The BSR Minichanger - A downsized vinyl stacker
a couple years ago i did a video about this 1979 ima ps 2500 all-in-one stereo system i called it the 1970s in a box because it has everything that the average consumer would have wanted from a stereo system at the time including built-in stereo speakers an am/fm radio tuner a cassette recorder an 8-track player everything that they would have wanted from a stereo system at the time except a record player it does have a phono input on the back so you can add any record player with a ceramic cartridge such as your typical 1970s-era bsr record changer but that looks rather unbalanced because you have this huge record player on the side of this compact all-in-one stereo system wouldn't it be better if they could shrink down the record changer to fit neatly on top of the stereo system presenting the bsr mini changer it can do everything a full size bsr record changer can do except in a smaller package it says panasonic on the front and on top of the removable lid but that's really meaningless because they had nothing to do with the design of this record changer except possibly manufacturing the base for it otherwise it's a completely bsr design on the bottom it gives the panasonic model number of rd-7413 and what little information i can find about it says that it's from around 1970 and one way you can tell that is because it has all four speeds including 16 and 78 rpm i think it was around 1972 that bsr eliminated 16 rpm from their record changers and then in the early 1980s they also got rid of 78 and it's so 1970s that instead of the standard white for left and red for right color codes it uses brown for left and even more brown for right and it really does look like they're designed to go together because although it hangs off the back a bit the feet that are molded into the plastic base of the turntable are inset at the rear so that is still supported at all four corners automatic record changer operation is the same as with the full size bsr record changer you select your speed you select your size you load a stack of up to six records you lower the overarm to support the stack and you move the operation switch to the reject position and away it goes and when it gets to the end of the record it'll automatically drop the next record and play it you can also use the reject function to start the next record if you don't want to listen to the entire thing and yes it's playing about two percent too fast they all do that's just normal for these "let's listen to the sounds of the city open your book and turn the page who's blowing that whistle maybe you don't recognize my voice but i know you i hear every sound the city makes" wow and flutter isn't exactly that great with six records stacked on the platter because they tend to slip a little bit but when it's done playing the last record it'll automatically shut off there were different variations of these mini changers some were fancy enough to have a metal platter and metal tonearm this is the cheaper version with a plastic platter and plastic tonearm and unlike the full-size bsr record changers which could be equipped with a magnetic cartridge these minichangers all had a ceramic cartridge this one came with bsr's own c1 cartridge which has a flipover stylus for playing both lps and 78s it takes a pfanstiehl 273 series stylus the version i got is the 273-ss73 which has a sapphire .7 mil stylus for playing lps and 45s and a sapphire 3 mil stylus for playing 78s you can also get one with a diamond lp stylus but for a system like this which i won't be using that much a sapphire stylus is fine when i first got it and measured it it was tracking at a rather hefty seven grams but by increasing the tension of this spring i was able to get it down to a svelte four and a half grams which is just about right for one of these ceramic cartridges any lighter than that and they'll tend to skip on bass-heavy records and one nice thing is the built-in tonearm latch you just pull it forward a little bit and push down on it and it latches into place because this has a hard plastic platter i prefer to add a soft rubber platter mat that's actually from a crosley cruiser to give the record something softer to land onto and with that three mil stylus this thing sounds phenomenal when playing 78s as i'll demonstrate for direct hookup of this shellac 78 from 1939 "the story is told by the three jacks jeanne d'arcy and your music box host johnny messner there's a boy and girl who lingered near our window each night and we love to watch him though it isn't right the same old repetition takes place every day this fellow's got ambition he never fails to say oh we must have one more kiss kiss kiss before we say good night we must have one more kiss kiss kiss before we say good night you'll never miss that extra kiss so honey hold me tight oh we must have one more before we say good night and if you treat me right you'll make my heart feel light you know your kiss will make me whistle walking home tonight oh i love since you love me and i love you it's perfectly all right oh we must have one more before we say good night" it can automatically play 12 inch ten inch and seven inch records the speed of the automatic record changer function is linked to the speed of the turntable so while it is quite smooth and elegant at 33 and a third rpm "musicians and listeners alike have always been interested by the descriptive or evocative power of music no one has..." it gets quite frantic at 78 rpm "please don't be angry" there is one minor difference between this and a full-sized bsr record changer and that is the spindle is slightly shorter i didn't notice that until i tried to use the 45 rpm adapter for my full-size bsr record changer and even though it fits perfectly fine it doesn't work that's because the 45 adapter for the minichanger is slightly