Your eyes are not deceiving you. It's a Valhalla equipped Sondek, playing 45RPM media, beautifully!
This particular Sondek is my experimental platform:
- late 70s - early 80s parts, incl original motor with exposed spring and plastic ball pushing the motor spindle into uppermost position,
- in a DIY rosewood plinth built to late 80s spec,
- with Valhalla that received a 2nd crystal and multi turn pots to set the circuit voltage independently for 33 and 45. The phase delay cap value has been chosen by experimenting.
I have tried this mod on 4,5 different Valhallas, this is the only one that took and does so wonderfully. It won't start (easily) on 45 but that is not surprising and it's the reason why Linn's later PSUs (Axis, Lingo...) start at 33.33 and then accelerate to 45.
Speed is currently selected using a small toggle switch bolted to the plinth corner brace underneath. After the longer testing, if everything remains solid and healthy, I'll replace that switch with something more in tune with Linn aesthetics.
So, there we go, a Sondek / Valhalla that spins at both 33.33 and 45, at a flick of a switch. Black magic.
