My first vinyl rig - Pioneer PL-12D (56k warning)
Mar 8, 2007 at 7:33 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 17

socrates63

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After much deliberations, changing my mind multiple times within a given day, I finally put an end to my madness and decided to go for a cheap vintage turntable. The idea behind the decision was that I didn't want to invest so much money (I had been looking into $350 to $900 new and used turntables) when I wasn't sure I'd like vinyl.

I decided to spend about $50 and scoured for local sellers on ebay and craigslist for a couple of weeks. Last Friday, I picked up a Pioneer PL-12D from craigslist for $45. I wasn't expecting much, but when I went to pick up the turntable, I was ecstatic. This thing looked fabulous, and the seller was obviously a vintage audio lover who took great care of his equipment. His apartment living room wall was covered with multiple vintage Marantz and Sony receivers, tuners, turntables, and speakers. He put on an album to let me hear the turntable, and it sounded great. He replaced the belt with a new one and recommended that I replace the cartridge with a Grado cart, $30-40 he said.

I followed multiple threads started by several members who were looking to get into vinyl, and Zuerst's threads in particular generated a lot of helpful replies. Reading lini and memepool's posts reminded me of watching Siskel and Ebert talk about movies on TV. I want to thank memepool for answering my PM when I asked about the PL-12D.

I haven't done any critical comparisons but the turntable sounds as good, if not better, than my CDP. I'm very surprised given the fact that this particular model was a budget turntable in its day and I'm using the stock cartridge.

Enough of my babbling... on to the pics
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. Thanks for reading and sharing in my newfound joy.

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my maxed Rockhopper M³
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Singlepower MPX3 Slam SE, excuse the dust
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Mar 8, 2007 at 8:11 AM Post #2 of 17
Very good buy! The PL-12D is one of the better turntables that they ever made. Their later models that came out soon after the PL-12D all had a problem with the speed switch. A famous Pioneer modification kit to correct the problem is something I remember very well, having fitted hundreds of them.
The PL-12D is very good with MC cartridges. The detail is just unbelievable. The Pioneer MC5MC MC cartridge is still oe of my favourite cartridges, and I even have a spare stylus as a back up.
Happy listening
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Mar 8, 2007 at 8:37 AM Post #3 of 17
That's a nice looking turntable. Only $45? Good job!

I've never seen pictures of the rest of your rig either. It looks great.

Wait a second, that's your office? Does Microsoft pay you to relax and listen to music all day?
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Mar 8, 2007 at 8:45 AM Post #4 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The PL-12D is very good with MC cartridges.


Can you provide some suggestions (preferably under $100)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borat /img/forum/go_quote.gif
That's a nice looking turntable. Only $45? Good job!

I've never seen pictures of the rest of your rig either. It looks great.

Wait a second, that's your office? Does Microsoft pay you to relax and listen to music all day?
tongue.gif



I never posted pics of my rig so this is a first. I also picked up that Salamander rack and desk for $45 from craigslist a few weeks ago. 45, it seems, is my magic number. Maybe I should have bought some MegaMillions tickets and played 45.

Yes, that is my office, and some of my co-workers wonder the same thing when they wander by
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. Is it my fault that I know how to relax and keep my wits in this crazy place?
 
Mar 9, 2007 at 1:25 PM Post #5 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Can you provide some suggestions (preferably under $100)?


Looking good. Glad you are enjoying the vinyl. Your ancillary equipment looks lovely too....
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As far as carts go, I don't know off hand what is the mass of that tonearm on the Pioneer, but it looks fairly substantial in a 70's Japanese stylee so I'd say the Denon's http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/567.asp are worth a go if you want to try out a Moving coil. The DL110 is the nearest to your budget and is High Output so it doesn't require an Phono Stage with a special Moving Coil Input either.
2nd hand ones can be had for less if you look around and can find one with a stylus in good condition. Supex and Coral are names to look out for although all the larger Japanese manufacturers made MC carts in the 70's many of which were very good. If you can find one in decent condition and decide the sound is to your liking then it's usually a few hundred dollars to get it serviced and retipped though. Garrott Brothers in Australia are the leading specialists.
 
Mar 9, 2007 at 4:01 PM Post #6 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Yes, that is my office, and some of my co-workers wonder the same thing when they wander by
biggrin.gif
. Is it my fault that I know how to relax and keep my wits in this crazy place?



that's your office?!? wow! that's what i'd expect to see in a very nice home rig. do you get any work done?
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Mar 9, 2007 at 5:05 PM Post #7 of 17
The Denon suggested by memepool is indeed a very good starting choice. However, don't make the mistake to limit yourself to U$100. The rest of your gear is well ahead of that figure in terms of reproduction. And the TT can deliver the goods.
A few words of advise on the TT: do a searh on the net for the service of maintenance manual. I remember having to oil the motor and arm assembly with a special oil. This applies to all turntables by the way! It's just that I remember it in this case. I had a customer who showed up every 3 months for me to service his PL-12D...
 
Mar 9, 2007 at 5:29 PM Post #8 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I remember having to oil the motor and arm assembly with a special oil. This applies to all turntables by the way! It's just that I remember it in this case. I had a customer who showed up every 3 months for me to service his PL-12D...


