William907
Active Member
I purchased a used Dual 1009 on an auction site recently.
It was only $17.53 but cost an additional $48.75 for shipping to Alaska.
It was listed as “Non Functional-Parts and Repair” but I had great faith that it was in pretty good shape.
It was quite dirty on top, covered in dust and grime, drops of who-knows-what on it. Hence the name Dirtybird.
But there was something else wrong with it. The headshell looked crooked, the tonearm even looked like it might be bent. Hence the Cockeyed part of the name.
I sent the seller two different messages about how to package the turntable. I specifically mentioned that a piece of the veneer on the plinth was peeling off and I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t lost, because I wanted to glue it back on.
The seller reassured me twice that they shipped lots of these and that they knew what they were doing.
I received the turntable today. It wasn’t pretty. They didn’t extend the shipping screws, now the screws are bent. The tonearm was off of its stand with the headshell looking like it was smashed. And worst of all, that little piece of the veneer was gone.
Mechanically, this turntable seems to be in really good shape. It seems to be fully functional! Cool beans! The idler wheel is missing it’s tire. But that’s an easy fix. The headshell looks like it only needs to be glued in place. The cartridge is now bent and has no needle, but the tonearm is straight.
The spindle seems to have been modified. It looks like there used to be a pin protruding from it that has been ground down. I think it’s supposed to be there so that it can lock the spindle in place.
It changes speeds perfectly. The record size selector seems to work fine. The manual-start-stop selector seems to work also.
We will see if I end up keeping it or if the seller will get it back.
It was only $17.53 but cost an additional $48.75 for shipping to Alaska.
It was listed as “Non Functional-Parts and Repair” but I had great faith that it was in pretty good shape.
It was quite dirty on top, covered in dust and grime, drops of who-knows-what on it. Hence the name Dirtybird.
But there was something else wrong with it. The headshell looked crooked, the tonearm even looked like it might be bent. Hence the Cockeyed part of the name.
I sent the seller two different messages about how to package the turntable. I specifically mentioned that a piece of the veneer on the plinth was peeling off and I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t lost, because I wanted to glue it back on.
The seller reassured me twice that they shipped lots of these and that they knew what they were doing.
I received the turntable today. It wasn’t pretty. They didn’t extend the shipping screws, now the screws are bent. The tonearm was off of its stand with the headshell looking like it was smashed. And worst of all, that little piece of the veneer was gone.
Mechanically, this turntable seems to be in really good shape. It seems to be fully functional! Cool beans! The idler wheel is missing it’s tire. But that’s an easy fix. The headshell looks like it only needs to be glued in place. The cartridge is now bent and has no needle, but the tonearm is straight.
The spindle seems to have been modified. It looks like there used to be a pin protruding from it that has been ground down. I think it’s supposed to be there so that it can lock the spindle in place.
It changes speeds perfectly. The record size selector seems to work fine. The manual-start-stop selector seems to work also.
We will see if I end up keeping it or if the seller will get it back.