Project Repository

Nakamichi LX-3. My reference tape deck, and one of my most intense rebuilds. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong on this allegedly "just serviced" unit. Orange cap disease, worn out belts, broken idler tire, completely misadjusted transport and heads, dying capstan motor... It took me months of work and waiting for parts to get this icon back into fighting shape.

Sony TC-280 7 inch reel to reel. A classic mid-fi 3 speed deck that was in sorry shape when I got it. A complete parts unit, new belts, and many late nights later I got a taste of the R2R life. I didn't like the flavour and stuck to vinyl. Fun fact: the test tracks I recorded were off the Doom 2016 soundtrack.

Adcom GFA-545 Mark I. My reference amplifier prior to building my Honey Badger. This unit was in mint condition with the original box but that didn't stop me from completely rebuilding it from top to bottom and incorporating Hoppe's Brain modifications to take the 545 into the modern era. Every single component inside was upgraded aside from the transformer. With this much work a 545 makes for a mighty impressive performer, provided 100-odd watts is sufficient for your setup (it was not for me).

Pro-Ject Genie RPM 1.3. My reference turntable, customized from top to bottom. Ortofon 2M Bronze cart, rewired tonearm, Dayton Audio feet, Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter, plinth and motor painted Tamiya Mica Red. Oh, and I installed a remote controlled RGB LED to light the acrylic platter because I'm a giant dork.

Nakamichi 500 Dual Tracer. A pawn shop find that offered nearly the same performance as my LX-3 with nowhere near its hair-pulling complexity. I spruced it up with some solid walnut side panels to replace the boring white countertop cutoffs it came with.

Pioneer PL-L800S Turntable. My first turntable that remains one of my favourites. A staggeringly complex fully automatic linear tracking direct drive turntable that uses an array of optical sensors and a magnetic coil tonearm guide. You'd be hard pressed to find any turntable with this many motors, levers and sensors crammed inside.

Mr. Nixie IN-9 Nixielyzer. One of the coolest components I've ever owned, which I regrettably sold. A spectrum analyzer using NOS Soviet IN-9 bar graph tubes, driven by either single ended inputs or a shockingly accurate internal mic. I spent many hours bathed in the glow of this beauty.

Dual 621 turntable. My introduction to Dual and my daily driver for several years. Beautiful and fully automatic with a pitch controlled direct drive motor and a lovely tonearm, the 621 would be a great turntable if it didn't have so much goddamned rumble compared to any modern belt drive table.

Sony TC-630 reel to reel. Another pawn shop find, which regrettably didn't include the cool clamshell speakers these originally came with - yes, this monster has a built in amplifier.

Dual 1226 turntable. My first idler drive turntable which taught me how to fix just about any Dual on the planet - once you know how one works, you know how they all work. The mechanical complexity can be daunting but parts rarely break and it's usually just a matter of cleaning and adjusting to put them back in service.

Hewlett Packard 412A VTVM. I was hunting for a good vacuum tube voltmeter and came across this beauty at an estate sale. A quick recap and alignment and it works perfectly. VTVMs are extremely high impedance and practically invisible to the circuit you are testing, so they remain useful even today - a DMM can draw current from the circuit and alter voltage/current readings where a VTVM will not.

Dual 1225 turntable in a Canadian Noresco case. Another classic idler drive table that I restored after finding it in a sorry state in a thrift store.

Tektronix 503 vacuum tube oscilloscope. An absolute beast of a classic scope with gorgeous point to point wiring inside supported by ceramic boards and enough tubes to make a McIntosh jealous. This bad boy blew up one of my DMMs when I accidentally found the -3000V rail I was avoiding like the plague. Oops.

Sony TA-1066 integrated amplifier. Another pawn shop rescue that benefited from a minor restomod with new input and predriver transistors. Nothing special to listen to but fine for a 70s era setup.

Here at OddAudio we don't limit ourselves to audio. How about a peek inside an Alfa Romeo 164 ECU getting a Squadra tuning EPROM, or the resurrection of a dead Sega Game Gear?

Miscellaneous turntables I've rebuilt.