Wanted turntable

[henrym]

Hi all ,son has found prog rock so wants a turntable to take back to uni he is insistant it must have a s shaped tonearm and a wooden plinth ala pioneer pl 12 d ? So has anyone got one gathering dust cause he ain't avin my sony biotracer as well as my yes collection ☺

[Ammonite Audio]

There are quite a few PL12Ds on eBay

[henrym]

Indeed but somehow I trust aos descriptions more and it doesn't necessarily have to be a pioneer I always liked the realistic lab series myself but I'm only a dad

[walpurgis]

Good, honest and reliable little turntable the PL-12D.

A drop of oil once in a blue moon and a new belt every few years and it will just keep going!

[Geoff101]

I've had a quite a few PL-12D. All of them have had mains hum on the audio output presumably from having the AC drive hung off the metal deck and the isolation rubber being a bit past it's best by now.

Also worth noting if it's for your son that many of them were single insulated, non-earthed construction (Class 0). I would recommend changing the mains lead at minimum but they still have an unearthed metal deck with a mains motor hung off it.

It's successor, the PL-112 although not as solid feeling, tend to be quieter and are at least properly insulated. They also don't have the internet reputation of the 12 and so can be picked up much cheaper. These have their own issues though as the Rifa suppression capacitors across the power switch are almost all knackered now and need changing. You'll get a significant 'crack' on power on if they are defective. Also check the base board isn't warped as it can touch the deck suspension if it is.

Both sound decent though and work very well with something like a Shure M75.