The PLX-1000 is a nice deck, congratulations. This relative aggressiveness is sometimes reported as a Direct Drive signature. The PLX-1000 has a lot of torque. But could also be due to too much gain (not sure about your phono stage), cartridge misalignment and other things. Have you tried different VTF?
Yes, I like it so much. The sound is neutral and clean, the system is relative sensitive just like the source I think it should be. It can dig more from the grooves. We can get nice sound from the easy setup but need to spend quite a time on the alignment to get a much better performance IMO. A good toy for a man...XD
Indeed, PLX-1000 is a nice deck, thanks. The gain should be OK in 30dB MM, 60dB MC. I have not try different VTF since I still try to align the cartridge better. It seems IGD happen in some records especially in vocal. I am eager to buy the LP Gear Zupreme headshell for a easier alignment and I believe the sound will be getting better and better. To be honest, I got a lot of surprises in every Vinyl I listened in the past week. Happy and enjoy the music.
Wow, this thread is still going! I'm still running my PLX-1000 and it's great. Somewhere along the way, I added a MoFi StudioPhono phono stage, but it didn't make a huge difference as far as I could hear, as my speakers weren't up to highlighting the differences. A couple of years ago I moved to Kef LS-50 Wireless, which helped, but the 2M Red was holding me back. Last Christmas I changed the cart out for a 2M Bronze and man it sounds good. The only thing I noticed was, using any cable other than the bundled RCA cable between the deck and the phono stage introduces a hum. It may be a ground loop, or perhaps the Pioneer cable is shielded? It doesn't make any difference what cable gets used between the phono stage and the amp. Weird.
Lol! I’m still pinching myself that this thread has survived 6+ years. Initially, iirc, everyone was bashing it. I went ahead and purchased one of the first ones off the production line. Haven’t looked back since. Beautiful TT, steady arm and with my replacement AT VMN40ML ml stylus, the sound just reached even better highs. I may soon purchase another PLX 1000 for my listening room.
Hey, Dan! And thank you for recommending that stylus replacement. It’s just going wild on me with new surprises everyday. I’d love to know how your Shibata is aging and any differences you notice. Missing you on WR&C.
Yep that’s a cable shielding issue. I’ve always had a slight hum - back when I had the PLX-1000 and earlier, up until some weeks ago on my Technics 1200G... noisy environment I suppose. Tried various cables ranging from stock, cheap Procab cables to 130~150 bucks AudioQuest (only 2 feet long). I found that price is definitely no indication of the shielding quality. Recently, I made cables myself using Mogami 2964 wire - it’s finally dead quiet. Even at max volume without music playing when my phono preamp is set at the highest MC setting. No hum, no buzz, no hiss. Nothing. What a relief.
I was not really aware of this deck until now, seem as below half price of a 1200GR. So what are the verdict, are these close or will the Technics trounce Pioneer ?
I like my PLX-1000 that I bought almost 2 years ago. There's just no cash right now for a new Technics table, as I had considered the GR model, but the cash just isn't there; usually by the time I have the funds they're no longer available anyway. So the PLX-1000 fits my needs nicely for what I need it for. I had replaced the included RCA cables with some better 75ohm based cables of about two feet in length. No issues with hum or anything. I'm using the MP-110 cart on my table.
My PLX-1000 isn't mine anymore, it now belongs to my brother and has been working flawlessly since Jan. 2018.
In terms of sound quality, I found the Pioneer to be slightly better than my M5G and probably a little bit better than my MK4 (HiFi version of the MK2) too . I think that's because of the tonearm tube insulation on the Pioneer. But the 1200MK2 to MK6 have way better vibration isolation, due to the heavy rubber base, in contrast to the reinforced ABS on the PLX-1000 (the MK7 is much more similar to the Pioneer in that respect, since it also has a base made of reinforced ABS). W/F and rumble specs of the Technics are better, but to me it wasn't audible. The SL-1200G I have now easily beats all of those TTs - both in sound quality as well as vibration damping/isolation.
If I were to upgrade, my gut feeling is that if I intend to stick with a DJ-style direct drive deck, the money is best spent on upgrading items used by this turntable, rather than replacing the deck. It was well worth spending $440 to swap the 2M Red for a 2M Bronze. Wouldn't I see more improvement from upgrading the cart first, or stepping up from a $300 phono stage to something better, before spending a grand or more on a better table like the SL-1200MK7? Or am I totally off the mark here?
I think the cartridge or phono preamp will get the most noticeable improvement. Especially if you're going to get a LOMC, you should consider getting a better phono preamp as well. Sound improvements through a better turntable will get rapidly smaller and more expensive, diminishing returns will ramp up fairly quickly once you have a decent turntable like a PLX-1000.
Some great comments on here. My PLX1000 is also 6 years old and still sounds excellent. Using mine with a Technics 6mm rubber mat and a Nagaoka MP150 cart mounted on a Jelco HS25. A query.....I've started looking at record clamps/stabilizers - Does anyone recommend anything? I was looking at the Audio Technica AT618a stabilizer over the weekend so anyone's thoughts will be welcome. Cheers Darren
Why ? Do you have a lot of warped/dished records ? If not, I wouldn't do it, they suck the life out of the sound imho. Only usefull if you play a lot of warped/dished records. Best for those is the Michell clamp. A weight won't do much for problem records, a proper clamp will.
I own that one, works just fine. It's fairly heavy at about 600 grams, but lighter ones don't work as well against warps. But I only use it if a record is slightly warped and the weight helps to flatten it (in some cases it actually gets worse). Some people always use a record weight, but IMO, that's just unnecessary weight on the bearings that wears them out more quickly. I believe that clamp requires a certain length of the spindle to stick out through the turntable mat to clamp onto. So it's worth checking if it works with a thick 6mm rubber mat.
No nothing to do with warped records, all to do with vibrations etc affecting sound quality. Was reading a bit about record clamps recently and just wondered if I could benefit from using one!