Concept 2QD Turntable - Are You Experienced?

a friend of mine from california had a concept receiver and turntable. the turntable, along with the better yamaha, denon, and kenwood was one of the jewels of direct drive designs. they were built in and imported from japan for a specific retailer(?). very rare today

Interesting. Are you still in contact with this friend? Would be endure an interview by a recent enlistee into the Cult of 2QD?

Peter

he worked for a record distributer, but im afraid hes no longer living.

Omigosh! Sorry. Interesting that he worked for a record distributor and chose the 2QD. I have read a lot of raves about the Concept 16.5 including one fellow who just sold every last receiver he had when he installed it into his system. The 2QD must have been a credible complement to that kind of sonic authority. Thanks for the info.

Best,

Peter

i can't recall the hi end chain they were made for, but i know they were considered by 'music guys' at the time to be as good or better than the top end marantz and yamaha of that era.

Wow! Those were nice lines, I guess. I've ready they are very rare. I will take it to one of the good techs out this way and have it massaged into top working order. The seller writes that it's in very good shape now and he enjoyed playing it with a middle-of-the-range Stanton cartridge. Never had a direct drive deck before. Much excitement!

Peter

Concept was the house brand for Pacific Stereo (a subsidiary of CBS), a stereo chain with stores mostly in California, but also Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Washington, and Wisconsin. They closed down in the early 80s. The Concept line, according to many, was/is better than the best offerings by Marantz, Pioneer, Sansui, etc. Their top of the line receiver, the Concept 16.5, retailed for $950 in 1978, was rated at 165 WPC into 8 ohms and 250 into 4 ohms, featured a "dual mono" design with huge twin power transformers, and has a damping factor of 450. Dick Schram, who went on to greater glory with Parasound was the Chief Designer for the Concept line.

I've never heard of this brand until recently when I ran into an add listing a Concept 2.5 receiver. My research indicated it was a well respected brand so I bought it.
Today I found an Add for Concept 2QD turntable for $50.00. I think I going to try to get it, but it is going to be a bit of a trek to go and get it. Unfortunately, there is no cartridge included. I am wondering if it is going to be worth it.

I'm sure it will be (was) worth the trek for the 2QD. I have the 16.5 receiver and ELC-II cassette deck, and had a 7.5D receiver. They are all solidly built electronics from the 70's that are the best I've heard. I'm still looking for a 2QD turntable.

Just read that the Concept 2QD was manufactured by TAIC, a division of Toshiba.

Hi everyone

I was able to acquire a working Concept 2QD TT that needs a little TLC. I'm in need of some assistance though.

One of the feet on the 2QD is damaged. Is this something that is easy to fix? Would I better off with just leaving the foot unrepaired and putting the table on some brass footers?

Anyone have any recommendations for compatible carts for the 2QD in the under $175 range new or slightly used? I've used an Ortofon OM5e and a Grado Blue Cartridge before on a vintage Philips GA 312 TT. I didn't like the treble and mid range on the OM5e and while I like the sound of the Grado Blue I have a hum in my system with it and I've been told in previous threads to aim higher for a cart.

The phono preamp I plan to use with the 2QD is either from the Emotiva USP-1 or Cambridge 640P.

Has anyone ever replaced the ICs for the 2QD? If so what did you use? The ICs on the 2QD I have are really old and the ends don't look so great.

Are there any other maintenance tips that I should be doing on the 2QD?

Thanks again everyone.

I took a closer look at the Concept 2QD last night and I saw that the counterweight had fallen off. It isn't broken. I think it just came loose. I'll try to re-attach it soon. Has anyone else had this issue with the 2QD.

Lastly the Concept Yahoo group is no more. I tried to join and no-one has gotten back to me.

Thanks again.

I just found one of these along with the 11.0 receiver at a yard sale. The receiver was DOA, but this table was great. Great looks, build quality, design and layout (cracked d.c. argh!). I have Tupelo Honey on repeat and I'm not inclined to turn it off! I'd say the table is in the league with the better ones I've come across (I prefer Dual and Technics of the common stuff).

It's obvious Pacific Stereo knew what they were up against in the "Receiver Wars" era in creating a house brand. I'd recommend anyone give this line a listen.

Just an FYI

Here is a link to a soft copy of the manual for the Concept 2QD TT. You can also find the brochure about it as well by scrolling through the PDFs.

http://akdatabase.org/AKview/displayimage.php?album=50&pos=8

So I'm a newbie to the 2QD as of yesterday. I also noticed that the counterweight was very loose and able to slip off without warning.

After examining the situation for awhile, I've determined that the notched rubber "sleeve" that the weight slips onto is held on by a screw that compresses the sleeve which then holds the weight in place.

The only problem with my theory is that I can't get my screw to budge. Either its not meant to, or its seized in place some how. (This screw is the only screw on the thing that I can't get to move.) I'm convinced that my theory is correct, but I'm afraid of breaking the screw which will result in no place to mount the weight.

What are your thoughts?

Hi Grtfl62

I have the Concept 2QD TT as well and I find counterweight can slide off with some force from the tonearm. I finally got the arm set-up correctly and the 2QD sounding good so I don't want to mess with removing the counterweight now to check. I couldn't get the counterweight screw to budge either come to think of it when I first got the 2QD. Maybe it isn't supposed to move?