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mcs.boston
junior member
Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Boston, MA
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 Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:25 am Post subject: Speed adjustment for Harman Kardon T60 |
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| Please forgive me, I am brand new to vinyl and turntables altogether. I got into it when I found a steal on a beautiful T60. I replaced the belt, headshell and put a new grado cartridge on it. It worked really well fro about a day when I noticed it was starting to sound distorted. I also noticed that the quartz lock light was flickering whenever the sound was distorted. As of right now the light isn't on at all and it sounds like its playing at 1/2 speed. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to pursue this problem? |
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Alec124c41
vinyl addict
Joined: 28 Oct 2002
Posts: 2806
Location: Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:13 am Post subject: |
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Did you clean and oil the bearings?
Cheers,
Alec |
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mcs.boston
junior member
Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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| I have not. I downloaded the service manual and was not able to see the procedure for this. I am no dummy... I used to be a technician, but it is an old piece of equipment and I don't want to screw it up any more. My worry is that this table traveled ground (although extremely well packed) from Florida to Boston. Platter was removed and packed separately of course. I just hope the move didn't screw with anything. |
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fscl
contributor
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 869
Location: CT, US
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| Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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mboston,
Nice tt and welcome to VE.
You are in luck, both owner's and service manual are in the VE library here:
http://www.vinylengine.com/lib...../t60.shtml
Sign in and download.
It really sounds like dirty switches, not making full contact and causing intermittent / low voltage feed to the motor and electronics. I would try getting to the Quartz lock button and speed switch and cleaning with some contact cleaner. Work the Quarts lock, 1-0-1-0-1-0 and speed switch 33-45-33-45 rapidly allowing the cleaner to clean internal contacts. Then do the same for the pitch control, working the pot with the coin or soft plastic blade, poker chip?
Hopefully this will revive the unit. While you are at it clean the contacts at the back of the headshell and the capacitance switch too.... That's VERY COOL, an onboard capacitance selector for cartridge matching.... 
When it all works and you need a thread to read while tuning the installed cartridge with onboard selector switch to get the best sound, check out this thread:
http://www.vinylengine.com/php.....php?t=6674
Good luck,
Fred
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Music is Everything....Except Predictable....WFUV Fan. |
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mcs.boston
junior member
Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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wow, thanks for the info guys! I will try to clean the switches late this evening and see if that works. As far as the cap switch is concerned.... well is there reason to be concerned? I am using a Grado Black cartridge and I hear that they are immune to capacitance variations. I just leave that switch set to "normal".
Speaking of cartridges though, I noticed that while viewing the cartridge from it's face, that it does not track the record at 90 degrees... rather it is rather slanted. Is this right? There does not appear to be an adjustment for this. I have aligned it properly. The reason it worries me is because it almost appears as though the cartridge itself on one side is so much closer to the record that it may be touching it....
I also noticed that the auto lift does not work. I know that works with an optical sensor. The little LED lights on the sensor illuminate but I am afraid the receiving end is broken. Any idea on where to find a replacement? |
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fscl
contributor
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 869
Location: CT, US
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| Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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mboston writes:
| Quote: | Black cartridge and I hear that they are immune to capacitance variations. I just leave that switch set to "normal".
Speaking of cartridges though, I noticed that while viewing the cartridge from it's face, that it does not track the record at 90 degrees... rather it is rather slanted. Is this right? There does not appear to be an adjustment for this. I have aligned it properly. The reason it worries me is because it almost appears as though the cartridge itself on one side is so much closer to the record that it may be touching it....
I also noticed that the auto lift does not work. I know that works with an optical sensor. The little LED lights on the sensor illuminate but I am afraid the receiving end is broken. Any idea on where to find a replacement? |
If it sounded good on "Normal" then it should be fine, however, you have the ability to "experiment" EASILY and see how it effects "sound". I included the thread as a teaser..... 
But first things first, to get your baby running.
The "azimuth" should be 90Deg and the stylus should be riding in the groove \/ and not tipped / slanted to either side.  . I see the headshell goes into the tonearm and is fastened by a thumbscrew. Is twisting the the headshell in the opposite direction within the tolerance of the attachment or is it keyed pretty tightly? Is the headshell square to the key? is there a setscrew that may be backed out and retightened so that the headshell and cartridge is perfectly vertical allowing the stylus to ride @ 90Deg in the groove? I'm thinking the headshell got tweaked slightly.... the other way is to add washers / spacers so that the Grado rides correctly allowing the stylus ride 90Deg to the groove. If you do add washers, then rebalance the arm and set tracking weight again.
