Zenith X964 Project

zombiesrbad

New Member
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just picked up this Zenith X964 console off of craigslist. I'd been looking for a cool old system to play my records in the living room, but the wife said she didn't want components all over the place. So this was kind of a compromise.

Got it home and was suprised (shocked, even) at the sound. Not all that detailed, but ballsy and very "analog" and "warm" and "smooth." And, it can get the house shaking pretty good thanks to the 15" woofers.

The bad: the volume/balance stacked/double pot is really wonky, so it's a real chore to get the volume and balance set right. Hoping I can fix that. Also, even thought the tuner sounds great when i play records they're very harsh sounding and lack bass. I think it's just the needle... which I am considering swapping out for a magnetic one in place of the ceramic. Other than that, I plan to attempt a re-cap and to get all the lights working.

Anyway, if anyone has any experience with these please chime in with any advice or comments. I'm hoping Orthophonic happens upon this, I've read a lot of posts about these and he seems to be "the guy" to talk to.
 
Looks like a fun project! Remember if you replace the cart with a magnetic one, you'll need a phono preamp in the circuit; the ceramic puts out a higher voltage output.
 
yeah, I do have a question about that... how much does the quality of the preamp come into play? I'm wondering if i would be better off with another ceramic cartridge than a magnetic with a budget preamp. Are those $40-60 ones any good?

I remember reading a post here that it's hard to find a decent ceramic replacement for this.
 
yeah, I do have a question about that... how much does the quality of the preamp come into play? I'm wondering if i would be better off with another ceramic cartridge than a magnetic with a budget preamp. Are those $40-60 ones any good?

I remember reading a post here that it's hard to find a decent ceramic replacement for this.

Given the nature of your console, I suspect that any phono pre-amp will be sufficient. One thing that might be a concern will be whether or not your record changer will put out RFI that will cause audible problems with a magnetic cartridge; ceramics were immune to that kind of problem, and going to a magnetic cartridge frequently meant that record changer manufacturers had to upgrade to better motors or more shielded ones anyway. Just a thought; I am not an expert on this, just repeating what I have read.

I do not know how hard it is to find a ceramic cart for your changer; it would be easier if we knew what changer make and model you have. I am told that Gary at Voice of Music has many parts for older changers, so that might be a good resource for you.
 
Can shielding be retro-fitted?

I do not know. I have read about people constructing their own makeshift shielding inside the headshell around the magnetic cartridge, but I have no experience with that, so I cannot say if it works or not. In fact, I have no experience with putting magnetic carts inside headshells designed for ceramic carts at all, except I did it once with a Magnavox Collaro record changer. It was easy to physically install the cart, although the mounts were not universal (and yours probably are not either). I did not get around to actually trying it out, however. So this is all based on what I've read.
 
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