Best vintage DD turntables from the 70's and 80's?
Dear chakster, "I need this one for Christmas." Your letter should be postmarked by December 23, 2018. I will know if you were good. Sincerely, Santa |
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Luxman sold PD-441, PD-444, PD-555 were naturally engineered by Micro Seiki : the PD-441 and PD-555 bear MITO T-Tags (MIcro Tokyo) on top of the "official" LUX T-Tag while the PD444 has an MTC T-Tag - which is also Micro. Check the source here @knollbrent So the turntable engineered by Micro Seiki, but if the motor comes from JVC for Micro Seiki then i love it even more! It would be nice to have some proof of it, however. |
As good as these turntables are, equally as important were the arms. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers were able to match their bases with good arms. Probably the best arm to come out back them was the MS MAX-237 followed up with the venerable MS-505 in its various variants. Then to round out the experience you needed to match a good cartridge of the era. |
Dear @knollbrent : No, the motor did not comes from MS. All MS belt drive motors came from /PanasonicTechnics ( Matushita group. ) and all the MS direct drive motors came from JVC. So that Luxman motor came from JVC. Micro Seike just did not manufacturer TT motors. Technics, Denon, JVC were the main motor supliers in those times. Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R. |
@harold-not-the-barrel Chakster, yes that´s reasonably priced but its 110V so fits only in US and Japan. AudioScope´s is 230V for European audiophiles + has a warranty. How many vintage hyper decks have a full warranty ? Not so many.It’s actually 100v for Japan market, 110v for USA is another one. And 220-240v is the rarest, but i use my 100v Luxmans with step-down transformer from 220v to 100v, i’m using local step down transformers and they are retalively cheap, i have one 1000w for two Luxmans (this is an old photo, you can see my TT-101 in the corner, i don’t use those tube amps anymore :). Japanese Toyozumi Dengenkiki step-down transformers are quieter, more expensive and probably much better, but i’ve never tried them. People are crazy about step-down transformers when it comes to the Japanese amps, but i don’t think it’s so critical for a turntable, it’s all about correct voltage just to rotate the platter, there is no audio signal. However, Nelson Pass told me it’s fine to use step-down trans for my 110v US version of First Watt F2J power amp, so i bought another 1000w step down trans (240 to 110v for US electronics). Maybe i will just ask his to ship me a trand for 220v to replace mine in the amp one day. If someone is thinking that using a trep-down transformer for a turntable is bad idea please explain why ? |
Luxman PD444
PD441
The original Luxman big turntable. |
Chakster, yes that´s reasonably priced but its 110V so fits only in US and Japan. AudioScope´s is 230V for European audiophiles + has a warranty. How many vintage hyper decks have a full warranty ? Not so many. Seems there are many PD444s on eBay, time to grab bargains. The Italian arm bases are beautiful, great site thanks for info : ) |
@harold-not-the-barrel Audioscope’s prices are crazy, the OP has bought a minty PD-444 from japanese seller on ebay just for $2k with two spare armboards and that was a bargain! Normally they are over $3k and each og armbase is about $150-200 minimum. BTW The great alternative to the original arm bases are these from Italy. |
Forgot to say, I am not a collector. All of my turntables are in use except for the Denon DP80, which I would sell if the market value was not so ridiculously low. If anyone wants to get into this game, the DP80 is the one to look for; it can generally be found for less than $1000 (but not at my house). TT101s are relatively cheap, too, but a bit more rare and very problematic to fix if broken. |
This is a subject about which I know something. Only two turntables or maybe one and a half turntables mentioned so far would play in the same league with the PD444, if we restrict ourselves to vintage direct drive. These include a Micro Seiki and the Yamaha, but not the DDX1000 model and not the GT2000 model. The M-S DQX1500 (the "Q" indicates Quartz reference, which you want; whereas the DDX models do not have quartz referencing) and the GT2000X are the ones to look for. (The L model is just a fancy plinth with a plain GT2000 chassis.) Unfortunately, Japanese people know this too, and those tables are very hard to find. There was kind of a horsepower race among the top manufacturers, to make cost no object DD products, at the end of the 70s and up to the mid or late 80s. The truly creme de la creme are the Pioneer Exclusive P3, the SP10 MK3 (of course), the Kenwood L07D, the Sony XS9 (really hard to find), the Denon DP100 (very very expensive), the aforementioned GT2000X, The Victor TT101 or the 801, which has vacuum hold down but is otherwise identical to the TT101. The big Nakamichi with LP centering function is kind of in a class by itself. I've not heard it but from what I can gather, the centering feature is genius but the rest of the turntable is not any better if as good as the top dogs. I own a Mk3 and a Kenwood L07D and a TT101. I have a subliminated hankering for a Pioneer P3, but I think I can live without it. I also have a Denon DP80 which in my system and in my opinion outperformed an SP10 Mk2 but does not outperform the Mk3 or the Kenwood. |
YAMAHA GT-2000 has just jumped onto my radar Have you seen both versions ? Look here for luxury 2000L version. It has a coreless motor, must be a great deck, SAEC made special version of their arm for Yamaha table. Not sure how easy user can change an arm if needed? I found a nice Onkyo for ya. Only 33000 euro! Deal, this is what i normally pay for one singel cartridge, so it's a bargain |
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The question sounds like you are asking for a cost no object turntables ... ok ... EMT-930 and related models, Denon DP-100, Micro Seiki SX-8000 , J.C.Verdier , Victor TT-101 .. and special Miami Vice style for you is Nakamichi TS1000 Don’t forget the Lewm’s Kenwood L-07D There are also Garrard, Lenco, Thorens, Sony, Technics ... I need this one for Christmas |
I’ve got a SL-1700mk2 semi-auto that I restored recently and fitted with an Audio-Technica VM540ML cartridge. It was probably the best Technics had from the ‘78/‘79 period next to the SP-10. The venerable SL-1200mk2 was based on the SL-1800mk2 manual sister model, but the 1200 lost the double isolation spring suspension in favour of a rubber base trading vibration isolation for ruggedness. A lot of people are critical of the Technics tonearm, but it serves my needs quite well with a mid-compliance relatively lightweight moving magnet cartridge for listening to classic rock. One thing that this family of turntables is legendary for is rock-steady speed management. There are very few that can beat the accuracy and stability of the Technics Quartz Drive system. |
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