Goldmund Turntable with T3 arm--what is it worth?

In my opinion, the T3, any version of it, is to be avoided unless you are getting it VERY cheaply and like to play around with gadgets. It is kind of an upscale copy of a Rabco SL8E. Both are Rube Goldberg devices that "work" OK but cannot compete with a decent pivoted tonearm, let alone with very good SL tonearms that can be had for similar cost. That's just my own opinion, I say again. The Goldmund turntables are another story.

Hi Mike, I mentioned this in the Goldmund Reference thread
but if you will need any upgrade or repair for your T3
this is the right address: www.rad-akustik.de

Hello Nsgarch,
I recently stumbled into a Studio with a dead Papst motor and repaired the motor. The problem was in the internal electronics and was a no brainer to repair. The only reason I could see that the Papst motor would be unrepairable would be if the internal windings were burnt and that is highly unlikely.

I first thought you were referring to the one on eBay that is being offered by myostuff, but that has a Karat cartridge. The first thing you should check is which motor the TT has. If it's the Pabst, you should absolutely pass. Besides the fact that it has manual speed control through two potentiometers (in other words NO speed control ;~) the motor is a heartbreak waiting to happen. WHEN it fails, it cannot be repaired or replaced, and the quartz-lock JVC motor won't fit the older table -- plus you'd still have to find the printed circuit board controller and alter the old acrylic front panel to make it fit. Sooo, if the TT front panel has two little holes in it (on the right side) that say 33, and 45 (for the speed adjustment pots) you should pass. The T3 arm is OK, but not worth more that $1000 with a PL7 controller (they all say PL6 on the front, but PL-7 is stamped on the S/N plate on the back if it's a PL-7) The T3F arm is better built and holds its settings better, but worth about $1600 with a PL-7 controller. The table by itself with a JVC motor and a pristine dust cover is worth about $1600 - $1800. So $3200 - $3800 for the whole setup, with JVC motor, T-3F arm and all in great condition!

Just FYI Benz has most orders backed up 6 months... the wait for a new Benz Ebony is something like 6 months... you may or may not have to wait that long for a re-tip. I had that same cart. for something like 10 years, it never wore out. The comments about dust and power filtering I would take very seriously. True.

You should pay no more than 50 percent of the original price minus the cartridge which I would say has to be 50 percent less the cost of retipping. You may even be justified in asking for an additional hassel discount for getting the cart retipped. Millguy seems to know some recent transaction data, what I am sugggesting is pretty much my pricing criteria, which it seems it shared by a lot people.

Mike -

I've owned a setup like this for about 20 years. The turntable itself is pretty much bullet proof. The arm is fiddly to set up, but never needs readjustment. The PL6 is way better than its predecessor, but sensitive to power quality. You'll want to make sure that you have a spare arm belt on hand, and that you have the servo plugged into a really good power conditioner by itself. I use the smallest Shunyata. Cleanliness is key. A small amount of dust can cause a problem on the arm cart tracks. The connectors on the back of my T3F are camacs, and I had to reinforce the mounting plate because my cables were too heavy. Not a huge fan of the Benz, but the setup sounds great with a Transfiguration Temper.

I've seen these go recently for up to $6500, but I'm thinking $5000 would be a great buy, if all is up to snuff. If you like machinery as much as I do, you might have the problem of forgetting to listen because you're so fascinated by watching the servo work -- but maybe that's just me.

Happy hunting!

Mark