Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

With the release of the Pioneer PLX-1000, which addresses the vibration issues of vintage DD turntables, there's no need to live dangerously. It's in current production, you'd be buying it under warranty, and it's a very affordable $699.

Johnny, I am very glad that the new Pioneer exists, because it will be attractive to those who fear "living dangerously" with vintage DD's, and it may help, like the Technics SL1200 did, to spread the word of the virtues of DD. But what "vibration issues" are you referring to?

Pryso, Someone wiser than I once told me that a good speaker cable usually makes a good power cord. In my experience with the Kimber 8TC and the Goertz copper ribbons, this axiom has held true so far. It suits my contrary nature, as well.

03-09-15: Lewm
Johnny, I am very glad that the new Pioneer exists, because ... it may help, like the Technics SL1200 did, to spread the word of the virtues of DD. But what "vibration issues" are you referring to?

Maybe resonance would be a better word, though resonance is a form of sympathetic vibration.

I find the improvements in the PLX-1000 to echo my own tweaks to my SL1210 M5G: I found that there was an upper midrange glare whose frequency corresponded to the "ping" I heard when flicking the hollow aluminum tonearm. I wrapped the tonearm with PFTE pipe thread tape, the "ping" disappeared and so did the "glare."

I swapped out the stock footers for a combination of brass cones and Vibrapod cones and isolators, plus an isolation platform made of 3-1/2" thick butcher block cutting board and silicon gel pads. This lowered the overall noise floor and improved inner detail, dynamics, and clarity.

The PLX-1000 has a rubbery damping sleeve lining the tonearm. It has much improved feet, the aluminum top has been replaced by much less resonant and more rigid zinc, and there are polymer damping layers internally to further quell random vibrations and resonances.

Over the 8 years I've had my SL1210, I found that the audiophile dogma aimed against the direct drive mechanism was misplaced. There was nothing wrong with the Matsushita direct drive mechanism; it was their rudimental knowledge of vibration control that made the Technics sound dark to the point of murky compared to the belt drive turntables (e.g., Linn) that came along soon after that specifically directed their design at quelling resonances. The designs were effective, but mistakenly attributed their success to the belt drive, not the spring suspension and other isolation techinques.

Every time I did something about resonance--KAB's fluid damper, the tonearm wrap, a sorbothane mat, record grip, cones and isolators, butcher block, etc., the turntable sounded cleaner, more propulsive, more dynamic, quieter, and more linear. It looks like the Pioneer now has most of these virtues right out of the box.

Henry

See link with mat on top of rubber mat

http://stylus.export-japan.com/images/ltm/turntablemat05_l.jpg

http://stylus.export-japan.com/images/ltm/turntablemat03_l.jpg

Lewm: Where did you connect the third "ground" wire from your IEC plug to the chassis?

With your ultra transparent casing you should be able to see what I am referring to pretty easily. The main circuit boards are stacked using hexagonal brass rods that screw together and screw into the chassis. I unscrewed one right near the small circuit board where the pc connects, removed the small lock washer at the base of the rod where it screws into the chassis and put my tinned and flattened green wire into that space, and tightened it down.
Easily done.
Gary