That’s a nice table. I looked at it but at more than double the price of the PLX-1000 I couldn’t swing it. Been very happy with my -1000 the last few years, and the price allowed me to improve my phono and cart.
I don't use a phono stage and run a VM540ML. Main reason I was able to splurge, however, is I got mine from a dealer who used to advertise on my site and gave me accommodation pricing. But the quality difference between them is quite notable. I was looking at the Pioneer seriously until I was able to get a GR. Different leagues.
Judging by the above issues I'm glad I sold mine. It was working 100% after 3 1/2 years intermittent use.
That's awful. Call the 800 (866) number in the manual to get it repaired at a different place, or replaced. Or refunded. Your warranty period is running out, so do it now. PS when the platter starts from stop or is slowed down, it is OK if it overshoots the speed then back to the right speed, but the overshoot and back to correct speed should be fast, like 1/4 of a second, but more like 1/10 of a second.
I've had mine for over six years with no issues. I like mine a lot. It looks good sitting next to my Gyro SE too.
Yeah, maybe. But the platter also takes longer to stop. When I first got the tt, until it went haywire it seemed to stop quite quickly. Yes, that appears to be true, thanks. The height adjustment seems to be hard bottomed out.
I see. I do remember being impressed with how fast it stopped, before. Now it's clearly not impressive. If I place a marker on it, hit Stop when it gets to my finger, the platter coast another 5" (outside measure), backs up maybe 7/8", forward again maybe 3/8", settles back. In other words, a much smaller version of what it was doing when it went completely haywire (would take ~19 seconds to settle). That wouldn't be a barrier to normal use, but is an apparent change. Another thing that isn't a barrier to my use is the speed bump when finger-dragging. But this is sold as a DJ turntable, and that is a fatal flaw for DJs, making is very difficult to synchronize LPs on two tt's. So that confirms this is not functioning as designed. I did talk to the shop (George Meyer AV) since my last post, and they confirmed that they changed the motor, as noted, and said that change replaces the board assembly as well. I asked if that included the power supply board, because Pioneer cited that as the issue when someone asked about the finger drag problem. The guy said yes. But he said he needed to talk to Pioneer to confirm what to do, asked me to call back—I just missed him today, need to call back Thursday. If he says Pioneer said no, I'll take it up with Pioneer. Otherwise I'll take it in, but this time when I pick it up I'll have them plug it in and I'll make sure it works 100% (~42 minute drive each way). Thanks
Ah that's strange indeed... definitely not a good sign, I would sent it back for a replacement/refund. Kinda lame that yours had so many issues. I've had a PLX-1000 for some years and it always worked great. At arrival it had some play in the tonearm bearings, so they needed to be tightened, but that was a 15 minute fix I did myself. In every other aspect, it was what a good midrange turntable should be - in contrast to most crappy midrange turntables nowadays.
I agree. As @earlevel says, this is a DJ turntable and the start/stop should work as intended. It was one of the things I immediately noticed when I bought the GR, how slower than the PLX it would start and stop. It's just a few milliseconds but at first it seemed like the GR took forever to start and stop.
Meh, the MK2 to M5G turntables that were common amongst DJs had a slower start/brake time as well. That was because of less torque. The higher toque and quicker start/brake is mainly beneficial for scratch DJs, but not so much for beatmatching/mixing. For example, if you want to make a slow fade-in/out of two songs by slightly touching the rim of the platter and you're doing it over and over for hours, it's like grinding away your fingers if it has high torque
Yes, it was odd—the turntable worked fine, and had no issues about loose bearings that I'd read about with some. I installed a cartridge, everything seemed very good about it. It sat for a few months, and when I powered it up again, it was totally messed up. Considering it was powered off, it seems unlikely it got zapped with a power issue, and I have a lot of other audio electronics that are powered on all the time. The irony is I need very little time with it, I mainly got it to digitize an old LP (my band, original tapes lost). I went for this because it doesn't make sense to sink a lot of money, yet I wanted something more robust that a lower-end Pro-Ject that also basically died before it served its purpose (motor has intermitted physical hum). While I did think about a mid-line Rega or similar, I was disturbed that some of these belt-drives don't have accurate speed, without doing tweaky things like replacing the belt with another type. At least with the Pioneer, I know I'm getting accurate speed, and it's structurally not flimsy. Even the guy at George Meyer, where they had a lot of turntable repairs, said, "dam, this thing's heavy" when he retrieved it. If this were a tt I felt likely to use a lot and have for years, I'd have no problem paying a lot more, but I'm hoping to outlast the quality issues and get lucky enough to have a solid unit like some have had. It's not going to get a lot of mileage.
