Is this turntable worth it?

A

Anubis

Super Member
Pioneer PL44FS "excellent condition, works great" for $88 (firm).
Seller states that if no preamp for a MC cartridge, he can install a nice MM cartridge instead. I'd be running it off a Onkyo TX-R705 and I don't know what kind of cartridge it likes. Has a polymer graphite tonearm.

Is $88 a good buy for this table?
I've always been facsinated by the design and it would work very well in my cabinet.

The only one I saw on epay completed sale currently is a broken one for $15
 
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The receiver is gonna need an MM cartridge if you want to use the receiver's built in phono stage.
 
Yeah the MC cartridge is probably better though. Is that 705, a home theater receiver from 2007ish? If so my father has that one. Good receiver.
 
Water said:
Yeah the MC cartridge is probably better though. Is that 705, a home theater receiver from 2007ish? If so my father has that one. Good receiver.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the one. (circa 2008 = fixed a known heat problem) I have the 2008 model year

I'll stick with the MC cart then
 
You'll need a external phono stage for the MC one however. But you should get better sound.

Yea, I remember they had heat issues. My father's hasn't had any issues but it isn't used much and he has rather lowend Polk speakers hooked up to it that probably draw little power. Also I am not sure if its 2007 or 2008 model.
 
Water said:
You'll need a external phono stage for the MC one however. But you should get better sound.

Yea, I remember they had heat issues. My father's hasn't had any issues but it isn't used much and he has rather lowend Polk speakers hooked up to it that probably draw little power. Also I am not sure if its 2007 or 2008 model.
Click to expand...

Ok, I"m getting confused now. First I needed the MM cart then the MC cart is better, now it's back to the MM again. I don't want to have to drop another $200 on a silly device just to use a cart. The Onkyo has a phono input which is why I bought it in the first place. I don't understand why I would need a seperate phono input.
 
Ah! Now I get it! I need a phono preamp and looking on amazon they are as cheap or expensive as you would like, this is good!
I also understand now that having a phono preamp even with a MM cart will improve things sound wise and cart choice wise.
I'll pick up a phono preamp and get the MC cart with the TT. By the way, the cart on it is original according to the seller.
 
similost said:
Personally, I'd stay far far away from this table.. If anyone doesn't know what this table is, you can look here..

http://www.vintage-audio.com.ua/en/cat/87/1387.html?begin=21

A very complicated table, and if you have problems with it.. well good luck with that..
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Oh I see what you mean Similost...yikes! Something goes wrong in the tone arm area and it's all over, no fixing that. I see it is a linear tracker.
That said I have a Sony linear tracker (p-mount cart) and magno-drive instead of belt or direct. I bought new back in 1986 and I would not want to fix it should something go south. While nothing would go wrong with the drive since there are almost no moving parts, anything else would be trouble.

I see that this Pioneer table is belt driven as well as the slide door which is probably nothing to fix, however the rest of it I wouldn't want to know about.

That said, a few folks here like the PL44FS and it is somewhat rare in this condition (if truly excellent cond). The only ones I've ever seen have been trashed and you don't see many of them. The PL88FS is even more rare and liked.
Personally I love the design being a front loader such as it is and would fit so nicely into my cabinet since the shelf for the TT is non-adjustable and has low clearance.

I don't know, I'm torn now.
 
Yeah, I would stick with an old-school traditional style turntable with a flip open dustcover. The Technics SL-D2 I got is a good one and they usually sell for $50 or less. Made in Japan, fairly well built, direct drive, standard cartridge mount, manual operation with auto-return, etc.
 
Hmm, while I like the fact of the front load I see now two strong votes against picking this thing up.
Perhaps your right Water & Similost. Stick with the traditional TT unless and until someone comes out with something again like the Pioneer we are talking about here that is more robust and reliable. Don't know that will happen though even with vinyl on the come back.:music:

Can't say I didn't learn alot with this inquiry though. I learned much, thanks guys.
 
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