Vega 109 (1988 Soviet Era Record player)

[ruskycity]

Hello to all,

I am new to vinyl. I was planning on buying a Phillips 242 and have a simple set-up to start listening. Today I got an offer for a Vega 109 stereo with built in amplifier. Here are some pics.









Comments are welcome

Emmanuel

 

[Record Player]

Hey there Emmanuel - A warm welcome to this lovely world of Vinyl.

This is me first time coming across the Vega 109 stereo. This seems a German make 1988 deck. Quite a good looking one I must say considering it has an inbuilt phonostage. Nice that it has an S-Shaped tonearm. I couldn't find much details of this deck on the web. However there are a lot of videos on youtube. Have a look.

Also can you share more details on this deck as this will help FMs comment (DD or Belt, Auto or Semi Auto, Cart Etc).

Cheers...

 

[ruskycity]

Nice that it has an S-Shaped tonearm. I couldn't find much details of this deck on the web. However there are a lot of videos on youtube. Have a look.

Also can you share more details on this deck as this will help FMs comment (DD or Belt, Auto or Semi Auto, Cart Etc).

Cheers...

These pics were sent to me, I will ask for more details. Could you explain more on why having a S- shaped tonearm is good?

 

[reubensm]

Hey, this is indeed a Soviet era turntable. A lot of equipment from the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Western World arrived in India with those posted to the diplomatic missions in India. When these guys went back after their tenures, they sold off their stuff locally and this is how a lot of these pieces of equipment are doing the rounds in India.

Soviets were famous for manufacturing rip-offs of western designs with a Soviet flavour. The design for this TT, for example, seems to have been lifted from Technics. By the looks of it, and the type of platter, definitely looks like a direct drive. The S-arm has a true Technics flavour to it and even the label on the dust cover is a Technics rip-off. The whole unit looks solid and robust with Russian titling. Given the type of music that the Soviets generally listened to, I am sure they'd need the accuracy of a direct drive. The advantage this deck has over the 242 is that it has a built in amplifier, so all you need is a pair of speakers and some time to press each button/turn each control and discover what they represent (unless you know Russian ). Not a bad way to start, and that too, an easy way. With the 242, you'd need to have an amplifier with a phonostage to go with it. However, price is a key factor here. Since you've mentioned Philips, I would guess that your budget is in the sub-5k area and if the Russian TT figures in the same ball park, then its a better deal. However check the functionality properly as if the Russian TT decides to fall ill, you'll never find any spare parts. Welcome to the world of vinyl, think about options, do your research and ensure that you make a simple but decent start. The first impression is usually the best or atleast, sets the trend. A decent start will take you on a long and rewarding journey. Happy New Year.

 

[Record Player]

Technically I do not feel the s-shaped tonearm to be superior than the J-shaped or straight tonearm. However the s-shaped tonearm does have its own design benefits.

Here's a very interesting read on Straight Tonearm vs. S-Shaped Tonearm:

Courtesy Audio Karma - Straight Tonearm vs. S-Shaped Tonearm - Page 3 - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

 

[reubensm]

Yes, as simple and ancient as they may seem, the S-arm from my experience tracks much better than the straight arm. Good alignment is a must for straight arms or the sound tends to be prone to inner groove distortion (again from my personal experience). TT gurus say that straight arms also tend to wear out records faster.

Extract from an online debate:

When the records are cut, the cutter is moved in a straight line towards the center. A straight tonearm moves in an arc, and to avoid distortion the stylus should always be parallell to the tangent of the record. With an S-shaped arm the arm will not move in a straight line towards the spindle, but will allow the cartridge to stay parallell to the tangent with very little error.

Most straight arms are shorter (except in hifi tt's), thus have no overhang. The cartridge is inline with the deliberately-short tonearm, but several issues stem from this. This design totally reduces the lateral forces that need to be corrected via anti-skating on normal turntables. Most straight arm TT's have no antiskating dial. By shortening the tonearm, they eliminate the need. This helps the needle track wonderfully in scratching and back-cueing situations. However, for playing records (yes, your precious records), straight arms aren't as good. Having no overhang on that type of arm produces azimuth and phase errors between the left and right channels. This distortion is a result of the needle NOT being tangent to the record groove during play (meaning that it points in a different direction depending on it's position on the record). In fact, it changes depending on where you are on the record. At the beginning of the record, there will be increased wear on the inner groove of the vinyl. The needle will track perfectly halfway through the record, then the increased wear will shift to the outer groove during the latter half of the record. So, the distortion will shift from left to right during play. Yes, this fscks-up your records.

Read the debate at: Straight Vs S-shaped tone arms... - TranceAddict Forums - DJ Booth

 

[ruskycity]

The advantage this deck has over the 242 is that it has a built in amplifier, so all you need is a pair of speakers and some time to press each button/turn each control and discover what they represent (unless you know Russian )

Thanks reubensm. Apparently the knobs are for volume, speakers and tone. The buttons are input selectors. But like you said. i"ll just "press and see"

 

[kuruvilajacob]

The model has a in built amplifier. I have been told some Russian amps are really good. They do not have too many models but what they make is in bulk quantity and the looks are not too good but the parts are solid and durable. The system shown here can't be too bad if every thing is in working condition. Have you auditioned it?

 

[ruskycity]

Also can you share more details on this deck as this will help FMs comment (DD or Belt, Auto or Semi Auto, Cart Etc).

It is a Direct drive and semi auto. He does not know about the cartridge but he said he swapped it for a German cartridge some 15 years ago. (he speaks Russian only, so i guess some things were lost in translation )

The model has a in built amplifier. I have been told some Russian amps are really good. They do not have too many models but what they make is in bulk quantity and the looks are not too good but the parts are solid and durable. The system shown here can't be too bad if every thing is in working condition. Have you auditioned it?

Not yet. I will bring it down from Kyrgyzstan this summer. I will post pics and more details.