JVC QL-5 rebuild

[Old-School]

After all my ranting, I'm happy to say that the rebuild of my JVC QL-5 is underway. Thought I would make a post to outline the work. Get out the popcorn, and come along and ride on this fantastic voyage.

I bought my QL-5 on a popular auction site. It was damaged, the cabinet was falling apart, but said to be working. The price was right. I bid and won. A week later it showed up in a huge box, very well packed.. wouldnt you know it on something that was already damaged!
The original plinth was particle board covered with shiny plastic laminate, and looked like it had seen some water damage. The joints were separating, the particle board was flaking apart, the laminate was lifting, it was shot. On top of that the feet were missing, along with the tonearm rest. I thought I was going to be able to salvage it, but it was just too far gone. It did come with a Stanton 727 cart and an original Stanton D72E stylus in usable condition, along with the tonearm and shell. The tonearm I planned to use but it has the droopy weight syndrome, and one of the wires broke when I de-soldered it from the jumper block. I took it apart, pulling the drive unit then the arm. I also saved the name plates. I found a date of 1982!!

 

[Old-School]

Some of the nice people on here offered to make me a plinth, even trading some stuff for the work. I wont call names, but you know who you are, and I thank you for the offer.
I looked around on some websites for custom plinths. It was all more than I want to spend on this unit. I'm pretty handy with wood, and I have tons of stuff laying around. So off to check on some material and see whats out there. I found a 6 foot section of counter top, with some decent Formica on top. I had got it for free when someone threw it out, and was going to make a workbench out of it. That never happened, and its been sitting in my shop for years and years. I also had some nice mahogany rails from a thrift store, left overs from a defunct furniture manufacturer. I had bought several since the wood was so pretty and I thought I might use it one day. Again many years ago. Lastly some 2x4's that were painted black, left over from a rack project.
Just like the flux capacitor, it came to me in a vision and I could see the finished project.
My table saw is in storage. So no way to make precise cuts. I dont want a crappy job. So I use a skill saw and get the 6 foot section to a manageable length. Pull the mahogany and the 2x4's out and make a pile. Take my old plinth and make a cardboard cutout of the top. Scribble a few dimensions on the underside of the wood.
My son works in a wood shop making doors. So I sent the pile of wood to work with him. A few texts exchanged. He uses their high end equipment and zips the pieces to size and knocks it up on their assembly table.

 

[Old-School]

I order some nice feet online, and waiting for them to get here. Meanwhile I mark out my hole for the drive unit and have to pull the box apart to make the cut. The sides get sanded down, and I start staining. My signature color. Antique green.

 

[Old-School]

After much hair pulling and an enormous effort I finally scored a tonearm. With cable. And another cart! So I wont be using the original tonearm. Its on its way in. Pics when it gets in. A Sumiko Premier MMT, which is made by Jelco. Cart is Grado Black. Not sure exactly which one yet. And thats where I am as of right now.

 

[Old-School]

Stain day 2. Antiquing. Heres where the magic happens. Finish coat tomorrow. Then hopefully start final assembly.

 

[Old-School]

In between home projects, Oktoberfest's, cleaning up after a storm I finally had some time to work on this project. Here it is all glued up for the final time. Side panels are all finished up and the front facing wood had several coats of gloss black lacquer.

 

[Old-School]

The next job was to get the drive unit mounted. The power transformer had to be relocated since it was hitting the new cabinet brace, and I re-used the original strain relief also. My new feet finally came in from the banana boat, and I got them mounted up. And yes, the lawn mower and washing machine both make usable work surfaces! LOL

 

[Old-School]

Now to mount the tonearm. I then double and triple checked the measurements. This arm and the original are almost exactly the same length. I downloaded the manual for my tonearm and using tape markers and measuring tape I drew out the lines. Next I made another template of the original arm mounting location. I'm sure Victor Of Japan did their math and had a good reason for mounting the arm where they did. Luckily both measurements were nearly the same, so I didnt have to do a lot of brain cell burning. I had to get creative for the ground wire, and cut a recessed hole for the wire to connect to the bolt and nut for the mounting flange. Then the arm was dropped in place, I did a quick half way height adjustment and locked it down.

 

[Old-School]

For a finishing touch I re-installed the original name plates, JVC logo and number plate. It was only fitting IMO. No reason not to.
HERE is the finished product.

 

[Old-School]

Here it is installed into its new home. I'm sure there will be some tweaking needed, and I will more than likely get a new cart. For a phono preamp I got this Audio Research PH3se. The digital front end is ARC and the analog might as well be too. I havent fired it up yet. I have to take turntable battles one day at a time. I'm feeling pretty good about this little project.. so I want to admire its looks, then take the final step!!!!!!
More pics and updates soon! Stay tuned.

