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Has anyone had any experience with either the Dual CS 607, or the CS 503-1 turntables? If so, what did you think? would 130-150 be a reasonable price for one with a decent stylus?
Thanks!
Follow Ups:
The CS503-1 is sexy, but a mediocre performer from Dual's later period.
The CS607, as are all of those silver plastic plinth Duals, is an abomination to behold along with mediocre performance.At that $120-150 price point, you will be able to get a CS505 or 506 in good condition and a brand new Ortofon OMB-10 that will get you the best vinyl sound possible short of the $250-300 price point.
Keep looking.....
Only buy a vintage turntable if you're able to fix it when it breaks down.
In my collection:704: the 700 range DD Duals, excellent. Try to get a 701.
1226: average consumer idler wheel drive TT. Nice but nothing special.
1219: now we're talking. 3.1 kg platter, washing machine motor, decent arm. Surprisingly quiet for a big idler, amazingly good even in stock form. Brother: 1229. Father: 1019.Other good ones: CS5000, 505 with wooden plinth, 1249.
Problem with Dual: the complexity of mechanics and later on electronics. Not easy to repair, hard or impossible to tweak. Hard to change the arm.
"The torture never stops"
the CS 5000 is relatively simple design. Motor, spindle and electronic all easy access.Still, even on the 5000 the arm is impossible to tweak and I can't begin to imagine changing it out.
One of the reasons I choose the 5000 that I have is that it does not have the mechanical nightmare underneath it that some of the fully automatic Duals have.
I have two mint 521s that I paid $25 each for. One was perfect mechanically, but the other would raise the arm at the end and then lower it again, over and over. It took me forever to solve that riddle and I have a lot of Dual experience. It proved to be a tiny pin, barely visible behind what I refer to as the "transmission".
I converted them both to manual tables. I removed every part I could. Even that was tricky.
They say Germans over-engineer things. I believe it.
I own the CS 607. Not a bad table, but I'm not sure mine is the best specimen due to some play at the pivot point (bearings?) of the tonearm. Still plays OK though.Be careful you get all the accessories that came with the TT: the additional weight disks for the counterweight for mounting heavier cartridges, and the alignment gauge.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, I put a high output MC cartridge on it, and Ortofon X5-MC, and it sounds pretty darn good.
I've added some damping to the TT as well. Using rope caulk, I lined the inside of the base, and the underside of the platter, to help reduce vibration. Seems to have made a modest audible improvement w/o much $$ spent.
Both are decent players. The arms are very good, but you'll have to use a high compliance cartridge with them because of their extremely low effective mass.
The fact that they have cartridges installed does not increase their value. Assume that the styli are worn because of their age. If the cartridge is the Dual/Ortofon 155, a new stylus is about $60.00.
With the 503 you'll need a new belt after all this time. They are about $25 from LPGear.com.
Even accounting for unrealistic blue book prices, you should not pay more than $50-75 for a unit in mint condition.
At times, particularly if you looking on ebay, the name Dual fetches a prime price. Though not frequently discussed here Dual tables have a good reputation as solid table. Still, I would look for one of these tables under $100.
I think $150 is on the high side. $75 or so sounds more realistic to me...
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