I bought a TX2 on Ebay that had been put away unused for 20 years by a guy who hadn't realised that it came without a cartridge, and never bothered to buy one! It is indeed mint and in it's original packaging. I bought a decent MMC4 and had the deck checked out by B&O Winchester's service man. It works perfectly except that I can hear some wavering (admittedly slight) on long notes - seems to be worse at 33 than when playing 12 inch singles at 45 (greater momentum?). The platter has been properly levelled and the tracking weight (1.2g) set with my electronic balance. The belt isn't rubbing on anything and there's no mechanical noises other than the low level whirr from the motor

I guess that, with their very light platters, these decks relied on electronics to maintain a stable speed, or is it that the very short tonearm is intolerant of slightly eccentric records? I've never noticed wow on my other deck, a B&O 1700  

Has anyone any thoughts? Thanks!

Welcome to Beoworld !

Check the platter belt. Any slippage here will cause wow.
If the belt was never replaced, it will probably have hardened and stretched by now.
Lift off the platter, put a finger on the motor pulley, acting as a (gentle) brake
and rotate the platter with the other hand.
The belt should bite the motor pulley fairly good rather than slide on it.
I can supply a new belt if needed but check first.

Martin

In my experience, the belts are always knackered at this age.

Speed and stability are both affected by a loose belt. The motor pulley is tiny when compared to the platter diameter and any slippage on the motor will be magnified at the record.

I fit a new belt to every deck I sell, it makes a vast difference to the sound quality.

Many thanks Martin - the bite seems pretty good but belt replacement anyway is a good idea and I'll happily buy one from you - I live in the UK. If you can let me have your contact details I'll do the deal

Yours

Nigel

Nigel, you have a PM.

Martin