Finally, is the receiving sensor physically broken? There may be a chance that the receiving sensor eye is dirty and not seeing the sender? so a Q-tip w/ some windex may do the trick.  also try aligning the sensor w/ the receiver..... as it may be just a hair out of the line of sight...
Good luck.
Fred and found a $5 ADC CD player w/ 2 16bit DACs that actually sounded nice but skkkkkippppppped...., cleaned the lens, lubed the tray and lens guides, mated a remote from fleabay and now fully functional and taken by my son.....LOL, cause he didn't have a CD player.....
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Music is Everything....Except Predictable....WFUV Fan. |
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mcs.boston
junior member
Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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Hmm, well the headshell is brand new so I cant picture a problem with that. It fits on the tonearm too snug to be able to adjust it there. It looks the the arm itself has some screws on the underside that I could loosen and possibly twist the arm. Otherwise, I have heard some things about shimming the base of the tonearm... but again, I am new to this and am afraid to screw it up more.
The receiving sensor is not "broken"... just not functioning. I will try to clean the eye as mentioned and see if this works. |
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VinylIsTheBest
contributor
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 152
Location: United States
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:12 am Post subject: Re: Speed adjustment for Harman Kardon T60 |
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| mcs.boston wrote: | | Please forgive me, I am brand new to vinyl and turntables altogether. I got into it when I found a steal on a beautiful T60. I replaced the belt, headshell and put a new grado cartridge on it. It worked really well fro about a day when I noticed it was starting to sound distorted. I also noticed that the quartz lock light was flickering whenever the sound was distorted. As of right now the light isn't on at all and it sounds like its playing at 1/2 speed. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to pursue this problem? |
Welcome to V.E. it's a great website for us vinyl lovers.
I have a Harman Kardon T55C turntable, it's the model below your T60. When I bought it I noticed some speed issues too. This is what I did to cure my speed problem, with the turntable not running turn off the quartz button and set the pitch control all the way to the"+" side or "-" side. Turn on the turntable and get it up to speed and then hit the quartz button. The turntable will slow down or speed up (depending where the pitch is set). This will set the turntable spinning at the correct speed. This cured my speed problems.
Moved on to a Thorens/SME 3009, so the Harman Kardon is now my backup turntable.
Regards. |
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Alec124c41
vinyl addict
Joined: 28 Oct 2002
Posts: 2806
Location: Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:40 am Post subject: |
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Bearings should be cleaned and fresh oil added, unless you have sealed bearings. Dry bearings drag, and wear, and old oil gets sticky. Light oil is usually recommended.
Cheers,
Alec |
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mcs.boston
junior member
Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:53 am Post subject: |
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| any idea how to oil the bearings on the T60? |
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VinylIsTheBest
contributor
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Posts: 152
Location: United States
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:10 am Post subject: |
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| mcs.boston wrote: | | any idea how to oil the bearings on the T60? |
I think they are sealed. I tried to oil my T55C and found no way of doing it.
Regards. |
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mcs.boston
junior member
Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:17 am Post subject: |
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| I just figured it out. There is a small oil fill hole on the inside chassis. You can also simply pull the spindle right out through the top. If you do this though, it will not go all the way back in until you pull the fill plug out as there is a vacuum. My spindle looked perfectly clean and had plenty of nice clean oil! I just cleaned all the switches and am readjusted the headshell so my cartridge doesn't sit at a silly angle. Im about to put it back together and go try her out!!! |
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mcs.boston
junior member
Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:37 am Post subject: |
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Oh. My. Effing. God! What a huge difference!
I cleaned all the switches and guess what...!? The motor speed problem is completely resolved!
I also managed to twist the headshell in the tonearm and then re-aligned the cartridge. Everything is in perfect synch! I have never heard more beautiful and involving music in my life! Thank you all so much! Only downside is that my attempt to fix the auto-lift feature failed. Oh well.... it doesn't effect the sound quality so I am not worried at the moment. I really cant believe how much more balanced the sound is between the two channels! I remember when I first hooked it up I had to turn the base down on my amp because it sounded so muddled and heavy compared to my CD source. Since this fix, I noticed that I needed to turn it back up again. Now I am awaiting a set of Kimber interconnects and Kimber speaker cables to arrive FedEx and I will have my perfect system (for the time being)!
My only question.... as I said, I am new to vinyl. What albums do you recommend I buy? I love all types of music. The first two I bought were Dark Side of the Moon and Parachutes (coldplay), but I want to know what sounds particularly good on vinyl and what might make me particularly appreciate the system that I have now..... any thoughts? |
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fscl
contributor
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 869
Location: CT, US
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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mboston writes:
| Quote: | I cleaned all the switches and guess what...!? The motor speed problem is completely resolved!