It seems like you are both over analyzing things WAY too much... As in trying to address problem(s) that are not... PS where did that "spec" come from ?
You're missing that the behavior changed from exactly what I'd expect from a DJ turntable (rock-solid speed, predictable "bending", quick start stop) to useless for DJ'ing. I'm not DJ'ing, and I made it clear, I think, that the issue I'm concerned with is that the speed wanders. I don't think most would consider that acceptable for a turntable, and the fact they include a strobe seems to indicate they didn't plan on people seeing the speed "hunt". Anyway, Pioneer just got back to them, and said it was unexpected, they haven't seen this issue, but to bring it in for another motor replacement. Will head to LA shortly...
Don't forget power conditioning goes a long way to helping things perform their best... I have been a long time fan of old HQ direct drive stuff myself. Most any strobe will "wander" if you stare at it and look for that. We here at the forum have no reference as to what wandering you may be going on. Have you compared it to any others? Listen very closely to some classical piano with extended held notes as you stare at the strobe. If you can detect wavering in the notes then you have a problem. If not then start with some power conditioning and see if we can get that strobe perfectly still so it matches the nice sound these tables are capable of reproducing.
Well, it's in the shop now, so we'll see... I understand about the power conditioning, though the couple of changes in behavior are beyond power issues. (FWIW, my power is pretty good. I rewired the whole room due to ground loops, from the main panel with heavier gauge, put in metal conduit, sub-panel.) The speed regulation is something I'm not certain of—it looked perfect before, but I had no need to scrutinize it. And it could just be slight platter irregularities. However, the change in the braking behavior I'd at least classify as a speed/position control issue. And I don't know if the finger-drag issue was there before, but if that's expected behavior, then Pioneer is fibbing that this is suitable for DJ'ing. The damping is not first order, it overshoots corrections. It does the same with braking, which it didn't before the failure. For a tt that is design to control such things, it's doing a poor job of it. Also, the fact that in the Pioneer DJ forum, when someone explained the finger-drag issue, Pioneer responded—without further questions—that they needed to take it in for service to replace the power board. However, the service guy talked to Pioneer service and they said there are no such known issues. That seems to be unlikely, though, other people have seen this behavior, and there is no doubt it's not acceptable behavior for DJ'ing, I'm sure it makes it difficult to sync two tt's.
I saw a short film about the manufacturing of Paul McCartney's McCartney III by Third Man Records and I'm almost positive they test the records on a Pioneer PLX1000. I recognized the blue light and the round on/off switch.
Sharp eye, especially since it's a Super OEM, that might look similar under a different label. At 3:21 (in the preview, doesn't look like it will accept me starting at 3:17, but you can jump there), clearly Pioneer PLX-1000:
I realize this is a big thread,and been around for a while. I don’t have time tonight (or even over the week) to read it all. I’ve got one incoming, and looking for a cartridge to match with it. Leading contender is an AT VM540ML with a separate headshell. Good match for the Pioneer? I like the idea of it coming mounted in advance. Is the Stevenson protractor what I should use to align it? I’m a bit of a novice here. phono preamp is. Moon LP110 v2. Thanks all,
YES excellent choice. I’ve had 740ml and 750sh and the AT carts go well with this table in my opinion. I use Stevenson and it works perfect for me
Dan @guidedbyvoices knows what he’s talking about IRG. I have the same cart and he’s turning me on to a more expensive micro line soon. Get that cart, you’ll thank him.
Thanks. Does the combo with that cart and headshell appropriate then? I’m asssuming the the AT headshell is a good match with this tone arm. I’ve never installed a cart, I have a 2M Blue that came on my Orbit, and then just made slight adjustments.
I'm pretty sure this cartridge won't come mounted in the headshell in a good alignment for the PLX-1000 tonearm. The good part is that you won't have to mount it and deal with the wires. I suppose that all you will need to do is to loose the screws a bit in order to be able to move the cartridge, than align it according to the manual: squared and with 54mm of distance from the stylus tip.
