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!
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.
Last edited by DSJR; 15-08-2009 at 20:27.
I can't go on and I can't go back, I don't feel so matter of fact,
I tried and tried to make good sense, What's the good to try it all again?
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