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Old 15th May 2018, 8:13 pm   #1
David Fanning
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Default Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum. I joined because I just bought a Pye 1005 Achoic Sterephonic Projection System at an auction. The intention was to sell it on, but it's such a beautiful thing I'm very tempted to hang on to it.

It's in extremely good shape, it's even got the original price tag (69 guineas) from Selfridges, the manual, the guarantee including the bit you were supposed to post back, even the tags on the transport instructions for the locking screws.

Now for the questions. I've plugged it in briefly, and it works pretty well, it even sounds good which was a surprise (I always assume good at auction are broken). However there are some small issues. The one worrying me most is the little red disc to set the stylus had detached. Thankfully (as I've read other threads) it is there, as is the spring on the top of the arm which I think it goes. But not having seen it in place, I'm not sure exactly how to reattach it. And pointers welcome.

I'm not so young that I've never used a player like this (well not as fancy as this, but you know what I mean). However I don't really remember seeing a red stylus widget on anything else, so I'm not sure exactly how it does what it does. So I thought I'd ask some experts first, before I break anything.

The other thing is the auto changer doesn't, at first glance, work as it should. But so far I've only just plugged it in put a record on, so I will look into that further. But if I remember correctly, the record would sit on the spindle held with the upper arm and drop down when you set it to play. Well, it doesn't want to sit on the spindle, it just drops down. Perhaps a missing spring, or equally likely, I'm doing it wrong. Any guidance on that would be most welcome.

Beyond that, I would imagine there are some capacitors that would benefit some attention. But although I've got some experience of soldering, I'm reluctant to test my skills on such a beautiful machine. Perhaps I'll find an old Amstrad HiFi to murder/practice on and hone my skills first. But advice on what might need doing, and how to do it would again be very welcome. If it's going to be a tough one, I may just seek out an expert with a steadier hand to tackle it.

Finally, the design is absolutely magnificent, truly a thing of beauty. I've seen an eBay advert that mentions that Robin Day the designer probably had a hand in it as he was doing work for Pye at the time. But I also noticed that Edward Huggins on this forum was also at Pye around the time this was produced. So I wouldn't want to be crediting the wrong person with the design. Although I suspect it was a group effort. Perhaps is Edward is reading this he might share his recollections of the 1005 Achoic and who should really take credit for its creation.

Anyway, I'm a bit trepidatious about doing anything with it until I have at least some idea of what goes where. So I look forward to any available info. If there's any interest I'm also happy to take some pictures of the accompanying paperwork, guarantee, tags etc. Also the player itself, which I suspect must be one of the best out there, it really is pristine.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best regards,
David
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Old 15th May 2018, 9:47 pm   #2
Nuvistor
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Service manual available here.
https://www.service-data.com/product...87/6455/m15087
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Old 15th May 2018, 10:20 pm   #3
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

The rod sticking up from the cartridge is part of the stylus, and it has a "flat" on it. You need to hold the stylus in place by gently pressing on the centre, between the two stylus points, then put the spring on the rod, then press the red knob on. That also has a "flat" it it's centre hole, which tells you which way the knob goes on. The idea is that you depress the knob, which pushes the stylus down, away from the cartridge, and you then turn the knob to select the required stylus. All very well in theory, but in practise, that little red knob expands, and will no longer grip the rod. Maybe a bit of Blu-tak? Nothing more permanent, or you won't be able to remove it when you replace the stylus.
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Old 16th May 2018, 10:27 am   #4
Edward Huggins
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Thanks for this Post. The cartridge arrangement was unique to this player. It was fitted to a BSR UA15 turntable with a tone arm specially modifed for us. The purpose of the little red knob was to turn the stlyus from Mono to Stereo as it was never envisaged that this player would be used for 78's. As to attempting to restore/re-cap this amplifier, I would caution against this as the circuit design is very intolerent of non close-tolerance components. If it's working OK, then leave well alone! Check that there is a fairly equal sound level from both sets of of speakers with the balance control. As to the spindle, check that the record support ledge that the stack/single record sits on, springs back easily. The design of this was a collaborative effort. It used some interesting phasing arrangements. It also "forced" the development of a 5" driver to be used for reproducing just Bass. And it was never designed to be used with external equipment. I'm pleased to say that after all of these years, and with that cabinet design, there has never anything else quite like it.
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Old 16th May 2018, 1:37 pm   #5
David Fanning
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Wow, first of all, thank you all for your expert help. Frank, I've downloaded the Service Manual. However, I'm happy to report that I don't think I'll be needing it.

Audio1950, thanks for the advice on the little red knob. I'm pleased to say it's back in its place. A little wobbly, so the Blutak idea might be necessary. But for now, it's in place and behaving.

