Steve's next turntable journey Pioneer PL-71

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Originally Posted by David Price

Hi DSJR - yes, I have. A critique; quartz lock is better than no-quartz lock; easily demonstrable on a deck with switchable quartz lock. That's the first point against it. Second is the plinth; there's no serious attempt to isolate it from the outside world, and no clever use of materials (a la Lo-7D) to deal with the vibes - unlike the PL600 (and later Pioneers with 'coaxial' suspension, as they called it). Third, it's a middling motor - good but not special - and a middling bearing. Basically it's a decent, well made, mid-price Jap DD from the pre-Quartz Lock era.

An SL1200 is several steps above, and the later PL600X, PL-L1000, etc., are miles better. I'm not saying it's a bad deck; it isn't; it's just nothing special. Kind of like a Trio KD550, Sony PS-4750, etc. of that era. A nice thing, but in engineering and design terms pure straight-down-the-line conventional mid-price Jap DD - the t/t equivalent of a Honda Accord. The Technics decks of that period were better made, so I'm just wondering why everyone's talking about the Pioneer PL-71 all of a sudden?

I'm afraid to say I do speak from some experience in this matter; I lived in Japan for seven years, during which time I bought just about every Jap DD ever made (usually from charity shops for under Y5000 (£25)). As I said, the really clever thing - what really pushed Pioneer ahead of the crowd - was the coaxial suspension, and that didn't come until two years later than the PL-71.

Don't want to be rude about the PL-71 - it would kick a Project or suchlike into the dirt in build quality terms, but it's madness that they're going for big money on eBay (or whatever). It seems the net is full of 'urban legends', with lots of repeated "wisdom" from people with little or no practical hands on experience, and it's a bit weird how it spreads. Maybe this is a good idea for a feature?

Personally, I'd do as Marco did - get that SL1200 and tweak it - a great sounding deck that's not full of no-longer-available components and will last forever. An amazing bargain considering the performance that £250 (lightly used) buys you...

My two cents!

I'll shut up now, sorry for the rant!

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Thank you David, a very fair critique and at least you've tried one yourself... Not a rant at all IMO, just putting the facts straight according to personal experience.

A certain person has made huge store by this turntable and I'm sure it's quite acceptable overall. I worked for a dealer who sold many Technics decks (until the LP12 supposedly blew them away - a subject for another thread again methinks :))

As I've said elsewhere here, I owned an SL110/SME for a year or so and replaced it with my first LP12 in late 1976. ten years later, our London shop was getting many old techies in for cartridge upgrades/stylus replacements etc. and a trusted colleague was genuinely surprised how well these decks responded to careful siting and a broader minded attitude.

I'm way behind, as i've only just been given an SL150 for nowt. On a simpler and very much cheaper scale, I look forward to seeing just how far this old deck can be taken. It sounded very sweet with a Hadcock, although how this dreadfully finished and crude device can sell for several hundred quid is anyone's guess...



P.S. I can't wait for marco to bite the bullet and get an SP10. now that's one turntable that EVERYBODY seems to get goosebumps over.

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P.S. I can't wait for marco to bite the bullet and get an SP10. now that's one turntable that EVERYBODY seems to get goosebumps over.

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Oh, Dave, don't worry it'll be happening! I've just spent £12k on a new luxury bathroom, so unfortunately it'll have to wait for a little bit yet ;)

Marco.

FFS marco, get yer priorities right. You don't spend hours on the bog listening to music do you???? (Perish the thought :gig:)

Hahahaha... You've no idea how funny that is, Dave, because that's *precisely* what I'll be doing!! Well, not on the bog, but rather in the bath...

We've just installed waterproof bathroom speakers on the ceiling above our free-standing cast-iron bath, which will be fed from my system upstairs :lol:

So we'll be soaking up the suds and sipping vino (or champers) whilst listening to some Miles Davis, or whatever else takes our fancy ;)

Cool, eh?

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Marco

Oh, Dave, don't worry it'll be happening! I've just spent £12k on a new luxury bathroom, so unfortunately it'll have to wait for a little bit yet ;)

Marco.

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Well what a sort of coincidence in reverse so to speak, I've just dropped mega £k on a new pair of speakers and am in the middle of a 6/8 week wait for them. Only problem, Mrs REM thinks we are having a new kitchen, wonder what she's going to say when she finds out, anyone with any ideas about how to break the good news?:eek:

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Originally Posted by REM

Well what a sort of coincidence in reverse so to speak, I've just dropped mega £k on a new pair of speakers and am in the middle of a 6/8 week wait for them. Only problem, Mrs REM thinks we are having a new kitchen, wonder what she's going to say when she finds out, anyone with any ideas about how to break the good news?:eek:

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Don't be a wimp, just act as if it's perfectly normal and justifiable to drop several £k on some hi-fi.

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Originally Posted by MartinT

Don't be a wimp, just act as if it's perfectly normal and justifiable to drop several £k on some hi-fi.

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Yeah but she's bigger than me and packs one 'eck of a right 'ook:)

LOL - sounds like my kinda woman, haha... Is she good at arm-wrestling, too, Ralph? :lol:

;)

Marco.

It's not in the slightest bit justifiable to sink several grand into a speaker these days IMO. Not when there is so much wonderful vintage stuff available for less than a couple of grand (how much were your Lockwood Major's Marco?). I've no sympathy at all ;)

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how much were your Lockwood Major's Marco?

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Hi Dave,

I originally paid £2800 for them fitted with 15" Monitor Reds, and those included high quality 'tweaked' crossovers designed by Chris from Big Ears. When I instead eventually settled for the 15" Golds, I got £300 back (as Golds are less expensive - less rare), so in the end the Lockwoods cost me £2500.

However........... I've since spent the thick end of a grand on some outrageously top-notch crossovers, using the best of modern components, but £300 of that was paid for from the 'refund' on the Reds, so the final figure is around the £3200 mark :)

Quite frankly though, thus modified, I'd put them up against ANY modern speaker today without too many worries ;)

There are some very good hi-end modern speakers around though, Martin's Ushers being a prime example (which I think are almost a bargain considering the material value and superb use of latest technology), but some of them are just outrageously priced, for little more than 'badge status', so if the highest SPPV means anything to you at all (this is definitely where I'm 'at' these days), going the route I took is much more rewarding - on a number of levels! :smoking:

Marco.