Technics SP-10

 

 

 

 

The new plinth

 

The foot fixing

 

A foot and deck fixing

 

Detail of the arm plate fixing

 

An original review, click the image to read it

 

 

 

 

Julian who had an ex-BBC with a separate control panel made from what looked like reject Dr Who props, after we took his SP-10 back to standard condition and restored 45 and 78rpm said :

"I got the deck and PSU this morning and have set them up. It works brilliantly.

I have to hand out a big thanks for getting me out of the quagmire, not sure what I would have done otherwise. Having to live with all those additional foul ancient illuminated switches would have driven me round the twist! They do not match the aesthetics of the SP10."

 

 

 

The new plinth with a SME V arm

A close up of the SME V fixing

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Technics SP-10 Mk II

Martin Colloms reviewed the SL1000 in the 1978 book "Hi-Fi Choice No. 12, Turntables and Tone Arms" , to see it click here (1.6mb pdf).  In its day at £1000, it was twice as expensive at the LP12 and Ittock, making the comparative price now well over £35,000! 

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Why spend money on your SP-10 MKII ?

Because it's worth it!  Some of the most expensive turntables in the world use direct drive and we are talking $100K+ here!  The SP-10 is engineered to last for ever and coupled with a good arm and expensive cartridge, it takes an awful lot to come close!

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Service your SP-10 MKII Technics SP10MkII,
SP-10Mk2, SP-10Mk3, SP-10Mk4

NOTE: As of January 2014 we are not taking on any more SP-10 work except for a basic service.  So if your SP-10 has a fault, and most do, then we are sorry we cannot help.

Just like your car, the SP-10 will age and needs adjusting to keep running perfectly.  We believe that at about 20 years old, no SP-10 that has not been properly serviced, is going to work anywhere near the manufacturer's specification.  Imagine driving your car every day for 20 years, never changing the oil, never changing the tyres, never changing the spark plugs,  you get the idea?

Technics provide an incredibly detailed service manual, but it only tells you how to repair one if it is faulty, not how to adjust a used one.  Enter the BBC, who had shed loads of them working long hours every day.  The clever men at the BBC Engineering Department came out with a service schedule, much like your car.  We have this elusive documentation and combined it with our own experience.  We believe that no one can perform the level of service that we do.

1. Replacement of 3 motor capacitors with Panasonic FC low ESR capacitors; this is an essential modification as every deck will need this, it restores the motor drive back to how Panasonic intended it. 

2. Main bearing clean and re-oil.  We use ultra pure oil with no additives or solids. 

3.
The electronic 'tune up' recommended by the BBC Engineering Department and us.  Out of specification components will be replaced as required £145.00 :

Reset master clock crystal
Reset frequency and level of motor reference oscillator

Reset phase tracking timing
Reset power supply voltages
Adjust or remove brake

4. Modifications 1,2 &3 above £395.00

5.  Replace start/stop micro switch with new Japanese original manufacturer (Omron).  Often these have worn and give intermittent operation.  £95.00

Electrical repair.  We are able to repair most faults.  We recommend the above essential work. The additional cost could be as little £180 to replace the motor driver transistors (will only start if you give it a push) or up to £900 for something serious (this has not yet occurred!).  We will assess any turntable sent to us for a modest £50 if required, and then quote a firm price for repair/renovation.

Mechanical repair.  Occasionally the rotors rub on the stator.  This requires some careful mechanical re-work.  We do not touch the platter as it is pre-balanced and should not be altered.  Mechanical work starts at £100 and tops out at about £550.

Beware.  There are some people that believe you can repair anything simply by changing all the electrolytic capacitors, as if nothing else fails or goes out of adjustment!  There are no capacitors in a SP-10 that will stop it working, they will diminish the performance, but it will still work.  In replacing capacitors, we have seen damage and additional faults put on units.  Play safe, send it to the professionals, send it to us!

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Restore your SP-10 MKII

You might have bought your SP-10 from a radio broadcast studio, and you will need a plinth and an arm, and maybe a power supply.  We can supply almost anything, just ask?  

Complete new solid 30mm wood base with SME arm plate £699.00  (in stock now)

Complete new 30mm marble base.  Marble is a much better material than slate, it is low Q , does not ring and damps very well.  The Japanese who are masters of Direct Drive have always used marble. 

Complete new 30mm Indian Granite base.   

Complete new solid 30mm (black or silver) aluminium anodised base.  SME 9" £795.00  SME 12" £895.00

Perspex platter/arm dust cover  £95.00

Strip original paint finish and refinish turntable in silver or black,  if stripped and sent to us £280.00.  Or we will strip, refinish and reassemble for £795.00.  Black is good as the SME V and arm plate comes in black.

Replacement power supply  £595.00  (in stock now)

Strobe repair.  We replace the fragile neon tube with a pcb with 7 LEDs in orange, exactly the same colour as the neon.  There is a lifetime guarantee on this modification and also if your 140V supply was not working, it isn't used any more. £99.00 or £195.00 fitted.

