Pioneer's new PLX-1000 Turntable

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by bluelips, Jul 17, 2014.

  1. Black Jack

    Black Jack New Member

    Location:
    Aberdeen

    not at all, the plx-1000 is an excellent turntable, just my preference after some trial and error has led me back to the 1210, basically for mixing on i think they are better, but that's just me
     
    Helom likes this.
  2. Black Jack

    Black Jack New Member

    Location:
    Aberdeen
    sound quality wise, the poineer is amazing...i also done some ace mixes on them, but for mixing long drawn out mixes, even when you swap the headphone channel and ride the track playing out, it is ok, but not quite there, because of the digital pitch, which is great, just not quite there
     
  3. Black Jack

    Black Jack New Member

    Location:
    Aberdeen
    so for me lololol, it is a purely dj thing...i want accuracy, i want a deck i can hand in locally and get it serviced and upgraded any way i want
     
  4. druboogie

    druboogie Maverick Stacker

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Holy crap I had no idea the pitch wavers on them.
    Fine by me, I dont mix anyway, just straight quick performance. ALthough I understand the need for the presicion pitch.
    So at this point for me, it doesnt matter if I use 1200s or the PLX1000, either one will do the job for me. I actually would get a pair of gold version Pioneers. I love the way they look.
     
  5. Black Jack

    Black Jack New Member

    Location:
    Aberdeen
    The sound and performance of the plx-1000 is excellent
     
  6. bru87tr

    bru87tr 80’s rule

    Location:
    MA
    I really wish I got a good one. Was tempted to get a replacement but if had to return that one too, I didn't want Amazon to ban me.
     
  7. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    Unless you're in the habit of sending back half your purchases, they're more likely to suspend the sale of the PLX for inspection than ban you outright.
    You could also buy from a knowledge retailer and have them examine the table for faults before sending it on.
     
    Helom likes this.
  8. druboogie

    druboogie Maverick Stacker

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I definitely remember aq memeber here that pretty muich returned every purchase of a CD because of tiny scratches. They banned him and he couldnt understand why. I highly doubt they would ban you for two defective turntables.
     
  9. I need real help here. I am on PLX-1000 #3. One from Musician's friend...threads for Sub weight bad. Returned and they had no replacemenst for several week. Got credit. Guitar Center matched M.F's price and had a brand new on in their store 8 miles away. Got it sub weight was fine. But when I turned it on I heard a spike from my left speaker which morphed into an egregious hum. Audible from my sweet spot chair 9 feet away at thecomfrotable volume both my wife & I could abide. Checked the ground wire, replaced my directional (ground attached on one end) Audio Quest cables between my brand new PLX/AT-OC9MLII/Jelco-HS-20 headshell and My new Van Alstine Vision Q phono pre and then out to my Adcom GFP-750, with non directional RCAs (the Pioneer Stock RCAs and some Adcom fine wires. Still had spike & hum.

    Returned miscreant PLX-1000 to Guitar Center. Unboxed set up, installed OC/9II/HS-20... Still had spike & hum. Tried 3 different AC power cords ... Still had spike & hum. Took PLX ac plug from Adcom Line Conditioner and plugged directly into the wall socket...Still had spike & hum. Reversed RCA leads at turntable hum moved from left to KEF Reference 3.2. That means it's in the table or cartridge. I had a new old Adcom Cross Coil High output Moving coil mounted into the stock Pioneer headshell... Still had spike & hum. Finally I replaced my PLX with my old AR The Turntable reinstalling the Adcom into it's headshell turned on the platter motor...NO spike and absolutely (as in the pristine darkness folks rave about) NO HUM. It is the PLX-1000 2 in a row...maybe 3 I just wastn't paying attention for hum.

    Now believe me I desparately want to keep PLX-1000 #3. The combo with the OC/9II/Jelco/Van Alstine Vision Q/Adcoms GFP-750 GFA-5802/KER Ref 3.2s can be spell bindingly real. I am not only a professional musician making my living at it, but also a retired professional audio consultant save for 15-20 fillin days a year at my last fulltime audio gig of 35+years. I know equipment and I know what live musicians creating live music sounds like from every possible angle. But I also know that no matter how seductive my PLX-1000 may be, audible hum masks and compromises the low-level signals that could make the music even more seductive and real. I know the hum is there and can't abide by that.

    I've been in discussion with a very friendly and psesitant folk from Pioneer DJ, whose basic responce is "the PLX-1000 was never designed as an audiophile device and hum can't be heard in any DJ situation."

    Do any of my fellow PLX owners have hum problems? Is mine just a one (two, or three) off? Is it possible that the platter may be the offender, because I kept the platter from PLX #2 because it was machined better? Is there any help here, or must I choose to live with or without unavaoidable hum? I could use some help and advice. Thank you for trudging through this and any thoughts or answers.
     
  10. I forgot to add to important points. (1) I have tried both with and without the PLX-1000 turntable ground wire connected to my Vision Q Phono Pre-Amp. Both wire connected and disconnected, there is the same level and tone of the turnon spike & hum (2) White both cartridge/headshell combinations I have attached to the PLX tone arm have hummed. When both are unscrewed and disconnected the hum immediately disappears.
     
  11. Sorry for grammar & spelling errors. To clarify, I returned PLX-1000 #2, which I purchased from Guitar Center, and G.C. replaced it with my brand new and present PLX-1000 #3. Then when I wrote just above "(2) White both cartridge/headshell combinations." I meant "While both" not "White both."

