Micro Seiki Turntable/ Find

[Polkersince85]

I stopped by my local Thrift Store this afternoon and walked by a donation truck they were unloading. Looked in the big plastic hopper of stuff and my heart skipped a beat. There lay a Micro Seiki BL-91L table on top of the heap.

I asked the guy unloading if he could get someone to price it for me. He pointed to a guy inside the door, I called him over and asked him to price it. He said it doesn't work how about 4 dollars. I agreed:D. (no belt dude!)

I came home with a 60 lb turntable.

Model BL-91L, Max 282 tonearm, Sonus cartridge/stylus, 3/8" thick plexiglass cover , motor and controls work fine, missing belt and one isolator foot.

I think I got a project to work on.:cool:

[Dennis Gardner]

Nice find...........I hope you get it up and going, as they made some really nice gear.

[Polkersince85]

I think it can be revived. I'll make it a winter project to clean/oil it and fire it up. I see nothing that will prevent it from living again. I hid out for a couple of hours just in case they figured out how much that thing was worth.

[BottomFeeder]

Wow!

Talk about being in the right place at the right time!!!

Nice score!

[SCompRacer]

Nice find.:cool: Thief!:D IIRC the MAX 282 used a torsion bar for VTF instead of a spring like in their earlier arms. I had a MA-505 MK III in a dual arm config on my Space Deck. Micro Seiki, very impressive engineering that has stood the test of time. Their gear still fetches high dollars.

[billbillw]

Outstanding! That is simply an incredible find for that price. Micro's were extremely well engineered. I wouldn't be surprised if that table would hit over $800 on Ebay.

Take your time and fix'er up right. You'll have one fine system afterward.

Uhh, maybe I was low on the Ebay price...
Look at this:
http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Commerce/SaleListing.aspx?Cat=Analog
$2k for the tonearm alone?

[Polkersince85]

Their gear still fetches high dollars.

Depends on where you buy it:D

I'm thinking a new belt and a book under the corner and it's good to go.:eek:

[danger boy]

good GOD! not that you found an awesome TT for $4, but 60 freaking pounds of table? Dang!!!! :eek::eek::eek::p

[Polkersince85]

$2k for the tonearm alone?

Wow, I may have to set this one on the top shelf.

[billbillw]

good GOD! not that you found an awesome TT for $4, but 60 freaking pounds of table? Dang!!!! :eek::eek::eek::p

My VPI weighs in close to 50lbs. There are some top end tables that push 100 lbs.

[wingnut4772]

I'll give you $5.00 for it.:p

[billbillw]

Wow, I may have to set this one on the top shelf.

I checked HiFido (in Japan) and that tonearm seems to regularly sell over there for 100,000 yen, which is approx $900. You should feel guilty that you took profits from that Thrift store! ;)

You might just have a $1500 setup there if everything works out. Replacing that foot is going to take patience and quite a few dollars though. At one point, for a period of 6 months or so, I was watching Ebay for all Micro Seiki stuff. I saw a few of those feet come up for auction, but they went for high dollar (maybe $100+ for a set?)

[Polkersince85]

I need to at least double my money.

[danger boy]

Replacing that foot is going to take patience and quite a few dollars though. At one point, for a period of 6 months or so, I was watching Ebay for all Micro Seiki stuff. I saw a few of those feet come up for auction, but they went for high dollar (maybe $100+ for a set?)

Umm. with all the money he just saved.. i think $100 for feet is reasonable don't cha think? ;)

[Polkersince85]

I will keep my eyes open for a foot, make another one at work if I have to.

[SCompRacer]

Depends on where you buy it:D

I'm thinking a new belt and a book under the corner and it's good to go.:eek:


squareheadtubes on ebay usually has Micro Seiki parts listed. Wouldn't hurt to check. There was a fellow at the Vinyl Asylum that sold Micro Seiki parts long ago but the listed email no longer works.

I picked up a 10/10 NOS Micro Seiki arm that had a broken damper paddle. I could not find a replacement available anywhere. A friend who collects and repairs old watches came to my rescue with a just the right length .058 screw, so I drilled and tapped it to make the repair. I got over $1K for that arm on ebay.

[SCompRacer]

One without arm board.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MICRO-SEIKI-BL-91L-AUDIOPHILE-TURNTABLE-RECORD-PLAYER_W0QQitemZ330173028075QQihZ014QQcategoryZ328 3QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

One that fetched a few bucks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-Seiki-BL-91-Turntable-MA-505-Tonearm-Adcom-MC_W0QQitemZ170147402773QQihZ007QQcmdZViewItem

[Polkersince85]

One that fetched a few bucks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-Seiki-BL-91-Turntable-MA-505-Tonearm-Adcom-MC_W0QQitemZ170147402773QQihZ007QQcmdZViewItem

Nice price for that one. I may have to throw a little more in the "Kettle" this year.

[Face]

This reminds me of the Acoustic Research 9LS's I saw at a thrift store not too long ago. Since they're over 100lbs I couldn't take them by myself(bad back). Swing by the next day to have them put on hold and they were already thrown in the dumpster, doh!

Congrats on your find!