tefi: Tefifon with low output signal.

Gentle fellows,

I have recently purchased a Tefifon unit in period case, very similar to this model in our database. The unit is fully functional and reads the Tefi tapes very smoothly, however the output is very low and it needs to be pre-amplified with a microphone pre-amp and then amplified with a standard amplifer in order to be raised to normal listening levels. I believe this is not how the unit was intended to be operated, my educated guess being that it was designed to be simply connected to the "phono" input of any standard tube radio.

Most of the Tefifon units that I see on YouTube etc. (like those displayed by Techmoan in his much celebrated videos) show a Ronette-style pickup to the side of the track counter. This is not the case with my unit, which (just as the units in pictures, although the detail is quite hard to see) has a needle stylus that seems to protrude out of nothing, perhaps attached to some small-parts mechanism.

Can anyone please expand how this pick-up style works? Can a repair be carried out in order to repirstinate the correct output level? Or, in case, are relevant parts of the pick-up assembly available as spares?

Thank you for any insight and comment!

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Dear Marco,

I have already had several Tefifon devices on my workbench. The pickup module was weak or defective on all of them. This is probably also the case with your device. You will no longer be able to get the original pickups. You can install a any pickup module as long as it fits mechanically. You then have to glue it in with two-component adhesive glue. Modules are available on ebay, for example, under item no. 204669333094

Regards, Rolf

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Thanks for your reply Rolf. Was the transducer of the piezo crystal type in these cases? Also: the units that show Ronette-style pick-ups, are them modified? Or later Tefifons were updated and Ronette-style pickups were installed at the factory?

I can't seem to be able to display item number 204669333094, would you please post a direct link or the title? Thanks!

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Dear Marco,

The item no. works only on ebay's German page, i.e. you have to add .de insteat of .it.

I will check the other items.

Regards, Rolf

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It seems to me that Tefi had several different pickups over the years. The Ronette style is original. It shows the type no. SK451. Anyway with a new pickup you can use the normal phono input of your radio.

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