EMT 927A Restoration - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Kat Manton · 8th Jun 2010, 11:57 pm

Hi,

Apologies to anyone who was following the original thread. It was removed after I received some criticism and unnecesary "advice" (not from members of this forum); rather strange given this turntable obviously requires restoring and that's exactly what I'm doing!

To avoid any further misunderstanding (more for the benefit of anyone finding their way here via a search engine than forum members who've known me for ages!):

As my career involved working in the professional audio industry (some of that as a research and design engineer) I've known of EMT for a long time. As an EMT enthusiast, I'm familiar with the company's history and professional audio products and already know of most, if not all of the EMT specialist and enthusiast websites on the 'net.
Although I haven't worked on any EMT turntable before, I have worked on many mechanical, electro-mechanical and electronic devices; many of them of far greater complexity than an EMT 927A (and some of them worth far more!) So my skills and experience go beyond those required to restore this turntable.
It was last used over thirty years ago. The condition it was in as acquired, including modifications, missing parts and repairs with non-original parts, is how it has been for over thirty years.

A number of high-resolution photographs taken shortly after it arrived may be found here.

Nr. 1845 is the first EMT 927A acquired by Granada Television of Manchester. As originally supplied, it would've been fitted with a mono EMT 139 valve preamplifier/equaliser, the holes and markings for the controls can be seen on the right hand side. This is missing.

The tone-arm, an Ortofon RF 297, would originally have had a two-contact connector and mono wiring and accepted mono Ortofon/EMT 'Type-A' pick-up heads. This had been shortened to accept longer SME/'Type-G' heads/headshells and fitted with a four-contact connector and stereo wiring. The original counterweight had also been replaced.

Later turntables would've been pre-wired to accept stereo preamplifiers. This is an early one and pre-dates this production modification. The original wiring and HT/LT PSU remain, largely unaltered. Restoring it to original, "as supplied" condition would mean "mono-only"; while that'd be nice, the majority of my records are stereo so this would be a restriction given I intend to use it.

If a stereo pre-amplifier can be sourced, some modification will be required to use it. Mostly it appears to involve a few simple wiring changes and replacement of a 2-pole relay (used to mute the line-level audio output) with a 4-pole one. I'd imagine many of the earlier ones were upgraded while in original service. As this 927A was used at a television station and television retained mono sound until NICAM was publicly launched in 1991, this one was never upgraded.

This alteration is "backwards compatible"; if a mono EMT 139 pre/EQ can be obtained (or built), it can be fitted and used without reversing any modifications. That's something I'd like to do eventually as I play 78s, the 139 provides several pre-RIAA characteristics and what looks like a useful low-pass filter. It'd be easy enough (and reversible) to arrange for connection of, and switching between, stereo and mono preamplifiers.

In the short term, the intention is to thoroughly overhaul what's there and bring it back to life after thirty years.

As I have no intention of ever parting with it; the longer-term plan is to further restore it and replace missing parts (making them myself if necessary) and slowly return it to approximately the condition of an original, but "upgraded for stereo" early 927A (as that seems like a reasonable compromise between practicality and originality.)

One thing I won't be doing is restoring it to "factory fresh" condition. It shows signs of wear and use, but that's all part of its history. It's over fifty years old; there's nothing wrong with a bit of patina. On the other hand, it will be restored mechanically to original condition, everything receiving a thorough overhaul, worn bearings replaced, fresh lubricant etc. So it should work as well as it did when it left the factory. (Maybe better, for example, I suspect readily-available high-grade ball bearings may be higher quality than were available to EMT fifty-plus years ago.)

I'll end this post here, but over the next few days I'll post photographs showing the progress to date (and there has been some progress!)

Cheers, Kat

Kat Manton · 9th Jun 2010, 6:04 am

Hi,

Now, where were we?

The motor. This is huge, photographing it next to a Linn Sondek LP12 motor is slightly unfair, but I'll do it anyway

Note that the stepped drive spinde isn't attached to the motor shaft, it is the motor shaft. The upper shaft is 21 mm diameter and the bearing it runs in is 25 mm long. The rotor has been balanced, there are small drillings at both ends. This is a beautiful piece of engineering.