shorter there you can see the difference in height between the minichanger spindle and the standard spindle they're both designed to stack up to six records but the minichanger one is slightly shorter that's why it requires the slightly shorter 45 adapter or if you just want to play one record at a time and not use it as a stacking record changer you can install the single-play spindle but i was surprised to see that these things are selling for like $13 on ebay it's just a little piece of plastic somebody ought to 3d print these to make a cheaper replacement and you can put on the lid when playing a stack of 7-inch records but any larger sizes and you'll need to leave the lid off it won't fit and here is playing a stack of full-size 12-inch lps these are all modern records which are a bit thicker than older ones so i can only fit five of them on the spindle instead of the maximum of six these are all copyrighted albums so i can only play a few seconds of each you can hear the music slow down when it engages the automatic mechanism that one starts a little bit closer to the edge than the other so it cut off the first two seconds while that one has much longer lead in there is an adjustment for that but it's rather touchy and of course when it's done playing the last record it will automatically shut off here's that adjustment for the position at which it puts the needle down on the record it's this screw right here at the base of the tone arm and the more you screw it in the closer to the outer edge it puts down the needle and the more you unscrew it the closer to the middle it puts down the needle if you're wondering if letting the records drop and scrape against each other will damage them yes it will but if you listen to the experts everything you do with records will damage them so you might as well have fun with your records and enjoy them with whatever kind of turntable you prefer to use "come here little sister you the one that brought this woman clear here from new mexico tell us something about it" "well uh she has been coming to our services for about a month or two now and uh it has acted up many times about not nearly this bad" but with 45s you don't need to worry about that because they were designed to be stacked on top of each other you can see as i drop the records on top of each other there's actually a gap between them so the surfaces of the records don't actually touch you can see the light shining through each record because the labels are thicker than the actual playing surface of the records so as long as they're not excessively warped you can stack 45s and they won't actually touch each other and if you wonder why some 45s have ridges around the label as to help prevent them from slipping on each other when they're stacked on top of each other they'll grip a little bit better that way maybe a little bit too well because it dropped both of them at the same time you can also play non-standard sizes and shapes of records but you'll need to do so manually "on this record you'll find just a small sample of the wonderful treasury of music that's in store for you when you join the columbia record club as a member you'll have your choice of great works in every field of music popular hits great classical music broadway shows country and western favorites exciting jazz whatever best suits your individual taste" this did need the typical cleaning and re-lubrication of the mechanism which i didn't show on camera because it's exactly the same as a full-size bsr record changer and there are already several excellent videos about that but one general rule to follow is that if it spins oil it and if it slides grease it if you take off the platter it looks just like a standard bsr record changer because it is just like a standard bsr record changer the automatic mechanism is identical to the full-size version and it uses the same idler wheel drive system unfortunately the plastic platter is a little bit warped i don't know if it was always like this or if this developed over time but it is warped and it makes a little bit of a scuffing noise as it rotates it says precision crafted in great britain by bsr so that's about it for the bsr mini changer which is the perfect complement to my 1970s in a box stereo system because it fits neatly on top of it and it matches the styling and size and i'll leave you with a direct hookup sample in stereo of bermuda holiday island cruise "you're listening to the exciting music of the bermuda islands by the famous entertainers featured every day on the bermuda island cruise luxurious motor yachts carry you over the sparkling atlantic waters to hawkins island for a picnic lunch swimming sunbathing and a search for seashells at beautiful treasure bay beach onward then to the quaint and quiet village of somerset at the other end of the island and a brief shopping spree at loch lomond then back on board your boat for our famous rum swizzle party as you cruise leisurely through the sun dappled islands into two rock passage and on to hamilton and time for more shopping and more sightseeing if you have this recording you have probably enjoyed a holiday island cruise you have seen the magnificent water views from the decks of your boat views you could have never seen from the show you have listened to our calypso music from our entertainers you have enjoyed a picnic lunch on picturesque hawkins island strolled across the shimmering white sands of treasure bay shopped for unique gifts at loch lomond in somerset tasted our very famous ice cold rum swizzles and felt the tang of the sea breezes as you cruised through the islands we should like to take this opportunity on behalf of your captain and crew to thank you for cruising with us in bermuda and we hope to see you back again soon on our world famous holiday island cruise" "papa loves mambo mama loves mumbo" oops!
2022-08-19 10:58
