Magnavox Collaro W821
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2026 2:31 am
This changer is a few years newer than the W801 I recently serviced.
The motor rotor spun by hand was off, and when I opened up
the motor, the bearings were bone dry.
After cleaning and added turbine oil, the rotor spins like a top when rotated.
I was peeved some smart design engineer at Collaro changed
the motor AC power plug so that the motor, plug, and switch
cannot be removed as one unit.
That was a nice feature of the W801.
The W821 has a new auto-locking/un-locking tonearm clip
which is a positive change.
The cycling mech is the same as the W801, with a
different motor design than the W801.
This unit has a functional E-V 275 stereo cartridge in the tonearm.
I had a stylus already in stock, so I installed it.
Full table test out tomorrow.
The motor rotor spun by hand was off, and when I opened up
the motor, the bearings were bone dry.
After cleaning and added turbine oil, the rotor spins like a top when rotated.
I was peeved some smart design engineer at Collaro changed
the motor AC power plug so that the motor, plug, and switch
cannot be removed as one unit.
That was a nice feature of the W801.
The W821 has a new auto-locking/un-locking tonearm clip
which is a positive change.
The cycling mech is the same as the W801, with a
different motor design than the W801.
This unit has a functional E-V 275 stereo cartridge in the tonearm.
I had a stylus already in stock, so I installed it.
Full table test out tomorrow.