I need help with a Dual 1219 that rumbles?


I am just about at the end of my rope with this 1219. Its been to fix my Dual twice with no result. If I run the test record system noise cut(side two track 6) it makes a lot of noise (I can here it loud and clear in quit parts of the music). I have the 1219 on saw horses with no plinth and if I move the idler off the spindle of the motor while it is running my test record, viola the noise is gone. The motor mount looks good ( no cracks etc.) It obviously does not isolate the motor well enough. Anybody run in to this kind of problem? By the way the motor was exchanged so I do not think it is a bearing. Any suggestions for fixing this problem? Is this actually the way they sounded? No way with 1/2 million sold, thanks Markus
markus1
Also if it does this in the plinth,make sure it is floating free without touching the plinth.If it is bumping the plinth,that could cause a problem too.
Thanks for all the good info. Very interesting idea about the platter bearing being loaded with the idler wheel. There is a slight oscillation in the frequency of the noise. Bill at fix my Dual has had this thing twice. It works perfectly and sounds great but he hasn't been able to eliminate the noise. If I wanted a Rega I would buy one. I will check the article in Tone. I actually have it sitting on the spring suspension on the saw horses. I think the hard rubber thing is probably the problem. It is 38 years old or so. The tt is floating in the plinth. thanks again for all the great input, Markus
This brings back memories of my first hi-end system. I was 16, and bought a Dual 1215-S turntable in 1971 I think it was, along with KLH 17 speakers and a Harmon Kardon receiver after studying Consumer Reports. The whole thing cost me about $300. A lot of lawns cut to pay for that system!

After I hooked everything I realized the table had both wow and flutter. Dual at that time was located in Mt. Vernon, NY, about 20 minutes from where I lived. I took the table there and told the service guy, an older German guy, that I just bought this turntable and it had wow and flutter. He sort of laughed at me, then took the table to the back room, and came back a short while later to say I was right. He replaced both the platter and motor. It was fine after that and ran well for years.
Thanks, that sounds encouraging. Maybe I will see the end to this problem. thanks Markus
I would replace the idler wheel or have the one you have restored. The rubber on them gets old and hard. Any flat spots will give a thump sound or rumble that can be heard in quiet passages.

I believe Turntable Needles has a program to restore old and worn idler wheels.

You could try Ebay too, but may not see much improvement...but send the worse one for restoration.