Yamaha YP-701 Turntable

For early Japanese belt drive turntables, this has to be one of my favourites. Those who know me know that I am not a huge fan of suspended belt drive turntables because they are quite finicky and require a very solid surface. However, I am quite impressed by this Yamaha turntable. I've had AR turntables and Thorens and when it comes down to sound quality, it does remind me of the Thorens. It's also built really well. Design principles are much different than the usual suspended platter turntables and more in lined with the Thorens.

There is a sub chassis that holds the platter and tone arm, just like the more known Thorens. As well the motor (hefty sized too) is also isolated with it's own suspension. The arm is also well designed with a set screw that can adjust for VTA.

The drive system itself is also different than the more common belt drive turntables that it's almost a rim drive table.

Nonetheless, this is a well built and well engineered table. Plinth is wood veneered over plywood wood base. The sub chassis is metal as well as the top of the plinth. The arm is your typical medium mass tone arm.

The Yamaha YP-701 is a 2-speed, semi-automatic turntable. It is also fully serviced with a new belt and a new Audio Technica AT-110E stylus.

If you are looking for more information, take a look at the YP-700. The name difference could be due to where the turntable was sold.

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/yamaha/yp-700.shtml
http://www.thevintageknob.org/yamaha-YP-700.html

Overall, it's in pretty nice shape, there are a few nicks on the plinth. But, this is still a very sharp looking turntable.

Energy Encore 2 Speakers

My family were the original owners of these speakers. We actually had the entire Energy Encore 5.1 surround set, minus the integrated stands. Slowly, the rear speakers were sold. I kept the subwoofer to use with my sound bar, and the center channel broke. All that remained were these little guys sitting on the same shelving unit for the past 15ish years. I used them for a bit for my computer setup but, opted to use my Mirage Omni 350 instead. While these are considered "big box store" speakers, they are still great little speakers. These were made in Canada. Used their hyperdome aluminum tweeter that made Energy famous from the Pro22 days (thank you Burhoe!). A super nice black piano finish and sealed box, with a 4" long throw woofer. Some Specifications that I took from the web: System Type: Magnetically shielded acoustic suspension satellite Tweeter: 1" (28mm) Aluminum dome with cloth suspension Woofers: 4" (112mm) Multi-laminated aluminum polycarbonate c

Yamaha YP-66 Turntable

The rosewood vinyl wrapped twin sibling of the Yamaha YP-221, they are the exactly the same other than the colour of the plinth and instead of silver plastic bits on the YP-221 the YP-66 has black bits. This is your typical belt drive turntable of the mid to late 70s. It's a 2-speed with automatic return (semi-automatic). It's a nice entry level turntable with all the decent built quality that you find on majority of the Japanese made tables of that era. It has a good sized motor and a decent weight. Yamaha tables are like Sony tables, they always have decent quality components and they always look nice to the eyes. The slight smoked dustcover and the rosewood plinth makes it quite unique to look at. Sadly, the antiskate weight on our isn't original. It was missing when we got it. After a bit of research we found the appropriate weight and found an appropriate weight to retrofit into our table. We found a nice brass weight to fit with the design. And, as usual,

Dual CS-616Q Turntable

Finally doing a write up for a couple of turntables. So, let's start with the Dual CS-616Q. Made around the mid 80s when wood-grain design were no longer in fashion and the new sleek grey and black were in. This Dual is in really nice shape, and I mean real nice shape. While it's not from the 70s, it doesn't mean it's not quality. In comparison to other companies of the time that still made entry level turntables, this Dual is really well made. It has decent heft and it is German made so a lot of precision was still put into it. It is a direct drive, a true semi-automatic and quartz lock turntable. Why do I mean true semi-automatic? Well, before some of their earlier turntables had an auto-lift off at the end but the tonearm never returned to the rest post. So, having it returning is a nice feature to have! It also features Dual's ULM (ultra low mass) tonearm and their EDS motor. These tonearms are especially nice for higher compliant cartridges as

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