I'm not really familar with the BSR/McDonald TTs- are they any good?

Looks can be deceiving- the BSR/McDonalds look unimpressive, but then again, so does the early Phillips and Duals, at least to me.

So... :thmbsp: Or :thumbsdn: ???

I'm not really familar with the BSR/McDonald TTs- are they any good?

Is this something that came with a happy meal? If so, I'm sure that the hamburglar can vouch for its quality... :D

I'm not really familar with the BSR/McDonald TTs- are they any good?

Looks can be deceiving- the BSR/McDonalds look unimpressive, but then again, so does the early Phillips and Duals, at least to me.

So... :thmbsp: Or :thumbsdn: ???

:thumbsdn: I owned several of these back in the 70's before I could afford better. Definitely price-point products, and not something I look back on fondly.

Awful. The only TT I've ever actually thrown out.
Big ol' thumbs-down.
Dan

I think they are better than the equivalent Garrards at the same pricepoints, but they are a large part of the reason most consumers thought that CDs were perfection.
I think the top BSRs -- the 810 and 710 (I think those are the model numbers) were actually pretty interesting. They used a camshaft for the automatic mechanism, but this seems to have a bad reputation (though like the camshaft in the Petri SLRs, the problem may have been repair people not being used to them). The arms seemed fairly promising, and it had dramatically nicer aesthetics than the downmarket BSRs.

I have repaired more than a thousand of them over the years. The secret is to remove most or all of the original lubricants and then to selectively apply oil and several types of grease to the various bearings. Frankly, most techs don't have the patience to do a full-on service.

When this is done, as a turntable the machine will function in a very average fashion, suitable for inexpensive cartridges -- e.g. Audio-Technica AT3600.

HOWEVER -- and this is significant -- once the BSR/McDonald is properly serviced, it will function fairly well as a changer. And some of my customers (especially older folks) WANT a changer rather than a single-play machine. If you stick a ceramic cartridge on it, with an LP/78 flipover stylus, the machine becomes extremely versatile.

Fred Longworth

Thanks, guys!

That brings back memories. The "plastic BSR" changer was as common as dirt. I had one when I was about 13 or 14. They were in practically every cheap console and all-in-one, as well as component versions masquerading as hi-fi.

Some time back another AKer posted pics of a bunch of new-in-the-box hi-fi equipment in a warehouse. Among all the stuff, most of which was recognizable and desirable, was a BIG stack of these BSR changers.

Mine I got used. It was in a Radio Shack plinth. I was using it with a really cheap Magnavox reciever and some GE speakers. It was horrible, but these tables were sort of taken seriously back then, or at least people were hooking them up to nice recievers and trying to play records on them.

I tried to improve it. I found it a single-play spindle, a wide headshell and a couple of adapters to get a Shure (standard mount) magnetic cartridge mounted to it. I had some rubber goo for dampening around the drive rim, and some mag wheel tape weights on the underside of the platter. I cut some plastic off the rim so it would run at the right speed. I had felt dots all over the top of the platter so the hard plastic wouldnt beat up the records. It was better (or at least it rumbled less, and ran closer to the right speed), but...... still worse than practically anything else.

I finally pitched it in a dumpster when I was moving about 6 years ago. You cant polish a turd.

John