Edward, thank you so much for the insider info. Especially the bit that means I can avoid getting up close and personal with the capacitors. I'm very pleased to report that it is sounding great, if it sounded much better when new I'd be astonished.

The spindle is actually working as it should. It was my rusty knowledge of how these things are supposed to work that was lacking. I'm not sure if you are being humble about it being a group design effort. But if you had any hand in it, I am absolutely in awe. For a machine of approximately the same age as me, it sounds incredible. It is no exaggeration to say that it almost brought a tear to my eye to hear it play this morning. The only thing beyond the little red knob that needed my attention was the adjustment to where the stylus drops (it was falling slightly short of the target).

I did mention that I bought this at auction to sell on. But having heard it, and seen the beauty of it, it's a keeper for the moment at least. It's in such good condition I don't think I could trust a random ebayer to keep it that way.

As I mentioned it is entirely complete with the manuals, guarantee which includes the correct serial numbers, a separate guarantee for the stylus, the price tag and the tags that go on the screws for transporting it. I see that the manuals are still available from time to time. But if anybody was interested in seeing the rest of the provenance, I'd be happy to upload pictures.

I don't know if there is a register of existing similar record players, it seems like there ought to be. If there is such a thing, please let me know so I can register it. I don't know how many were ever made, or how many remain in working order. But I'd be interested to know.

Thanks again for the information. As Edward said, it is unlike anything else I've ever experienced.

David
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Old 16th May 2018, 9:33 pm   #6
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Hello David,
Sounds as if it is in really good condition, I would be interested to see some pictures.
I do have one of these bought a few years ago, unfortunately one channel is a lot louder than the other, I did narrow it down to a fault in the amp but they are not the best of things to work on, as has been said, if yours sounds OK its best left as it is!

The best thing you could say about the one I have is that it came with the stand which I think is original, I have also seen a more fancy looking stand with splayed legs.
Steve.
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Old 17th May 2018, 9:57 am   #7
Edward Huggins
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

I do not re-call the stand you have. The more decorative one (quite rare even then) with the splayed legs is the originally designed stand to be used with this player. Unequal sound balance is a common amplifer fault with these as they age.
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Old 17th May 2018, 1:08 pm   #8
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Hello Edward,
Thanks for the info. - it seemed to fit into the stand well so I was thinking it's original but I must admit it was the decorative one I have seen occasionally for sale with the players if I remember correctly.
Steve.
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Old 17th May 2018, 4:56 pm   #9
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

What you have here is a very nice example of an unusual record player, and if its working as it should then you are very lucky, as others have said if it working ok then best to leave it as it is because these are notoriously very difficult to work on.
If the centre spindle spindle is troublesome then a light application of white spirit will sort that out.
If the tone arm is still falling short of it target then this being a BSR UA15 deck I believe, then there is a small adjustment screw under the tone arm and with very small adjustments will alter the set down position of the tone arm.
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Old 20th May 2018, 8:50 am   #10
David Fanning
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in getting the images up. I'll do a second post to get the rest up in a sec. But here it is in all its glory. Fully functioning, perfectly balanced, sounding fantastic too.
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Old 20th May 2018, 8:53 am   #11
David Fanning
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Part 2 of the pics, with the guarantee and serial number.
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Old 20th May 2018, 10:31 pm   #12
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Very nice, and good to have all that original paperwork with it in such good condition.
69 Guinea's - no wonder there are a lot more Dansette's about!
Steve.
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Old 20th May 2018, 10:58 pm   #13
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

By the way, the reason you can't connect external equipment to these players is that one channel of the amplifier is fed an out-of-phase signal by reversing the cartridge connections. The phase is restored by reversing the speaker connections on that channel. The centre subwoofer is then wired between the two channels, so as to receive the difference between them; but the reversal of one channel means the sub effectively gets fed the sum of the two channels. Recall that
Code:
A - (-B) = A + B.
If you want to play an iPod or similar through it, you will need to add an op-amp to invert one channel. Likewise if you want to take a feed for recording onto an external device, you will have to invert one channel going out.
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Old 22nd May 2018, 4:10 pm   #14
David Fanning
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Default Re: Some questions about the Pye 1005 Achoic record player

Quote:
Originally Posted by music-centre View Post
Very nice, and good to have all that original paperwork with it in such good condition.
69 Guinea's - no wonder there are a lot more Dansette's about!
Steve.
I figured out that the average monthly wage mid-60s was a little less than that. Which is compared to average monthly salaries now would make it around £2,000. Although salaries have risen above inflation for most of that time, so the figure going by inflation would be more like £1,500.

Either way, not exactly an impulse buy, at least for the huddled masses. Although I suspect it was less of a burden for whoever was shopping in Selfridges back then.
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