Thanks for your responses . The verdict is quite clear about old Dual 1228. I will not do for upgrade of cartridge as not worth it.
I will consider again if I am wanting to go into this serious business of Analog , and if I decide to go I will put a starting budget of $3000 for a new TT and cartridge , and further $500-1000 down the road for a used phono preamp . But I have to first make up my mind if its my cup of tea.
Thank you , ebm, orpheus10 and tooblue .
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Yogiboy,
will Shure M97XE be a good upgrade over my current Shure M95ED ? M97XE is only $100 , so I don't mind buying it even if there is noticeable improvement . Will M97XE fit on my Dual 1228 arm ?
Thanks
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I wish to decide for a new cartridge between Shure M97XE and Audio Technica 440 MLb . With my limited knowledge , I take it that both carts are suitable to be fitted on tone arm of my Dual 1228 without much difficulty.
I will sure appreciate views from here , especially from yogiboy , mesch, normansizemore . Between the two carts , which one would you suggest?
After new cart , I will test the water for few months or a year at the most , see if I am drawn into analogue , then go for a new TT and new phono
Thanks guys for all your help. |
I just ordered a JICO Stylus SHURE N95HE ( Hyper Elliptical ) which will fit onto my current cartridge M95ED , I hope it should give sound improvement. It should arrive within a week. I will order a new Cart Shure M97 or AT soon.
Thanks to you all FMs , for your valuable help to understand this issue and make a decision. I was kind a shaky to start this topic or ask here , but I am happy to note that FMs have been very forthcoming in sharing their experience, knowledge and helping . That's what I like about this community.
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Thanks Norman,
JICO SAS stylus was very expensive for me, so I settled for JICO N95HE.
Thanks for suggesting about spare "headshells" for Dual , I will search for them on eBay . Sounds worth having them.
Where to get Dual Alignment Gauge , what price ?
I did oil the TT at places as per chart in the service manual . I used 3 in 1 machine . But I will see about putting some oil on bearing if not already done by me. |
I remember that my Dual 1228 when purchased from a dealer , it came with the cartridge M95 ED already fitted on it . I have never removed or loosened the mounting screws or tried to remove cart from shell. So chances are it is fixed properly. So I will download a protractor and then check if cart fitting is ok, then decide further.
Yesterday I recalibrated or readjusted from scratch the tone arm , counter balance, strobe, and set the tracking force at 1.25 ( from 1.5) , fresh Shure stylus RS 9E is fitted only week ago ( I had one in spare from the time I bought Dual ) . To my surprise , there was a great improvement in sound , background noise came down , which even my wife noticed and told me without even my asking .
I think Dual is doing great for me for now. I am happy till upgrade bug strikes, but otherwise journey with Dual will happily continue . |
normansizemore,
I noted with interest your remark that :
"When I shut off my Dual, the platter will spin on its own for a good two or three minutes. That is excellent engineering."
That prompted me to clock my own Dual 1228 platter , it recorded 1 minute 55 seconds ( 1.55 minute) before platter came to halt . What does it indicate in terms of health of bearing , lube , cleaning and engineering in general ? How good or how ordinary ? With this 1.55 minute, do I need to open the thrust bearing and clean , lube it ? Any ideas you guys can throw ?
Can I upgrade on platter on my Dual ? Any options ?
Lastly : guys , this thread is turning out really interesting for vintage TT owners giving lots of info on how to bring their vintage TT to perform many steps up the ladder of excellence . Very valuable contributions from all FMs here .
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Norman,
the link on Linn LP12 given by you makes really some hard but very interesting reading for new anolog enthusiast like me . Also it is kind of eye opener demanding more neutral and realistic self assessment, of any audio gear for that matter , in future rather than be simply or solely driven by so called reviews . I did not know of this guy Arthur Salvatore , but he sure has lot to offer to audio community .
