3 record player
- Leak Stereo 30 Plus amplifier
- Wharfedale Linton 3XP speakers x2

I have hopefully successfully uploaded photos of each.

All I have are the male cables (audio?) coming from the record player and power cable connected to the record player and amplifier.

Where do I start? Again please do not underestimate my lack of knowledge. Eg how are the speakers powered?

Really appreciate the time anyone gives to helping me hear the dulcet tones of Led Zeppelin again

Graham

[paulsherwin]

This is quite a well matched early 70s entry level hifi system. Presumably the record deck has a cable with RCA phono plugs on the end? That plugs into the phono input on the amp (red is right hand channel, black is left). I think this amp has 4mm banana plug sockets for the speakers, so you will need two lengths of cable with banana plugs on one end. I think the Lintons use screw terminals for the connection. You don't need fancy cable, ordinary two core mains flex is fine. Make sure both speakers are connected the same way round (there will be polarised connections at the amp and speaker ends).

Bear in mind that this gear is over 40 years old and may need repairs or at least servicing.

[Refugee]

You will need to learn and understand many things.
Speaker powering to me means that the only speakers you have seen are those modern wireless plastic things.
You will need to understand and learn quite a lot of things including servicing the Leek amplifier.
Paul is right about the speaker wiring. They are not wireless with a wall wart to power them.

[crackle]

Its not that difficult.
First of all connect up the speakers to the amp as explained by Paul.
Switch the amp to "pickup 1" and connect the 2 phono plugs from the record deck to the pickup 1 sockets on the amp.
Then you can try plugging in the amp and switching it on. Be prepared to switch it off immediately if you get any loud humming, or buzzing from the speakers. A gentle hissing noise from the speakers is normal which will get louder if the volume is turned up..
With the volume turned up to about 2, very gently touch the stylus (needle) on the pickup arm cartridge, you should hear the noise of you gently touching the stylus through the speakers.
If all this goes OK then you should be able plug in the record player to the mains and try a record.
Mike

[ms660]

https://elektrotanya.com/leak_stereo.../download.html

Lawrence.

[llama]

Sorry if I'm wrong here but amps like this I've seen have speaker sockets of different diameters - possibly one being 4mm the other "wander plug" size. If OP has a set of metric drill bits then checking the diameters with the shank of the drill would be a big step forward. If you can do this, please report back to us.
I'm stressing this because a useful first step would be to connect the speakers up and see if the amp gives a little hiss and hum when volume is turned up.
The speakers do not need power, just the amplified signal from the amp.
Graham

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by Refugee

You will need to learn and understand many things.
..........
You will need to understand and learn quite a lot of things including servicing the Leek amplifier........

But only if you wish to service them yourself!

However, finding a techie who understands (and is interested in) vintage gear isn't so easy. There is a request for help thread here:

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...play.php?f=145

And a services offered one here:

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...play.php?f=146

which may be of interest.

[Refugee]

We have got to establish that the amp is working before we go anywhere near the turn table.
A good test signal can be had from a cheap MP3 player until the amp is wired up and working.
There is 4 of those nasty capacitors in the amp so we need to make sure there is no hum with the volume at minimum before going too far.

[paulsherwin]

If you are totally at sea about this stuff it may be worth paying someone to visit and do the initial setting up and testing for you. Maybe there is a forum member near you who could help. It's difficult for us to provide remote help through the forum in these circumstances.

[Radio Wrangler]

Let's start right at the beginning.

The SP25 is quite a reasonable hifi turntable aimed at people just getting into hifi in the early 70's. It's much better than the turntables you'll find built into all-in-one record players.

First of all, it needs 240v power to run its motor. There will be a mains cable if it has a plug fitted it may be a 13A type for a wall-socket, or it may be an American 2-bladed type. If the latter, you'll find that the Leak amplifier has a pair of American sockets on the rear, giving 240v mains out as a convenience so yo don't take up more sockets than 1970's living rooms usually had.

Next, at the end of the arm it should have a lump called the cartridge. The record-playing stylus fits into the cartridge, and the cartridge converts the vibrations coming from the stylus into tiny electrical signals - half a billionth of a Watt tiny. Four very fine wires take the two stereo signals from the cartridge, along the arm and through the arm's pivots. They connect to more robust wires under the turntable, which come out the back. These cables carry the tiny signals to the amplifier. They should already have the right plugs on their ends to push into the sockets marked 'PICKUP" on the back of your amplifier. there should also be a wire along with these cables which should be fitted under the screw labelled 'EARTH' on the back of your amplifier.

Before going any further, post some photos of the cartridge at the end of the arm so we can check that the one fitted will suit the Leak. Do a photo of the connectors at the ends of the cables from the turntable as well so we can check no-one's changed anything over the years since it was made.

The SP25 is pretty solid and reliable. It uses a rubber drive belt which suffers from age and might need replacing. You won't know what the condition of the stylus is. If very bad it will damage records and they need a microscope to check them. Most people just fit a new stylus to know where they are starting from. Sometimes Garrard motors need a little freeing-up and oiling.

