Pioneer PL L1000 tonearm hack

bikerboy

Happy holidays everyone. Since it's freezing and we have been downsizing, I decided it was time to figure out what to do with the pioneer TT. It was fix it or get rid of it. It has corrosion on the outer surfaces and is not worth paying $600 to repair it professionally. It turns on but the platter spins at a very high speed. The tonearm seemed to work so I took it apart to see if the tonearm could be salvaged. I keep disconnecting all the various cables until I found that only two cables needed to be used to drive the tonearm. So only the power supply and it's board and the main board are needed to drive the tonearm. This is the test setup to see how it works. So far it works well. The tonearm is full manual but sounds great. I'll change the setup so the board is not so high and I think I'll get a stone base for the Nottingham platter and tonearm so the whole setup is on one solid base. I also need to replace the tonearm wire to the cartridge to eliminate the multiple connections and solder connectors. That may be a real challenge. We'll see. The Nottingham made it easy to adapt the pioneer arm to work. Maybe after Christmas I'll find the stone and reorient the board to make it a final setup. I've played several LPs and I like how it sounds.

SeleniumFalcon

Well done, very cool!

bikerboy

Thanks it was this or toss the TT. Redid the board and listening to burnt weenie sandwich. If get brave I'll replace the tonearm completely but that's for another day. It's warmed up to 45f so things to do outside.

skipshot12

Awesome.

Always liked these Pioneer tt’s, along with the Phase liner 8000.

SCompRacer

Good job! Did they use any relays to mute the tonearm when cued? The Harmon Kardon ST-8 (Rabco linear arm) I fixed had one.

I have fond memories of the Nottingham Spacedeck.

Keiko

I've been wanting to try a linear deck if I can find one on the cheap. Nice audio ****, fellas.

bikerboy

I meant to say I need to replace the tonearm wire that goes through the tonearm. That looks like it could be hard. No mute relay that I can tell. It does sound good.

SCompRacer

The HK had a removable arm. It had a small four pin female connector in the tube, male in the carriage. It had ample gauge wire. I just Ohm'd them out (all good) after replacing the cartridge tags. I was fearful of breaking the plastic while removing the connectors. The table already had some plastic deteriorating, and that tonearm connector was unobtanium.

SCompRacer

Keiko wrote: »

I've been wanting to try a linear deck if I can find one on the cheap. Nice audio ****, fellas.

Mine is air bearing. So EZ to set up cartridge! No more Stevenson, Löfgren, Baerwald. Compressor in basement. Tubing run through wall, push lock bulkhead fitting in media wall plate for neatness. I have key fob size remote to turn compressor on/off. Idler drive with electronic speed control. No other table need apply; I'm done.

F1nut

Ah, the Phoenix Engineering tach and power supply. Aren't they fantastic!?!

SCompRacer

F1nut wrote: »

Ah, the Phoenix Engineering tach and power supply. Aren't they fantastic!?!

Yes they are! I was a beta tester for the 25-watt power supply. IIRC the Lenco motor (AC, 115v or 220v) pulled 20 watts and the Eagle PS was only good for up to 15-watts. The Falcon PS was 5-watts. I had to send it back to Bill a couple of times for him to tweak it. I took videos of how it acted at various frequency settings along with descriptions of any issues.

The Lenco idler drive uses a tapered shaft motor. Linkage moved the idler along the tapered shaft to get the four speeds, 16, 33, 45 and 78. With linkage wear/slop, sometimes the selected speed would be slightly off. One way to compensate was move slightly past then back into the selected speed lock. The way I chose was fix the idler in one place and use the Phoenix tach and power supply for speed control. I only need 33 and 45rpm and can change speeds with a push of a button.

Bill had posted at Lenco forum and some of the fans of one of the members analog PS were harsh with him. I apologized for the way he was treated via PM and he asked if I wanted to be his beta tester. I had ordered boards/parts and built that analog speed control, and the common issue was the speed would drift until it warmed up. A half hour into listening with the analog PS and you were tweaking the speed setting. The Phoenix PS is digital, no drift even without the tach controlling the speed.

F1nut

I love mine, makes playing vinyl easier.

bikerboy

Nice speed controller setup.
I bought a piece of manufactured stone for the base. Now I have a solid, flat level base for the platter, motor and tonearm. I also bypassed the stock wire with cardas wire. Only two solder connections for the signal to pass. Sounds much better than the stock wire. I hope to make a plexiglass cover next. Glad I was brave enough to tear it apart and saved the arm. Linear tracking is the best.

SeleniumFalcon

Very well done!

bikerboy

Thanks it was well worth the effort. Sounds great, better than the stock arm.

bikerboy

Played the test record and the setup passed with flying colors. No miss tracking or distortion on any of the tracks. Haven't played this in many years.

SCompRacer

Nice work! I like that stone.