What I love about this sleeper direct drive turntable.
Last summer, we snuck away for a family vacation in Gatlinburg, TN. Whenever I’m out of town, I always look at local selling sites for any interesting finds. I found the above turntable on Craigslist and scheduled a time to safely meet with the sellers to buy.
The JVC JL-F50 is a fully automatic, direct drive turntable released in 1977. Personally, I love the overall black and silver look of the turntable and jokingly called it “Darth Vader’s turntable” while it was in my possession.
Anyone who enjoys fully automatic turntables will love this model. Just place the record on the platter and push start. Once the side is finished, the tonearm easily moves back to place. The 45 and 33rpm buttons are located on the left side for easy access to speed adjustment.
The tonearm has a removable headshell which makes changing cartridges a breeze. I used three carts, a Grado Prestige Black, an Audio Technica AT-VM95SH and the budget Audio Technica AT-VM95C.
This turntable had a gash mark in the dust cover, but thankfully it wasn’t cracked and worked fine. It was hard to notice the mark on the top unless you were standing directly over the unit.
Lastly, this turntable is nice and heavy, built like a tank. The isolation feet easily provided defense from any unwanted vibrations.
Don’t be afraid to look for off-brand name gear.
When shopping for vintage gear, it’s easy to get lost in buying popular brand names like Technics, Pioneer, Sansui and Marantz. The popularity of those brands have increased pricing and decreased inventory. Don’t be afraid to pick up a lesser known brand name, like JVC, especially if you’re just starting out building a vintage audio system. You will most likely get a lot of bang for your buck.
If you ever stumble on a JVC JL-F50 turntable for a good price, I suggest picking it up.
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Know anyone with a JL-50 for sale?
Unfortunately, not right now. I found mine on Craigslist!
Check out any Mitsubishi stand-alone turntable – it was the most technically advanced audio company in Japan, especially for their loudspeaker systems.
I’ve yet to find a Mitsubishi in the wild, but if I do I’m definitely going to scoop it up!