Pioneer Turntable History?

AndyD421

Active Member
Hello all. I have a quick question that I hope someone more knowledgeable will be able to answer.

So, Pioneer obviously made many a turntables in its heyday, but I am still curious as to where all of them fit in 'line-wise" and chronologically. As of now, I know this: (These lists go from standard to TOTL)

Early 70's: PL-55/PL-71

Mid 70's: PL-530/PL-550/PL-570

Late 70's: PL-518/PL-540/PL-560/PLC-590

1979: PL-610/PL-630

EARLY 80's: PL-200/PL-400/PL-600

Now my question is, where on earth does the PL-520 fall into place?
 
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I worked for Pioneer from 1977 to 1996 (Mid-Atlantic sales region. Regional Sales Manager last 8 years there) and don't remember the PL520 although maybe it was a derivative model (?) from Syscom rack systems (?). The rest of the dates below came from brochure dates and the Orion Blue Book.

QUOTE:
Early 70's: PL-55/PL-71 - (actually 1974-76)

Mid 70's: PL-530/PL-550/PL-570 - (actually 1977-79)

Late 70's: PL-518/PL-540/PL-560/PLC-590 - (yup, 1978-80)

1979: PL-610/PL-630 - (yup, 1978-80)

EARLY 80's: PL-200/PL-400/PL-600 - (yup, 1980-82)

Now my question is, where on earth does the PL-520 fall into place? - I am unfamiliar with this model and it is not listed in the Orion Blue Book either.
 
How about the PL-50?

Vinyl Engine is fantastic! I set up my cartridge and found location of parts,etc. in schematics. But they do not give a chronology of when the Pioneer TTs were made. I cannot find any info about when the Pioneer Pl-50 was designed, released. I can speculate that it was probably made in the very early 70s, if tuberadios69 said the PL-55 was made in 74. I am just curious. I replaced the belt, new oil and deoxit and I like it better than my Denon TT.
 

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Look in the PIONEER DATABASE at the top of the Forum. There is a database list of most everything PIONEER made and when, with price, etc.
PL-50. TWO VERSIONS
1972 S 1973 T PL-50 (1972) R Turntable Uses Cartridge: PC-35
1979 Z 1981 B PL-50 (1979) R 230 $ Turntable BD Uses Cartridge: PC-50

PL-520
1977 X 1980 A PL-520 PL-A450 185 $ Turntable DD Uses Cartridge: PC-135

Larry
 
1964 Pioneer PL-7E
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I had to replace the power supply capacitor that had leaked. When I got it, it would run or about 15 seconds, then it died off for the following 45 seconds, and was stopped by the minute mark. with new caps, it powers up instantly, to full speed, with lots of torque, and runs as long as I need it to. Its a really nice deck.
It has a cast, ribbed-strengthened aluminum (? - white metal) top plate, and nice solid main spindle bearing.
IMG_0331JPG-1.jpg
 
I think my PL-50 is one of the most elegant turntables Pioneer ever produced. It's not the most sophistocated, but just look at that purdy thing!

 
Have you ever heard of pl-b1? I. Bought one. The underside looks like the pl-7e but the top looks much older. Vinyl engine lists a pl-a1 but not b1.
 
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