A301 & P501

[Mathias bastiaensen]

Hello,

does anyone have experience with the Braun P501?
(http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/braun_p_501.html)
I recently bought this for my A301 / T301 set,
but when i want to use the P501 i have to turn the volume way up.
Is this normal or should i check some connections (All DIN without adapters)?

Also, the belt of the P501 had it's best days,
can someone help me find a replacement one?
All local shops around here (Antwerp, Belgium) say it's a odd size...

kind regards,
Mathias

edit: sorry for the english, but my German is rather bad, and google translate's German is even worse...

[wetterauer]

Hello and welcome here!

I guess the P501 is similar to the PS550S.

Braun-Wiki

So you can use the belt from the PS550S. It is still available. Take a look in ebay.

[Mathias bastiaensen]

Thank you, i found a picture of an open PS 550 S and it looks the same indeed!
I'll look around ebay to find a replacement belt

Does anyone have an idea if the low-volume issue is normal,
and if so, should i buy a preamp (AC701?)

kind regards,
Mathias Bastiaensen

[Wilhelm]

Hi,
the low-volume issue might be related to your phono cartridge and therefore normal. Some of them have low and some of them a significant higher output voltage. What phono cartridge are you using right now?

Regards
Wilhelm

[Mathias bastiaensen]

The cartridge is an Ortofon 200 (but not the MC version i find on-line),
it came with the P501, but if you think this could be the reason for the low volume i don't have a problem with it, i was just thinking that maybe something was wrong with it.

I also ordered a PS 550 S riem online, if it fits i'll post it.

Tanks for all the help,
Mathias

[Wilhelm]

Hi Mathias,
sorry, I don't know the output voltage of the Ortofon 200.
It could also be possible that the input capacitors C1102, C1202 (22uf/40V) in the phono stage of the A301 are faulty and have to be replaced.

Regards
Wilhelm

[Mathias bastiaensen]

Hi Wilhelm,

Is there a way of checking this? When i turn both the volume and level to 0 (max volume, level mid) it's not loud, but it is loud enough, the sound doesn't sound distorted, so doesn't sound like something is broken.
When i use the tuner i have to turn the volume way down (to like -40) to have the same level (more or less).

kind regards,
Mathias

[Wilhelm]

Hi Mathias,
the settings you are referring to are way to high and are not correlated to any high or low output level of a moving magnet system. I double checked on the internet and couldn't find any reference about an Ortofon mm 200, all the references pointed towards an Ortofon moving coil 200 (which would explain the low volume). As I stated before, something else could be wrong in the phono stage of your A301, but before you open up your amp make sure that your cartridge is actually a mm system. For a moving coil cartridge you would need an extra mc-amp.



Regards
Wilhelm

[Mathias bastiaensen]

Thanks, i didn't know about the difference between mc & mm,
i couldn't find info on the cartridge, all i found was the mc 200.
Mine is completely different, is there a way to see what kind it is?

[Mathias bastiaensen]

This is my Ortofon 200...

[Wilhelm]

Hi Mathias,
you can find hundreds of articles about mc and mm cartridges on the internet, but you can't see the difference just by looking at it.
The easiest way to differentiate between the two would be using an Ohm-Meter. MC cartridges have usually a resistance of a few Ohms (measured across the ground and left or right channel) MM systems around 1K Ohm. If you find that yours is a mm system, the fault is probably in the phono stage.
At first make sure that the voltage across C1109 is about 30V (coming from the power supply). If the voltage is correct, I would recommend to exchange the electrolytic capacitors C1102, C1202, C1108 and C1208. Please consider that long distance repairs are often like looking into a crystal ball.

Of course, the easiest test with your set-up would be connecting another record player.

Regards
Wilhelm

Please note that it is dangerous working on components under power.

[Mathias bastiaensen]

Oke, i am very stupid, on the other side of the needle is tmc 200!
So i looked at my atelier set and the i have a phono mc or mm input.
I wanted to switch the needles, but i guess they are not compatible!
Thanks for all the help, i now know what the problem is!

[Mathias bastiaensen]

On the plus side, the PS550S belt arrived today, and it fits, thanx for the help!
This weekend i'll go looking for a new needle.