Radiotehnika EP-101 Russian turntable

[djduck]

I went to a re-use center (like a GW or SA) and saw this thing sitting there. The old guy selling that stuff hadn't tested it and had no idea about it's condition so he only wanted €10 for it, but I managed to talk the price down to €5 and bought it. It is missing it's cartridge, but it will accept any newer cartridge so I can just get a new one from a shop.
First thing I did with it was a re-cap and a good cleaning. The tonearm is in a weird condition so I'm going to have to make sure it works. It doesn't want to stay down. It is an interesting turntable, since it has a phono pre-amp built in. It is built like a tank, big beefy transformer, nice power supply, lots of mechanics, etc... It uses a belt-drive system, belt is in good condition.
Here are some pics:

Power board after re-capping






Before cleaning:


After cleaning:



Can't wait to get a cartridge for it and give it a listen.

 

[njcanuck]

That looks very cool! The tone arm is finely balanced and needs the weight of a cartridge to stay down.

 

[djduck]

Yeah, I just figured it out now I put a little capacitor on the end of the tone arm and it pushed it straight down. It's fine, just needs a cartridge. Stylus and tonearm are both in great shape. I looked at some YouTube videos and from what I can tell it sounds very good. I plugged it in and the little light next to the platter or whatever you call it lights up, everything spins fine, mechanics are in good shape and all the buttons work.
Here is a video I found on teh YouTubes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afF3sFSbHSw
Can some mod please move this to the turntable section? I accidentally made this thread into the wrong forum section

 

[Baron K Rool]

I see you're from Estonia. Radiotehnika is a very old Latvian company so there's bound to be a lot of their products around you. Keep a look around, they made (and still make) really good stuff. Especially speakers.

As you've already seen, they over-engineered everything. Too much metal, too much of everything. Ridiculous waste of resources! (The crossover in some speakers could weigh over 5 kg alone!) But I guess everything was "free" during the Soviet era when most of their stuff was made.

 

[djduck]

They used to make stuff in Russia, now it's in Latvia. You are right, there is a lot of this stuff around here, the shop I got it from has like 50 different pieces of old Soviet equipment.

Everything was overbuilt because:
1. They had the best engineers who designed everything to be built like a tank.
2. They didn't want to be inferior to any other companies or countries.
3. Resources. Lots of resources.

I am currently searching for a cartridge. I have to go back to that shop, that old guy who works there said they hove some broken turntable parts in the back, and some cartridges and needles for like €1 per cartridge.

What I really need is that little piece of plastic that goes between the stylus and cartridge, you can attach any cartridge to that piece. Or just see if they have another tonearm with a different cartridge mount.

 

[Baron K Rool]

Radiotehnika actually pre-dates the Soviet Union, and their factory still stands where it always has been - in Riga. It's a terrible-looking building.

If you ever find their amplifiers, stay away. Terrible technology...

They actually exported their old wood radios all across the world. Rigonda were the most popular models, I think.

 

[djduck]

Their amplifiers are not that good because they use a microprocessor controlled input board (Y-101 model amplifier) and it ruins the signal. Actually they sound amazing after you remove the board and replace all electrolytics.

 

[djduck]

I acquired a GZM 105 (original) cartridge for it. It has a little plastic adapter piece that connects it to the stylus. I'm gonna buy a brand new cartridge for it, probably something from Audio-Technica. Now i need to make a DIN - AUX cable for it so I can hook it up to my Samsung L4A amplifier and give it a test listen.

Just finished completely re-capping it, too.

 

[djduck]

Got it just about working. It's too slow. 33 speed LPs were slow even on 45 speed. Turning up the fine tuning pot didn't do much. After about an hour of fiddling with knobs and pots on the motor power supply board and changing the belt, I got it to run a 33 speed LP on 45 setting. Sounds nice actually. Too tired tonight but I'm going to fix that stupid speed issue tomorrow.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufRDDzbYlKM

 

[djduck]

Another video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74b94ny_QB8
I'm actually really surprised of the quality. It sounds really good! Very clean, very detailed, no transformer noise in outputs, etc...

It sounds so good with a stock used cartridge, I just can't wait to buy a new one for it, it will sound even better.

 

[Adda]

Now all you need is a Soviet amp and a pair of GAMMA/Jordanov/Vissokogovoriteli speakers to go with it

 

[Baron K Rool]

200 liter cabinets with 12" Gamma alnico woofers. Should sound like crap, but very cool looking!