 

[sanlanman]

Nice job reviving that JVC QL 5. You have basically made it into a QL50 (armless QL5 with arm boards) In my upstairs system I run a QL50 with that same Premier MMT tonearm. I rotate cartridges through it, but am a fan of the now defunct late production Empire cartridges, and currently have an Empire 500ID cartridge with new old stock S55e stylus and love the detailed sound. Be on the lookout for the adjustable collar for the Premier MMT that allows you to raise/lower the tonearm on the fly to change the VTA.

 

[Old-School]

Thanks. And thanks for the cart info. My arm came with a height adjustable collar, so that was good. Looks like that Empire is kind of hard to find, but if I see one I will definitely give it a try. I have heard that the Grado is not good on DD.. I will definitely find out soon.
I really like the Ortofon Concorde, I'm sure the one from my technics will make an appearance on there too..

 

[sanlanman]

Good, another good Empire cart for it is the slightly older "blob on clip" series 2000/eIII. These can be found on thebay and other places. The gold body 2000/eI and 2000/eII are essentially the same as a 2000/eIlI. Its the stylus that makes the difference.New old stock styli are the best but alas, almost none existent however very good aftermarket styli are available for this cart body, but always go for the clear body stylus which is supposed to indicate eIII, not eI, or eII but in reality may be nothing different than the color of the plastic. Jico makes a good aftermarket stylus as well as ones sold on the Voice of Music and LP gear websites. This suggestion may be out of your price range, but I had an Ortofon 2m Bronze in my table that sounded good too.

Suggestion: Find Organ Donor Parts and see what they have for used cartridges.

 

[Old-School]

After the better part of 2 months I am finally able to play the QL-5! So big day here today.
I had to plan a whole day to move stuff around. Get all the interconnects installed. Power cables. A new light? Thats old age for ya. Cant see jack in there.
The good news is that it all worked right off the bat. No problems at all. Noise? Whats that? Its quiet as a church mouse idle.
The PH3se I got used, and never had a chance to test it until today. Working fine, thank goodness. With Sovtek 6922's in it.
Had to do a little fiddling with the tracking force and antiskate, and I'm sure it needs some more fine tuning, but it does work as is. The used Grado Black that was on that arm even worked?
Huh? I must be living right.
Anyway.. how does it sound?? I need more time to listen and compare. But as of right now I can tell you that it sounds mighty fine. Maybe a little midrange heavy. But detailed for sure.
Here it is running. Man, I need a beer.

 

[Old-School]

OK so out of the 3 used cartridges I have, I tested them all. All work. And here is what I found.
#1 : Grado Black. Came with the tonearm when i got it. Unknown age and past. Looks like it had a rough life. Detailed. Smooth. Not as much output as the others.
#2 : Stanton L727, with D72E. Came with the turntable! Unknown past but looks and sounds pristine. Man this thing sounds good. A touch brighter than the Grado. But nice sound over all.
#3 : Ortofon Concorde with nightclub s. This is by far the winner. To me anyway. Lots of bass, clear. Not overly bright. Sure maybe its for DJ use.. but who cares if it sounds good? I bought it brand new and for the most part took good care of it.
So I will definitely get another cart. But Im in no rush now. I will continue to try out what comes my way.

 

[Old-School]

Man, its like a ghost town over here. I guess I urinated everybody off with my rant in the turntable hating post! LOL Welp, I cant go anywhere without making waves!
At any rate, if it wasnt for this site I'm sure I never would have even got back to vinyl at all. Pissed off or not! It is a lot of work to spin vinyl. And a lot of money.
News flash! As the light outside got all dark and fuzzy in the night time hours I came to a realization. The Ortofon Concorde is not the best sounding cart in this rig. Its massive output overloads the input in my phono stage. The midrange gets a slight distortion to it. The Stanton (out of the 3 I have) sounds best. It lacks the bass of the Concorde, but sounds a little more clear.. I'm thinking I might go with @sanlanman advice and get a Ortofon 2m.
I did check out the organ grinder site, and didnt come up with anything I recognized. Hey, I've been out of vinyl for over 20 years! Cut me some slack!

 

[M Chavez]

Stanton is good

 

[Old-School]

yea

 

[tcdriver]

Very nice write-up. I like what you did with your QL-5.

 

[sanlanman]

A worthy but somewhat expensive addition to the turntable is a used good condition AT Safety Raiser model at6006 or one of the newer devices that does the same thing. If I am up moving around when the album finishes, the raiser will lift the tonearm and I will get back to the turntable when its convenient. That direct drive is fairly robust. Also, make sure you have very good dampening feet on that TT rebuild; IE something make with medium density rubber or sorbothane to deaden vibrations.