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In Reply to: Is the Magnepan Unitrac tonearm still one of the ones to have for under a grand? posted by kff on October 21, 2023 at 20:17:51:
when found in good shape are a bargain.
I bought one new while selling.
I bought a second one in 86 when I needed a better table and got a TD-160Super/Dynavector 23R/Unitrac/Musical Fidelity AC-1 head amp from a stores consignment sales.
A friend copied much of my main rig in the aughts and then moved. Then he sold off all his gear and sent me a few Unitracs and cartridges.
As to MM sure you can use them but the Dynavectors, some Ortofons and a few other MC cartridges have high compliance and work well with the mass of the Magnepan.
The arms that Tom 'Clone'sent me, well two have issues. One is missing the tab to mount the headshell. The assembly that holds the wiring is there but the extension is broken off. I'm thinking about how to repair that. The other one has pretty messed up wiring at the tonearm/post intersection. I have not investigated that because I have two working units after selling one a year ago and well I just bought another one.
Interesting to see the changes over the years. My VTA tool is metal, I have made some from a 1/8th allen wrench cut off and a knob glued to the top. The upgrade from Magnepan was a plastic tool with a larger knob. The plastic is much quieter in use than the metal.
Another change is the use of nylon wheel on the antiskate arm. Original was metal with a groove. Don't know if one is better.
Then they added a stick on finger lift. Never needed it learned to use the front corner of the headshell. Makes azimuth much easier with only 2 weights required.
My weights usually stay in place but I want to see if I can get some o-rings as supplied to install on both sides of these weight to hold them in place.
I'll have to repair some cartridge wiring harnesses.
I've had to change one arm/cable to 5-pin DIN due to damaged Amphenol connector. I probably have another to do because it came without a phono cable. Maybe someone has a spare with the Amphenol connector.
For all the arms, other than the missing cable for one, I'm short an auxiliary weight or two but don't need it for some of my cartridges.
Additionally, I'm short one counterweight. But maybe I have a parts arm with the work needed on the two that aren't functional right now.
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Follow Ups
- The reason I ask this is because they are still not expensive and - kff 10/22/2314:18:14 10/22/23 (2)
- RE: The reason I ask this is because they are still not expensive and - neolith 17:58:29 10/23/23 (1)
- The seller of the one I just got sourced some 110gram washers - kff 18:17:26 10/23/23 (0)