The Sharp VZ-3000 is back, and this time it's getting FIXED !

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markoneswift

markoneswift

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Dec 11, 2015
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I found the relays at RFParts in the US. They have limited stock so I grabbed two.

If for any reason there's a problem getting them, the relay can be jumpered out but I'd rather not do that because it does provide muting of the tone arm which is not in use. I suppose I could try a jumper whilst I'm waiting for delivery, see how it sounds....
 
markoneswift

markoneswift

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Dec 11, 2015
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Made a start on refoaming the woofers last night. If these don't work out, or are too far gone, I have a pair of Infinity Reference One bookshelf speakers that I could use. I would probably transplant the drivers and crossovers into the Sharp cabinets because the drivers are the same size, so I could keep the original look.
 
markoneswift

markoneswift

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Well I decided last night that I need to create a 'Frankenspeaker' for the VZ. The Sharp woofers are toasted from having large amounts of DC through them - I tried refoaming, centering the coil with shims, setting it all up nice, but I still get voice coil buzz.

Last night, I started experimenting with loading the Sharp cabinets with Infinity drivers and I was pleasantly surprised how nice it sounded. For reference, I had one complete Infinity Reference 10 on the left, and one frankenspeaker on the right. I couldn't really tell much difference, even though all I had done was to put an Infinity woofer in the Sharp cabinet (same size driver, fortunately).

I'm thinking about moving the woofers and tweeters over to the Sharp cabinets, cutting a hole in the back of the Sharps to accomodate the Infinity crossovers / binding posts, and stuffing the Sharps with the Infinity wadding. In an ideal world, the front grille of the Sharp speaker would have simply fitted onto the Infinity speaker but sadly that was not to be - the Infinity is slightly taller and narrower than the Sharp box so it would not work out.
 
markoneswift

markoneswift

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Dec 11, 2015
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Got the case back together - it's a tricky one and it's a tight fit. It's not helped by the fact that you have to fit the case over the record player door, with the door open. In the event you can't open the door, you can't the case on / off !! There's a manual release on the player door, accessed by pushing a piece of rod through a hole on the top right corner at the back. If the gear solenoid is jammed with the gear in 'tonearm' position though, that sucker isn't going to open.....
 
markoneswift

markoneswift

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Dec 11, 2015
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After reassembling the unit, at least partially, I suddenly had another problem ! The tape level meters were registering sound, even though no tape was playing, and there was random interference coming through on all inputs which sounded like someone blowing into a microphone.

I tracked this down, I think, to the tape deck erase head. I disconnected it from the main board and the level meters settled down to zero. I also don't hear the blowing / popping sound any more. I'm not bothered about the record function of the deck as I will never use it, so I've left the head disconnected for now.

Now it's on with modding the speakers !!!


Here's a pic of where I'm at with the thing :-

IMG_20170428_073708.jpg





I've just realised my disc illumination and cartridge illumination lamps don't work. Hopefully, its just the lamps that need replacing because I really don't want to drag this thing apart AGAIN......
 
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