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Vintage Audio (record players, hi-fi etc) Amplifiers, speakers, gramophones and other audio equipment. |
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7th Oct 2019, 12:28 pm | #21 |
Triode
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Exeter, Devon, UK.
Posts: 25
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Worked out that I can only add photos via a conventional reply not a quick reply, so hopefully these will now arrive. Thanks.
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7th Oct 2019, 12:39 pm | #22 |
Hexode
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 364
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
is there no markings on the cartridge body
ie brand name or numbers? post crossed |
7th Oct 2019, 12:42 pm | #23 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,843
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Well done on your work, that's excellent.
Looking online, your Stereosound was a budget-priced machine, so I'm almost certain it would have a ceramic cartridge as these were better matched to cheaper record decks and could be used with simple, inexpensive amplifiers. Post a pic and we can tell you for certain. By the way, the terms ceramic and magnetic refer to the workings of the cartridge that you can't see, rather than what the outer housing is made from. The former have a couple of slabs of a ceramic material which produces an electrical signal when twisted by the stylus's vibrations, the latter (usually) has two coils of very fine wire instead, with the stylus having a tiny magnet attached to it. Cheers, Nick. EDIT: just seen your pics. That's a ceramic cartridge for sure, made by Sonotone (but might be rebadged as Garrard). Look at the sticky label on the side and tell us what it says. Probably model 2109: https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/p...otone-2109.jpg Last edited by Nickthedentist; 7th Oct 2019 at 12:49 pm. |
7th Oct 2019, 12:51 pm | #24 |
Triode
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Exeter, Devon, UK.
Posts: 25
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
The only markings are SONOTONE 2509 (on a white paper sticker) and on the grey body itself are the markings L and R + and -
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7th Oct 2019, 12:53 pm | #25 |
Triode
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Exeter, Devon, UK.
Posts: 25
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Thank you Nickthedentist for your kind words and helpful information. I seem to ne learning something every day!!
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7th Oct 2019, 12:55 pm | #26 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,843
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Pleasure.
So the make is Sontone, model number is 2509, and the moulded-in markings tell you which terminals are which, so you can connect the wires correctly. Nick. |
7th Oct 2019, 1:07 pm | #27 |
Triode
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Exeter, Devon, UK.
Posts: 25
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Right. Thanks. So I have learned something else now, on researching where to buy this (or an equivalent to). The difference between a stylus and a cartridge!! Amazon sell a replacement stylus, but I need a whole cartridge and stylus. One pin in my cartridge is a little loose. Do they make an equivalent cartridge these days?
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7th Oct 2019, 1:14 pm | #28 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: North Wales, UK.
Posts: 6,916
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
As you say you have some learning to do, without meaning to be rude, could I just explain simply how your radiogram works?
The very low signal from the cartridge is fed to a preamplifier to boost the signal and 'equalise' it, which in simple terms means getting it back to the correct tone as the original. It's then fed to the switch unit where you can choose other imputs, such as the radio. This is where your phone should be connected, perhaps by 'aux' inputs if there are any. Now comes the volume control, and the chosen signal is then fed into the amplifier to raise it to a level where it can feed the speakers - many hundreds of times larger than the signal from your cartridge. I hope this makes it a bit clearer. Well done on finding the original fault! |
7th Oct 2019, 1:49 pm | #29 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,864
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
A loose-feeling pin on the cartridge is a bad sign. You'll probably need a new cartridge.
The piezo-electric elements are usually mounted with one end right on the pin - on the inside end of the pin that is. David
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7th Oct 2019, 3:05 pm | #30 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Derby, UK.
Posts: 7,735
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Do you mean the pin is loose where it enters the cartridge, or that the push-on connector is loose when it is pushed onto the pin?
A "Chinese Cheapie" ceramic cartridge, from eBay probably would be as good a replacement as anything else you will find; but make sure to get one with the 12.7mm. mounting clip -- you might have to pay a little extra.
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7th Oct 2019, 4:03 pm | #31 |
Nonode
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales, UK.
Posts: 2,883
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Well done Alanroy in sorting out your problem, hope you enjoyed the challenge .
Cheers John |
7th Oct 2019, 5:00 pm | #32 |
Triode
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Exeter, Devon, UK.
Posts: 25
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Hi Julie M. The pin was a little loose where it enters the cartridge, not the wire onto the pin. The latter was nice and firm. Have found something on eBay that might do, but am waiting now for a response from the seller for confirmation that the unit for sale is comparable.
Thank you John 10b, yes, I did enjoy the challenge!! Thank you all for your incredible help. The whole experience has been fun!! |
7th Oct 2019, 10:25 pm | #33 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 16,535
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Quote:
Just ever so slightly..... Around £10 instead of about £1-50. It's an expensive bit of plastic! (Well relatively- it's still a reasonable price for a reasonable cartridge!)
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8th Oct 2019, 1:30 am | #34 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,864
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Yeah, it's very close to "Free cartridge with every plastic clip sold!"
David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
8th Oct 2019, 2:02 pm | #35 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK
Posts: 7,498
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Those Sonotone 2xxx and 3xxx series carts tend to suffer from oxidization on the internal contacts. I have repaired quite a few, search the forum if curious. Not really a job for the novice though, as it is very fiddly delicate work.
It is quite a high output type, so check the sticky thread I made with the specs before paying too much for a replacement. A BSR SC12H might be okay if memory serves. I have had a couple of Stereosound units over the years, and they came with this type of Sonotone cartridges.
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8th Oct 2019, 2:47 pm | #36 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Lincolnshire, UK.
Posts: 5,000
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
I certainly wouldn't recommend buying a second hand one of those Sonotone cartridges unless it was fully tested and very cheap.
I try to stop people pulling the connectors off these old cartridges, as if they've been on there for a long time then they'll be tight and are likely to damage the internal connections within these cartridges due to flexing of the pins when they're pulled off. I know folk keep recommending removing the connectors and cleaning the pins, but I'm completely against this if it's an old cartridge, and should be done ONLY as a very last resort if the initial 'BUZZ TEST' has confirmed a possible fault at the cartridge end of the system. It's best to try to pry these connectors open with a very fine blade to release them a bit before actually trying to pull them off. And as a last comment - don't EVER apply heat from a soldering iron directly to the pins or connectors when they're on the pins of the cartridge! |
9th Oct 2019, 4:29 pm | #37 |
Octode
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,234
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
I think? that may be a crystal cartridge not ceramic as it has a grey body, AFAIK ceramics had black bodies.
Gaz. |
12th Oct 2019, 9:07 am | #38 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Derby, UK.
Posts: 7,735
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Re: Stereosound 9000D radiogram
Sonotone were the inventors of modern ceramic piezo materials, weren't they? I'm not sure they'd put their name on a technology they were trying to declare obsolete!
Labelling a less-good ceramic cartridge as "crystal" (and further hobbling it with a plastic stylus shank) might be a way to differentiate it from your better offerings, though ..... Genuine Rochelle salt is suicidally hygroscopic, i.e. will draw enough moisture out of the air to dissolve itself into a puddle of green goo.
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If I have seen further than others, it is because I was standing on a pile of failed experiments. |