So what exactly are the differences between the Pioneer tonearm and the one on (for example) the Hanpin DJ-5500, other than the purely cosmetic ones?
The Pioneer doesn't have the (awful) built-in phono amp like all the others, which puts it ahead of the others for sound quality.
What I don't get is why those who have made up their mind that they dislike this turntable or how it's like by some feel such a dire, unending need to participate in a thread about a project they so dislike! Get a life folks.
It is surprisingly difficult to find a valid A/B audio comparison between the PLX-1000 and the SL1200G/GR. Maybe not the exact topic of this thread, but I finally found something I think might be helpful. Oh sure, you can read tons of stuff about how great either unit is, how they sound with different carts and speakers and so forth and so on, but aside from one DJ doing a feedback comparison, I just can't find anything truly representative about the audio and how it compares. But now just recently posted to YouTube, there is a short video recently which is attempting to determine how they compare in terms of speed accuracy. However, it it is also helpful in another way. Look at the waveforms of the exact same track. You can match the waveforms up by just pausing the video and doing a little careful viewing. And they appear to be extremely similar. This doesn't prove that the G/GR couldn't sound better and maybe this is through a mixer that is somehow completely controlling output, but IMO it certainly suggests that if peaks are coming out on the same track in what looks to be pretty close to identical fashion, any sonic differences would be very minimal. If there are any at all. It is interesting how much discussion there is out there about these units, and yet I have yet to find a simple A/B test using the exact same record with the exact same setup and swapping out the tables. Here is the video..... unless someone can prove otherwise, this makes a pretty strong case to me that a PLX-1000 will produce audio as good as SL-1200G. And I'd rather spend the other 2-3k on more records.....
Yet you know that they're the same by looking at them…almost as though you've formed your view without looking into it very much / at all?
This is what makes me upset. The guy never heard of the rubber damping which is in every Pioneer publicity and even in the Stereophile review he mentions! Still, he disseminates wrong information about the turntable as if he was an authority on the subject. This is a public forum people search to find information. Users should be more responsible around here. Don't write about what you don't know, for God's sake.
I would suppose that with a merely good cartridge and through a merely good phono stage the tables would sound similar. Differences might appear however if you use some exquisitely expensive LOMC cartridges with superior phono stages (paired with high end amplifiers and speakers/headphones). In that superior level, the differences in arm, motor and damping systems could become apparent.
What gets me is most have not seen or heard the deck yet declare it to be an overpriced typical Hanpin product.
The arm does appear different to other Hanpin product and is modeled on the Technics. Can't say if the bearings are better but it is fine given the deck costs less than most separate arms. I've owned a few for comparison and currently have an SME 309. It's likely up with cheaper Rega arms at least though obviously not in the SME league. Yet it is good enough to extract decent results from a £500 MC cartridge even using the supplied headshell. Can't really be too critical at this price level. I would say in critical situations it is dumping some electrical interference into the mains only noticeable when you are using another (better) source and switch it off. You wouldn't be using it as a primary source in a high end system anyway unless as a stop gap.
Every single 1200 clone made by Hanpin uses a variation on this tonearm. The Pioneer's looks like the one on the Stanton ST150, which allows height adjustment. Pioneer just asked for some cosmetic changes to make it more closely resemble the Technics arm. And of course the Rubber Damping.
And I don't understand why so many of you are hyper-sensitive to any criticism of this turntable. I never said it was a bad turntable, just that at it's core it's still a 1200 clone made by the same company that makes all of the other 1200 clones, with all the good and bad that comes with that. Pioneer didn't set out to make a statement product, if so why build a 1200 clone aimed at the DJ market? They took the existing Hanpin design (which is perfectly fine) and beefed up some of the elements.
