I have just brought my 505 back to life after leaving it on a garage shelf for a number of years.
In short, all I've done is get a new belt fitted and replaced the cartridge with an Ortofon 2M Red.
The only problem I had was persuading the platter to start spinning. I believe this is a common problem with decks that haven't been used for a while. Anyway, I persisted, and eventually we got going without me having to do anything drastic.
Well, I'm amazed !!! The sound is great compared to CD (as expected) and much better than with the old cartridge (a NAD 9200 of unknown vintage). Truly astonishing !!!
The rest of my gear is a Sansui AU 217II amp (ancient, but "if it ain't broke......") and a pair of Tannoy Mercury M2 speakers.
Now, a couple of questions :
A) My deck is a 505, not a 505-2, 505-3, or whatever. Can anybody out there tell me when 505's were introduced to the UK, and when were they then replaced by 505-2's ? I think I bought my 505 in about 1983 (???). If it helps, the documentation that came with the deck shows what may be a serial number "019944".
B) Should I be lubricating the deck after all these years ? If so, any instructions available ?
C) I was amazed to see that the Ortofon has a recommended tracking force of 1.8g - this seems very high to me - is it typical for a cartridge of this type / quality ?