2nd the oil change if your seller didn't do this already. Vinylengine.com has the user manual here
http://www.vinylengine.com/library_m...d_model=PL-12D
 
Mar 9, 2007 at 5:40 PM Post #9 of 17
Nice work on the vinyl rig Socrates! I love that it is in your office at MS. A full-on rack with TT, records and plenty gear is killing me! That makes me look rather sane in my law firm with *just* my Headroom Desktop Amp/Dac, PSU, AD2000 on a TTVJ stand, and my M-Audio BX5a speakers on my desk!
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Let me/us know how you like the VPP1 because I am considering it for a second system. I may be getting one from Dusty for display at the Int' Meet -- not sure what he is sending -- and I have been meaning to do a little research. Hmm, maybe I should consider it for an office rig upgrade too . . .
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Mar 9, 2007 at 5:47 PM Post #10 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Nice work on the vinyl rig Socrates! I love that it is in your office at MS. A full-on rack with TT, records and plenty gear is killing me! That makes me look rather sane in my law firm with *just* my Headroom Desktop Amp/Dac, PSU, AD2000 on a TTVJ stand, and my M-Audio BX5a speakers on my desk!
tongue.gif



Al, pictures please! get that envy factor going.
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Mar 9, 2007 at 6:39 PM Post #11 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The Denon suggested by memepool is indeed a very good starting choice. However, don't make the mistake to limit yourself to U$100. The rest of your gear is well ahead of that figure in terms of reproduction. And the TT can deliver the goods.
A few words of advise on the TT: do a searh on the net for the service of maintenance manual. I remember having to oil the motor and arm assembly with a special oil. This applies to all turntables by the way! It's just that I remember it in this case. I had a customer who showed up every 3 months for me to service his PL-12D...



Quote:

Originally Posted by memepool /img/forum/go_quote.gif
2nd the oil change if your seller didn't do this already. Vinylengine.com has the user manual here
http://www.vinylengine.com/library_m...d_model=PL-12D



I will look into the maintenance of the turntable. Thank you for the link. The turntable, as is, sounds very good to me, so I'll look to see what I can be done to tune it, oil it and such. My Shure gauge arrived yesterday so there's something to play with.

You guys have been very helpful to many vinyl newbies. Thanks again for that. It's amazing how good an analog rig sounds for so little money compared to a digital setup.
 
Mar 9, 2007 at 6:45 PM Post #12 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Can you provide some suggestions (preferably under $100)?


I just checked the manual and they are claiming that the tonearm is "lightweight" although they don't state the effective mass in the specs. So whether it is lightweight by mid '70s standards or what we would call low mass today is harder to say.

I suspect the Shure carts would probably be a good match as I have seen these fitted on similar tables on ebay and they were the most popular at the time. MC carts weren't actually all that fashionable in the '70s!
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So another option would be to find an old Shure M91 or M95 on ebay which should be possible for around 10USD and then get a brand new bespoke JICO SAS stylus http://www.export-japan.com/marketin...sort=2a&page=4
 
Mar 9, 2007 at 6:54 PM Post #13 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Nice work on the vinyl rig Socrates! I love that it is in your office at MS. A full-on rack with TT, records and plenty gear is killing me! That makes me look rather sane in my law firm with *just* my Headroom Desktop Amp/Dac, PSU, AD2000 on a TTVJ stand, and my M-Audio BX5a speakers on my desk!
tongue.gif



Thanks for the kind words. I'd image in a law office you want to maintain a certain decorum... can't look like a bunch of college kids having too much fun. You're office setup is certainly nothing to sneeze at, and I've seen pics of your home setup. Who's killing whom here?
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The rack is something I picked up only a few weeks ago. Before then, I had the CDP, amps, and headphones spread across my desks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron
Let me/us know how you like the VPP1 because I am considering it for a second system. I may be getting one from Dusty for display at the Int' Meet -- not sure what he is sending -- and I have been meaning to do a little research. Hmm, maybe I should consider it for an office rig upgrade too . . .
cool.gif



I've no experience with phono stages so it's a little difficult to say. But based on what I'm hearing with the RS1 and MPX3, the VPP1 is delivering all the details and sound the turntables is picking up, so it's doing its job well. I read a good review on it, and I wanted something that would scale if I upgraded a little here and there. Gtortorella happened to had one up for sale a few weeks ago so I picked it up before even deciding on a turntable.
 
Mar 10, 2007 at 12:45 AM Post #14 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by daveDerek /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Al, pictures please! get that envy factor going.
tongue.gif



I'll see what I can do next week without stepping all over Socrates' thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I've no experience with phono stages so it's a little difficult to say. But based on what I'm hearing with the RS1 and MPX3, the VPP1 is delivering all the details and sound the turntables is picking up, so it's doing its job well. I read a good review on it, and I wanted something that would scale if I upgraded a little here and there. Gtortorella happened to had one up for sale a few weeks ago so I picked it up before even deciding on a turntable.


Mainly I would be interested in the noise level -- do you get any hum or buzz coming through that cartridge and into your amps? I have a Pioneer DirectDrive TT that I picked up off the street and it could be adequate for the office with a nice, quiet but not big and not too pricey phono stage. Is that asking for too much?
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