donlombardo Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 I found a Citronic turntable at a thrift store in town, $45. Wasn't really interested in the table itself, but it had an S-shaped Akai tone arm. Are Akai known for good tone arms? How do I know which models are good? Is it worth $45? Most importantly, how do I know if it will fit on my Thorens 318? Found a few pictures online. Edit: Don't see the Akai logo on the headshell on the video - can it be just the headshell that was Akai? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 No it's not an Akai arm it's a standard OEM one used on hundreds of entry level turntables at the time and probably made by CEC. although people like Akai, Hitachi, Sharp etc, etc and most other Japanese makers at the bottom and middle of their ranges did use CEC arms and complete decks That said there's nothing wrong with it, it's certainly not rubbish and as an arm I'd put it on par with the Dual and Thorens arms of the time. The Citronic table is probably on par with the average Dual or Pioneer PL12 but was useless as a DJ table which was it's intended market as it's belt drive but stick a half decent cartridge in it and as I say you're in Dual 505 and Pioneer PL12 territory. I wouldn't bother taking the arm off as they were not really intended to be used in that way and you'd have to make a bespoke arm board for whatever you intend to fit it on and it's not as good as the bottom of the range of the arms that are designed to be mounted on other things. One upside of it was that as it was intended as a DJ table the isolation was quite good for what it was as it was expected to cope with sitting on a bouncing surface and take a fair amount of abuse. Use it as it is and enjoy it or move it on as it is, $45 was fair money for it and I remember those being about in the mid to late 80's and probably early 90's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donlombardo Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 I didn't buy it, the store's so close I always go home and check stuff out on the internet first. It also had a couple of Sansui speakers that turned out to be "nothing" as well. The weird thing is - I swear it said Akai on the tone arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 The head shell is a standard SME type fitting so there are thousands of different headshells that will fit that arm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl addict Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 There's always the possibility that it WAS an AKAI arm, but most likely just the headshell. If you live that close, just swing by and look again. Did it look like any of these? http://www.ebay.com/itm/AKAI-Original-Tonarm-/272155713401?hash=item3f5dbe9f79:g:JT4AAOSwYIhWiDJ~ http://www.ebay.com/itm/AKAI-Original-Tonarm-Komponente-fur-Plattenspieler-/272144449436?hash=item3f5d12bf9c:g:UWQAAOSwyZ5Un0Qh http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tonarm-AKAI-Komponente-fur-Plattenspieler-/272152766112?hash=item3f5d91a6a0:g:-hEAAOSwDk5T8mdt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.