I was in the shed and found my old Hitachi direct drive. I thought it was long gone. It was under a heap of LPs in a cardboard box, which has been buried well under convenient reach. A leak in the washing machine caused me to take all of the old boxes out. Still didn't think much of it because I have felt that CDs have been the most profound improvement to audio since, and I still buy them regularly. This was not the last turn table I was using when I ditched vinyl.
I have a friend who has my old Adcom gear powering his vinyl setup. He paid to have it serviced and upgraded so he can use it forever, AFAIAC. When I mentioned to him I found my old turntable, he claimed that's pretty much the same one he is currently using, and after auditioning a much higher priced, newer version, he determined that the cartridge was the real difference, and after upgrading that on his old TT, could not hear a difference worth the price and sent the new one back.
I quit using the Hitachi because it was silver and the rest of my then new gear, was black, and the Hitachi did not fit the cabinet. Anyway, I cleaned it up and it powers on and turns on both speeds and seems pretty darned smooth with no, audible mechanical noises, at least. I'll make room for it later this week or next weekend perhaps and see how it goes. It's clean as a whistle and my buddy says he'll give me a C-note for it if I don't want it, or will let me try a couple different cartridges for it if I do.
Surely cleaning LPs has come a long way since the 80s, I am hoping.
