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Jelco 250st on Sota Comet worth a rewire?

Hi everyone,

i recently acquired a Sota Comet I with a Jelco 250st on my local craigslist for $50. The motor runs dead quiet, platter spins at accurate speeds, and cosmetically the table is in excellent shape. The reason it was so cheap was the owner had removed the internal tonearm wire to rewire it, and gave up on the project. The way I see it I have three options, pay $200-$300 for a rewire, buy a used tonearm to drop in (mounting distance would need to match), or just resell it as it is.

I also have a Thorens TD 160 which I am very happy with and have slowly been modding with plans to upgrade the tonearm. I bought the Sota table because it was so cheap and if it didn’t outperform the Thorens once fixed, I would sell it and use the funds for a tonearm upgrade on the thorens, or just mount the fixed Jelco onto the Thorens.

I guess I am just looking for advice as to whether to proceed with fixing or replacing the Jelco tonearm or just offering it with the Sota table for sale as is.

Thanks in advance!
Matt
mcwatson
3 responses Add your response
simao's avatar
simao
1,819 posts
 
Jelcos are really good - and for $50 you got a steal of a deal. If there's an electronics shop in your area, they can rewire the arm and probably charge you their bench fee as it won't take them too long to do it.
mcwatson OP
7 posts
 
Thank you for your response, very helpful. It looks like the Jelco still has the original din plug in place. 

I mainly bought this thinking I’d rewire the tonearm and try it on my Thorens. If the Jelco is a good tonearm I still might go that route. 
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
rewiring a turntable is not a big deal for the person who is even slightly electrically and mechanically handy, so sell it with the arm.

Do not scrap the arm. That is a good arm. Rewiring is an hour, maybe two, for a competent turntable person. Parts (arm wire) are no more than $20-40 delivered.

Resell it as is or sell the arm as needing a re-wire. I’d not mind doing a re-wire, if I was trying to buy the table. One lazy afternoon later, I’d have a perfectly functioning table and arm combo. Leaving the arm on it, will drive up the resale price of the table, as the ’re-wire competent’ will flock to the table. Looking for bargains, of course. It depends on if the base pillar plug has the original jelco plug in the base, or not. the male din connector, that is inset into the jelco arm pillar and is set screw locked into place... is what I'm talking about.
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