Vintage C. E. C. tonearm, by another name

This name may not be well known, but their products are widespread among those of us who have enjoyed records.

C.E.C. Chuo Denki Co., Ltd. was established in Tokyo in 1954, when the audio industry was still in its infancy. The company then introduced a high precision phono motor, which is being used by many analog turntables and record players.

It was the first company to make turntables in Japan, and the products were/are highly regarded by music lovers.

In 1991 they launched the world’s first Belt Drive CD Transport, the now infamous TL 1. CEC’s expertise in analog circuits allowed them to implement a belt drive system for CD systems, freeing the equipment from acoustic feedback. It also allows higher signal to noise ratio and eliminates jitter more efficiently. For this development, CEC is holding worldwide patent rights.

CEC has been one of the leading suppliers of turntables and CD players in the consumer field, with major brand OEM customers including Grundig, Marantz, Teac, Sony, Sanyo, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Alpine, Kenwood, Sharp, etc.

I searched the web, finding that they have made products for Pioneer, Rotel, Technics, Radio Shack/Realistic, Fisher, Scott, Pacific Stereo, Harksound, Taya, and Matsushita. They now sell ‘high end’ gear under the C. E. C. International brand.

Why am I recounting this story? I’m not doing PR for them, it’s because I wanted a new project and looked around for something to experiment with, and I found this 9″ tonearm at VintageAudioWorld.com

Removed from a Pioneer turntable, it just needed the headshell and a cartridge, then I could mount it on the handmade outboard mounting pod from TemaadAudio. I’ll add height adjustment and levelling feet, and phono cable connectors to the bare wires. This combo will sit nicely with The Wand 14-4 Turntable from DesignBuildListen.

Also new in to Vintage Audio World is an Audio Technica AT12S with Shibata stylus, with just 10 hours use. And mounted on the very headshell that fits the tonearm.

A deal has been done, and they are on their way to me.

Shying away from expensive brand name and new retail purchase, I’m thinking that I may have found a well-performing additional tonearm and cartridge pairing, with the additional benefit of a detachable headshell.

Because the arm will be mounted outboard, it’s essential that the turntable platter is level before I set the arm pivot position, height (vertical tracking angle), cartridge azimuth, and tracking force.