Lenco 75 Betterthan sme 30

[audiojoy]

I am amazed this turntable has not taken off in the uk has anybody missed this now quite famous worldwide thread from audiogon in the USA??????


Here it is part two of it anyway. It was so long the thread audiogon had to stop the first one!!

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr...rom&3&4&&st800

They have compared it and via respected audiogon members by all accounts with the WALKER proscenium and sme 30 and they think it is better or matches these two turntables which are renowned by many as the finest sounding turntables ever built.

These things sell for a few pounds in the UK.Just got one and the build quality is absolutely amazing not to say quite beautiful to. They appear in far better condition than any garrard I have owned. MAny are just part of old cabinet music systems.Absolutely amazing.

I am starting to strip mine down today and will follow that thread and its innovations. But to compare with a SME 30 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kevinkr]

Eccentric, but nice machines still basically waiting to be discovered by audiophile/hobbyist types. Not too common here in the U.S. they do have a following..

I remember using them in high school and being impressed at the build quality. (I had a cheesy Garrard SP-25 MKIV at the time.) They also came up to speed very quickly, had low rumble levels and the ones I worked with had continuously variable speed. (Don't remember the model, but probably an L75 or similar.)

Heavy, solid plinth like you would use with a Garrard 301/401 highly recommended.

[analog_sa]

Originally posted by audiojoy
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some more internet madness spreading like wildfire? Chipamps better than SETs, open baffle $20 speakers beat Wilson, Playstation kills Wadia.

The Lenco is honest to god butt ugly. Build quality is no comparison to 301/401/124. And yes, i've had them all. But if an Audiogon thread says it's better than SME 30 how could anyone argue?

[kevinkr]

I'm assuming that SME 30 was probably incompetently set up, (I take all such comments with a grain of salt) but the Lenco is an interesting and often ignored table. Compared to a lot of other things out there it is pretty decent, would I trade my TD-125 for one, heck no..

The experiment may also have been biased by the personal attachment the writer has developed with his Lenco as he tinkered with it.. (Were I more naive I would have the same sort of relationship with my ReVox G36 as compared to my Otari.. I have spent a lot of time and effort overhauling and updating my ReVox and it sounds very good, the Otari otoh, just works - and actually sounds quite a bit better. The ReVox is almost a labor of love , but my ears aren't lying to me.)

I would agree in general with your comments, however I have heard the playstation 1, and while not what I consider absolutely stellar, it really was far better than I had expected. Modern sota digital blows it out of the water, but most (reasonably un/affordable) older high end gear I've heard does not.

I am somewhat familiar with the SME 10 and 20, and assume that as good as they are, the 30 is even better.

[graeme uk]

Lenco's have not gone un-noticed, i think brand snobbery just puts people off.

Good thing with lenco's is there cheap enough to modify in whatever way you please.

Cant do that with a garrard!

This is mine.

Cut down, bearing mounted seperately from the chassis, slate plinth and air arm.

Stock lenco's are good, but start modding them and they become truly great!



(cosmeticaly its not finished)

[analog_sa]

And there is something else. A lot of high end turntables don't have a very strong character and do sound a bit too neutral, even bland. The old idler wheelers otoh are full of character. It's not just the drive system, it's a collection of resonating chasis, ringing platters, high-play bearings. Nothing wrong with enjoying that but i would personally prefer to hear more of the original recordings and less of the various vintage colorations.

The internet reinvention of the Lenco is at least five years old but tellingly, second hand Lencos have not gone up in price much. Maybe some enterprising audiophiles bought huge stocks in anticipation of a price boom and have to keep the buzz going

[Zen Mod]

I have EMT930, G401 , and two L75 ;

frankly - when judging these last two ( I mean - 401 and 75 ) - both in heavy plinth and with similar arm/head combos , I can't tell which one is better ;
building quality is similar , both have ( when new or mint ) great bearing ........

so - difference between these two is mainly fashion-induced

YMMV , but that's your problem , not mine





edit: I didn't mention that both have similarly heavy platters , in both cases balanced

[graeme uk]

Yep, lenco's bearing, platter, drive system and motor are all great.

The garrards have the edge as the chassis is alot stiffer than the lenco's, but you can mount the lenco direct to the plinth, toy cant do that with a garrard, it all has to hand through a hole in the plinth.

I believe lenco's have the potential to be a better deck that the garrard, most people who have owned both either think there both as good as each other or the lenco is slightly prefered. All depends what mods have been done i guess.

This is the other problem, to get a lenco sounding its best you need to put in a certain amount of DIY, garrard are more of a 'plug and play' option.

[audiojoy]

I agree wholeheartedly that hype can be easily fostered on the inetrnet. However, this thread on audiogon has trigerred off so many other diy forum sites on the Lenco.

My guess is it is probably a close equivalent to the Garrard but cheaper to buy. Yes why have the prices not gone up in the UK??? Interesting. Presumably there aren't that many enthusiasts, and those that are, already have the garrard and have no need to experiment any further!

This then in my mind begs the question, can the Garrard and Lenco genuinely contend with the likes of SME and Walker turntables??? There are enough comparisons now on these forums to make this sound almost feasible.




Also agree chip (class D amp)versus set was a little ott, but nonetheless it was not a totally unfair comparison, besides i have not heard the latest generation class D Amps as they get more and more refined in development, perhaps the slightly sterile nature of those amps has now been ironed out.

Furthermore i have sold most of my multi thousand pound equipment for older cheaper equipment sometimes 10-20 times cheaper , which IMHO sound superior. So I have every reason to believe some of this hype might be true. e.g audio note AND sec (5K)/ avantgarde duo (6k)speakers for modified Yamaha NS1000 (£500). Audio note DAC 4 and transport (£4k)for tda1540 Revox b225 moded heavily (£150) etc etc.

Hifi like the economic boom has become a rip off