The Leak amplifier, is built to take those billionth of a watt signals and amplify them to up to 15 watts (2 times 15 = 30, hence the name Stereo 30) It is this which powers the speakers.

The only connection to the speakers is high power audio. They need no mains power at all, just a twin wire each from the amp.

You probably would be best with some real-time on-site help, but you'll understand things better with some general knowledge of the language and what does what to start with.

David

[Edward Huggins]

This is a nice vintage and compatible little system which if all is working well will sound excellent. It's important that we know what type of cartridge is fitted, whether a Moving Magnet type or a Ceramic. If it is fitted with a Ceramic cartridge, plugging into the Phono sockets may not be at all effective. Can you send up a photo of the cartridge or advise the lettering on it.

PS. Noting the details above, the deck looks like the Garrard SP25 Mk3 and this uses a Rubber Drive Wheel (known as an Idler Wheel) and not a Rubber Drive Belt.

[AC/HL]

Originally Posted by Herald1360

But only if you wish to service them yourself!

Quite. If you do, brilliant, you're in the right place here.
Not everyone does however, especially newcomers to the cause. Let us know how you wish to proceed and we can tailor our advice to suit.

[barretter]

Originally Posted by llama

Sorry if I'm wrong here but amps like this I've seen have speaker sockets of different diameters - possibly one being 4mm the other "wander plug" size. If OP has a set of metric drill bits then checking the diameters with the shank of the drill would be a big step forward. If you can do this, please report back to us.
I'm stressing this because a useful first step would be to connect the speakers up and see if the amp gives a little hiss and hum when volume is turned up.
The speakers do not need power, just the amplified signal from the amp.
Graham

Yes you need special connectors for the speaker cable [see pic]. You may be able to buy them on eBay. If not you'll have to rig something up.

[dseymo1]

For testing purposes only, you can get away with stripping about 1cm of the inner insulation from each speaker wire, then folding the wire back over the part which remains insulated to form a temporary 'pin'. Each pin should then be a reasonable fit in a speaker socket hole (if not, bits of matchstick etc. might help), but be very careful that no strands of wire contact anything else, including the metal case. If everything works, you will need to sort out proper connectors, though, because the above method is far from reliable in the long term, and there's always a possibility that the wires will touch, which can cause significant damage to the amplifier.

[nutteronthebus]

Hi this link to a leak 70 with the size of speaker plugs https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=120331

Dave

[needhamgraham]

Wow, only just managed to come and check on my original post. Thats genuinely an amazing amount of replies and info. All really appreciated. Granted Im aware I know very little but everyones does at some point right. Im not able to get the photos requested until tomorrow but just wanted to post so it didn't seem like id posted and disappeared. Thanks again.

[AC/HL]

[needhamgraham]

Ok...back. To respond to the further questions:

- Yes the Record player has the RCA phono cables attached, albeit look fairly worn (photo attached) - Are these worth replacing? would it be a case of trimming the cable and applying new connectors or would the whole cable need replacing? In which case this dissapears under the player and into the concealed base. If replacing the whole cable is it likely to be straight forward once opening her up?

- Yes you are right, as you can just see in the original pictures, there are 2 sizes speaker inputs for left and right. 2 being 4mm and 2 being 3mm. Which are the ones to use? and based upon that what cables/connectors? Still 4mm Banana plugs? (are these correct? http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/ps...iABEgIWWfD_BwE) Once I know this I will be able to test as per the instructions.

There is a standard 3 pin plug from the record player. There isn't an earth cable but am I correct to assume this is part of the 3 core plug wire and in which case it isn't a separate wire as a blade plug might require?

Further to this I presume the power supply dial on the amp should be set at 250V?

I have also attached a picture of the cartridge. Is this suitable?

Thanks again and in advance of your time given to help.

Graham

[ben]

Hi,
There's probably no need to replace the phono cable at this point. Just give the plugs a going over to remove the worst of the tarnishing - Brasso would probably help.

Decks like this often had no separate mains earth so again, no need to go tinkering here at this point in time.

Cartridge is a Goldring G850 magnetic type and should still be usable. Styli available online.

Amp voltage selector at 250v is fine too.

Those 4mm plugs linked seem fine but you will also need two smaller (3mm) ones, unless the 4mm type can be adapted or crimped a bit to fit (at least temporarily!)

[buggies]

Originally Posted by needhamgraham

- Yes you are right, as you can just see in the original pictures, there are 2 sizes speaker inputs for left and right. 2 being 4mm and 2 being 3mm. Which are the ones to use? and based upon that what cables/connectors?

You have to use both sizes at once - a pair of 3mm+4mm for each speaker.
Keeping it simple - two wires to the left speaker and another two to the right - say red and black for each speaker connected to their red and black terminals. From the left speaker connect the red wire to the top 3mm socket and the black to the next one down (4mm) - this pair is marked "L" on the back panel.
Repeat from the right speaker red and black to the next lower 3mm and 4mm sockets (the pair marked "R").
Forgive me if I have misunderstood the question and over-simplified