A R Sugden Connoisseur BD101 turntable

[k3ys3r_soz3]

anyone know anything about this tt?

I can see mention of the bd1 and bd2 and some older idler drive tt's but no mention of the bd101.

Can anyone shed any light on it,

TIA

[harwoodspark]

This turntable is belt driven and was quite nice in it's day.Go to steveshifi.co.uk He has one for sale on his site. Si.

[k3ys3r_soz3]

well i took the plunge and ended up with a rather pleasant surprise - an sme3009 ii improved tonearm attached to it

the tt looks to be reasonable - will get a cart fitted and try some tweaking.

its not a standard sus-sub chassis - the 4 legs are suspended instead.... so not sure how great the tt itself will be - time will tell as they say

[harwoodspark]

With a decent cartridge and mat I'll bet it sounds quite nice. Does it have a decent mat? If it has the usual ribbed rubber mat try a Linn type felt mat.Good Hifi sells them on ebay for about £8.I have one on my Linn and it sounds fine.By the way, Origin Live make a rather expensive turntable with a suspended sub chassis and the motor is fitted to the suspended sub chassis.It is very highly rated. I'm sure you'll enjoy your turntable. Si.

[martin clark]

I've no experience with these turntables, but while sorting some old mags recently I found an article on tweaking the related BD1 - you might find it of interest, or just plain hilarious
Scans here, about 230k/page:

http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-1.jpg
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-2.jpg
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-3.jpg
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-4.jpg
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-5.jpg
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-6.jpg
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-7.jpg
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-8.jpg
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/misc/ARSugden/BD1-9.jpg

BTW these tables were produced by AR Sugden & Co, which was not related to J Sugdens the amplifier people.

[Rjones5296]

Hello
I have just gotten a Sugden idler drive turntable, it is dated 1957 silver hammer paint.
The platter has a record mat that has strobe markings.
I cant find a model number it is called a Sugden Connisseur.
Can anyone shed any light on this table ???
It needs new motor mounts.

bob

[Winchester]

Try this site, some Connoiseur TT's in the gallery section fit the description you have given, and in the light of the posting from Martin above, it looks like it might be your table. Manuals are available for download as well in the Library section, click on the "Connoiseur" link.

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/connoisseur.shtml

[Rjones5296]

Yes the last photo, thats the same table.
mine is the one with the full base, with the square plate in the front right.
Wow now i hope to find motor mounts, but if not I think I can fabricate.

[Trebla]

Connoisseur turntables often seem to be the subject of considerable humour.
At the time they were good value for money.
I well remember "upgrading" from a BD2 to a Thorens TD150, and then wondering why i had bothered.

[Rjones5296]

Im thinking along the same lines, the table I have is actually pretty nice, you cannot hear the motor run.
It is an idler drive, and the idler is also isolated, using the same mounts as the motor.
What I did was just switch the mounts, now the motor is suspended as it should be.
I am having no luck finding replacement mounts, so it looks like I will have to fabricate.
On my table the finnish is gone, so I am going to respray in silver hammer paint, as original.
So far I have been cleaning and lubricating each assembly.
Id like to see this table back to original condition.



bob