Lovely, restored Pioneer PL-518 turntable on eBay. Pretty, but worth it?

MSRP around 1989 for the PL-90 was about $1,000, and good guess on the weight, it's about 38 pounds.

 

Damn....................
The specs are incredible!
the beave

 

Indeed. The best table Pioneer ever sold in the USA. A work of art.

 

I tend to agree. That short era of Pioneer, the Reference and after that/near the same time the first of the Elite line (a bit of a blur between Reference & Elite & even DSS/DSS-E speakers) were really amazing components considering their humble origins.

I really should get that table to round out my collection, but I really like my old Empire 698.
The PL90 rarely shows up for sale these days. But a stack of that table with my M-91,C-91, F-93, PD-91 would sure look slick.

I'm fortunate to own several speakers from that time frame, DSS-5, DSS-E6, DSS-7, DSS-E10 and the mighty TZ-9.

Also have components M-91, C-91, F-91 & 93, CT-91 & 93, A-717, A-91D, PD-91, PD-S95, PD-65, PD-75.

Right now I have a secondary casual system, Pioneer A-91D integrated amp & DSS-5 speakers along with my newly acquired Onkyo C-7030 CD player and Teac UD-H01 DAC and wow, for a budget system it blows my mind.

 

Guild........would you Marry Me????

Oh, wait, My Wife wouldn't understand. A Pioneer marriage made in Heaven!
Where do you keep all those components???
the beave

 

What cartridge are you using? I picked up a 518 recently and put a ortofon OM 5e to get me going. I had wanted to go with the 2m red but that necessitated a new headshell and as I was already in for a phono amp I decided to save my $$$ until I knew a bit more about what works well with the PL 518 - Thanks Richard.

 

OM5e is fine. And you can later upgrade to an OM 10 which will serve you well. Still cheaper and more natural sounding than a 2M Red.

 

You made a hell of a point. If I didn't already own a PL-3000 in perfect working order, I'd certainly would like to buy one of these restored by you.

 

Much appreciated.

 

I'LL wake up an old thread with a question. I have a PL-518 that has a problem with the arm lift even though I just had it in for repair and they told me it was working fine and that they repaired the return function. It does work but when it lifts with the cue arm it barely gets high enough to clear the vinyl rim on a flat record. Upon auto return it barely glides over the record to rest. If a record had even a small warp it looks like the stylus would scrape on the vinyl surface. I just noticed it after first few plays. Thankful that the records I played were very flat. It was 'fixed' a month ago but due to holiday activities I just got it hooked up today. I left it up to the shop to choose a cart and they put on a green AT might be a 95E or similar. The good news is it sounds great but I'm bummed about the lift. The repair shop is 2 hr. drive and kind of a pain to get to so I'd rather not take it back. Anyway, my ? is...can the lift be fixed easily or McGyvered some way to get that lift a bit higher? It almost looks like you could stack/glue something to the upper side plastic so it would bump it up a bit or tie a band or something
around it. I have a 560 and 540 that work well and the lift on them is at least 40-50% higher than what the 518 is doing. Anybody got info/opinion? I know there is a legit 18 minute how to fix-it on youtube but I haven't viewed it yet or want to tackle taking it apart with my shakey hands and shakier fix it skills. thanks.

 

I had a similar problem with mine, and here's what I did.

Look at the lift, a dark gray plastic piece at the base of the arm. Mine had a tiny set screw in it. Loosen the screw, raise the plastic lift a tiny bit, then tighten the screw and check the height of the lift again. If you need more, just repeat.

 

That's it! Thanks so much,I never noticed that tiny screw on the side of the base. The 518 screw is bound in tight and I can't get it to move so in the mean time I took the self adhesive nose guard pads in those little glasses repair kits they sell at the store check outs and ran them along the top of the lift mechanism...it works and seems to be just the right height. Not a permanent solution but who knows if there's a problem with the lift other than the screw. I have a friend who works on electronics and he's coming next week to do a Crites upgrade on my Klipsch KG-4's. I'm sure he'll be able to get the screw freed up and adjusted. I did adjust that screw on my 560 and it turned easily. Thanks again for giving me the correct fix info.

 

Awesome - glad I could help!