I also managed to twist the headshell in the tonearm and then re-aligned the cartridge. Everything is in perfect synch! I have never heard more beautiful and involving music in my life! |
CONGRATULATIONS...!!!!! You're officially hooked on vinyl....and have emerged to the "light" side 
mboston further writes:
| Quote: | | Only downside is that my attempt to fix the auto-lift feature failed. Oh well.... it doesn't effect the sound quality so I am not worried at the moment. |
Hmmmm..... well I'm sure the LED transmitter and receiver are clean. In the service manual pay particular attention to page 7 of 15 "Disc End Detection Position Adjustment". In studying the Schematic Diagram and Wiring Diagram, pages 14 & 15 of 15 respectively, it looks like both diode D 701 AND D 702 (D=Light Emitting kind) MUST MAKE / initiate Q 701 AND Q 702 in the end run out area of an LP and start the tonearm pick up process.
You have found these 4 sensors on the turntable, correct? When you move the tonearm to the midway point of the specified distance from the spindle 111.94 ~ 107.2mm, do these 4 sensors line up? If not, how far off are the sensors? If you move the arm further in towards the spindle will the auto-return cycle begin? I am guessing that you have to move the tonearm in a little further towards the spindle to make the auto-return work. From the text on page 7 / 15, I think this is done with the platter removed, the belt must not block the line of sight of the sensors? If the tonearm starts the pick up process closer to the spindle, then you are IN LUCK!!!! , because the sensors work and the tt is on the verge of being fully functional.
Note 2 is particularly important. Translation: The tonearm is out of adjustment and you will have to re-adjust by loosening the fixed screw and rotating the arm out or in depending on sensor positioning and specified pick up distance from the spindle, 111.94 ~ 107.2mm.
As the headshell was tweaked, I believe the tonearm was also knocked a little out of alignment (most likely towards the spindle) and so by the time the tonearm reaches the lead out groove, the sensors are a bit counter rotated, do not line up and will not make the circuit to sense and begin the auto-return solenoid. The fixed screw is tightened "just enough" so it will "give / slip" instead of breaking, if the tonearm gets tweaked / banged by mistake. Make sense?
If the sensors are at the bottom of the tt, then put the tt on spacers, soup cans of the same height over a mirror and perform the adjustments above.
Oh yes, about Note 1. This is a FINE adjustment screw and will not work if the tonearm is rotated out of the specified pickup zone. Return this adjustment to the position when you got this tt (or center it).
Once the pick up has been solved adjusting the "fixed screw", then you can adjust the screw mentioned in Note 1. It rotates the sensors slightly in the direction of "pick up", kind of like a "pre-action". The tonearm travels faster towards the center in the lead out groove, so you want to "pre-action" the return solenoid so the arm picks up before it goes to the final lead out groove preventing the stylus from slamming into the final groove @ the label.
Hopefully, it will all work out.
mboston asks:
| Quote: | | My only question.... as I said, I am new to vinyl. What albums do you recommend I buy? I love all types of music. The first two I bought were Dark Side of the Moon and Parachutes (coldplay) |
Now that you've taken care of the hardware problems, you're going to have to hang out more in the "music and records" forum for software.... Unlike the other "dark" side, hopefully vintage technology will not "hang up" and require a "reboot" to correct and interfere with listening enjoyment...
Good luck.
Fred and wondering where you get your new vinyl? Newberry Comics? Tried to hit the store in Manchester, CT but was closed by the time I got there.....and am pretty sure Beantown is full of used vinyl stores.... especially with all those students....  and came to the "translation / true meaning" after years of reading instruction manuals translated to English from the Far East.......
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Music is Everything....Except Predictable....WFUV Fan. |
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mcs.boston
junior member
Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:50 am Post subject: |
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Thanks fscl! The sensor is under the turntable. I will look at it whe I have more energy to spend taking it all apart again. I just want to enjoy the music for now! . A little disappointed though, I got a new pair of interconnects today and they seem to add a bit of hum to my system. I think it is primarily coming from my sub but it is just disappointing that I spent that much in cable only to find that it doesn't live up to its price tag.
Oh, and yes. I get my new vinyl at Newbury Comics, although it seems like there store has a rather limited selection. I am having decent luck finding things online and have already purchased several pieces (hoping they arrive in good shape). I am coming to realize that a lot of the music I have listened to over the past few years is not available in this format. I am now trying to find other music that shares some of the characteristics that I love. There are an abundance of "used" record stores in my area that have great selections... I just don't know what to select, haha! |
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