The felts were full of decomposing old oil and the lower bearing was almost dry. The bearings themselves and the rotor shafts show practically no signs of wear although the ball bearing wasn't exactly spherical when I measured it. Reassembling it with clean felts, fresh oil and a new ball bearing should (with a little regular maintenance) see it outlast me.

It was originally painted after assembly, dismantling it meant cutting through the paint around the joints. The original paint was flaking off in places anyway, so I decided to repaint it, but mask and paint each section separately so it may be dismantled more easily.

After stripping the paint from the lower bearing cover I decided not to 'hide' it under a layer of paint... and spent two hours polishing it instead

The paint needs a couple more days to harden, then it can be assembled once I've got the correct oil and a new ball bearing.

(It's not strictly the 'correct' colour, but a look around the 'net suggests the colour varied quite a lot. I've retained some large fragments of the original paint; if I strip it for inspection in, say, twenty years time; I might repaint it again but try for a closer match.)

Cheers, Kat

Kat Manton · 9th Jun 2010, 7:47 am

A quick 'before and after'; the oil-retaining felt washers cleaned up nicely after a good wash in my secret recipe washer-washing... er... wash...

Kat Manton · 1st Oct 2010, 7:03 am

Hi,

After a short intermission, I've returned to this project.

I've just finished reassembling the motor with fresh lubricant and a new bearing ball, bolted it back onto the turntable and wired it up.

The surface of the idler was a little rough; as new ones are expensive, I've gone for the traditional approach of sticking a bolt through it, clamping that in my electric drill, then gently applying fine abrasive paper. That's shifted the glaze and removed the lumps. (I'll source a new one eventually; this will do for the time being.)

The motor is suspended from three rubber isolation mountings, these have sagged a bit and put the idler out of alignment with the steps on the motor shaft. As a temporary measure I've shimmed the idler mounting with a couple of washers. There doesn't appear to be any way to adjust the idler height; I'm assuming it's engineered for correct alignment if the motor mountings are in good order. So that's something else for the shopping list.

The main bearing is fairly conventional, apart from the size. (In the first photo I've placed a Lenco L-75 main bearing next to it.) What was left of the oil had turned into sticky varnish. That's now been cleaned out and reassembled with a new bearing ball and fresh lubricant.

Now that's all done it's capable of rotating records. I just need to sort the tone-arm out, then it might play them...

Cheers, Kat

Patrick Dixon · 1st Oct 2010, 2:42 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

If a stereo pre-amplifier can be sourced, some modification will be required to use it.
<snip>
This alteration is "backwards compatible"; if a mono EMT 139 pre/EQ can be obtained (or built), it can be fitted and used without reversing any modifications.
<snip>
As I have no intention of ever parting with it; the longer-term plan is to further restore it and replace missing parts (making them myself if necessary) and slowly return it to approximately the condition of an original, but "upgraded for stereo" early 927A (as that seems like a reasonable compromise between practicality and originality.)

My further research on these older 927As has resulted in the discovery that the PSU is actually quite a bit different to the "upgraded for stereo" version.

The audio signal wiring to the phono-pre can be altered easily enough, but the PSU doesn't have a DC heater supply and so can't easily be used with the stereo phono preamps (139st, 155st etc) which require it. The mains transformer is an earlier type without the required secondary winding, so the extra supply is not easy to add.

The mono 139 uses AC supplies only for both heater circuits, and the HT smoothing arrangement is a bit different, lacking the smoothing choke in the 'stereo' PSU.

ben · 1st Oct 2010, 6:42 pm

Great to have an update on this, Kat. I'm sure it will come up a treat in your fair hands! keep us posted (pardon the pun).

what are you planning to do with the arm wiring? I'd wire it for stereo with new thin cable , if it were me I'd be so eager to spin some records there's no way I'd wait for an original arm to appear!

Patrick Dixon · 1st Oct 2010, 8:01 pm

Original arms do turn up, but will probably cost the best part of a grand. The other alternative is a more modern EMT 'banana' arm ... which costs 2-3 grand.

qualityten · 1st Oct 2010, 10:32 pm

What about getting someone to make up a suitable arm wand of the correct dimensions? Someone I know has made me two wands to convert SME 3009 tonearms to 3012 very well and very reasonably.

mark pirate · 1st Oct 2010, 10:52 pm

A lovely job done so far, i am watching this thread with great interest, this is making my lp12 look like a bsr

Mark

Kat Manton · 7th Oct 2010, 8:16 pm

Patrick, thanks for that information; I've traced out some of the circuitry but not all of it yet so I hadn't discovered that.

