UPDATE: Thanks for all of your comments... Here's a bit more info and more of my thoughts on this lovely turntable: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mQ3JiVz52Zc.html
Thanks for the review. I have a 1978 Dual CS721 that is in good condition, not great, but It sounds really good with a Audio-Technica VM540ML ($279) Everything is functional. I do like the fact it is direct drive, also fully automatic. I tend to start a record and multi task, I like not having to worry about walking away. I purchased the CS429 last year for my daughter, I compared them a little, my finding was the older 721 sounded better, mainly because I don't care for the stock ortofon red that comes with the 429. The 429 is very quiet, also functions great (fully auto) Maybe I'll swap the cart eventfully, but for now it's is more than suitable for my teenage daughter. I'm thinking about replacing my 721 with the CS 618, A big selling point is the auto stop, also dual gimble tech, and honestly, the Dual name and my history with the brand. Cheers.
I have a much more mid-range model of Dual, a cs515 made back in the 1980s, but it still works and sounds great. As long as it's the German-made ones, they last a very long time. Congrats on your purchase.
I think I remember that you have/had a Fluance with the 2M Blue. I'm interested how you think this table sounds compared to the Fluance when both are running the same cart? or is the extra cost just the phono stage, other build quality upgrades and quality of life features like the auto lift?
OK, the DUAL story in very short. Dual went bankcrupt in 1981, was then bought by french electronics company Thompson. Later on they sold the brand to Schneider Rundfunkwerke a german TV/Audio manufacturer. Schneider sold the Dual brand to a german retail company but kept the brand for Record Players. Since that time in the 90´s Dual record players have been built by the company Alfred Fehrenbacher (who was before working for Dual) in the hometown of Dual St. Georgen Blackforest. Schneider was bought by TCL a chinese manufacturer of TVs. The brand Dual was sold again. Luckily Fehrenbacher was able to keep the name for the quality built record players made in germany. They all started their name with CS. Other Dual labeled turntables mostly beginning with DT did have nothing to do with the ones built in the blackforest. These were chinese players with a Dual sticker attached to it. In 2020 (or 2021) Fehrenbacher lost the rights to use the name Dual to the "Dual" company. They decided to built their own Record Players with the CS in the model name. They had nothing to do with the Dual´s built on the original machines in the blackforest by Fehrenbacher. Even though they have beendesigned in part in germany most of "new" Dual CS players came from china. Exception is the primus maximus which is handbuilt in germany. So what happened to the Dual Players of the Fehrenbacher era, who did built such legends like the CS504? They teamed up with Pro ject and created a new brand called REKKORD Audio. So now you find the "real" Dual Players under this brand name For ex. the CS600 MKII is now the M600, the CS800 is now the M500, the CS465 is now the F400... They even built new players for pro ject with the model name AUTOMAT, spiced up versions of the previous Dual Players. Easy way to identify the old from the new Dual Players. Look at the tone arm, if it is a ULM or has the specific shape of the classic arms (compare with golden one, CS5000 and so on). You can rest asure that this is then a player form the blackforest.
@@chrisjames483 The automat is made by Fehrenbacher the company who made the Dual CS line turntables for the last say 30 years. They produced with the original Dual equipment and stilm do. The brandname holder of Dual decided not to let them use the Dual name anymore and started to make their own CS line record players. While the Fehrenbacher players are still made in the black forest in the same town where Dual and PE had their origins, the now new Dual players are mostly made in china.
Joe - Good video, it was helpful in purchasing one of these. I am having an issue with mine, however, and am curious if you have any thoughts. The volume using the internal preamp/LINE setting is extremely low. As in basically unusable, unless you are right next to the speakers and have the volume maxed out. I've tested the Dual with an amp/speaker setup and with a powered speaker, and the problem was the same with both. I've tried changing just about every variable I can think of -- different cords, power outlets, etc. I also tested the TT using an external preamp with the PHONO setting and the volume was much higher. I am therefore thinking I received a defective device/preamp but am curious if you have found the internal preamp to produce low volume, or if you have any other thoughts. Thank you in advance.
The output from mine is right where it should be. There is either something wrong with the cartridge causing it to put out very low levels or the internal pre-amp itself is not working properly. Since you've already tested with another amp, it probably isn't the cart but you might want to make sure the stylus is firmly attached. Sometimes they can be slightly loose and you'll get a drop in output. If it turns out to be the amp, you need to return it. These turntable's cost too much to put up with crap like this. Good luck :)
Glad to see you're still into audio tech. I remember helping you out back in the day when you were having some... relationship issues. Things seem to be good now :)
I appreciate your video, thank you! If you look at the label on the back, it states "Made In China", so your suspicions are true. They build what DUAL probably designed and may be exclusive to the DUAL brand. The first problem I see is the straight shaft tone arm. DUAL states that it is solid aluminum. I've never seen a solid aluminum tone arm. Although, if it is solid, it has plenty of mass, but tubular "S" or "J" style tone arms seem to track better. After Technics started to take over the commercially used turntable market segment(radio stations) the American professional turntable manufacturers began offering the "J" or "S" style tone arms and they also used universal, interchangeable headshells. We upgraded many of the older TT's to the new style tone arms. My QRK radio station TT came with a tubular and chromed "J" style tone arm. Stanton and Shure cartridges were the most popular. The removable headshells are convenient because you can have multiple headshells, each with a different cartridge mounted and you can swap them in seconds. Not all records are the same and different cartridges/styli may play a record better. I don't care for TT's with external power supplies. They are a hassle and get in the way. Some of the really high-end TT's have external power supplies, but they do more than just supply 12v to the TT. With a TT that has an external 12v power supply, I guess that you could take you TT with you in the car, run it off the cigarette lighter and plug it into the auxiliary inputs of your car stereo. you'd be the star of a beach party with your friends. The auto-lift is a great idea. I don't know how many times I was digitizing a record to hard drive and forgot about it. I'd come back sometime later and find the TT playing the last groove continuously. Sometimes I'd be recording a record from the 50's and it had that eccentric groove, moving the tone arm back and forth. OY! What it probably did to my stylus. I solved that problem and got a vintage fully automatic Technics record changer. I got all 3 spindles with it to I can use it to play one record or I can stack up to 6 records on one of the 2 drop spindles. I have an old Dual CS-506 which has auto lift out in storage. I loved it, but the straight shaft tubular metal tone had problems tracking some records. It is a belt drive and I was always having to adjust the pitch. The pitch control also used a belt and that belt broke so I couldn't adjust the pitch anymore, so I put that TT in storage. One of these days I might just get it going again. The auto-lift was mechanical and near the end of the record, it would start making a clicking sound sometimes. That wasn't cool because that clicking sound would get picked up by the cartridge. I guess your TT senses that the tone arm is no longer moving across the record and it picks up after awhile. That is how my ADC Accutrac +6 changer works.
