Beogram 1600 setup info

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SherpaJones Posted: Sat, Jun 10 2017 4:06 AM

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I recently purchased a beogram 1600 from a thrift store for $45.  It plays well and the cartridge seems fine to my ears.  But before I play too many records on it I would like to be able to verify that the tone arm is properly adjusted.

I've searched for tips online, and found the following on the audokarma forum:

"Set the tracking force in 2 steps:

First check tonearm balance.  With the cartridge installed and stylus guard removed, adjust the slide to 0.  The arm should float level, moving neither up nor down.  If not balanced, use a very small screwdriver to adjust the weight--should be a hole in the back panel to access a screw in the rear of the tonearm.  Turn clockwise to reduce stylus force & counter clockwise to increase it until the arm is balanced.

Next, set the slide to the recommended value for your cartridge.  If you have the MMC 20 EN, that would be 1.2 grams.  A MMC 10 E tracks at 1.5 grams."

I'm not clear if the poster is giving this info from the manual or from his experience, so I wanted to check in here if anyone could corroborate.  Also, I'm a little unclear as to what he means by "float level."  Does this mean that the arm should just appear horizontal?  How do I determine if it is balanced?  I feel there should be a more precise qualifier than that.

Also, there is a problem with the speed selector.  I can play records fine at 33, but when I select 45 it moves and drops the arm, but then stops spinning.  Also, a rare occurrence is when I pres stop, then select 33 again before the tone arm is at rest, and it finds the first track on a 12" record but spins at 45 rpm.  I don't play 45's, so I'm not likely to invest time or money to fix this, but figured I'd ask for feedback.

My cartridge is the MMC 20S, so I'm not sure what the tracking force should be on the slide.

Also, if anyone has any good links to owners or service manuals I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!