Pioneer PL-2

Sultan swing

Active Member
found a pioneer pl-2 turntable for app. 60$. it is in a excellent shape, the tonearm is made of graphiti-polymer. the table is belt-drive, semi-automatic. has some pioneer head but i'm planning to install sth better (grado,at...). the table has antiskating and what seems to be a pitch control but under the plate.. is it worth the money?
 
found a pioneer pl-2 turntable for app. 60$. it is in a excellent shape, the tonearm is made of graphiti-polymer. the table is belt-drive, semi-automatic. has some pioneer head but i'm planning to install sth better (grado,at...). the table has antiskating and what seems to be a pitch control but under the plate.. is it worth the money?

To me, NO...
but you may find that it is worth the score so, to each his own. I feel that the best of Pioneer was the PL-10, 12D, and the 15D when it came to Belt Drive tables. Most of the stuff afterwards started to degrade in quality as the company strugled to deal with the rissing exchange rate. The PL-512 was also a decent performer for the cash.

Joey
 
It is not a horrible table, but from that era, direct drives had the best performance. I know the used market in Croatia is limited, but $60 seems high for that table. If it were the direct drive PL-5 or 7 it would be a different story.
 
Hi, I just bought the same model off of the WWW. It is coming this week, Have to check the condition, Seller agreed to my shipping instructions, but who knows.

I will let you know what I think when it arrives. I had a PL-7 that had speed issues a few years ago,I took it to a repair shop before I actually learned how to fix them myself, and they could not find the problem,so I sold it because of that.

Later,
John.:music:
 
Last edited:
I will let you know what I think when it arrives. I had a PL-7 that had speed issues a few years ago, sold it because of that.

Later,
John.:music:

Those speed issues were easily solvable if you were willing to open the table up, but we're getting off topic.

$60 sounds awesome to me, if the tonearm is the same kind of poly-graphite arm that's on my PL-730 (black PL-7 with a fine speed adjustment feature and strobe window).
 
I have a fully functioning PL-2, PL-4, PL-7, PL-8 and PL-9 and when I get the time I'll see if can't get the PL-5 'parts unit' that I've got on the shelf 'up to speed' (and I agree the speed problem is easily solved) but I digress.

The PL-2 is a basic unit but decent enough. I have a Grado Green on mine in my system at work. No sign of that infamous Grado hum.

With respect to the price, $60 seems high but, as Howard said, apparently the Croatia market is tough.

I would recommend replacing the belt (easily done). I picked one here:

http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store?search=PRB+FRX+23.6+Belt

current price is $6.99 U.S. and fit perfectly.

Happy to help with any other questions. Good luck with it.
 
thanks guys for the information. the search for the decent and not too expensive tt is starting to wear me out so i might decide to buy this one but will try to talk the seller to try it on my amp and see how it works although i will someday put some better cart on it..
@beej: i was thinking of replacing the belt and someday grado black or sth in that range.
@Patriot1776: yes, the arm is made of polymer graphiti. did you mean awesome as in great price for such arm or awesome price as in too big price for a tt like that?
@hakaplan: through my search of my new tt i realized that you're a pioneer-encyclopedia,and thank you for every advice you've given me, i appreciate it.
 
beej, do you have more advice on the pl-2? i found a post in which you suggest that i should clean the 33/45 button.
beside that and changing the belt, is there sth else that i should do if i decide to buy it?

how does it work with grado? i read and listened a lot about grado, and probably will buy black, so will this combo produce a pleasant sound? i like to listen to rock, rock'n'roll from the 60ies and 70ies, blues rock, and like the sound to be warm, is black the right cart for me?

i attached the pictures, is this the the arm that you're refering to, patriot1776 ?
 

Attachments

  • Picture%20164.jpg
    Picture%20164.jpg
    52.1 KB · Views: 147
  • Picture%20166.jpg
    Picture%20166.jpg
    64.2 KB · Views: 125
Yep Sultan, it does. As a matter of fact, that table looks, very, VERY similar to my PL-730. Compare mine here, playing 'Dark Side' by the Floyd. I'm running a Shure V15RS cart on mine.

Unless beej knows different, mine may be the top-end of this particular series of tables. You basically stole that table for $60 with it having the arm it has and I would think having the heavy aluminum platter and possibly the same suspension system as the 730.
 

Attachments

  • 100_2856.jpg
    100_2856.jpg
    91 KB · Views: 520
Let me guess, the 930 has a quartz-lock feature where no matter where you have the fine speed control, you hit the quartz-lock, the table immediately returns to exactly either 33 1/3 or 45 rpm. Am I correct?

EDIT - Never mind. Found a picture of a 930 and there is no speed adustment. What is quartz lock then?
 
Let me guess, the 930 has a quartz-lock feature where no matter where you have the fine speed control, you hit the quartz-lock, the table immediately returns to exactly either 33 1/3 or 45 rpm. Am I correct?

EDIT - Never mind. Found a picture of a 930 and there is no speed adustment. What is quartz lock then?
Quartz lock simply keeps the speed locked to 33 or 45. There is an electronic feedback loop using a quartz crystal to keep the speed dead on. Early on it was thought that some listeners might have varied the pitch to match live music, etc, but by the late 70s/early 80s it was felt that most owners were simply using pitch controls to achieve accurate speed. So they omitted pitch controls on quartz models since quartz accomplished that better.
 
Sultan: the 33/45 speed switch on these models can be subject to oxidation but the problem is easily fixable with de-oxit and some serious cycling of the switch. My advice is to remove the switch to clean it. If you'll provide me with an emaill address I'll send you a guide I put together on disassembly/re-assembly. In the case of the PL-2 it is not at all difficult.

I listen to a lot of the same music that you do. I find that the Grado Green that I have on my office PL-2 is well-suited for my tastes. It is what I would describe as a warm and full sound.

In any case, send me that email address and I'll send you guide.
 
i'm glad to hear that this pl2 has a good arm. on monday i'm going to see it and hear it one more time in this thrift store in my town so then i'll maybe be closer to conclusion. i'm going to take my record that i know really well and see if it plays it eaqually fast througt the entire playback. more suggestions and advice are welcome.
 
Sultan and I have corresponded. I look forward to reading his perspective.
 
@ jleon92f: when the pl2 arrives at your place,please let me know what do you think of it and if it's not a secret the price you gave for it. thank you
 
Sultan: the 33/45 speed switch on these models can be subject to oxidation but the problem is easily fixable with de-oxit and some serious cycling of the switch. My advice is to remove the switch to clean it. If you'll provide me with an emaill address I'll send you a guide I put together on disassembly/re-assembly. In the case of the PL-2 it is not at all difficult.

I listen to a lot of the same music that you do. I find that the Grado Green that I have on my office PL-2 is well-suited for my tastes. It is what I would describe as a warm and full sound.

In any case, send me that email address and I'll send you guide.

Hi, Grado makes great cartridges, I have used the Blacks and the Greens, I have a Green on my Thorens TD-166 MKII, which is the Best TT I own. I have a Black on my Dual 1219 also.

Enjoy the music, that's what it is all about.

John.:music:
 
gave up on buying the pl2. the seller in the thrift store made a terrible job disassembling and reassembling the tt so the auto-return isn't working and he didn't want to lower the price so i decided to keep looking for sth better and/or cheaper.thank to all of you for everything
 
A :dammit: is directed toward that thrift seller from me.

You looking for a similar one or another PL-2 then?
 
Back
Top Bottom