I had no idea black Ittoks were rare until after I’d bought the deck off Des. I’ve since heard various figures for how many were made but don’t know for sure; around a thousand seems to be the consensus.
I have a very nice AO PU7 with titanium arm tube due to arrive at my dealers early this week and the Ittok will be traded for that when current restrictions are lifted.
At the risk of being controversial here, I didn’t directly audition the two side by side though my mate has a deck with one and Urika, which sounds amazing. I live in the north of Scotland so access to side by side dems is not straightforward.
Tbh, I was probably a little short sighted going L4; I should have saved for longer and gone straight to Radikal. This clearly opens up the Urika option too, which I am now considering. Having said that, I have just had a Rega Aura on loan for a couple of weeks which sounds absolutely astonishing, even on my modest deck. Going back to my Lehmann SE2 has been painful!
Ps. Sorry, no other retro goodies were in Des’ loft!
Yes, I’d wondered about getting into the flutes.
In terms of a spruce up, I just thought (perhaps naively) that a strip and revarnish/recoat of some description would ‘refresh’ the look of Afromosia…I must Google the wood and see how the grain looks au naturel or with a light oil/wax…
And still not sure it’s possible, or even desirable for SQ in old plinth, to fit corner braces.
One thing’s for sure, my fluted plinth stays, even if only as a 3D picture frame! Fit a photo of a top plate & armboard etc into it
My old girl might be the oldest thing I still own and this thread is a fine excuse to give her a polish. I worked all summer in 1982 to be able to afford an LP12 from the old Russ Andrews Emporium in Edinburgh. About 10 years ago I managed to get one of the last Aros off the production line and paired with the DV TKR and an armageddon it makes for beguiling music.
The relentless Scottish sunshine has faded one side of the original plinth so I keep wondering about getting a new plinth - some of those now available are gorgeous, but there is something ‘right’ about keeping the fluted original. Time will tell.
I liked one of the darker blues on the example palette, my main concern would be how wear resistant it would be as a finish compared to a natural wood. It might be one of those things that looks fab when you buy it new and that in 10 years time when you’ve moved house and redecorated twice you scratch your head in disbelief over! You can of course swap it out I guess…
I don’t currently own an LP12 but this thread has for sure got me thinking, some very fine examples on display and a number of great back stories to accompany the photography.
That’s great Ian and you won’t regret as you will find so much more pleasure in listening to music now.
Why would anyone have advised you against going to the best format?
The deck is the centrepiece of a Hi Fi system and playing records is a tactile and involving experience.
I think a system without a deck looks so bland and a listening room without records seems so alien to me.
Many similarities with the start of my own LP12 journey, just a few years after you. In 1984 I went to SO London Bridge where Hamish (surely the same one) played me an LP12 when I wanted to buy a Rega Planar 3. I was a student and the Rega was as far as I could go. 16 years later, in 1991 I went in to SO York where the same Hamish sold me an LP12 with Akita and K5, taking the Rega in PX. A cunning salesman, he got us both in the end!
I used to service the lift in Graham’s Hi Fi when they were in Pentonville road, that’s where I first met Hamish. I got chatting to him one day and he gave me a demo of the LP 12 with Grace arm and Supex I was very impressed.
When he and Roger Macer started the Sound Organisation in the Borough I was a frequent visitor it was there that I met a young Derek Jenkins. I bought my first Naim system 32, Snaps and 250. Updated my LP 12 to Ittok, Asak followed by Asak T.
One of the SO customers was getting a divorce and didn’t want his wife acquiring his DMS Isobariks so was able to buy them off him. It was a great place to frequent if Roger Macer was around you eventually ended up in the pub his tipple was Jack Daniel and coke, if memory serves me well.
I have not heard the karousel but after talking to Dave, whose advice and help over the years I trust, I decide in the current climate to just buy one.
When restrictions are lifted and some form of precautions are in place he will fit the karousel at my house
Triple JD, lime and a splash of coke. He would drink one of those to my pint in the Thameside Inn. He would often pick up the tab too which was nice. Happy days.