Sanyo TP 1030UM: pics and question

Satch

Audiotinkerer
For a friend of mine, who wants to start with vinyl, I bought a Sanyo TP 1030UM turntable. Very good looking (IMHO), fully automatic and claimed to be TOTL. It has a two motor system, as is proudly announced on the front: one for the platter and one for the arm. Also included is a built in mirror for the stylus. It also is pretty large with a width of 19".

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But it feels pretty lightweight, and I had to open it anyway because the start/stop button didn't function. It is made out of plastic with a cardboard (well, almost), bottom, and inside there's lots of air.

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Everything is easy accesible though, and easy to service. The problem with the button was easily solved. It works as a spring, and the contacts didn't do what they are supposed to do. A little carefull bending did the trick:

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While I was at it, I changed the electric cord, which was short and used an old fashioned plug. I lubed the bearing, cleaned everything and put damping on the bottomplate. After that I set everything up. The cartridge is the one fitted in the factory. It reminds me a bit of a Stanton:

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After setting it up, I listened. An it didn't sound bad at all! A pleasant surprise I have to admit, easily on a par with my Sansui SR-525 and my Pioneer PL-518X. For 25 euro's a pretty good buy. And a looker to me, I envy my friend a little bit. Some nice touches:

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But anyway: although the cartridge sounds, I feel a new cart might be a wise investment. I was thinking along the lines of a Grado Green or an AT-95, but do you guys have any other suggestions? The arm is a S-shaped, I think it's medium-weight to heavy. Any suggestion is welcome.
 
It's certainly a nice looking tt. Good diagnosing and treatment! :thmbsp: That cartridge looks like a Pickering from the stylus, but the Stanton and Pickering bodies were essentially the same per equivalent line.

I agree that the AT95E, HE, or Sa would be a good match.
 
NICE turntable!

I got a Sanyo TP-1010, and it's belt driven, with a PLL Servo motor. It's semi-automatic, and even though it's apparently cheap, I think it sounds excellent, and it performs flawlessly.

Here's a pic of the ol' rig:
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Also, what is that thing in the bottom left corner?

That's the holder for a cleaning brush, some kind of dustbug. The brush itself is gone, but the holder is glued to the TT. I tried to tear it off, but I was afraid the plastic would get damaged, so I left it on.
 
Sanyo TT's are sleepers...they fly under the high price radar but seem to be great performers.

I have a Plus Series Q-25 and have an older TP-8250 on the way.
 
I'm looking into purchasing this TT and could use some advice. It comes with an AudioTechnica cartridge (no details on this) and is in working order. It also appears to be in good cosmetic condition. What would be a reasonable price? Also, are parts fairly easy to find for the Sanyo TTs? Thanks.
 
I just got a TP-1030 off the ol' ebay. I figured I'd post my thoughts on it for posterity, and for anybody shopping for one of these things in the future.

First off, don't pay a lot. I paid way too much. Anything over $50 *including shipping* is too much, in my opinion. This is a *budget* turntable, even though it looks nice. It is lightweight. Maybe weighs 10 lbs at most. The headshell is cheap and flimsy. You say you want to adjust the vertical tracking angle (VTA)? *Bend* the headshell! That's what the previous owner apparently did. The headshell is a flat piece of aluminum, easily bent. Again, lightweight stuff.

The tonearm seems to be the best part, and appears to be pretty darned good. It's a big thing, fairly massive looking. I think it would be a good match for a Denon DL110 or something of that sort.

The speed control seems pretty good, but not great. Once in a while it drops the speed a little and locks it back in again. I didn't hear it in operation, but it was plainly visible using the platter strobe markings.

The 'table consumes 13 watts of power. Compare that to 14W for the Technics SL1200mk2. Why does this lightweight burn up so much juice? I have no idea. Must be the second motor for the auto-play and auto-shutoff. It must be very inefficient.

I have an SL1200mk2, and that is a much, much slicker, heftier and more smoothly engineered and manufactured piece. The SL1200 is in another league up from the TP-1030. No comparison, sorry.

That said, I spun a record and was pleasantly surprised. I'm going to go in there and lube the main bearing and maybe the tonearm (if it looks easy to do). Let's see how well this thing can play. It's not junk, but it ain't a poor man's 1200, that's for sure.

I hope this helps somebody out there someday.

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PS - The Sanyo TP-1000 looks like the sleeper. I saw it listed on vinylengine.com.

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That cartridge looks like a Pickering from the stylus, but the Stanton and Pickering bodies were essentially the same per equivalent line.

I realize that this is over three years old but what the heck!

Yeah, it really does look like a Pickering but, surprisingly, it's an Audio-Technica. It's an AT-952. I scavenged one of them off of a very low end Fisher that was broken beyond repair. It was one of their OEM cartridges that was included on some low end turntables like the Fisher. The only stylus available for it is a .7 mil conical. It's nothing to write home about but, like other AT cartridges, it isn't really bad at all.

John
 
My TP 1030 also came with the original Pickering cartridge, styli was shot so through on a new headshell and cart, it's identical to the 1030UM as the op pictured except the deck is silver, it's almost impossible to find info on this model
 
I have a silver 1030 as well. Nice little performer, great looks, no trouble with it at all. Matched with a Marantz 2220b and Spica TC-50's it has provided many hours of vynil fun since my Sony PS-X6 went in the 'to be fixed' shelf. Would love the user manual if anyone has it.
 
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