Elite Townshend rock query

Hi,
I have recently got hold of my dad’s old turntable and looking for some advice. The turntable is an Elite Townshend Rock , that has the Townshend Merlin power supply. I also have a quantum electronics ST100 amplifier. Is this a mark 2 version?
it has all been sitting in his loft and so I am looking to get it refurbished and set up for using it. I quickly tried it and it does seem to be working in that the turntable is moving. I don’t have any speakers and wondering if I need a preamplifier?
It would be great to get any advice plus thoughts on the kit?
Thanks

 

Here is the amplifier

 

A Townshend Rock with the matching Excalibur arm. Very nice indeed sound quality wise, still state of the art in fact IMHO. The cartridge is an Audio Technica AT-OC5 which was an entry level MC cart at the time but well regarded. It would take probably £350+ on a new cart today to beat it if it's in A1 condition and plenty of life on the stylus.

A new belt and general check of set up would be wise and the silicone fluid in the trough may need changing if badly contaminated, or may in fact be fine.

The "amplifier" isn't an amplifier but an FM tuner!

Obviously you could start out with fairly budget amp and speakers to get you going but the Rock and Excalibur are true "high end" in performance (if not appearance!) and would warrant the finest amplification and speakers if vinyl turns out to be a serious interest for you.

A little bit of a sales pitch here... A phono stage is required (or a pre amp/integrated amp with very high quality phono input, but a phono stage is generally the way it's done these days at the upper quality level) and I happen to make a giant killer unit at £475 which will beat units at way over £1000 and more

 

Hi,
Thanks so much for the information, this is really helpful. You can probably tell I don’t have a clue but keen to use it. I can always remember using it as a kid although I wasn’t meant to touch it! There was a boothroyd Stuart meridian amplifier but it seems to have gone missing along with the speakers sadly! I will get it tested as you suggested.
I will also have a look at the unit you make too
Cheers

 

Would I require a separate pre amp and amplifier or would an integrated amplifier work? Thanks

 

An integrated amp would work so long as it has a MC (Moving Coil) compatible phono input.
Your hi fi path much depends on how far you want to take things of course. The Rock & Excalibur are very much top end gear and would generally have been used with, in today's money, amps of £2K+ and similarly expensive speakers. Of course you don't have to use it with high quality amp and speakers to just play records at reasonable quality and you could buy a S/H budget integrated amp for say £100 and similar with speakers.

 

This is a super table and really pretty easy to get going. Just be very gentle in all you do with it and you should be pretty safe.
1. If it plugs in and runs great! Belt has two positions on pulley (upper for 33.3 (albums) and lower 45 for singles). New belts can still be had quite readily.
2. Carefully pull out sub platter (part the black platter rests on and make sure it still is wet with oil before using long term). You ideally want to get enough oil in there so it reaches near the top when sub platter re-installed.
3. If bottom surface of sub platter is rubbing on top of table you can raise it by inserting a hex bolt in the top of the central brass part that the center of the record goes on. Only needs to be 1mm off the base.
Cartridge - honestly buying a new Moving Magnet cartridge to get you going might be best, look for an Audio Technica AT-VM95e as a good starting point. This will allow you to use a much wider range of amps as many have phono inputs for moving magnet cartridges. Yours is an MC and also condition is unknown.

 

Thanks very much for the information. I’ve been in touch with the RockDoc! Getting it a service and new cartridge fitted as we speak and buying an integrated amplifier and speakers to get started. I wanted to get something that will allow us to stream music as that is what we use primarily but also connect to the turntable.

 

Are you buying used or new?
WiiM and BlueSound are the entry-level streamers most people buy.

WiiM even make a streaming amp, albeit not a particularly powerful one, and it needs an external phono preamp:

https://wiimhome.com/wiimamp/overview