Dual CS-501-1 Estate Sale find

[Wolverine]

Grabbed a Dual 505-1 this morning at a local estate sale. Appears to be in overall good condition. It came with a Audio Technica 3003 cartridge. From what I can see it was not a very high end player but the reviews on Vinylengine seem to like it. I will post a few pics later but for now a couple of questions;

It looks like there are at least 4 versions of the 505 and I have the -1. What are the differences between the -1 and the others?

Is the Audio Technica a decent cartridge for this model or is there a preferred cartridge?

 

[Wolverine]

Got to spend some time cleaning it up and taking a closer look at it. The pitch control belt needs replacing and although it seems good I will probably order the platter belt as well. Not crazy about the plastic base but it is in excellent condition and the turntable floats well on it. Cover is free of scratches though it has faded a bit over the years. Here are some pics.

 

[Grbluen]

I bet that's going to sound nice! Is there some kind of tuning involved like the Thorens, Linn, etc?

 

[Beobloke]

There is no tuning involved as it’s a properly designed turntable!

The CS505 was the budget turntable king in the UK in the 1980s and performs surprisingly well. Yours has the adaptor that allowed it to use conventional cartridges - as standard it would have come with a Dual-badged version of the Ortofon OM10 that clipped in, as the arm was optimised for very low mass cartridges. Later versions went into posher plinths and the headshell became a more conventional removeable type but the DNA remained the same. The last 1980s version was the CS505-4 and it was around £150 IIRC.

Remarkably, you can still buy a new version of the CS505-4 but it’s now around £400 in the UK and, in my opinion, is no longer competitive on a performance to price ratio. It’s still quite a nice thing, though.

 

[Wolverine]

There is no tuning involved as it’s a properly designed turntable!

The CS505 was the budget turntable king in the UK in the 1980s and performs surprisingly well. Yours has the adaptor that allowed it to use conventional cartridges - as standard it would have come with a Dual-badged version of the Ortofon OM10 that clipped in, as the arm was optimised for very low mass cartridges. Later versions went into posher plinths and the headshell became a more conventional removeable type but the DNA remained the same. The last 1980s version was the CS505-4 and it was around £150 IIRC.

Remarkably, you can still buy a new version of the CS505-4 but it’s now around £400 in the UK and, in my opinion, is no longer competitive on a performance to price ratio. It’s still quite a nice thing, though.

Thanks for the info!! I just ordered new belts but it looks like it will take about 10 days to arrive. I also changed out the cartridge and put a Shure M97x on it since it was not in use. Any thoughts on whether that cartridge will work?

Here's a pic with it in its new home.

 

[dcmfan]

These are super easy to work on. I tuned one up while my other table was in for service and was impressed with how good it sounded.

 

[lini]

Wolverine: 505 (decent plinth) and 505-1 (ugly plinth) still were 2nd gen. proprietary ULM mount. Then came the 505-2 (regular: ugly plinth, Deluxe: nice plinth) with the 3rd gen. ULM arm with easily swappable halfinch-mount headshell, then the 505-3 (nice plinth) with heavier platter without strobe marks and another variant of the 3rd gen. ULM arm, but with different, unortunately not easily swappable halfinch-mount headshell and finally the 505-4 (1st gen.), which brought back the easily swappable headshell of the -2 in combination - and as it also sported the heavier platter as well as the best stock cartridge (ULM68E = OM(B)20), the 1st gen. 505-4 can be regarded as the best of the 505ers. Whereas the later generations of the 505-4 were downgraded more and more - first the ULM68E/OM(B)20 was replaced with the OM(B)10 and the platter got a lighter weight ring than the previous lead ring and also lost its good rubber mat for I lighter felt mat, then the headshell was downgraded, so that it's not easily swappable anymore, and in the meantime Fehrenbacher also ran out of the original inner gimbal frame for the 3rd gen. ULM arm, so that the current version comes with the inner gimbal frame of the low-profile version of the 3rd gen. ULM arm (as introduced with the 530 and then also used on quite a few other models like for example the 620Q/630Q (2225Q/2235Q) or the 450/455...). And the current incarnation also sports a different plinth - which some may like even better than the previous plinth, but for my taste it rather looks too luxurious now, given that the 505-4 as such isn't such a neat table anymore.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Wolverine]

Wolverine: 505 (decent plinth) and 505-1 (ugly plinth) still were 2nd gen. proprietary ULM mount. Then came the 505-2 (regular: ugly plinth, Deluxe: nice plinth) with the 3rd gen. ULM arm with easily swappable halfinch-mount headshell, then the 505-3 (nice plinth) with heavier platter without strobe marks and another variant of the 3rd gen. ULM arm, but with different, unortunately not easily swappable halfinch-mount headshell and finally the 505-4 (1st gen.), which brought back the easily swappable headshell of the -2 in combination - and as it also sported the heavier platter as well as the best stock cartridge (ULM68E = OM(B)20), the 1st gen. 505-4 can be regarded as the best of the 505ers. Whereas the later generations of the 505-4 were downgraded more and more - first the ULM68E/OM(B)20 was replaced with the OM(B)10 and the platter got a lighter weight ring than the previous lead ring and also lost its good rubber mat for I lighter felt mat, then the headshell was downgraded, so that it's not easily swappable anymore, and in the meantime Fehrenbacher also ran out of the original inner gimbal frame for the 3rd gen. ULM arm, so that the current version comes with the inner gimbal frame of the low-profile version of the 3rd gen. ULM arm (as introduced with the 530 and then also used on quite a few other models like for example the 620Q/630Q (2225Q/2235Q) or the 450/455...). And the current incarnation also sports a different plinth - which some may like even better than the previous plinth, but for my taste it rather looks too luxurious now, given that the 505-4 as such isn't such a neat table anymore.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

Sehr Gut!!

Danke!

 

[Wolverine]

The new belts arrived today. Any tips on the easiest/best way to install them?

 

[dcmfan]

The new belts arrived today. Any tips on the easiest/best way to install them?

I watched a couple of YouTube videos:

Main Belt (and how to remove platter):

Pitch Belt (and how to get under the plinth)

 

[Wolverine]

Thanks DCMfan these are perfect!!

 

[dcmfan]

Thanks DCMfan these are perfect!!

 

[Wolverine]

New belts are in place and the vinyl is spinning. Picking up a little hum as I think the left RCA has a issue due to cracked surround which I think a little bit of electrical tape will fix. Other than that it's a good little table. It won't replace the SL-1700 but it is going to be a fine occasional and backup player.

 

[Artie]

Wolverine: 505 (decent plinth) and 505-1 (ugly plinth) still were 2nd gen. proprietary ULM mount. . . . .

Thanks Manfred. I know this is an old thread, but I just pulled my CS-505-1 out of the catacombs, and was wondering the same thing.

Thanks;
Artie