Then making it different!!! Beef up means change!!! Change something, it becomes different!!!!! No one is hypersensitive to a criticism. You didn't even criticize, how could one be sensitive to a criticism that didn't exist? The point is not a supposed criticism. The point is that you said it's the same, equal, identical, the only difference being the Stereophile review. And this is simply false, you had just admitted: if it's beefed up so it's logically not the same. This is the point. That's what we are saying. If you say it's the same and it's not (because at least it's beefed up as you admit, for other differences search this very thread), it's up to people who know the truth to say that you're wrong. It's just that. You can't expect the right to say something false and everyone else stay silent so the false statement stays untouched. Calling people who want to correct a false statement hypersensitive doesn't help because that's not the point. I'm not going to explain this forever, so if you wanna have the last sentence put it below this one and let's move on.
I'm pretty sure the 1200G is a lot better but having heard a couple GRs and mistaking a black one for a PLX1000 I don't think it's a major improvement purely in terms of sound. Waveforms don't tell you how they actually sound. Frequency range would surely be limited by the vinyl played, the cartridge, connecting cables and digital conversion used.
It's not that anyone's hypersensitive to criticism, it's the endless rehashing that's tiresome. The PLX is based on the Technics 1200, it's made in China, we all know this. Some samples have issues, we know it too. It sucks to get a lemon, but this is liable to happen to everyone, regardless of budget. Rega have their fair share of wobbling platters, do we need to drone on and on about this every single time they're mentioned ? (Rhetorical question. The answer is "Dear God, no !")
96 pages and 4 years...wow this thread won't die. I read one posts where some dude is doing measurements down to the mm trying to determine difference between length of tonearms...like why he ain't never gonna buy one......this is 96 hilarious pages to be sure. A good lite read.
I think you know what I meant. Obviously all Hanpins are not exactly 100% the same. The Pioneer has its own unique case and styling, and they included some tweaks to better isolate the turntable. However, these tweaks don't make it a new design. The tonearm adds rubber damping, but it's the same Hanpin tonearm...with rubber damping. The plinth has some added vibration damping, but it's all in the service of the same direct drive system. If we can't agree on this we can never agree on anything. The video with the warped platter is just a reminder that at its core the Pioneer is still the Hanpin turntable everyone loves to criticize when it doesn't have a Pioneer logo on the front.
This fascination with the rubber insulation shown on the Pioneer's propaganda computer generated drawings is so LOL. Or sad. In reality it's nothing like the snug fit pictured in the adverts, but is a thin, flimsy hose, squashed inside the tonearm, that does nothing. But funniest thing is that the same people who were bashing Technics 1200 MK2 because it's a dj turntable years ago, today are fascinated by the qualities of its copycat, an official DJ turntable (unlike the MK2): "Oh, look I can adjust VTA on the fly" "Ah, the joy of swapping carts with ease" "Uh, that speed stability is awesome" ...
Nope. Different arm completely. If you're going to spend all your time obsessing in a thread about a product you obviously dislike, at least take the time to do your homework. Or as I said earlier, move on to discuss something you actually like.
Answer a troll, he'll answer back because this is his agenda. I suggest the ignore button, works great and leave more time for you to listen to your music.
The build is completely different from the normal Hanpin models. It's a seriously heavy lift. A few basic drive parts in common but most of it is as per Pioneer specification. As pointed out elsewhere the arm is different and has added damping. If it looks different than other Hanpin models there are some differences. I can confirm it is moderately capable if not in class of expensive separates or the new technics 1200G model. It was designed to replace the old 1200 II and most would agree it is close or even better sounding. It sounds more open and alive to me than old SL1200s I have heard (even lightly modified). The platter is well damped and not obviously ringy as on more basic Hanpin models. A faulty example does not label the model as chinese crap as you would like to believe..
There were photos somewhere on the net by someone who got replacement arm for the faulty bearings under warranty. When they say "same arm" - it's the wand, bearings and VTA mechanism, the rest is cosmetically designed to look like Technics: the ring around the vta mechanism, its lock, cue lever, sprayed matte finish...