This one appears to have been made in Germany. There's no "Made In China" label anywhere. I have found out that that early models were made in Germany and mine has a very low serial number -- 96. :)
@@EzeeLinux If it were made in Germany, DUAL would have gone out of their way to show that. Currently their website shows that it is made in China. Maybe with the early models, they didn't want that known.
Ok...Did the like button...U R welcome! Nice video. Haven't owned a turntable for 40 years. Might like to try this one..U still happy with it?? Thanks again for the nice vid. jP
It says it can accommodate any cartridge weighing in at 5 to 7 grams and provide up to 4 grams of vtf. That covers just about every modern cart out there. :)
WOW that is a BEAUTIFUL turntable it looks solid, When it come down to it there are 3 Dual Companies and only 2 make turntables from what I have heard the Dual Phono company by Alfred Fehrenbacher in Germany is the Most Legit one the still make them in the same Factories by hand in Germany, there also is Dual DGC that makes rebranded Chinese Turntables that have DT in the Name not CS. I am Glad to see that they included 78 rpm I am still looking for an Affordable HiFi Turntable that plays 78's I may end up trying the 78 rpm mod for the SL-D2 though I hate the Idea of having to cut or drill into it to mount the switch for 78 rpm. I like the Auto Raise function, I bet that other turntable that slows down when the tone arm lifts when playing 45's is using the drive motor to like the arm, all my Vintage tables except my SL-1200 MKii have auto return and use the drive motor but usually to engage until after the music stops or have so much torque you do hear a slow down even if you hit cut or stop switch to engage Auto return, I have to say I am used to having features like that and I am glad Dual includes it. I can imagine that the Tone arms lack of Vertical range would be hard to get used to I know I would struggle with it.
The other turntable I spoke of does NOT lift the arm at all. It just stops the platter. The speed funkiness occurs when it gets into the end zone, then it just stops and leaves the arm down. Fortunately, you can turn all this garbage off when you want a pure manual experience. Instead of modifying your table, find an older model that has 78 and make it your dedicated 78 player. That makes more sense because 78's require their own stylus anyway. :)
@@EzeeLinux thanks for the advice unfortunately all the older one I have found so far have built in amps and speakers and amplifiers and that is my biggest problem all my music I run through my Hifi including my 4 turntables Tape Deck, MD player and DVD players and Computer and I want to play my 78's without having to leave my favorite listen space and the Quality of my setup
I got really deep into analog audio a few years ago and had to pull back. There is always an upgrade path and you can spend a lot of money on it for very little difference. It's just not a hobby that I enjoyed. I love music but I didn't enjoy the gear. I'm much happier with Sonos and Spotify personally.
@@EzeeLinux I guess I mostly tolerate records just because I own a lot of them that never made it to other, more convenient, media. Now that I’ve transferred most of them to digital I rarely touch my turntable. 🤷♂️
I love duals always have Ilike the older models I have the 1009sk the platter on this is very heavy about 5 lbs and surprisingly i got me a 1237 belt drive I never liked belt drive but this TT really is smooth and quiet ,i heard negative things about this model but It has impressed me it came with the shure cart 91ed if i remember I can't see at this time but that cart came with a new stylus I was surprised paid less than 125.00 for it and Fluance I am not impressed with this model they charge alot for a empty unit if u look inside of it it its pretty hollow inside and every time I see a review for this brand they keep on saying a solid wood turntable and its not I bet that new dual has more wood in it han the fluance ,its a very nice TT but I do not like the fact they charge a lot for nothing 500.00 is too much for this ,like you I do not like the way the tone arm is limited on the dual I love its look but the price is way too high for me well I am going to help your dream buy liking vid and I did like it I like watching turntable vids cause i love turntables ,I have about 10 of them in my man cave so I guess thats why I like them
The Dual brand is now a real mess, shared between three different companies. Your turntable is made by Dual Phono GmbH, a German company that builds some models in Germany, and others in China. As it will say on the back sticker, yours was made in China.
@@EzeeLinux Are you sure? All the ones I'm seeing online have a sticker on the back with a German company name and address at the bottom of the sticker, but then above that after some German writing it clearly says "Made In China"
@@gotham61 There is no reference to China anywhere on this unit. From what have read so far, at lest the first batch of this model was indeed made in Germany. Mine was an open-box/factory-refurb so this may very well be a very early model. The SN is on the underside, and I have flipped the thing over to read it ye, though.
My iphone is also made in China and it is very durable and works great. Dual slaps a 5-yr warranty on this turntable AND cartridge. So they are putting their money where their mouth is.
