SALE PENDING: NOS Fons Turntable and SME Arm $750

[drh]

I have for sale a new old stock Fons International Mark I stereo turntable, still in the original box and never, as far as I know, removed (box is open from when I got it and checked to make sure nothing was harmed in transit). It takes a separate component tonearm; I am including a used SME 3009 that I bought for it but never mounted. I have not tested the SME. The combination is ideal for playing records of all vintage, including radically off-speed acoustic 78s.

The photo below shows the actual arm for sale. Not wishing to unbox the Fons that's for sale, I took the photo below of an identical turntable/arm combination in my main system. It's my second Fons, also purchased as NOS, and I've been playing it for years with complete satisfaction. In fact, I bought the items for sale to set up another system just for acoustic records, but that project is not going to happen after all. As noted, the arm is untested and will need mounting. You will need to add the cable and the little weight/pulley assembly for antiskate. I have $750 in the combination and would like to get that back out of it.

A video of an identical arm, mounted to one of my other turntables, playing a badly warped 78 is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC2iRN3LZqw


About Fons, for those not familiar with it:

The International Mark I, functionally identical to another model called the CQ-30, is a fine one-component solution for all records, good enough for top notch play of LPs and flexible enough to handle any 78 you care to throw at it. Some refer to it as "the poor man's Linn." It was built in the same vicinity in Scotland back in the early '80s and incorporates the same belt-drive-and-sprung-subchassis type design and the same high-quality bearing, which in fact led to a patent battle with Linn that Fons ultimately lost. Unlike Linn, which has never shown an iota of interest in the 78 collector, Fons incorporated not only a 78 speed but also pitch control capable of spanning the entire range of speeds at which acoustic records can turn (60 to 100 or above). The control is continuous from a single 78 setting, not one of those affairs requiring the user to select one of several "off" speeds and then vary it by a small range for fine tuning.

[Viva-voce]

I'd like to add my two cents here. I've had one of these with the same tone arm for 15 years, and I play both 78's and Lp's and it's the best and most versatile table I've ever owned. It does everything I need it to do.
If you play 78's, you really can't do much better than this.
Highly recommended!

Steven

[BillH_NJ]

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