I suspect the chances of me acquiring any preamplifier for this turntable are slim to non-existent; even the later seemingly less-desirable solid-state ones change hands for four-figure sums!

One idea is to see if I can source the connector used on these preamplifiers, then design and build my own which makes use of the HT/LT supplies, fits in the space provided and uses the two holes in the deck. Otherwise the PSU section is largely redundant as it'd only be powering the brake and a couple of lamps.

Concerning the tone-arm; replacing it isn't an option due to cost. I'll have to make do with what I've got, at least in the short term.

As I've already mentioned, the arm tube has been shortened. I've considered having a new arm tube made but, if it were made to the original dimensions with the correct EMT-pattern connector, I'd then be restricted to EMT heads or trying to squeeze cartridges into an EMT headshell.

I might consider that at some later date but at the moment, EMT heads are not something I can afford either.

So it seems like the best option is to sort out the headshell coupling, connector and wiring and use whatever cartridge I fancy (and can afford) with readily-available headshells. (I already have a Denon DL-103 bought specifically, as yet unused as I haven't got screws the right length/size to try it with one of my Lencos.)

I've already checked the arm/cartridge geometry. It's possible to align a cartridge for identical offset angle and overhang to an unmodified arm with an EMT head. The stylus is in the same position relative to the pivot point of the arm, the cartridge is at the same angle relative to the arm; the only thing that's changed is the headshell/arm coupling point has moved further up the arm tube.

The arm's now in bits and I have some work to do. As it arrived, cartridge mount was loose in the arm tube and the connector block was disappearing inside the arm. There's a hole in the underside of the arm tube but there was no screw in it. Simple... take it apart, replace the wire with the nice new stuff I've bought for it, find a screw, stick it back together and spin some records..!

Nope...

The missing screw can be explained fairly easily. It passes through the arm tube, through the cartridge mount and into the plastic block housing the four spring-loaded pins. The connector block was cracked and bits fell off...

I'm still pondering what to do about that. I think I'm going to rebuild the connector block with epoxy, then re-drill the connector pin holes and drill/tap a hole for an M2 screw. That should mean I can reassemble it all securely.

Another option is to make a new connector block (or have one made); I'll take a load of measurements and draw a diagram before I do anything else.

Another option is to try to source an Ortofon coupling/connector; assuming they used the same diameter arm tube on several arms, this might be available from somewhere, maybe Ortofon themselves.

It's actually rather good fun trying to figure out how to solve these problems without simply throwing large sums of money at them to make them go away!

Kat Manton · 7th Oct 2010, 8:46 pm

Hi Mark,

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark pirate

A lovely job done so far, i am watching this thread with great interest, this is making my lp12 look like a bsr

Thanks Mark; it's going to keep me busy for some time. (It has more in common with a BSR than an LP12; it's an idler-drive turntable... just... bigger...)

It's currently dominating the living room, makes my Leak-Lenco look like a toy and 7" singles look faintly ridiculous on it... A couple of photos for your amusement

Cheers, Kat

qualityten · 7th Oct 2010, 9:29 pm

One feels like misquoting Crocodile Dundee: "That's not a turntable. This is a turntable!"

Mike Phelan · 8th Oct 2010, 9:30 am

Wow! Nice job, Kat.

Patrick Dixon · 8th Oct 2010, 5:05 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

Patrick, thanks for that information; I've traced out some of the circuitry but not all of it yet so I hadn't discovered that.

I can probably help you there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

One idea is to see if I can source the connector used on these preamplifiers

Available from H-M Fabritus. Not cheap though - £30-ish IIRC

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

So it seems like the best option is to sort out the headshell coupling, connector and wiring and use whatever cartridge I fancy (and can afford) with readily-available headshells.

I think that's a good option and will give you a better choice of cartridges anyway. You only have to worry about cartridges suitable for high mass arms then!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

(I already have a Denon DL-103 bought specifically, as yet unused as I haven't got screws the right length/size to try it with one of my Lencos.)

