Onkyo Direct Drive...

[Stuey]

Hi guys,

I've just picked up a complete Onkyo system from the late 70's, including the original cabinet and speakers, in mint condition. A bit of Deoxit is needed and belts in the cassette deck, but that's it. Oh, and I had to fiddle with the alignment on the T-9 tuner to get stereo reception. This unit will be going in for a professional alignment soon.

My question is about the turntable, a direct drive CP-700m. Is this any good - like, is it comparable with say the Technics direct drives? I can't find anything around on the net.

I haven't tested the playback yet as the cantilever is bent on the cartridge. It has the original Onkyo cart which I may dispose of depending on how it goes. It otherwise works fine, including the strobe.

Cheers

Stuey

[ETI_5000]

It’s a reasonably early direct drive from the look of it – I did a search in Google and found some pictures of one that someone had for sale. It’s certainly hard to find much info on them. The specifications were wow and flutter 0.04% and rumble -70dB, with a platter weight of 1.6kg, and it weighs over 10kg. It certainly doesn’t look like a lightweight unit, but I think that it’s probably just a fairly middle of the road mid to late 1970’s unit. It’s probably not up to the standards of the Technics SL-1200/1300/1400 models, but would be the equal of Technics’ middle of the road direct drives.

Certainly the specifications are not as good as the SL-1200 (W&F 0.025%, rumble -78dB). It’s not always easy to tell from manufacturers’ performance figures, as some brands like Luxman were very conservative with their figures, whereas others probably stretched the truth a bit to gain sales. Onkyo is still around producing decent hi-fi equipment today, particularly home theatre equipment. It’s certainly different from most turntables, so is worth keeping for that reason alone. Chances are it’s a typical good quality Japanese unit which will last for another thirty years! The tonearm and controls actually look pretty good, so it may have been one of their better models, and the weight also suggests it was better than average.

The cartridge is probably a $5 Onkyo branded OEM unit made by Nagaoka or Audio Technica, and they usually weren’t particularly good, even on upmarket Japanese turntables, so are often worth replacing with better quality units. It was one area where the Japanese used to save money by using the cheapest quality cartridges. As many people bought hi-fi equipment by looks, and had never heard decent quality equipment, they got away with it. I remember being asked by a friend's brother, as a technical person who knew something about hi-fi, to help him buy some equipment, but when we got to the dealer, he bought the first el-cheapo system he saw, and only listened to it because I asked them to demonstrate it. It looked impressive, so he was happy!

-Don

[Stuey]

Hi Don,

Thanks for that. Yes, it's certainly a solid thing; quite heavy (10.5kg). I'm going to keep it as a DD to complement my Rega Planar.

The arm on the Onkyo reminds me of the early Planar's, actually - I have the early S shaped arm on mine, not the later RB250/300. And at least it is a replaceable arm and in fact looks like the same sized hole as a Rega. So maybe when I get an RB250 I can give it a go!

The cart is Onkyo's OC33M - whether that's some other maker's I don't know. I note that the owner's manual I got with it has 'Goldring 607' written in it. I guess this could be a replacement stylus, but Goldring's site doesn't show this one, but has similar numbers. There are replacements available, but I'll probably get a new cart.

Anyway, thanks for the comments.

Cheers

Stuey

[Dynacophil]

http://www.audio-extasa.eu/onkyo-cp700m-p-236.html

if it's this one, it looks very ok...

[Stuey]

Yes, that's the one. Mine doesn't have that lovely wood veneer, though - mine has black. Otherwise it's identical. I'd seen that page, as one of the few sites where this table is mentioned.

That black line around the table is a rubber layer, and the four allen headed bolts in the top part of the plinth are surrounded in rubber. I'm guessing this is some sort of noise/resonance control measure, and that the top layer is removeable (it also has a removeable bottom panel to get to the workings as you'd expect).

In all, it's a really nicely built machine.

Cheers

Stuey

[hakaplan]

I'd have to disagree with Don. Earlier Onkyo was not junk. This was a top of the line turntable. How can you tell? It has adjustable VTA--that feature was only included on the top models. Technics non-MK2 models don't even have VTA. As to specs, early turntables have lower specs, later models have higher ones. My guess is that sonically it equals if not betters a Technics. Keep it and enjoy it!

[ETI_5000]

I'd have to disagree with Don. Earlier Onkyo was not junk. This was a top of the line turntable. How can you tell? It has adjustable VTA--that feature was only included on the top models. Technics non-MK2 models don't even have VTA. As to specs, early turntables have lower specs, later models have higher ones. My guess is that sonically it equals if not betters a Technics. Keep it and enjoy it!

I didn't say it was junk anywhere - in fact I said it may have been one of their better models, due to the weight, and the decent looking tonearm.

-Don

[hakaplan]

...I think that it’s probably just a fairly middle of the road mid to late 1970’s unit. It’s probably not up to the standards of the Technics SL-1200/1300/1400 models, but would be the equal of Technics’ middle of the road direct drives.
Fair enough--I'm sorry, I didn't read carefully. This is the statement I disagree with. I see that your opinion of it moderated later in your post.

[Stuey]

I certainly can't complain. I got the above turntable, an A-5 amp, T-9 tuner, TA-630D cassette deck, original Onkyo cabinet and S-8000 3-way speakers - complete with owner's manuals and in mint condition - for.....AU$100 !!! There is literally not a mark on any of the units, front or back.

The only issues were the aformentioned belts on the deck and the tuner realign due to an old VCO pot (done). And one of the speakers has a dodgy woofer, but they aren't the best anyway so I wouldn't have used them. The components are now all cleaned up and working well.

Anyway, I intend to keep the CP-700, for sure.

Thanks all.

Stuey