Connoisseur BD1
Vintage & classic turntables Discontinued
£80 typical UK used price
A. R. Sugden's Yorkshire-made BD1 was a simple belt-drive kit — synchronous motor, machined platter and bearing — for building into your own plinth with your own arm, hugely popular with 1960s-70s DIYers. 'BD' simply stands for belt drive.
The classic British DIY turntable kit that introduced a generation to belt drive.
Who it suits
Best suited to: buyers comfortable assessing used condition and budgeting for servicing (drive mechanism, bearing, stylus). Less ideal for: a no-hassle purchase with a manufacturer warranty — buy a current model instead.
Good to know
- No built-in phono stage — use an amplifier with a phono input or add a separate phono preamplifier.
- This is a used-market purchase. Ask about condition, originality and service history — for this drive type, check the drive belt (often perished or stretched with age) and bearing, plus the stylus regardless.
Specifications
| Drive | belt drive |
|---|---|
| Speeds | 33/45 rpm |
| Operation | manual |
| Built-in phono stage | No |
| USB output | No |
| Bluetooth | No |
| Platter | non-ferrous alloy |
| Tonearm | none (sold as motor/platter kit) |
| Years | — |
Where to buy the Connoisseur BD1
2 UK merchants handle used or discontinued decks like this — each outbound link searches the deck on that merchant’s site.
| Merchant | Type | Delivery | Product search |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBay UK | used marketplace | Varies by seller | Search at eBay UK ↗ |
| Vinyl Revival | music retail | UK delivery | Search at Vinyl Revival ↗ |
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