Thanks for bringing up this here. |
playpen,
I have just done very similar cleaning only last night on my Dual . I took out the headshell , disconnected the 4 delicate wire leads from cartridge pins , Deoxit with N5 type first then with 100 % solution to clean all 4 pins of cart, and the 4 brass clips of lead wires ( I used thin paint brush to apply it within the tiny holes), left them overnight for chemical actions of corrosion removal. Now since you mentioned , I will even clean with toothpick . It is kind a difficult to clean the inside surface of "clips" which is the real contact area. Then apply Deoxit Gold with brush. I did not thought of cleaning the " stylus tube", but will sure clean it tonight before reassembling it tomorrow.
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Norman,
"
Enjoy your Dual, when you can, and only if you feel the need too, upgrade. But make sure the upgrade is an actual upgrade in sound, not just in cost."
Yes, I am really enjoying my Dual as of now and find it more and more musical and wish to spend more time listening to it. As it happened , my CD Transport has gone for some repairs for last 3 weeks and that forced me to use Dual TT for consistently longer period. Now looks like I have started to discover the beauty of analog sound.
My new JICO stylus will be arriving before end of this month and may add to the pleasure of listening.
Looks like I am fine with this Dual for the time being . Future upgrade , after a year may be , will surely be, like you wisely advised , " on merit of sound , and not just cost".
I have one question : despite cleaning of cartridge , stylus , etc, my Dual still makes "thud" noise ( through speakers ) when the tonearm lifts at the start and again when stylus sits on the leading groove of the record . During the play of entire record , there is absolutely no issues. "thud" nose is unpleasant (and scary at higher volume level !) . What could be the problem and how to solve it ? suggestions will be welcome.
Thanks
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Thanks Norman,
I will sure try to replace that capacitor ASAP. I will be very happy if this solves the problem .In the mean time , I am turning the volume down at the start of the play. I have the service manual of 1228 , but could not find solution to my problem .
I also got my JICO stylus N95HE yesterday , within 4 days from shipment from Japan , and had it installed on my current cartridge Shure M95ED . So far Only briefly listened to it , and for first 15 -20 minutes I did not find any improvement , but for next 1 hour I found it much better , I noticed I never heard some of my familiar tracks like this before. I think I am going to be very happy with this stylus.
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Reg replacing the faulty capacitor in power supply side of Dual 1228:
I have not opened the TT yet as I am traveling . But from search it appears that it is a capacitor of value 0.068 uf / 250 v . In this value there is hardly any availability, or very limited . My question is , can I not use slightly higher value cap of say , 0.1 uf of 250 v or 400v or 630v ? Reg higher voltage it is safe to use, but can I use 0.1 uf in place of 0.068 uf ? I guess , as the cap is in power supply line it should be ok to use slightly higher value of capacitance , only it can help , but cannot harm . In 0.1 uf , there are many options available.
Can anyone confirm if I can use .1 uf in place of .068 uf ?
Thanks |
Your TT most likely only needs cleaning , and lubricating. It has set for many years, so some grease is dried up or the lube is lost. So all moving parts need through wiping, cleaning with alcohol and fresh lube or grease . Electrical and RCA contacts also needs cleaning, etc.
You can DIY if have any liking and time for it. In that case there are good videos on You Tubes.
For service : I find ( on google search ) two places in NY area :
1. DJ Fix, 343 Broadway , Brooklyn
2. Analogique Service Lab, 27 W 20th St. # 406.
I have no experience of these shops , but appear worth visiting to try. Better to call them before going if they will take up Dual 1228 for service .
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I visited website of fixmydual.com . They are prefect, in my opinion, for service of a Dual TT. Charges seem to be reasonable ( $150 - 175 plus shipping ) .They seem to be located in Austin , TX. |
rwmeditz, I feel happy that your efforts to restore your Dual TT paid off well. My experience has also been similar. I had replaced the old stylus with a JICO ( Japan) stylus model N95HE , cost me $96 plus shipping cost $15 , and got it delivered to me in less than 5 days. It sounds amazing! I was , initially, going to change the cartridge, but got some useful advice from this forum to first only change the stylus. And it has worked so well for me. I would suggest to consider to go for such stylus repalcement in future whenever it is right time for you. BTW, website of JICO is worth visiting : https://www.jico-stylus.com/index.php Enjoy your Dual TT! |
