4.26.2009

A Tale of Two Turntables

It was the best of finds, it was the worst of finds. Linda spotted the first one at a school sale (like a neighborhood sale inside an elementary school) and thought we'd finally found the turntable that would end the seemingly yearly trading-up of yard sale turntables. A Bang & Olufsen Beogram, made in Denmark! ($10)We brought it home, hooked it up, but out came awful, scratchy noises- the unfortunate sign that the needle might as well be a shard of beach glass, and finding a new replacement needle online was like looking in a virtual haystack. But then yesterday we were driving through Scarborough and Linda saw a yard sale sign reading "treadmill, waterbed" and explained to me as I kept driving away from it that "waterbed" means 70's and "treadmill" means "in shape", and combined there could be some excellent things- along the lines of vintage Sharper Image, and Playboy's 11th-hour Santa gift pages. And lo and behold there on the driveway was a pile of Harman Kardon rectangles with a Beogram RX on top. ($4 for all) What luck! What are the odds- we're just about to possibly break down and spend $$$ for a new stylus when here's yet another Bang & Olufsen turntable with the elusive MMC5 needle! But when we hooked this one up it sounded like the needle was made out of marshmallow, so alas, we're back where we started. However they do look great, at least. And far, far better than last year's.


Pin It

2 comments:

Frood said...

So slick and tasty looking those B&O's. What a great find! I almost want it vertical on my wall!

superpicker said...

soundsmith in N.Y. has cartridges for those. the owner peter laderman is a great guy & knows all thing Bang & Olufsen