    Tonight I tried again, twice, to replace my directional Audio Quest RCAs with non directional, grounded on both ends, RCAs (the stock Pioneer & Adcom) to see if the directional cables were picking up and amplifying the spike & hum. Perhaps the turnon spike & hum were bit less, but they were definitely still there. And with these clearly lower grade cables, the resulting sound was immediately, and noticably, inferior in every way.
     
  12. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    First, the RCA cables won't make much difference unless one has a bad connection or something like an intermittent short or open wire. Also, I've had many a hum problem solved by replacing the ground wire between a table and preamp, due to small opens in the thin wire or a loose spade. It seems very common that these thin gauged ground wires have issues.

    Did you try grounding the Vision Q preamp to your Adcom preamp? Everytime I set up a new analog combo, it seems I have to do much experimenting with grounding to achieve the lowest noise. Sometimes it requires the phono preamp, system preamp, and turntable to all be grounded (bonded) together. Some folks like to call this a star ground. If your Adcom doesn't have a phono input and ground lug, you can possibly use a chassis screw as a ground lug.

    Lastly but not likely, maybe your cartridge or phono cables are too close to a transformer or power cable in your system?

    This is the first I've heard of any hum issues with a PLX.
     
  13. Wounded Land

    Wounded Land Forum Resident

    Zero hum problems with mine.
     
  14. rtrt

    rtrt Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    No hum problems here.

    Sorry to hear of your problems. I dont have much experience in turntables so can only offer general advice.

    If you've swapped all hardware ie cables / cartridge/ phono preamp / preamp, then the only thing I'd do before giving up, is taking the table to a friends house and using their set up - ie not only new equipment but a new environment - interference, mains power and so on.

    Good luck whatever you choose to do.
     
    Helom likes this.
  15. Thank you. Haven't grounded to TT & Phono Pre to Adcom Pre will try. No hum at all fro previous AR Turntable, even traded it back in. Dark total quite.
     
  16. Thank you.
     
  17. Thank you!
     
  18. Just added a bigger ground wire along with the old wire from the PLX-1000 to my Vision Q and from the Vision Q to the frame of my Adcom GFP-750...still has turn on thump and Hum. Could there be a bad wire or headshell connector (Left channel) in the tone arm?
     
  19. Thank you all. But I am stymied and I have done my best to experiment with everything to alleviate this hum and noise problem. I really want this to work and I really want to keep PLX-1000 #3. But I do know that an audible hum can't help but veil & compromise the low level detail of the music. I'm not going to take this to a friends house and check this out.

    My AR doesn't hum and no matter what I do the PLX-1000 does. That indicates that the problem isn't beyond the turntable or the cables from the TT to the Phono Pre. The fact that the hum still remains when completely changing out the cables and that the hum changes channels when I reverse the RCA cabled on the back of the PLX-1000 is simple & convincing evidence that the problem is within the turntable/headshell/or cartridge. The fact that when I exchange two different headshell/cartridge combinations the spike & hum remains or when I totally unplug either headshell/cartridge and the hum totally disappears is simple & convincing evidence that the problem lies within the PLX-1000. Open to any ideas.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2017
  20. In one last ditch effort to see if I could eliminate the spike & hum in PLX-1000 #3 , I brought a table, a 10 gauge 12 foot Monster Cable speaker wire, and a pair of quite decent 15 foot non directional RCA cables, and a totally different Monster Cable line conditioner up from my basement.

    I set the table up in the hall way on the other side of a wall 9 or 10 feet from my Phono Pre Amp and system Pre Amp and 6 feet away from and on the my left speaker. I then took my PLX-1000 off of the shelf it has been sitting, set it on the table, connected the RCAs & the red lead of the 10 gauge speaker wire from the Turntable. I plugged the PLX's AC power cord into the Monster Line Conditioner. As I stood in the room with the speaker, my wife switched on the the totally isolated PLX-1000 in the hallway... plain as day the turn on thump and then the hum. We switched places and I turned on the PLX and she heard the hum. Switched again, she turned the PLX on and said from the hallway "I can hear that out here." Par for the course, the hum was louder in the left speaker, until I reversed the RCA's in the back of the PLX then it was again louder in the right. Tone arm wiring problem or a grounding problem that is allowing the buzz & hum from the lights to bleed into the signal.

    Mind you this was all with the platter not spinning. When the platter start button was pushed you again heard a turn on thump, or buzz, or what ever the heck you'd call it, and then the hum remained quite musically the same. I'm through. Unless you folks can give me a quick fix. PLX-1000 #3 goes back to Guitar Center. I've gone far beyond the call on this. I don't think I should have to accept a constant hum (whether a recurring manufacturing defect or design compromise) in pursuit of great sound for the buck.
     
    The Pinhead likes this.
  21. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    Return it and start saving for the new Technics SL-1200 that's coming out soon. Good luck. :)
     
    The Pinhead likes this.
  22. Return seems to be the only viable answer to getting rid of the hum. May try the Denon VL12. Have sold thousands of dollars of denon equipment over 40 + years. Always pretty darn good.
     
    bluemooze likes this.
  23. druboogie

    druboogie Maverick Stacker

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Now you can demo the hum to the guitar center people. Maybe they can switch it in the spot. Maybe they will have another one that won't have the hum.
     
  24. T
    That would make PLX #4. They didn't have a phono Pre Amp in the store. So I couldn't really check # 3 until I had it all set up in my home. Not certain I want to waste anymore hours. May try new Denon VL12 Prime. Anyone with any experience?
     
  25. Wounded Land

    Wounded Land Forum Resident

    Yeah, I wouldn't bother with a fourth. There's obviously something very peculiar going on with the interaction between components in your system.
     
    rtrt likes this.

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