Sony PS-X7 direct drive, slipping at 33 RPM

Lewm and Johnss, thanks very much for your input. I really appreciate it. I'll start looking into finding an electronics shop that can do this sort of stuff.

best regards

Lewm is correct. replacing the caps may be an option.

May not hurt to make sure the spindle is lube'd and the platter spins freely by hand too.

This series was really built well. No reason it should not outlast the average person.

One more thing. All the electrolytic caps in your turntable electronics are likely to be as old as the table itself. Thirty plus years is ancient for an electrolytic capacitor. It is quite possible that one or more of these caps is leaky, which could cause weird malfunction, such as what you are experiencing, or could result in the destruction of an irreplaceable IC or transistor. I suggest you consider replacing all the electrolytics. New ones of much higher quality than those available in the 70s are cheap. If you don't know how to solder, get someone to do it for you. It does not require a lot of deep thought.

Ekobesky. Wow, what a fast and thorough response. I do have the old manual, and I even think I have the shematics. I'll take a look to address your suggestions. Thank you much!!!

There are a few possibilities:

(1) That some components on the circuit board have failed or gone out of spec. This may be fixable provided you can find a service manual and equivalents.

(2) That the platter system is damaged. The Sony X7 had a series of magnetized markings on platter's outer edge which are "read" by a tape head. The tape head feeds that info to the speed circuitry. If the markings are obscured or damaged, or the tape head is gunked up, it may not be sending proper readings. CAREFULLY examine and perhaps clean both.

(3) Like any motor, the Sony's needs some lubrication. Find a service manual and see if you can clean out the old stuff, what to replace it with and where the lubrication needs to go. Bearings can get damaged too.

The X7 was a very good (if butt ugly) table. It's worth fixing if you can do it for under, say, $200.

I think -- but can't guarantee -- that the only real difference between the X6 and X7 was the tonearm. You can probably pick up an X6 as a parts unit fairly cheaply and use it as an organ donor if necessary.