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Anyone use auto lifters? Opinions

I must be getting lazy in my old age. I keep wishing someone would raise my tonearm for me. Sometimes you are just involved in something and putting it down to lift the tonearm is a pain. There are several auto lifters on the market. Does anyone have any experience with these? Do they work reliably and are they easy enough to trip that you do not have to worry about you tonearm and cartridge?
mijostyn

Showing 3 responses by sleepwalker65

sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
Auto lift and return is an important feature to me, so I bought and restored a vintage semi-auto turntable. I don’t understand why the feature is not available on new turntables any more. 
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
Mijostyn I have a Technics SL-1700mk2, which doesn’t engage the arm return motor until an optical sensor triggers it. It’s like having your cake and eating it too. Because the system is not physically in contact with the arm pivot while a record is playing, it has no negative impact. And I said semi-automatic, which is only arm return and platter motor shutoff at end of play. Record  changers  like those old BSR units with crappy ceramic cartridges are taboo. 
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
@mijostyn the lift designed around an optical sensor is reality, and it came at a premium on the Technics SL-1700mk2 and SL-1600mk2 turntables. Those were essentially the thinking man’s / audiophile’s variant of the SL-1200mk2 that rap-“DJ”s are so enamoured with. 
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