Chance here to buy a rare Pioneer PL-61 turntable in excellent condition.
I bought this deck a while back as a bit of a project, these decks are very well regarded but suffer from a known issue with perishable plastic parts in the magnetic anti-skate mechanism of the tonearm. I have stripped the tonearm down and replaced the perished part with a new piece from Pats Audio Parts (in Australia, if I recall) and re-built the arm with fresh lubricant etc.
In addition, the deck had a speed stability issue, to be expected of a piece of audio equipment that is 50+ years old!!
The whole turntable has been serviced, new thrust bearing fitted with fresh grease and lubricants and new (correct) belt. The deck then had all of the electrolytic caps replaced and was sent to Mike Powell for testing and to have some of the speed adjustment and regulatory potentiometers replaced. It is just back from Mike Powell today and after running it non-stop for the last couple of hours it seems to hold perfectly stable speed at 33.3 and 45rpm. Great!
Since picking up this project I have decided to give up vinyl playback and no longer have amp with phono stage, so this is now surplus to requirements. I have purposely been open and honest about the work that has gone in to the deck so that any potential buyer can see that it has been done properly. However, for obvious reasons, the deck is sold as seen.
Cosmetically, the deck is in very nice condition and comes with period correct rubber mat, puck / 45rpm adapter and headshell but no cartridge. The deck does have a few marks to the dust cover and plinth commensurate with age and use.
Asking only £300 collected from Oldham, Greater Manchester, which is substantially less than the cost of the deck and the repair work.
I bought this deck a while back as a bit of a project, these decks are very well regarded but suffer from a known issue with perishable plastic parts in the magnetic anti-skate mechanism of the tonearm. I have stripped the tonearm down and replaced the perished part with a new piece from Pats Audio Parts (in Australia, if I recall) and re-built the arm with fresh lubricant etc.
In addition, the deck had a speed stability issue, to be expected of a piece of audio equipment that is 50+ years old!!
The whole turntable has been serviced, new thrust bearing fitted with fresh grease and lubricants and new (correct) belt. The deck then had all of the electrolytic caps replaced and was sent to Mike Powell for testing and to have some of the speed adjustment and regulatory potentiometers replaced. It is just back from Mike Powell today and after running it non-stop for the last couple of hours it seems to hold perfectly stable speed at 33.3 and 45rpm. Great!
Since picking up this project I have decided to give up vinyl playback and no longer have amp with phono stage, so this is now surplus to requirements. I have purposely been open and honest about the work that has gone in to the deck so that any potential buyer can see that it has been done properly. However, for obvious reasons, the deck is sold as seen.
Cosmetically, the deck is in very nice condition and comes with period correct rubber mat, puck / 45rpm adapter and headshell but no cartridge. The deck does have a few marks to the dust cover and plinth commensurate with age and use.
Asking only £300 collected from Oldham, Greater Manchester, which is substantially less than the cost of the deck and the repair work.
