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No volume from old Technics Turntable & Receiver/Amp

felix

felix

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
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I have this ancient (early 1990s) combo that I cannot get any sound of. Let me state up front that I don't have the original EX-2 speakers any more, but I've been trying to get some sound of out of other, smaller speakers, mainly through the headphone output.

Receiver amp:

ugiDCAk.jpg


Rear of amp/turntable:

9tPulNy.jpg


Front/model:

NXUTGBr.jpg


Turntable:

Zp9uejR.jpg


Turntable works perfectly and tiny ambient sound can be heard. Receiver amp appears to work perfectly too, but it just doesn't receive sound from turntable or from radio. Phono leads connect both items perfectly.

Am I looking at this wrong in a fundamental fashion? Do I need to re-buy proper big speakers to make this work at all?


JULIE!!!!?
 
Are you expecting audio out of the RCA you have connected to VCR1 OUT? Because that might just be a pass-through for when in VCR mode, so that you can record audio on your VCR when it's connected. (forgive me if I misinterpreted that).

Although you do mention that you're trying to get audio out of the headphone jack, looks like there is an output on the front, bottom left. Have you tried that? Looks like you'll need a quarter inch to 3.5mm converter for it though, although if you're anything like me you have a drawer with about a hundred of the things in!
 
If that RCA from VCR1 is going to your speakers, have you tried it on TAPE REC OUT? That output should always send a signal, even when other inputs (in this case phono) are selected (so you could record your vinyl onto c90 :p)
 
Last edited:
Felix,

You could try getting some new speakers/ Forgetting the phono unit and plugging the turntable straight into a modern hi-fi, via a decent preamp/cables. I had same problem last year and that sorted it out. Do more research though, YMMMV.
 
don't the speakers you're talking about connect using regular speaker wire? if so, they should connect to the speaker connectors on the back of the amp:

amp01.jpg


if the speakers have those red and white rca connectors, just cut them off and strip the wire to connect them.

alasdair
 
alasdairm said:
if the speakers have those red and white rca connectors, just cut them off and strip the wire to connect them.

alasdair
Click to expand...

Don't do this if that RCA goes to an aux input on some speakers or other hifi though, since the speaker outputs that alasdair points to are amplified :)
 
Ahh. I'm a bit spangled. Some photos were taking in "troubleshooting" mode. :\

Josh said:
Are you expecting audio out of the RCA you have connected to VCR1 OUT? Because that might just be a pass-through for when in VCR mode, so that you can record audio on your VCR when it's connected. (forgive me if I misinterpreted that).

Although you do mention that you're trying to get audio out of the headphone jack, looks like there is an output on the front, bottom left. Have you tried that? Looks like you'll need a quarter inch to 3.5mm converter for it though, although if you're anything like me you have a drawer with about a hundred of the things in!
Click to expand...

Forget VCR OUT settings, that was a minor fluff. It's not like that now.

I have a 3.5mm jack in the front. With two types of phones; makes no difference to anything. Btw both A & B speakers are manually switched ON.

THECATINTHEHAT said:
Try with a different cable as well. Is the amp receiving signal from the turntable?
Click to expand...

A different phono cable? No signal from turntable to to amp yet. This one should be OK but will bear in mind.

Waterfall said:
Felix,

You could try getting some new speakers/ Forgetting the phono unit and plugging the turntable straight into a modern hi-fi, via a decent preamp/cables. I had same problem last year and that sorted it out. Do more research though, YMMMV.
Click to expand...

New speakers do not exist yet, but I'm not keen on acquiring if it doesn't fix this. This setup used to work without speakers.

alasdairm said:
don't the speakers you're talking about connect using regular speaker wire? if so, they should connect to the speaker connectors on the back of the amp:

amp01.jpg


if the speakers have those red and white rca connectors, just cut them off and strip the wire to connect them.

alasdair
Click to expand...

No speakers any more. But what you're suggesting might be next step. Charity shop rejects. :D

I need to watch out for proper impedance though. Need to be between 4 and 16 ohms apparently.

What I'm trying to do here is how I remember this working back in my younger days. I don't understand what's gone wrong. :\

p.s. thanks all
 
What makes you think the turntable is working fine? If the amp is receiving no signal it implies the problem is with the turntable or the cable between the turntable and the amp.

Have you checked the cartridge to make sure there are no loose cables in there, they can get disconnected pretty easy depending on the design.
 
Does the display on the amp have some kind of equaliser so you can see if it's getting a signal from the turntable? If it does and it isn't, then the problem must either be with the cable or something wrong with the turntable itself?

Does the turntable have a ground pin? I notice there is one on the amp. Although u can't imagine that would stop a signal, just have some interference?