What size do you need?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kat Manton

Another option is to try to source an Ortofon coupling/connector; assuming they used the same diameter arm tube on several arms, this might be available from somewhere, maybe Ortofon themselves.

Don't bother asking Ortofon. I did, and they couldn't even be arsed to reply, they just put me on their email marketing list.

AFAIK the SME ones are readily available and are the same pin spacing as EMT but in a cross rather than a diamond configuration.

peetleetech · 8th Oct 2010, 10:02 pm

This is all very long ago for me. Otofon , rings a bell, didn't B&O use them? Once my ambition was to own a L75 but after I left the SABC I bought a model PD300 Kuxman with a Mission 774arm and a Micro Acoustics cartridge Tyoe 630. Wrong place for me but you are people who know! I need a new stylus for this thing. It was bust in an attempted robbery. It must have been too heavy. I have looked at the weg pictures Kat has posted. This thing is built like a pure tank. The idler/pressure wheel against the rim must take huge strain. Has it some sort of kicker mechaism to give it a nudge on start up?

Michael Maurice · 11th Oct 2010, 1:06 am

This thread is about Kat's EMT927 turntable. Can we return and stay on this topic please? One seriously OT post has been already been deleted.

Kat Manton · 13th Oct 2010, 9:15 pm

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by peetleetech

The idler/pressure wheel against the rim must take huge strain. Has it some sort of kicker mechaism to give it a nudge on start up?

Nope, just a huge motor and a 10mm thick idler. It gets up to speed pretty quickly too

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Dixon

AFAIK the SME ones are readily available and are the same pin spacing as EMT but in a cross rather than a diamond configuration.

I've just had a reply from SME. Their part number 1802 would fit (with the end of the arm tube reamed out to 8.50mm) but at £70, that's that option ruled out.

£70 would go some way towards the purchase of a small s/h lathe. There are other parts of both the arm and the turntable which I'd like to replace. Some are worn but usable for now, some are missing but non-essential (I'll get to the platter brake eventually.) Saving up for a lathe is looking ever-more attractive. (I'm fairly sure I have the skills to design and construct a tone arm from scratch if I enhance my workshop facilities a little more. I've been reading extensively about the theory and I'm learning fast!)

In the meantime, I'll have a go at making a replacement for the plastic contact block from acrylic rod with the tools I've got. Watch this space!

Cheers, Kat

wd40addict · 14th Oct 2010, 12:29 pm

Couldn't you salvage the necessary connector from a junk 70s turntable arm with detachable headshell? Cash converters or Ebay should be able to provide something for substantially less than £70.

Regards,

Paul

kjt_239 · 17th Jan 2011, 3:14 pm

Hi All
Just to introduce myself. I am very interested in following this thread, as this turntable (along with a couple of others) was stored crudely in my garage for about 25 years! Also I have had the dubious pleasure of using them from new in the 60s!

Cheers all

keith

EMT TSD15 · 20th Jan 2011, 8:30 pm

I would advise sticking to the arm you have. The connector block issue shouldn't cost too much to fix and if as you say the geometry is the same with an SME/Ortofon headshell then you will have the advantage of much cheaper headshells. If in the future you want to try an EMT cartridge then you can always get an XSD or an Ortofon adaptor for a TSD.

Audio Origami may be able to clone an original looking counterweight for you.
http://www.audioorigami.co.uk/

I would not bother with an original phono amp either. you can always clone any of the EMT circuits in to a new offboard case. I've heard that neumann VW2 and some modern valve circuits are better anyway. The early EMT R80's used the EMT 133 or V83. This was always situated offboard so a clone could look period.

