Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Dedicated Source Components › Yamaha PF-800 Turntable
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Yamaha PF-800 Turntable

post #1 of 7
5/20/08 at 6:39pm
Thread Starter 
Today I received a Yamaha PF-800 turntable that I bought on ebay recently.

The table is in near mint condition, and it also came with a Grado G2 cartridge that's in very good condition.

I opened up an NOS pressing of The Honey Drippers, featuring Robert Plant. There was some very hot treble and a lot of sibilance.

After going through the manual and making all the necessary adjustments I tried again...Ah, that did it. It's sounding very nice indeed, and the cartridge is quite nice for a freebie.

There are a lot of adjustments on this table, but it's very well laid out and quite simple to dial in.

I'll have my Mitsubishi L3000 linear tracker all tweaked and ready to compare to the Yamaha soon.

I have a completely custom TT in the works that will hopefully negate the need or want for these two tables, but that will be a little way off yet. The Yamaha will certainly fill the bill in the meantime.









Reply

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

post #2 of 7
5/20/08 at 7:10pm
I had a look at that and was very tempted to snap it up. It is a crac king good TT that I remember with great fondness from my days working for a audio retail chain. The suspension design is absolutely fabulous and the weird arm design is surprisingly detailed. I reckon it will sound better than the linear tracking Mitsubishi, which I rate highly as well.
Reply
post #3 of 7
5/20/08 at 7:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Herandu View Post
I had a look at that and was very tempted to snap it up. It is a crac king good TT that I remember with great fondness from my days working for a audio retail chain. The suspension design is absolutely fabulous and the weird arm design is surprisingly detailed. I reckon it will sound better than the linear tracking Mitsubishi, which I rate highly as well.
Well I had a Mitsubishi LT-30 in the 80's, and I was very impressed with it. It's one of the better LTs out there for sure. On par with the Yamaha PX-2 IMO, but sexier looking IMHO. But yes I'm quite impressed with the Yamaha so far, so it'll be a fun head to head.
Reply
post #4 of 7
5/21/08 at 8:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Herandu View Post
...the weird arm design is surprisingly detailed...
I clocked that too. I wonder if it's any relation to the famous Burne-Jones A Problem in Applied Geometry or Garrard Zero 100 arm Garrard Zero 100 SB turntable
Reply
post #5 of 7
5/21/08 at 9:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by memepool View Post
I clocked that too. I wonder if it's any relation to the famous Burne-Jones A Problem in Applied Geometry or Garrard Zero 100 arm Garrard Zero 100 SB turntable
Not sure, and honestly I was worried it might just be a gimmick, but it does indeed sound quite good.

I picked up another PF-800 a while back in less than stellar condition for less than $100.00. The tonearm on it is in very good condition, and I thought I might use it on another table, however it's not a simple retrofit. The tonearm is not installed the same as most tonearms (no threaded post) and it's wired to a PCB with a computer style connector cable.

The 80's tables were all about electronics, but I'm happy that it sounds so good.
Reply
post #6 of 7
5/21/08 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swt61 View Post
The 80's tables were all about electronics, but I'm happy that it sounds so good.
Definitley the Japanese ones anyway although B&O and Revox also made some top class fully automated linear trackers at that time. British decks were going in the opposite direction like the minimalist Rega or else into sonic scuptures like Michell.

Quite surprising then that Yamaha were making high end belt drives as that was pretty rare in Japan in the 1980s.
Reply
post #7 of 7
5/21/08 at 12:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by memepool View Post
Definitley the Japanese ones anyway although B&O and Revox also made some top class fully automated linear trackers at that time.
I once had a Revox LT on perma-loan from a friend many moons ago.
It was an excellent and hassle free TT but too bad it's so ugly!

That Yamaha is gorgeous!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Dedicated Source Components

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Dedicated Source Components › Yamaha PF-800 Turntable