Legendary And Rare Pioneer PL - L1000 Linear Tracking Turntable -
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:6839448 | Audio Outputs: Stereo L/R RCA |
| Speed Settings: 33.3RPM, 45RPM | Model: PL-L1000 |
| Brand: Pioneer | Modified Item: No |
| Drive Type: Direct Drive | Country/Region of Manufacture: Japan |
If you’re reading this, then you probably know exactly what you’re looking at. Quite simply, with exception to the virtually unobtainable PL-L1, this offering from Pioneer would come to be regarded as the finest turntable that the company would ever offer. Strong words indeed, however, when working properly, the PL-L1000 offers a degree of sophistication along with an exceptional linear tracking arm that make it a hallmark in design and innovation!
Now, the nitty gritty on t...his particular offering. After several months of continuous use, this has proven to be a reliable performer that is operating properly in all respects, except that when you auto start, the arm has a tendency to drop just ever so short of the lead in grooves. Most of the time, it misses and wags back and forth until coming to it’s turn off position. A quick look at the service manual has me under the opinion that it’s not a simple adjustment that you can just make while eyeballing the set down position. As a result, I have opted not to mess with this, and coming from a manual turntable background, I don’t mind positioning the arm with the jog knob to play a record. In fact, I find it to be fun spinning it into place and releasing the cueing… the jog wheel is cool!
Other items I can point out operationally are that the mini switches are all working well and the arm moves very smoothly without any hangups. Last time I had the case apart, the suspension boots were still intact and doing what they should as dampers. I have noticed that the cueing belt is starting to slip a little, but will replace that before shipping so that there are no issues there.
In terms of looks, this Pioneer is really nice! Other than the typical minor dust cover scratches and some tiny white paint dots, this looks close to perfect. I’m sure the paint dots can be removed. A friend suggested denatured alcohol, but I’ll leave that up to the buyer as I don;t want to risk clouding or the likes. I’ll add that the jog knob and buttons do have some minor pitting as the pictures will show. The pictures will also show that this is generally in wonderful condition looks wise!
With a combination of overall massiveness plus a suspension that does an amazing job of isolating the platter and arm from the outside world, the foundation is in place for the high torque motor and amazing arm to provide a superb level of sonic performance. This comes with an Audio Technics AT12 cartridge which is in fine shape and works quite well with the arm. I’ve run this with several pretty high end cartridges and am temped to say that while the AT is a fine performer, you may want to ultimately consider a more refined cartridge at some point as this turntable is quite capable of revealing the best from a really fine cartridge. Also, being a medium mass arm, I’ve found this to play nicely with everything from my very compliant Micro Acoustics 2002e to the Denon DL-103 moving coil which is definitely not high compliance.
What more can I say about this sought out turntable? The sound rivals or beats just about anything I’ve had in the system and the operational esthetic is beyond cool while being totally functional too. I can assure you that this will be packed for safe delivery. I’ve been packing turntables for 23 years now and am well versed in avoiding the potential pitfalls involved with shipping delicates like this one. About the only other thing I can add is that shipping is included free within the US. Don’t miss out!
Just wanted to add that I've replaced the lifting belt and while doing, inspected the rubber suspension boots. While not in great shape (no surptise), they are pretty much intact. I used a half width of electrical tape to provide damping on the outer edge and to preseve the rubber left and have found theh suspension to be supple and well damped.
Now, the nitty gritty on t...his particular offering. After several months of continuous use, this has proven to be a reliable performer that is operating properly in all respects, except that when you auto start, the arm has a tendency to drop just ever so short of the lead in grooves. Most of the time, it misses and wags back and forth until coming to it’s turn off position. A quick look at the service manual has me under the opinion that it’s not a simple adjustment that you can just make while eyeballing the set down position. As a result, I have opted not to mess with this, and coming from a manual turntable background, I don’t mind positioning the arm with the jog knob to play a record. In fact, I find it to be fun spinning it into place and releasing the cueing… the jog wheel is cool!
Other items I can point out operationally are that the mini switches are all working well and the arm moves very smoothly without any hangups. Last time I had the case apart, the suspension boots were still intact and doing what they should as dampers. I have noticed that the cueing belt is starting to slip a little, but will replace that before shipping so that there are no issues there.
In terms of looks, this Pioneer is really nice! Other than the typical minor dust cover scratches and some tiny white paint dots, this looks close to perfect. I’m sure the paint dots can be removed. A friend suggested denatured alcohol, but I’ll leave that up to the buyer as I don;t want to risk clouding or the likes. I’ll add that the jog knob and buttons do have some minor pitting as the pictures will show. The pictures will also show that this is generally in wonderful condition looks wise!
With a combination of overall massiveness plus a suspension that does an amazing job of isolating the platter and arm from the outside world, the foundation is in place for the high torque motor and amazing arm to provide a superb level of sonic performance. This comes with an Audio Technics AT12 cartridge which is in fine shape and works quite well with the arm. I’ve run this with several pretty high end cartridges and am temped to say that while the AT is a fine performer, you may want to ultimately consider a more refined cartridge at some point as this turntable is quite capable of revealing the best from a really fine cartridge. Also, being a medium mass arm, I’ve found this to play nicely with everything from my very compliant Micro Acoustics 2002e to the Denon DL-103 moving coil which is definitely not high compliance.
What more can I say about this sought out turntable? The sound rivals or beats just about anything I’ve had in the system and the operational esthetic is beyond cool while being totally functional too. I can assure you that this will be packed for safe delivery. I’ve been packing turntables for 23 years now and am well versed in avoiding the potential pitfalls involved with shipping delicates like this one. About the only other thing I can add is that shipping is included free within the US. Don’t miss out!
Just wanted to add that I've replaced the lifting belt and while doing, inspected the rubber suspension boots. While not in great shape (no surptise), they are pretty much intact. I used a half width of electrical tape to provide damping on the outer edge and to preseve the rubber left and have found theh suspension to be supple and well damped.