8th Jun 2010, 11:57 pm	#1
Kat Manton Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 1,700	EMT 927A Restoration Hi, Apologies to anyone who was following the original thread. It was removed after I received some criticism and unnecesary "advice" (not from members of this forum); rather strange given this turntable obviously requires restoring and that's exactly what I'm doing! To avoid any further misunderstanding (more for the benefit of anyone finding their way here via a search engine than forum members who've known me for ages!): As my career involved working in the professional audio industry (some of that as a research and design engineer) I've known of EMT for a long time. As an EMT enthusiast, I'm familiar with the company's history and professional audio products and already know of most, if not all of the EMT specialist and enthusiast websites on the 'net. Although I haven't worked on any EMT turntable before, I have worked on many mechanical, electro-mechanical and electronic devices; many of them of far greater complexity than an EMT 927A (and some of them worth far more!) So my skills and experience go beyond those required to restore this turntable. It was last used over thirty years ago. The condition it was in as acquired, including modifications, missing parts and repairs with non-original parts, is how it has been for over thirty years. A number of high-resolution photographs taken shortly after it arrived may be found here. Nr. 1845 is the first EMT 927A acquired by Granada Television of Manchester. As originally supplied, it would've been fitted with a mono EMT 139 valve preamplifier/equaliser, the holes and markings for the controls can be seen on the right hand side. This is missing. The tone-arm, an Ortofon RF 297, would originally have had a two-contact connector and mono wiring and accepted mono Ortofon/EMT 'Type-A' pick-up heads. This had been shortened to accept longer SME/'Type-G' heads/headshells and fitted with a four-contact connector and stereo wiring. The original counterweight had also been replaced. Later turntables would've been pre-wired to accept stereo preamplifiers. This is an early one and pre-dates this production modification. The original wiring and HT/LT PSU remain, largely unaltered. Restoring it to original, "as supplied" condition would mean "mono-only"; while that'd be nice, the majority of my records are stereo so this would be a restriction given I intend to use it. If a stereo pre-amplifier can be sourced, some modification will be required to use it. Mostly it appears to involve a few simple wiring changes and replacement of a 2-pole relay (used to mute the line-level audio output) with a 4-pole one. I'd imagine many of the earlier ones were upgraded while in original service. As this 927A was used at a television station and television retained mono sound until NICAM was publicly launched in 1991, this one was never upgraded. This alteration is "backwards compatible"; if a mono EMT 139 pre/EQ can be obtained (or built), it can be fitted and used without reversing any modifications. That's something I'd like to do eventually as I play 78s, the 139 provides several pre-RIAA characteristics and what looks like a useful low-pass filter. It'd be easy enough (and reversible) to arrange for connection of, and switching between, stereo and mono preamplifiers. In the short term, the intention is to thoroughly overhaul what's there and bring it back to life after thirty years. As I have no intention of ever parting with it; the longer-term plan is to further restore it and replace missing parts (making them myself if necessary) and slowly return it to approximately the condition of an original, but "upgraded for stereo" early 927A (as that seems like a reasonable compromise between practicality and originality.) One thing I won't be doing is restoring it to "factory fresh" condition. It shows signs of wear and use, but that's all part of its history. It's over fifty years old; there's nothing wrong with a bit of patina. On the other hand, it will be restored mechanically to original condition, everything receiving a thorough overhaul, worn bearings replaced, fresh lubricant etc. So it should work as well as it did when it left the factory. (Maybe better, for example, I suspect readily-available high-grade ball bearings may be higher quality than were available to EMT fifty-plus years ago.) I'll end this post here, but over the next few days I'll post photographs showing the progress to date (and there has been some progress!) Cheers, Kat

9th Jun 2010, 6:04 am	#2
Kat Manton Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 1,700	Re: EMT 927A Restoration Hi, Now, where were we? The motor. This is huge, photographing it next to a Linn Sondek LP12 motor is slightly unfair, but I'll do it anyway Note that the stepped drive spinde isn't attached to the motor shaft, it is the motor shaft. The upper shaft is 21 mm diameter and the bearing it runs in is 25 mm long. The rotor has been balanced, there are small drillings at both ends. This is a beautiful piece of engineering. The felts were full of decomposing old oil and the lower bearing was almost dry. The bearings themselves and the rotor shafts show practically no signs of wear although the ball bearing wasn't exactly spherical when I measured it. Reassembling it with clean felts, fresh oil and a new ball bearing should (with a little regular maintenance) see it outlast me. It was originally painted after assembly, dismantling it meant cutting through the paint around the joints. The original paint was flaking off in places anyway, so I decided to repaint it, but mask and paint each section separately so it may be dismantled more easily. After stripping the paint from the lower bearing cover I decided not to 'hide' it under a layer of paint... and spent two hours polishing it instead The paint needs a couple more days to harden, then it can be assembled once I've got the correct oil and a new ball bearing. (It's not strictly the 'correct' colour, but a look around the 'net suggests the colour varied quite a lot. I've retained some large fragments of the original paint; if I strip it for inspection in, say, twenty years time; I might repaint it again but try for a closer match.) Cheers, Kat Attached Thumbnails

