Have you even listened to one much less compare one directly to what you currently own or are you just dismissing it because it's made in China and has lesser specs, .1 vs .o25 than the Technics which I question are even audible in a listening test?
If you're over 50, you must remember that Japan's manufacturing didn't have the best reputation in the beginning of their industrial revolution. Even though we know it wasn't warranted in hindsight.
I have heard it, have handled it, we bought one for an emergency spare. John76, we got the Pioneer at cost. It is decent. But it won't be as good as the Technics has been with age. And less serviceable when it needs major work. John76, not knocking it. I need real Professional equipment made to perform to classical radio station levels, take high hours use without failure, and last long lives. Hanpin is made to a price point, and corners get cut on engineering prowess, on build quality, and on overall quality. This new Pioneer is good for what it is, I like it for what it is. But it is no Technics SL 1200 even if said SL-1200 is only a servo motored Mk I. There is a difference. You need to have owned and lived with both and repair them to understand that.
Care to expand on that? I would think for most folks using the turntable for home use, the thing would last for years with little to no maintenance besides replacing the phono cartridge. Do you have any pictures of the inner workings of the Pioneer? I'm sure that would be something of interest to many. Here's my 1200mk2.
Haven't had it apart yet, but have had other Hanpins apart. When it does come apart, hope to have pictures.
That really depends on the listening room. Here's a really interesting article on Wikipedia about the audibility of wow & flutter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow_and_flutter_measurement Personally, I've found that anything at o.1% or less is inaudible. Go much above that, and all bets are off. I had a Sony PSX-350LH turntable that claimed it was 0.2% that I found unacceptable for classical music.
The Pioneer PL-90 had .023% wrms wow and flutter and 85 dB SNR, so they certainly were able to make state of the art turntables back in the day: http://www.vinylengine.com/library/pioneer/pl-90.shtml
The Audiophiliac: Pioneer PLX-1000 vs. Technics SL-1200 MK 2 http://www.cnet.com/news/pioneer-plx-1000-a-dj-turntable-an-audiophile-can-love/
I find it amazing that people dismiss gear made in China. Sure, everything is built to a budget, but if the quality assurance and control is right, and followed up throughout the manufacturing process, then your product will be good. Oppo are living proof. BBK Electronics is their parent company based in China with a manufacturing facility Sony would be happy with. All the furore around Hanpin is fluff. They're clearly a company with decent facilities, will produce a deck to their customer's specs. If the customer wants to keep costs low, then Hanpin will deliver that. If they want a high spec deck, then I've no doubt they'll do that too. Sounds like the Pioneer is somewhere in the middle with its eye on the up.
Interesting review, perhaps the Rega P1 is better than the VPI Traveler. http://www.cnet.com/news/three-groovy-sounding-turntables/
My deck is a Pioneer PL-120 which I bought in the about 1982. The wow and flutter is stated at 0.05%(WRMS). It is still going strong. The only maintenace needed has been the occasional belt change (very easily done) and a more frequent stylus change. It has never given any bother from the moment it was plugged in. I have never felt the need to change or upgrade. It goes through a Graham Slee Cummunicator preamplifier (a more recent addition, relatively speaking) into a Pioneer SA-420 amplifier which was bought with the deck. The only maintenace needed on the amp in about 32 years has been a replacement bulb at the function selector. Expensive for me at the time but it has paid off handsomely. At this rate I'll be passing this gear on to my kids. Probably a waste as they listen to "music" stored on their phones though headphones.
John76, Your treading on Hallowed ground here. We ALL know the impact that china manufacturing has had on our life, but when your dealing with a product like an 'Audiophile' grade turntable, you absolutely CANNOT deny that chinese manufacturing can't even come close to the swiss like precision that the Japanese did with the tonearms (alone!) on even a $200 Technics from the 70's or 80's. The precision is just not there. So go ahead and diss me for speaking the truth, while you listen to your tunes on your iPhone. I'll be spinning Vinyl on my Pioneer PL-518.........and my rig will blow yours away any day of the week! Peace, my friend. the beave
Oh, and John76, I DO own Many chinese made electronics, Emotiva, Sherbourn, Tascam CD recorder, Sangean HD Tuner, so don't even think that I'm prejudiced against chinese made products. But turntables and especially Tone arms are NOT the same as Amplifiers and such. the beave
My Point exactly. But again, the tonearm is the first and foremost issue. The Swiss have it, the Germans have it, the Japanese have it, can you honestly tell me that in the factory, the chinese person making like $1 a day is technically adept at torquing down the screws on the bearings? I don't f*ing think so. If so, give me ONE example of a state of the art Tone Arm manufactured in china that even comes close to a Technics tone arm from the 70's to the mid 80's. You can't, because there is NONE. NOT ONE! the beave
Opera Audio in China makes quality turntables and tonearms. They also manufacture the turntables and arms for Well Tempered Lab. (the secret though may be that their tonearms don't rely on bearings)
Absolutely, one of the best tables ever made. and many other great turntables in the day. I have a P3 and P10 and both work and sound exceptional 35 years later. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/pioneer-exclusive-p3-reference-turntable.222633/
This article in Absolute Sound is from 2008 and states this manufacturer in China also makes high-end turntables with US badges on them. To think the Chinese are incapable of making most anything is laughable. http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/a-look-inside-the-chinese-audio-industry/
So what high end US turntables do the Chinese make? Well Tempered is well documented as being made by the Chinese. Hanss / Amari pictures were shown in the article and is just a obviousClearaudio ripoff and a Chinese company.
Maybe not just US turntables... From the Absolute Sounds article I linked to: "The company also makes complete turntables and boasts of being the world's largest turntable manufacturer. I saw many familiar high-end brands being manufactured here but cannot publish the brand names."
