Phonoland

I recently finished restoring a Maggy Concert Grand and decided to see about updating the record changer to a magnetic cartridge for several reasons. The 1st reason was that it seems that the ceramic cartridges tend to pick up the sound of the motor/mech of the changer. So - I had a somewhat newer Maggy/Collaro changer which had fairly easy cartridge mount. After some experimenting I decided on a Shure SC35C Cartridge which tracks at about 4.5 grams. Works great. It is feeding a $15. stereo preamp which to my ears is just fine. Earlier I had tried a new Shure M44-7 cartridge and found that the needle was not quite stiff enough to absorb the needle landing on the record when operated by the automatic mechanism. I did like the slightly higher output voltage but decided to trade the better automatic operation for the slightly lower output. With the amplifiers in this thing I can still get quite sufficient volume to shake the timbers. I wonder why Maggy never switched over to magnetics. Possibly these were still quite more expensive than the ceramic cheapies. And $$$ always wins out.

Magnavox did have some magnetic pickups. But they needed a cue control before they were reliable enough, because they were much easier to damage by fumble-fingered use. And they sold under the Collaro name (which they owned) a precision record changer component, the PH 1252.

A few notes about the record changers involved:

- The normal tracking force of the ceramic cartridges used in the Micromatic changers was in the range of 2 to 3 grams from 1961 on. If that is not enough tracking force, there are some adjustments that might be misadjusted, causing the arm control parts to drag on the change cycle cam.

- I am using a Shure M44-E (and have used the N44-7 in it), and have had no trouble (at up to 3 grams) with damage to the pickup cantilever from the pickup setting on the record. But, until I gained some practice, I was damaging them from trying to play a record manually.

- If the pickup is getting unwanted sound from the motor or the changer mechanism, a magnetic pickup picks them up just as much as ceramic pickups does. Check the following:

--- Has the turntable mat hardened? I was able to soften mine with Caig CaiKleen RBR. And I put a thin foam rubber mat under the regular turntable mat to further minimize such sounds.

--- Check the suspension springs of the turntable. I stuffed some foam rubber in mine to damp it.

--- Is the muting switch malfunctioning? It should short out the cartridge during the change cycle.

- Collaro changers have a rubber insert in the turntable bearing. This rubber may have hardened. CaiKleen works here too.

- Is the idler wheel hardened or damaged?

- Have the rubber motor mounts hardened?

- Is the lube on the motor bearings exhausted?

Great information on the Collaro changers from Magnavox. The original changer in my console is from about 1959. It does have the record size seeking function and was actually working very well. I had replaced both idlers with redone units and the speed and change cycle were working quite well, as was the mute switch. I'm sure the turntable mats were probably quite hardened and I may try to soften them up, or put in a spacer. Not sure which turntable bearing you are referring to. Maybe one of the washers in the stack down from the chassis, up thru the ball bearing assembly, and then onto the turntable itself? I seem to remember a black section/piece which was quite close to the top, or usually remained with the turntable when it was lifted from the spindle.

At this point, I am going to leave the Micromatic changer I'm using in place because it is working so well. I made a new motor board and sized it to fit right over the original space. This changer came from a later Maggy console with those nasty transistors. I'm using a Shure SC35 and it is fantastic. I can turn the bass switch on high as well as the other controls and have zero feedback or rumble. It seems that the suspension on these later changers was quite improved, and the turntable platter was much heavier than the earlier versions. Tracks perfectly and operates automatically flawlessly. For the present, I think I'm going to just enjoy listening to the many discs, mostly classical, that I've accumulated.

Thanks for your input and comments.

Until late 1961, the Collaro Conquest had no rubber parts at all in the motor mount. I put some rubber washers in mine which improved performance greatly.

That black ring in the turntable bearing is the rubber insert.