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Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

Pointers for LAB80 (longish)

As you rightly guessed the stylus pressure is on the arm, and is marked from 0-5 grams. Each click of the adjustment wheel represents a quarter gram. And the lever at the side is the anti-skate, it's marked in grams as well.

There's a difference between the mark I and mark II. The mark I only plays single records in manual mode. The mark II plays them manually or in auto mode. Both switch off at the end. The mark I anti-skate is better made, but ages badly and the weight has to be held in place, or it slides back down to zero. I prefer the functionality of the mark II.

To tell the difference between them look at the control plate. The mark I is flatter than the mark II and has an orange neon light next to the record size lever. The wood of the arm is continuous past the pivots, which are open on the mark I and covered in the mark II.

As the arm has to cope with the auto-trip mechanism there is more mass below the deck to take into account, so I'd only consider cartridges that track at around 2 grams or more for single play mode. If you're going to use it in changer mode with the long spindle, I'd go for something that tracks at around 3 grams with a conical tip. The Grado needs to track at 2 grams comfortably.

I particularly like old Shure cartridges, and all the UK LAB80s I've seen, including my two have M55Es fitted. They work very well at 2 grams. There's no facility for cartridge alignment, although there's a cross on the underside of the headshell to help you get it straight.

At the back of the arm just behind the pivots is a screw on the top. It might be hidden under the counterweight, which turns for adjustment. The screw adjusts the cue height. If a cartridge with a tall body has been fitted in the past and you're changing to a shorter one, you might find that the stylus doesn't go low enough to reach the record. Turn it anti-clockwise to lower the arm.

Finally, if you only use the LAB80 to play records singly, you can adjust the vertical angle of the cartridge by using a tilt wedge. This is a small wedge shaped piece of black plastic that fits between the cartridge and headshell and tilts the cartridge upwards at the front, making it more perpendicular with the record. It was supplied with later Garrard models such as the SP25 mark III, if you ever find one it's worth it's weight in gold. The Garrard part no. was 75392.

The LAB80 is not a giant killer, as the arm geometry and bearings aren't up to "proper" hi-fi standards. It has a very good drive system, speed stability and does it's job very well. I can listen to mine all day long. For really serious listening it's a 301 or 401.

A properly set up LAB80 in a multi-layered solid plinth is still worth the effort.

Good luck with yours.




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  • Pointers for LAB80 (longish) - richardz 06/13/0814:33:08 06/13/08 (0)

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