Do you have any other kit you can plug in to another input on the amp, if you can get a signal to the headphones from something else, you'll know it's not a problem with the headphone out on the amp at least.
 
This may seem an incredibly stupid answer and if it is please ignore me, but have you looked inside the headphone sockets to make sure nothing has been jammed into there.

The reason I asked this was that in about 1998 my 1 year old nephew jammed a lolly stick in the headphone sockets of my decks and snapped it off inside. Obviously when putting the headphone jacks in I didn't notice and preceded to jam said lolly stick hard and fast into the back of he socket leading to no sound at all coming out.

It's been awhile since I've done owt on the old ones and twos so please forgive me if my suggestion seems stupid :)

Hope you get it sorted out soon though Felix mate
 
Does the display on the amp have some kind of equaliser so you can see if it's getting a signal from the turntable? If it does and it isn't, then the problem must either be with the cable or something wrong with the turntable itself?

Does the turntable have a ground pin? I notice there is one on the amp. Although u can't imagine that would stop a signal, just have some interference?

Do you have any other kit you can plug in to another input on the amp, if you can get a signal to the headphones from something else, you'll know it's not a problem with the headphone out on the amp at least.
Click to expand...

The equalizer displays nothing, either from the turntable (while playing) or on FM radio (won't even find a station).
I've now plugged in the forgotten ground wire, which made no difference.
I don't have any other kit that's suitable to plug into this receiver. (All gone. :|)
I only have one set of phono leads, but I've tested them with a multimeter and they appear to be fine.


OK, thanks for all suggestions. But I could have made my troubleshooting a bit clearer.

The receiver does not even show any life (except for the basics) when tuning it to a radio station (with the FM aerial plugged in). I'm slowly coming to the (possibly erroneous) conclusion that the record player is still fine, but it's the receiver that's fucked in some fundamental way. It powers up as usual, shows all the usual info on the display, but does literally nothing else. I should be able to hear sound via the headphone socket, regardless of whether there's speakers present.

Maybe a blown capacitor or something, somewhere, at the bit where it makes sound happen. (And on that note, I'm already out of my depth.)

Might have a further google in case this is a common problem. :|


(Oh and englandz: one of the reasons I gave up my speakers was because a certain 3 year old nibling of mine walked over to them and poked her finger into one of the tweeters, tearing a finger-sized hole in it. I was too speechless to point out to my brother what his little darling had done. :|)
 
Headphone output.

You actually have to manually switch the speakers off if you want to use headphones. They're the A and B buttons directly above the headphone socket.

Getting this working via headphones is step 1 of this troubleshooting process...
 
That is my next plan! But I'm kinda wary about doing so if there is still something fundamentally wrong with the receiver/amp.

Gonna have a look around some charity shops soon. Ta.
 
If you're not getting any response on the amps graphic equaliser (assuming we understood each other correctly on that point, I'm talking about some kind of visual feedback from a signal on the LCD display) from two different inputs, it is sounding a bit like the amp is banjaxed.

Are you trying the FM receiver with an aerial connected? Looks like there is a co-ax VHF input to the left of the back panel. Although I'm guessing you'd still get white noise through the headphone jack with no aerial connected.

Can you confirm you're getting a signal from the turntable by testing the output with your multimeter? I'm not an electrician but this site suggests it's possible? www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=407680
 
Josh said:
If you're not getting any response on the amps graphic equaliser (assuming we understood each other correctly on that point, I'm talking about some kind of visual feedback from a signal on the LCD display) from two different inputs, it is sounding a bit like the amp is banjaxed.

Are you trying the FM receiver with an aerial connected? Looks like there is a co-ax VHF input to the left of the back panel. Although I'm guessing you'd still get white noise through the headphone jack with no aerial connected.

Can you confirm you're getting a signal from the turntable by testing the output with your multimeter? I'm not an electrician but this site suggests it's possible? www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=407680
Click to expand...

No response on amp equaliser, no matter what I do.

FM aerial (piece of string style) attached; no response

Signal is def. coming from turntable. I did manage to jerry-rig it directly to my big TV/computer speakers, and sound did come out, albeit at a drastically lower volume than usual. Possibly an impedance issue, I dunno.

So yeah, I think the amp is fucked. Thanks for all the help so far. :)
 
Yeah the output from a turntable won't be amplified at all, which is why it was so quiet, and why you have to use a pre-amp if you want to plug it into an amp without a specific photo input (which does the pre-amp bit for you).

From the info in this thread now I'd say with some confidence that it's time to ditch that amp though :( but on the plus side, that then gives you loads of options going forward (albeit not free ones, but still!).
 
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