The BIC You Don't Flick

The BIC You Don't Flick

REWIRE YOURSELF

by Richard Robinson

Two "types" buy hi-fi equipment.

1. The audiophile for whom records are an incidental part of sound reproduction electronics.

2. The record buyer for whom electronics are incidental but expensive components in the process of playing music.

Most electronics manufacturers cater to audiophiles instead of record buyers. I don't know why, but many, electronics people refuse to believe that the people who buy two billion dollars worth of rock 'n' roll records each year are the same people who use record players.

Some manufacturers release as many new turntables, amps, speakers, etc. as some record companies release records. Others develop exotic hybrids that require $5,000-plus in components of dubious, though often ingenious, design. Even name brand manufacturers regard technological breakthrough as their major selling point (audiophiles love technological breakthroughs) and introduce new systems as quickly as they abandon older new Systems.

For the majority of record buyers the difficulty is two-fold: first, the record buyer represented with a dazzling array of equipment which, if you believe the manufacturer, results from technological breakthroughs ranging from integrated circuits to rubber bands; second, the total cost of this Rube Goldberg visits NASA is astronomical, when all i/ou want it for is to play a $3.88 record.

There are a few manufacturers who, bless them, understand the record buyer. These companies devote their energies to setting a standard at a reasonable

price and sticking to that standard and price. This month I review a turntable made by one of these companies, British Industries Company, BIC for short (not as in a flick of a Bic Banana, but as in bee-eye-cee).

When I got in touch with Ken Irsay out at BIC, he sent me flyefs'on BIC's 900 line of turntables: their 920 ($79.95 list); 940 ($109.95 list); 960 ($159.95 list); and 980 ($199.95 list).

I chose to test the BIC 940 Multiple Play Manual Turntable. I did this because I don't believe that record buyers want or can afford a turntable that costs more than $100 to $120.. The 940 is available from Lafayette Radio Electronics (111 Jericho Turnpike, Syosset, New York 11791) for $115.00 including a Pickering or Shure cartridge and a plastic base ($10 more for a dust cover); from Burstein-Applebee (3199 Mercier, Kansas City, Missouri 64111)

for $109.95 without cartridge, base, or dust cover; and from Dixie Hi-Fi (2040 Thalbro Street, Richmond, Virginia 23230) for $84.20 with a wood base and dust cover but no cartridge. So, if you shop around, you can buy the BIC 940 with cartridge, base, and dust cover for about $100.00.

Ken shipped me a 940 ready to play except for the installation of the cartridge, which is exceedingly easy to install because the cartridge head shell at the end of the tone arm rotates to make its underside visible from above and the

mounting holes for the cartridge are extremely accessible, and the adjustment of the counterweight and vertical tracking force are also very simple, straightforward tasks. The 940 Owner's Manual is a well written 16 page booklet with lots of detail photographs, so it would take a real dummy to screw up setting up the 940.

The BIC 940 is a "turntable" rather than a "record changer" which is one reason why it can be inexpensive yet of good quality. It plays records at 33Vs and 45 rpm in the following combinations: a) Manual play of a single record (you lift the tone arm and put it on the record, at the end of the record the tone arm automatically returns to its rest and the table shuts off; b) Repeat play of a single record (there is a 6 position programmer next to the, tone arm which allows you to play any one record from 1 to 6 times with the table recycling automatically between plays and shutting itself off at the end); c) Automatic play of a single record (this is the same as a except that instead of you lifting the tone arm and putting it at the start of the record, you push the cycle button below the programmer and it

does it automatically); d) Automatic multiple record p/ay (the 940 will play up to 6 records automatically once you install the longer multiple play spindle and set the programmer for the number of records you want to play).

Personally I prefer turntables over changers because I usually only play one record at a time. But with the 9401 have three options: to play one record, to play several records, or to play one record over and over up to six times automatically. This last function is quite handy, especially when you want to listen to a new album a few times. One advantage the 940 has over the standard turntable is that it lifts the tone arm, returns it to its arm rest, and shuts off automatically after the final record is played.

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REWIRE YOURSELF

After I had used the 940 for a week and assured myself that it was the lowcost, high quality machine it has a reputation for being, I spoke with Adam Ruthkowski, the BIC service manager, and asked him how they did it. Adam told me that the 940, which uses the same motor as the more expensive 960 and 980 tables, was constructed with simplicity and durability in mind. BIC builds their own motors and have developed a motor that while it looks like one of those colorful this-is-how-aclock-works motors with red and blue plastic gears found in toy shops is actually a glass filled material called Lexan which doesn't wear down the way metal does and is self lubricating. The result is a motor that has an expected life span of5 to 10 years. Adam also pointed out that the set-it-yourself programmer replaces 63 odd parts usually found in automatic changers and, like the low speed motor with its Lexan cam gear, eliminates points of wear, friction, and mechanical failure.

So there's no "secret" to how BIC can make the 940 with a $109.95 price tag. They've eliminated all but the most essential functions and then developed the simplest possible mechanics to perform the functions. I recommend the BIC 940 to every rock 'n' roll fan who wants a good turntable and also wants some money left over to buy records.