9th Jun 2010, 7:47 am	#3
Kat Manton Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 1,700	Re: EMT 927A Restoration A quick 'before and after'; the oil-retaining felt washers cleaned up nicely after a good wash in my secret recipe washer-washing... er... wash... Attached Thumbnails

1st Oct 2010, 7:03 am	#4
Kat Manton Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 1,700	Re: EMT 927A Restoration Hi, After a short intermission, I've returned to this project. I've just finished reassembling the motor with fresh lubricant and a new bearing ball, bolted it back onto the turntable and wired it up. The surface of the idler was a little rough; as new ones are expensive, I've gone for the traditional approach of sticking a bolt through it, clamping that in my electric drill, then gently applying fine abrasive paper. That's shifted the glaze and removed the lumps. (I'll source a new one eventually; this will do for the time being.) The motor is suspended from three rubber isolation mountings, these have sagged a bit and put the idler out of alignment with the steps on the motor shaft. As a temporary measure I've shimmed the idler mounting with a couple of washers. There doesn't appear to be any way to adjust the idler height; I'm assuming it's engineered for correct alignment if the motor mountings are in good order. So that's something else for the shopping list. The main bearing is fairly conventional, apart from the size. (In the first photo I've placed a Lenco L-75 main bearing next to it.) What was left of the oil had turned into sticky varnish. That's now been cleaned out and reassembled with a new bearing ball and fresh lubricant. Now that's all done it's capable of rotating records. I just need to sort the tone-arm out, then it might play them... Cheers, Kat Attached Thumbnails

1st Oct 2010, 6:42 pm	#6
ben Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK Posts: 7,498	Re: EMT 927A Restoration Great to have an update on this, Kat. I'm sure it will come up a treat in your fair hands! keep us posted (pardon the pun). what are you planning to do with the arm wiring? I'd wire it for stereo with new thin cable , if it were me I'd be so eager to spin some records there's no way I'd wait for an original arm to appear! __________________ Regards, Ben.

1st Oct 2010, 8:01 pm	#7
Patrick Dixon Hexode Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Bristol, UK. Posts: 480	Re: EMT 927A Restoration Original arms do turn up, but will probably cost the best part of a grand. The other alternative is a more modern EMT 'banana' arm ... which costs 2-3 grand.

1st Oct 2010, 10:32 pm	#8
qualityten Octode Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Wallasey, UK. Posts: 1,312	Re: EMT 927A Restoration What about getting someone to make up a suitable arm wand of the correct dimensions? Someone I know has made me two wands to convert SME 3009 tonearms to 3012 very well and very reasonably.

1st Oct 2010, 10:52 pm	#9
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Re: EMT 927A Restoration A lovely job done so far, i am watching this thread with great interest, this is making my lp12 look like a bsr Mark

