Home Tweakers' Asylum

Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

RE: Is this what you mean?

It makes sense, Lew.

I'm working on a new Pioneer PLX-1000
Direct-Drive turntable. Rationale for
buying this rig was that it's rugged, simple,
has proven roots (it's really a slicked-up
version of the Technics unit), and is extremely
user-friendly.

At first, I was curious, so ran Pioneer's
Nagioka-made HIGH (9mv+!)output cart., just to see what
Pioneer was up to-- I wanted to know!

Most of the Solid-State preamps I was able to beg/borrow,
could not stand the input-- including some BIG names.

I'm going to design a good phono anyway, so didn't
want to get spendy on this, so I installed a Clearaudio
Maestro-Wood in the Pioneer TT (3.6mv.) and let it break-in.

Sounded pretty good! First thing I noticed was that
the (cheapo!) tonearm was well-designed, tracked extremely
well, and didn't oscillate or resonate. WOW! And a cheapie!

I love this thing! It's so much fun to use, with its
instant stop-start motor base & controls, neat Disco tricks
like variable speed/pitch on the fly (quite a few old vinyls
benefit big time from this-- some big labels, such as RCA
are correct, and do not benefit....., and it has a way-cool pop-up light
that shines on the cartridge needle at night so you don't miss
those cut-start grooves!

I played around with the plinth top plate, using various
objects at my disposal. I found a small stainless-steel
Bell-- it's 3 1/2 inches in diameter by about 3 inches deep.

I left the clapper in it, and while playing a record, I
placed it face-down, with its handle up-- in various places
on the TT's top plate.

Right near the speed/pitch controls-- between there and the
rotating platter, was the "hot" spot-- everything has one (or several).

The whole musical presentation cleaned-up like Gangbusters!

Next, for this unit, it will get 32ga. silver tonearm wiring, (as used for electronic pacemakers)-- Lloyd Walker was so kind as to turn
me onto this.. what a great guy he is!

I'm having a lot of fun with this rugged, well-isolated, but
alive-sounding unit. It simply trashes my VPI/SME setup.

It is capable of playing neutral, yet retrieving detail and
dynamics well, but is not yet State-Of-the-Art.. I suspect
the tonearm internal wiring big time, so am going after it, and I'm going to Extreme Phono to get a SPEED carbon-Fibre overlay, and
I got a nice Clearaudio record clamp that goes right onto the
stock spindle..

The unit just kicks-ass over belt-drives (I keep trying to tell
turntable people that these belts must be natural leather-- to
prevent belt-stretch (slow-down, then speed up) cogging, but
each has a favorite polymer or rubber, and they all maintain speed
accuracy--- BUT!.

The powerful DIRECT motor base of the Pioneer/Technics completely
eliminates this problem-- it KICKS ASS-- sounds alive, and it's fun.

There is a sense of relentless DRIVE-- that this thing is
unflappable-- it's hard to describe.

What a Play Toy! Get one and start tweaking it....

---Dennis---





Edits: 07/19/16

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Signature Sound   [ Signature Sound Lounge ]


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • RE: Is this what you mean? - tube wrangler 10:46:30 07/19/16 (0)

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.