Hacker Centurion - Garrard SP 25 MK 1V
Restored Hacker Centurion with Garrard deck and restored Hacker speakers , as good as you can get - machine can be heard in the shop and the unit is for sale separately.
The Hacker Centurion Mk II is a vintage British hi-fi system, specifically a record player and FM radio combination, produced from April 1974 and was manufactured by Hacker Radio Ltd, Maidenhead, England. It's very well known for its quality sound and classic design, and features a Garrard SP25 MkIV record player.
This model also includes the original Hacker loudspeakers and these along with the main cabinet are of teak construction, not veneer or plastic laminate, giving the system a classic, retro look. The clean silver fascia with black detailing is in beautiful condition with barely a mark or scuff and no fading to the lettering. The buttons and switches are also in excellent working condition and have all been cleaned and lubricated.
The Garrard record player (Model No.GAR 550 Serial No.29671) has been completely refurbished with all linkages, pivots, springs and other moving parts in the auto-start mechanism serviced, cleaned and re-lubricated. The motor has also been lubricated along with the idler wheel and central spindle ball-race. The pick-up arm lowering position, lifting height and cueing height have all been adjusted to work correctly while the turntable speed has been checked at 33⅓, 45 and 78 RPM. The Sonotone V100 Stylus has been replaced and works with all record sizes and speeds with the pickup tracking weight calibrated at just over 3 grams.
The power supply, FM tuner, pre-amplifier and power amplifier boards have all been tested with several components in the two amp boards required to be replaced. The mid-point voltage and quiescent current for both of these boards was adjusted to ensure compatible output on both stereo channels. Adjustments to the stereo decoder board were made to ensure that the stereo indicator bulb on the FM tuner display lights up when a strong station is tuned in. The two other display bulbs were also replaced.
This Centurion model includes the original Hacker LS 250 8 Ohm speakers - Serial Nos. 3679 and 3680. These have also been completely refurbished starting with replacing the capacitors on the crossovers with modern bi-polar equivalents, new speaker foam surrounds and gaskets along with new speaker foam grilles. The 2-pin DIN plugs at the speaker ends of the connecting cables were also replaced. Finally, the original, unique Hacker mains connector to the Centurion has been refurbished and retained and is now also fitted with a modern 3-pin mains plug/5A fuse (BS1363
