Can someone identify this turntable/arm

[pop4richard]

It's up for sale and I could be keen if I knew what it is. Thanks.

 

[billshurv]

It looks like a Bitza made from Ariston RD-11 and Linn LP-12 parts. That or a prototype that somehow made it down under. No idea on the arm. You need pics with the platter off.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Looks Scottish (Ariston, Linn were neighbours). Have you tried to pop the bottom off the plinth to look for identifying marks?

 

[DRONE7]

A very early Linn when Avalon Audio in Auckland had the import licence to assemble for the NZ market. (they were also the Ariston NZ agent)

Avalon also produced the plinths for Linn UK for some years hence the Native Tawa blonde version that was so popular.

Late '70s-early '80s with some subsequent mods would be my guess.

(Worked in hifi retail '78-'90. Charlie Brennan from Linn was hosted by Avalon to run a weekend workshop in Linn set-up and tuning for about 7 of us retail/techs from throughout NZ. )

Found more Pix....Ariston....

 

[pop4richard]

Thanks for that everyone. A closeup of the arm.

 

[billshurv]

Still no idea on the arm, but it has a damping trough, so would say it's a good one. All in all if price is right that's a tidy TT.

 

[Nanook]

the arm...

... certainly looks like an SME type of sorts ... but have no clue who would have made it.

What's the cost? If you were a tech I'm sure you could fix/clean/repair anything that could be wrong.

 

[nezbleu]

That tonearm is intriguing. Some Japanese manufacturers made some very good SME clones back in those days (eg Sansui) but they would generally have their logo prominently displayed. There is a log of good stuff going on there, though the all-important bearings are not visible. If the price is right you should definitely give it a second look.