Is Dual CS506 worth repairing?

[Roy L]

Hi all: Hoping to get some advice from folks more knowledgeable than myself. I have a Dual CS506 that has served me well since the 1970s. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I have a system I'm happy with. I've had a few receivers and CD players over the years, but the Dual and a pair of Bose 10.1 towers have kept me happy. At this point I probably only listen to vinyl a few times a month. The damping lever that lowers and raises the tone arm has ceased to function. I need that for two reasons: the turntable is in a stereo cabinet so I can't fully raise the dust cover, meaning I kind of ease the album in, then sneak in to raise/move/lower the tone arm (the lever is at the front); also, I don't trust the steadiness of my hands, frankly.

So my question is this...I'm sure I won't get in and out of my electronics repair place for less than $100-150. Should I invest the money to get it fixed? I'm looking around at new turntables and wondering whether putting down $200 and getting something like the Audio-Technica at-lp3 might be better. (fully automatic, meaning I can still have the turntable in the stereo cabinet).

I would appreciate any thoughts some knowledgeable person might have. Thank you in advance for whatever help you can provide.

[bjorn]

I recently bought a Dual 1237 for $45, but none of the auto functions worked. It turns out all I needed was to replace the "steuerpimpel" (which is literally just a tiny soft plastic cap). That part was available for $5 and took a couple minutes to install. I added a $15 replacement stylus and now everything works perfectly. So, I realize I got a bit lucky in my case, and getting the damping lever to work might be a little tougher, but it might be worth doing some research to see if you can fix it yourself. There are plenty of threads floating around that detail different things people have done to keep their Duals working.