Have You thought of if You wait a bit longer before buying then You will be getting an even better Pioneer. It will then compete with maybe a BD at about $5k, maybe more.
It is not hinged. You have to lift it off and on very carefully making sure not to smack the arm etc in the process. This is because it was aimed at the DJ market where you wouldn't want a lid flapping around in front of the DJ during use.
Hi Stefan, just like Hifi guy. no need to loosen the outer ring. Just a very small screw driver. It was Hifi Guy that posted here first on how to do it.
I just read Herb Riechart's follow-up article in the new Stereophile. He certainly makes a convincing case. He also talks quite openly about adjusting the bearings and makes good point about the turntable being mass produced and thus not sold in a typical audio shop where such adjustments would (or at least should) have already been made before ever reaching the end user.
Excellent news. It's another plus for this table that I can switch between 33 and 45 RPM at the press of a button. I have a ton of 45 RPM audiophile pressings, and I have not seen a belt drive turntable around this price range that switches between the 2 without having to manually do it (does one even exist?). Also, has anybody found out if we can upgrade the tonearm on the PLX should we feel so inclined? It would be another huge plus if we could. Some of the modified Technics I've seen on YouTube are amazing.
Not really all turntables, no. You and I have similar Pro-Ject arms on ours and to my knowledge, those do not have adjustable bearings, certainly not like the Technics or Pioneer where the two screws for vertical and lateral bearings are easily accessible.
A lot of the lower priced belt drives have switchable speed. The Denon DP-300F or Teac TN-300 are two examples of new tts with speed change and automatic operation. They also have removable headshells. Plus as Claus has posted, the Pro-Ject Debut Esprit DC SB also has speed change, but of course there you have hope you don't get one of their noisy motors (Some folks online have assumed the DC in the new Pro-Ject models means they've switched to a DC motor but in fact it's just a DC-powered AC generator that feeds an AC motor, possibly the same motors as before).
Yeah, actually the other day I thought that perhaps waiting to see what else comes along might be interesting but I'm really getting sick of having to deal with the motor noise on my old Pro-Ject. Even after trying all the tweaks/hacks online and replacing the motor, the noise is still there. I have to run my turntable through a digital denoiser to remove it and that of course has some impact on the bass. I can do needledrops without the denoiser and then apply it only to the areas where the noise becomes prominent, but it's a pain. So much for an all-analog experience!
I had many detractors when I began singing praises about this turntable. As time goes on, more and more will hop on the PLX-1000 bandwagon. It's a helluva turntable for $600-$700.
Or kind of like buying an off the rack Armani suit versus getting tailor made on Savile Row. The Armani is still a damn good suit (a former high-end men's clothes sales guy here).
Anybody here compared the PLX-1000 to a Rega RP3, Pro-ject Xpression or Pro-ject Xperience, or other popular and similar TTs around the $750-$1000 mark?
The best part of a Rega, in my opinion, is the arm. I have lots of experience with their arms, but haven't owned a Rega since I had a P2 years ago. I didn't keep it long. I ended up moving the arm to another table and parted out the rest. I have no experience with Pro-ject models as I always found the upper model Music Hall models (same factory) more interesting. You really need to jump on the bandwagon when you can. Logically, looking at the individual parts, there is nothing I can point to that makes this turntable as special as it is. That doesn't change the fact that it is very special indeed. My previous setup sounded "thick" in comparison. I don't know how else to describe it. There is a neutrality with the PLX-1000 that really lets the music through. And it's super quiet- my new preamplifier has a 96 dB signal to noise ratio on the MM phono setting (not a misprint) and the PLX-1000 is dead silent. The PLX-1000 handles everything with ease- rock, blues, jazz, classical and alternative without skipping a beat. Spinning right now...Bjork.
I did and against my stock SL1200 and RP6 and a Denon DP300F. Though there was about an hour in between listening to the RP3 and the PLX. I found the PLX to be a bit better than the Denon. It was clearer, more detailed and a better, deeper, tighter bottom end. Thought it was surprisingly comparable to the RP3. The RP3 was a little clearer and more detailed but pretty comparable. Thought the SL1200 was better and definitely had the edge in build quality but again not by much. The RP6 is my favorite of all the tables mentioned. Just better all around though at almost 3 times the price not a fair comparison. My sister got the Denon and the Pioneer to audition at home over her Harman Kardon and klipsch set up so I took the opportunity to compare all the tables I could. The RP3 belongs to a friend of mine that got me back into Rega. The SL1200 and RP6 are mine. All tables were heard with a 2m Blue. She picked the Denon because of the automatic feature. The Pioneer is the table I would get for under a grand. Actually I would take it over the RP3 or I would save for an RP6 if I was just coming into this game and wanted a new table. At 600 bucks it really is quite impressive.
No, absolutely not. I've owned a ton of turntables, new and used, and none needed a tonearm baring adjustment.
I am using George Merrill's RCC mat. He custom made a RCC under mat (flat- no label indent) for extra isolation and so that I could get the correct VTA with the cartridge I was using at the time. I really like it and have no desire to change to something else. http://www.hifigem.com/rcc-record-mat.html
Cool. I went ahead and ordered the SL1200 MK2 belt from Kab today since it's the 1/4" thick one that's been discontinued. I want to make sure I have enough height to be able to use a good range of cartridges and I believe the mat that comes with the PLX is the thin one. If I don't end up getting a PLX or SL-1200, I should have no trouble selling it and it might be an interesting choice for other turntables anyway.
@russk @HiFi Guy thanks for your input! Definitely thinking of jumping on this bandwagon soon. I don't yet want to be spending >$1k on a turntable, and it appears that this is possibly best in the < $1k range.
That is interesting! I truly did not know that such things existed. Thank you. So the pre-alignment (be it Ortofon, Shure, Audio-Technica) works out of the box with the Pioneer? Or, perhaps you specify to the vendor of the integrated cartridge/headshell which turntable you want to use it with, and they pre-align it to be correct for that turntable?
The alignment is preset for the Technics SL-1200, and the arm on the PLX-1000 has the same measurements. The alignment is the Technics alignment, which is close to Stevenson. Not my preferred alignment, but others have reported good results, so you should be fine.