7th Oct 2010, 8:16 pm	#10
Kat Manton Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 1,700	Re: EMT 927A Restoration Patrick, thanks for that information; I've traced out some of the circuitry but not all of it yet so I hadn't discovered that. I suspect the chances of me acquiring any preamplifier for this turntable are slim to non-existent; even the later seemingly less-desirable solid-state ones change hands for four-figure sums! One idea is to see if I can source the connector used on these preamplifiers, then design and build my own which makes use of the HT/LT supplies, fits in the space provided and uses the two holes in the deck. Otherwise the PSU section is largely redundant as it'd only be powering the brake and a couple of lamps. Concerning the tone-arm; replacing it isn't an option due to cost. I'll have to make do with what I've got, at least in the short term. As I've already mentioned, the arm tube has been shortened. I've considered having a new arm tube made but, if it were made to the original dimensions with the correct EMT-pattern connector, I'd then be restricted to EMT heads or trying to squeeze cartridges into an EMT headshell. I might consider that at some later date but at the moment, EMT heads are not something I can afford either. So it seems like the best option is to sort out the headshell coupling, connector and wiring and use whatever cartridge I fancy (and can afford) with readily-available headshells. (I already have a Denon DL-103 bought specifically, as yet unused as I haven't got screws the right length/size to try it with one of my Lencos.) I've already checked the arm/cartridge geometry. It's possible to align a cartridge for identical offset angle and overhang to an unmodified arm with an EMT head. The stylus is in the same position relative to the pivot point of the arm, the cartridge is at the same angle relative to the arm; the only thing that's changed is the headshell/arm coupling point has moved further up the arm tube. The arm's now in bits and I have some work to do. As it arrived, cartridge mount was loose in the arm tube and the connector block was disappearing inside the arm. There's a hole in the underside of the arm tube but there was no screw in it. Simple... take it apart, replace the wire with the nice new stuff I've bought for it, find a screw, stick it back together and spin some records..! Nope... The missing screw can be explained fairly easily. It passes through the arm tube, through the cartridge mount and into the plastic block housing the four spring-loaded pins. The connector block was cracked and bits fell off... I'm still pondering what to do about that. I think I'm going to rebuild the connector block with epoxy, then re-drill the connector pin holes and drill/tap a hole for an M2 screw. That should mean I can reassemble it all securely. Another option is to make a new connector block (or have one made); I'll take a load of measurements and draw a diagram before I do anything else. Another option is to try to source an Ortofon coupling/connector; assuming they used the same diameter arm tube on several arms, this might be available from somewhere, maybe Ortofon themselves. It's actually rather good fun trying to figure out how to solve these problems without simply throwing large sums of money at them to make them go away! Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Kat Manton; 7th Oct 2010 at 10:26 pm. Reason: Typo

7th Oct 2010, 9:29 pm	#12
qualityten Octode Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Wallasey, UK. Posts: 1,312	Re: EMT 927A Restoration One feels like misquoting Crocodile Dundee: "That's not a turntable. This is a turntable!"

8th Oct 2010, 9:30 am	#13
Mike Phelan Dekatron Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Near Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK Posts: 4,609	Re: EMT 927A Restoration Wow! Nice job, Kat. __________________ Mike.

8th Oct 2010, 10:02 pm	#15
peetleetech Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa. Posts: 84	Re: EMT 927A Restoration This is all very long ago for me. Otofon , rings a bell, didn't B&O use them? Once my ambition was to own a L75 but after I left the SABC I bought a model PD300 Kuxman with a Mission 774arm and a Micro Acoustics cartridge Tyoe 630. Wrong place for me but you are people who know! I need a new stylus for this thing. It was bust in an attempted robbery. It must have been too heavy. I have looked at the weg pictures Kat has posted. This thing is built like a pure tank. The idler/pressure wheel against the rim must take huge strain. Has it some sort of kicker mechaism to give it a nudge on start up?

11th Oct 2010, 1:06 am	#16
Michael Maurice Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Wembley, Middlesex Posts: 7,224	Re: EMT 927A Restoration This thread is about Kat's EMT927 turntable. Can we return and stay on this topic please? One seriously OT post has been already been deleted.

14th Oct 2010, 12:29 pm	#18
wd40addict Octode Join Date: May 2009 Location: Stevenage, Herts. UK. Posts: 1,518	Re: EMT 927A Restoration Couldn't you salvage the necessary connector from a junk 70s turntable arm with detachable headshell? Cash converters or Ebay should be able to provide something for substantially less than £70. Regards, Paul

17th Jan 2011, 3:14 pm	#19
kjt_239 Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Stockport, UK Posts: 2	Hello Hi All Just to introduce myself. I am very interested in following this thread, as this turntable (along with a couple of others) was stored crudely in my garage for about 25 years! Also I have had the dubious pleasure of using them from new in the 60s! Cheers all keith

20th Jan 2011, 8:30 pm	#20
EMT TSD15 Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Kent Posts: 4	Re: EMT 927A Restoration I would advise sticking to the arm you have. The connector block issue shouldn't cost too much to fix and if as you say the geometry is the same with an SME/Ortofon headshell then you will have the advantage of much cheaper headshells. If in the future you want to try an EMT cartridge then you can always get an XSD or an Ortofon adaptor for a TSD. Audio Origami may be able to clone an original looking counterweight for you. http://www.audioorigami.co.uk/ I would not bother with an original phono amp either. you can always clone any of the EMT circuits in to a new offboard case. I've heard that neumann VW2 and some modern valve circuits are better anyway. The early EMT R80's used the EMT 133 or V83. This was always situated offboard so a clone could look period.