Hi, I recently bought an old SL1700Mk2 TT, the arm is the same as the SL1200Mk2 with added auto return stuff, cartridge is Ortofon OM30S with new stylus (The SL1700Mk2 has a sub chasis suspended on 4 springs, motor and platter are the same as the SL1200Mk2).
The anti-skate spring appears to have lost tension, for a tracking weight of 1.5g I need to set the anti-skate knob fully to the end position of 3g. I'm using the Hi-Fi News test record to set the anti-skate.
With this setting the +12dB band tracks ok, +14dB band buzzes equally in both channels (with KAB Oil damper mod fitted +14db band tracks ok but not +16dB band).
Note: I looked at the test record with a stereo microscope 80x magnification, you can see score marks where the stylus takes a short cut instead of following the grove, this would explain the buzzing sound instead of a pure 400Hz tone.
I can buy a new assembly including the anti-skate spring for USD$17.
Note: In the SL1200 manual it says that with the anti-skate knob set to 0.5g and the arm in the rest, the spring should just touch the shaft. With my arm the spring just touches the shaft with 0.8 on the anti-skate knob.
My question is that since I can adjust the anti-skate to buzz equally in both channels, is there likley to be something else wrong with the arm causing the tracking problem? Do the bearings (they feel ok) need servicing on a 30 year old arm ?