I own a 6mm mat and a Mitchell clamp which I regret buying. I've never been sure it had a significant effect on sound quality and have found it of little use with warped records. In fact, my clamp shipped with a notice saying it was not meant to help with them. YMMV, of course.
Probably not. The PLX-1000 platter is heavy and dampened enough already. IMO, that theory only applies to cheaper turntables that lack the rubber damping on the back of the platter. Another theory is that the record weight adds inertia to the platter, so it'll spin at a more constant speed.... however, the weight is in the center of the platter, so the moment of inertia is very low.
Clamps like the Michell (I use one also) are only going to help with very specific types of warps. Mainly "dishing" and "bubble warps" where you need to flatten the record down to the platter because it pops up in the center. Edge warps and other kinds of warps it cannot help. For that you would need a peripheral type ring clamp. Those are typically a lot more expensive than any sort of spindle clamp or weight.
Indeed. But those warps aren't common enough, in my experience (or in my own collection, at least), to make a Mitchell clamp a worthwhile purchase. Especially when using said clamp entails putting an O-Ring under the record and screwing the clamp down. It might not sound like much said like that but it quickly becomes a hassle.
The version of the clamp I use requires no o-ring. Takes all of ten seconds. And I've gotten plenty of slightly dished/bubbled records that the clamp flattens down. I also like that the record is always ridigly coupled to the mat and platter. The mat I use also requires the use of a clamp or weight. But not everyone cares about this stuff and I don't recommend weights or clamps for everyone.
I don't doubt these things can serve a purpose. In my case, with my records, they do not and the Mitchell clamp lies unused. Though I may well give it another chance in the interest of observation.
Good call, after this recommendation, I just took delivery of one of these cables today. Seems very solid so far. Even better, now it’s short enough I don’t have to tuck it down the back of the rack shelf.
Hi all. I am researching this table as I want to purchase it. I think I do want it, but there is 1 thing that's concerning me, and maybe you can help: The space I have to store them are in specially built drawers in a dj cabinet. The hight available is 158mm. Now all the specs say 159... However, I can store it without the dustcover... Can someone please confirm the hight with and without dust over please? As an aside - do you need to connect the ground or does it have a form of built in ground like the plx500? Thanks
The drawing below shows all the dimensions, with and without cover. The PLX-1000 comes with a ground wire, it doesn't use the "internally grounded" method of the PLX-500, whatever that means ... Might be able to trim the rubber on top of the feet a bit to pick up a couple mm, nt sure what they look like on the bottom, I don't have one, but there is often a layer of felt or something that could be removed ...
Hey thanks for thanks for the feedback. There is no ground wire for the plx500, and I've read that it's internal. (sorry I'm no expert with these technologies) And unfortunately I can't see that image. It's like a little file icon and
My table is 154mm high with dust cover. I don't think its feet are especially low either (they've definitely not been trimmed !). Using the ground wire made my phono stage (a Ifi Zen Phono) hum, so I removed it. All is fine now.
Hi. Thanks for everyone's responses. These are my first NEW turntables. It fits in the required storage place, with the dustcovers to the mm... I only played 3 tracks on them, but can already say the sound quality is absolutely next level (for me at least). There is not even a comparison to the second hand Stanton t150's I had before. Already super happy to have them!!
Stanton ST150 or the M2 variant? Because I found the ST150 and PLX-1000 to be fairly close, after bypassing the beatlock and built-in preamp crap on the ST150.
No it wasn't M2. It was also second hand so i don't know what it's been through before i got it. Also only went phono... but compared to these bad boys the sound was actually kind of like "muffled". Here, all frequencies are really crisp and identified
I bought the PLX-1000 last December. My requirements were mostly to digitize my old band's album, for which the master tapes are in parts unknown. Years ago, I bought a Pro-ject 1.2 for the task, did the job, then had a break-in that stole my computers and backup drives. By the time I got to it again, the Pro-ject's motor had developed an intermittent 60 Hz buzz (not electrical hum, this is the motor itself buzzing—I think it mainly happened after running for a bit). So, I wanted something a little more robust. While I almost went with a similar upscale tt (raga, etc.), it really bothered me that some of these are known to be off in speed, out of the box—absolutely not what I want for my needs. And I was a big put off by the delicate designs. Just giving the rationale... Anyway, I put a Nagaoka MP-110 cartridge on it. Everything was pretty good. I just played a few LPs, it remained powered off for about eight months. I turned it on a couple of nights ago to get to the job of digitizing. First, no power, it took me a bit to realize the AC cord doesn't fit very snuggly at all, I'll try replacing the cord or shimming it. Then the platter wouldn't start, with multiple presses of the button. As I was looking around and pressing it, I saw that the ring light had come on, and the platter was spinning. I pressed it again to stop. but instead of braking, the platter oscillated back and forth slowly (about 19 seconds to come to rest). And when restarting it, the strobe revealed the speed was hunting up and down. I left it stopped by powered on while I consulted the internet, and when I went back to it, it was quite hot to the touch. Obviously, the power board is bad. I took it in yesterday, when I explained the issues, the guy nodded and said he'd order a new motor and board. I like the turntable, for my limited use at least. I suspect they have quality issues, as reported, but in absence of those should be a good tt.
I got it back yesterday, they replaced the motor. But it's still not good. There is a slight oscillation visible in the strobe, slow and a very small amount, just detectable. And when stopping the platter, it's continues a bit, then backs up a bit—I'm pretty sure it just stopped when it was new. Also, if I slow the platter down with a finger then let go, it speeds up before setting at 33.3. When someone brought that up on the Pioneer site, they responded that the person needed to bring it in for a power supply board replacement. Lastly, when it went in, the tonearm lifter worked, now it can't get above the record.
Means the break is set too strong. Sounds like they made a f*ckup... or they screwed down the tonearm lift all the way.
Sorry for the troubles. Sounds like you got a lemon and then they fixed some but made other things worse. Good luck. I will say this issue: mine does that. If it happens once, I just give it a little spin to get it started and then hit Start and it goes fine. It shouldn’t do that of course but I live in the middle of nowhere so I don’t want to bother sending it to be fixed for something small. I’ve had mine for 3 years now and it’s the only issue with it.
