High End Record Changers

Just curious for all the console gurus, which record changers were considered at the high end of the spectrum?

Duals made in Germany are a top choice.
As well as Miracord, another German maker.

Garrards are decent too.
The Technics/Panasonic line of multi-stack changers are also better quality.

And to dispell an old wives tale, stacking records is not a bad thing, it never was.
It was a tale told by someone decades ago to promote single-play turntables, most likely for marketing reasons.
Brainwashing.

Modern LP records are made with a raised edge and label to prevent the recorded groves from touching when stacked.
Clean records free of dust also contributes to safe stacking.
I don't know anyone who plays records with a pound of sand on them anyway.

Agree with Matt, Miracord, Dual, Technics. The belt drive changer used in the top of the line 60's Zeniths was very nice.

O also agree stacking doesn't damage records, it can make them dirtier, just be sure to clean them afterward.

I believe the tale of changers damaging records dates back to the old knife and blade changers used in the 30's and early 40's,
those would chip and break records if they were not perfectly flat.

orthophonic wrote:Agree with Matt, Miracord, Dual, Technics. The belt drive changer used in the top of the line 60's Zeniths was very nice.

O also agree stacking doesn't damage records, it can make them dirtier, just be sure to clean them afterward.

I believe the tale of changers damaging records dates back to the old knife and blade changers used in the 30's and early 40's,
those would chip and break records if they were not perfectly flat.

Right, Ortho.
Those old changers were lovingly called "record slicers", among other names.

My vote for a real nice changer would be the Technics SL-1650.
It's got all the bells & whistles, and style too.
Rare to find one with the auto-stack spindle though.

I've been reading up a little on changers. Matt has already hit the major "good" ones, but on a record changer website, I came across some highly recommended ones from the glory days of the 50's and 60's.

- The highest recommended Garrards were the AT models, 6, 60, etc.
- Glaser Steers GS-77 and GS-400. These were found also labeled as Capehart, Philco, GE, and some others.
- Most Collaros with the arm that taps the record. From about 1956 on. This was the changer found in most Magnavox's and Magnavox eventually bought them.
- 2 speed VM's from near the end of production.
- Duals, mostly the 1000 series like 1006, 1008, etc.

There are a few others. They rated them on the ablility to track lightly (2-3 g's), gentleness on records, ease and frequency of repair, etc. Under these criteria, and I'm going from memory here so don't quote me, Collaro's came out the best followed by the Garrard AT series, then the Glaser-Steers GS-77. The Collaro Conquest was considered the best changer from this era according to this source. Collaro came out with a changer in the early seventies that was rated very high also and the later Duals had one of the best arms in any changer.

"Features" in early record changers that damaged records:

- Knife-type changers shoved blades between the record rims. If a blade missed the space between the record, it chipped the rim or broke the record in half.

- Throwoff changers had a changing arm that threw the record to one side after it played. The records were initially stacked on the turntable. If the record hit something, it broke. Some throwoff changers had a padded felt bag the records went into. If the bag ripped, the record broke.

- The rotating cam in the early spindle drop changers wore the edges of the spindle holes to a bevel shape. If it was used wrong, the entire stack fell at once, tilted, chipping out the spindle holes or breaking some of the records.

- If a Capehart changer was out of adjustment, it broke records. It also broke the weaker records made of substitute materials during World War II. This is ultimately the reason Capehart stopped making the turner-changer.

- Most changers with umbrella spindles can break the holes of the 78s made during World War II.

- If a Lincoln develops a vacuum leak, it can drop a record on the floor.

- If a Seeburg 100-record changer is given a record other than 10" or 12", it throws the record on the floor.

- The ratchets that worked the eccentric trip placed a drag on the arm.





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Hi Record changer,
Question for you--
How can a Seeburg 100 "throw(s) the record on the floor"?
First of all, it was designed only to play 10 or 12 inch records (intermixed)--so it would be an "operator error" if anything else was placed in the rack. Second, it would seem to me, that a 7 in. record would be "short", and just sit on the ramp, if it were lifted ? Ron Rich

Though it cannot be considered "high-end" I have always been partial to the Zenith Microtouch (by VM) changers, especially from the late '60s. Their styling was very sleek and sharp, they were quite easy on records and could track a warped 45rpm record like the tone arm was glued to it. They would have benefitted from a 4 pole motor and some noise dampening but all in all these unit were my favorite.

The Zenith 2G was listed in that article I read also. Another (really) good one.

Do you have a link to the article?

The Seeburg 100 threw records that were in between 10" and 12" or larger than 12". When it tried to lift the record, the gripper went to one side of it, then caught on the edge of the record and flipped it out onto the floor.

Think your memory might just be embellishing a bit here ?? --Seeburg's record rack will not accept much larger then 12 inch record---and the rest is "operator error", as the lift arm was designed to lift the "fat" records produced when that was new--- Ron Rich

I like those Zenith Micro-touch...have a few around the house. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arisona

The Seeburg that was throwing records may have been an early version. The report I have of this was from the 1930s. They probably improved the product afterwards.

R-C,
I think I would dis-regard that "report", as impossible, because the very first Seeburg ( or for that mater, any brand) "100 selection" jukebox came out in 1948, as a 1949 model year unit. The mechanism was out earlier in commercial use, in Radio stations---but that was also post WW-2 (late '47--early 48?). Ron