Instead, some Radiotehnika speakers would be nice. S-90 or one of its many (many) iterations.

This beast. Hideous, but very nice sound.

And look what you can do with it:

 

[Adda]

200 liter cabinets with 12" Gamma alnico woofers. Should sound like crap, but very cool looking!

Instead, some Radiotehnika speakers would be nice. S-90 or one of its many (many) iterations.

You haven't heard GAMMA woofers then, I have heard them in 50 liter boxes and 100 liter boxes, they sound great.
Both speakers used the BK3013A variant.
I use mine in a 50 liter box in a two way config with the GAMMA VLD-12 ribbon tweeters.
Crossing a 12" woofer at ~2600-3000Hz and getting good sound is pretty rare to say the least.
Search for GAMMA LA1231, you'll see what people think of the updated version of the GAMMA woofers.
As for the VLD-12 ribbons, take a look at AudioTronic speakers, no need to say more.

 

[djduck]

S90 has very good bass response, but I will stick to my B&W, than you very much
B&W DM-310 are smaller, but sound much better and have nicer bass (not deeper but more precise)

I'm not going to get a Soviet amplifier either, my Samsung is much better. Some guy did offer me a Odissey Y-010 amplifier, which is rated for 50 Wpc but built like a 200 Wpc.
He wanted to trade it for a dead Dell Vostro 1310 I have but I'm going to sell that lappy since I really need the money.

It sounds nice as it is, with non-Soviet equipment. You really need to listen to this EP-101 in person, it's got super clean sound.

I will be making another visit to that used stuff store tomorrow, let's see if I can score some more nice pieces of kit fof real cheap.
This TT only cost me 5€, plus 5€ for cartridge and adapter.

 

[Adda]

Right, just thought you might be interested

 

[rlisin]

Don't underestimate Soviet amps. I've recently bought a 1990 Korvet 50U-068 S amp out of plain curiosity, and was really surprised to find it sounding on par with the best amps I've had and have. And I have Rotels, Harmans, Marantzes, Yamahas, Denons, Brauns, Teacs, and the best of British audio (Cyrus, Musical Fidelity, NAD, Arcam, Exposure, Audio Innovations), so it's not an easy competition. Out of all that, only Exposure is clearly better than the Korvet. Granted, the amp I bought was almost a NOS (kept in the box for the last 20+ years and taken out and played only few times over this period), so it is in a much better shape than most of the Soviet era gear.

 

[Adda]

Don't underestimate Soviet amps. I've recently bought a 1990 Korvet 50U-068 S amp out of plain curiosity, and was really surprised to find it sounding on par with the best amps I've had and have. And I have Rotels, Harmans, Marantzes, Yamahas, Denons, Brauns, Teacs, and the best of British audio (Cyrus, Musical Fidelity, NAD, Arcam, Exposure, Audio Innovations), so it's not an easy competition. Out of all that, only Exposure is clearly better than the Korvet. Granted, the amp I bought was almost a NOS (kept in the box for the last 20+ years and taken out and played only few times over this period), so it is in a much better shape than most of the Soviet era gear.

I'd love to see a picture of that, seems very very rare indeed.

Edit: I'm sorry we are getting off topic, stop us if you want to.

 

[djduck]

I don't want to stop your discussion, I love soviet gear!
Take a pic of that amp.

 

[rlisin]

Started a thread on that amp some time ago. Here it is, with pics and schematics.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=552703

And here's one pic, in case you just want to have a quick look:

And I'd love to pair her up with a Soviet TT, or at least a CDP, but these do not surface in Poland. Ever. Pity, because that Radiotehnika TT looks killer.
Soviet speakers do surface here, there are two pairs of RADIOTEHNIKA S-50B on Polish auction site right now, but I have too many speakers as it is.
I do have Soviet orthodynamic headphones though (every bit as amazing as the amp).

Last week I bought another, this time lower end Soviet amp, ROMANTIKA 15-120 C. Saw the name and just couldn't resist Very curious how it will compare to cheap Japs and Germans of the 1980s. I'll start a thread when I get it next week.

 

[Ths364]

Radiotehnika actually pre-dates the Soviet Union, and their factory still stands where it always has been - in Riga. It's a terrible-looking building.

If you ever find their amplifiers, stay away. Terrible technology...

They actually exported their old wood radios all across the world. Rigonda were the most popular models, I think.

Cool table!

Certainly some frightening architecture going on with that Radiotechnica building!