Lenco tables


I've read so many excellent, almost unbelievable threads on how good a modded lenco table sounds, that i talked my friend into buying one, and now he is mad at me, because he had only two words to describe his new purchase, "it sucks" !! whats up, why oh why, did you lead me down the wrong path ???
readster

Showing 1 response by lewm

Properly upgraded, the Lenco idler drive (I don't know whether the L78SE is an idler drive; Lenco did make some belt drives) will compete with very high end turntables.  I am not going to put a dollar limit on the value of tables it competes with, because in any case that will be a subjective judgement.  You ought to be reading Lenco Heaven website to get ideas how to upgrade most cost effectively. Key areas to address are (1) the tonearm; best to get rid of it but there are ideas how to make it work better, (2) the chassis; John Nantais is a leader in how to stiffen and damp the OEM chassis, but you can also replace it entirely with a steel frame, a la Peter Reinders, (3) the idler wheel; there are fancy replacements for the OEM idler wheel, but I preferred to keep mine original as it is very light in rotating mass and that is what you want.  Many of the aftermarket idler wheels are much heavier than OEM; (4) plinth; I use slate because slate was in fashion when I did mine.  Baltic birch plywood is another favorite. Peter Reinders makes a Corian plinth; (5) Platter. Many ideas here. I had mine painted in a vibration reducing paint.  (6) Platter mat. Have fun with that. (7) Motor controller. Definitely worth the added cost. (8) Platter bearing. Check out the aftermarket bearings discussed at Lenco Heaven. I use a massive bearing made in the UK.

In the end, I have nothing left from the original Lenco except the motor, the idler wheel, and the painted platter.  I use a Phoenix Engineering motor controller and Roadrunner tachometer that feeds back to the motor controller to maintain exact speed. Unfortunately, PE is out of business per se but you can possibly adapt the Eclipse system from SOTA, since Bill Carlin of PE designed it.