Platter screws made from nonmagnetic stainless steel £49.95 a set of three.

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Restore your SH-10E Power Unit

This isn't very economical, it's better and cheaper to buy a completely new PSU.  However, if originality is your thing, then we can rework your power supply.  We change every capacitor for brand new Panasonic FC's and replace anything that needs replacing.  We ensure that the 140V is working properly as this is the cause of most strobe failures.  You get a 1 year warrantee at a cost of £795.00

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BBC and ex broadcast SP-10 MKII

If you have a BBC or similar version you might need an external unit shown below to start and stop your SP-10.  We can disable this so that you don't need it at all, or maybe you didn't get one,  for £175.00

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If you have the very large power supply shown below, with the external pitch control, you may have noticed that you may only get 33rpm, in fact there won't even be any micro switches under the push buttons!  You can test this before buying, pressing the 33/45/78 buttons should give a nice 'click'. No click means no micro switches installed!  After our modifications you can use the old power supply unit and hide it out of the way with our extension cable?  Or upgrade to our new unit? Here is what is required:

a) Remove wiring harness
b) Restore Logic board components
(to allow local start as above)
c) Fit 4 new micro switches
d) Fit new crystal and 6 components
e) Fit new start/stop logic

The cost for 'a to f' inclusive is £695.00

 

We can refurbish this power supply. You get a 1 year warrantee at a cost of £95.00  It can come with a 2M extension cable if you want to get it out of sight!
 

This is a wooden BBC control unit, SP-10's with these only work at 33rpm, but we can fix this!
 

We haven't actually worked on one of these yet, but budget on a lot of work if you want 45rpm and not to have to hide this behind the sofa!  We can of course make the unit redundant, just ask?
 

This unit will switch 33,45 & 78.  Ugly but functional.  The start/stop switch on the deck is usually not fitted, so you need this unit unless you have our 'a to f' upgrade listed above

 

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SP-10 accessories
 

Power extension cable. Whatever power supply you have, you may want to put it out of the way; we offer an very high performance PSU extension lead that simply plugs in, it is 2M long.  Made with high quality Belden CYSC04 screened cable. £95.00.

Power supply unit.  We use an expensive custom Nuvotem 'Audio Grade' toroidal transformer and Vishay rectifiers. We use Panasonic FC and HA series ultra low ESR capacitors. We even use 2 ounce double thickness copper on the PCB. And here is the most important bit, it is all too easy to use a voltage regulator made in China to no particular specification; we use the National Semiconductor LM317L low noise regulators. Even the 140V is regulated by a special three terminal regulator.  All units are hand soldered using silver loaded solder. All components are sourced from ISO9000 companies. This is not just a power supply, this is a Timestep power supply!  110/120 & 220/240V versions available.
£599.00
5 year guarantee.  In black or silver.

 

 

 

Dust Covers. 

Universal platter and arm cover, made from very expensive glass finish Perspex £95.00

• Platter mat II is made from finely textured, open-cell silicone foam, this mat has unsurpassed vibration-absorbing characteristics and no resonant qualities to discolour the music. Records are thoroughly decoupled from unwanted platter vibration.

A black elastomer "donut" on top of the white full-size foam base reduces vinyl/stylus feedback and eliminates lateral slippage, while drawing static electricity away from the record. Unique qualities allow the vinyl to "give" slightly, microscopically, to stylus contact, allowing the record groove to be tracked smoothly and accurately. Completely non-tacky, records lift right off the mat, while the underlying foam sticks firmly to the platter. This 3.7mm thick mat virtually eliminates the effect of the semi-hollow cast platter that can be prone to ring.  It is exactly the right size to fit inside the lip of the SP-10 MK II.  £89.95

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SP-10's for sale

You can buy a SP-10 from eBay and hope it works properly, then you can send it to us for a service, but you will have no guarantee and it's a very time intensive and tedious process.  At best you will have a bargain and at worst an expensive deck for spare parts.

We buy in SP-10's for spares and to refurbish and resell, we also re-manufacture spare parts.  Right now we have:-

SP-10MK II fully serviced by us, original "as is" finish for £1,895.00 guaranteed for 5 years.  You will need a PSU, our 5 year guarantee brand new one is £599.00

SP-10MK II fully serviced by us, chassis refinished  as new and the edge of the platter polished. Guaranteed for 5 years including our £599 PSU.  £2,690  These are made to order, we have everything in stock though.

SL-1000 an original Obsidian plinth  with lid SH-103B3, original power supply SH-10E, remote and perfect SP-10 MKII, one owner £ask.  

We have a SH-103B3 Obsidian plinth without lid for £795.00.

SP-10 MK II in a solid hardwood, marble, granite or aluminium  plinth with any arm of your choice, set up and guaranteed for 5 years.  Prices from £4,000

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