Done deal - I'm getting BOTH turntables!
FIRST, THE PL-L1:
Tonight I met up with the guy I'm getting the PL-L1 from, and paid for it in full. It's all mine, and I'll bring it home on Monday or Tuesday.
The seller closed down his retail shop several months ago, and is only dealing from his warehouse these days. The warehouse is way out in another (more remote) district, so we met up midway at a restaurant and concluded the deal over a meal and conversation.
He confirmed that all the motors and such are working correctly on it, but said that I will have to make the usual adjustments on it for tracking force, etc... He mentioned that I'd probably need to open up the bottom and adjust the servo. [Not repair it, just fine-adjust it for the correct speed.] That's fine, although never having done these on this kind of TT, and I'll have to learn how! LOL
We had an interesting conversation. He has been in the business for a few decades, and is extremely knowledgeable about audio stuff. He also has very definite, fixed ideas about what is good and what is not. He is obviously a confirmed supporter of BIG speakers with HORNS. According to him, my Infinities just won't cut it. Have to have big speakers with horns! [He admitted, though, that few people in Hong Kong had living rooms large enough for such speakers.] He said that my 3650 pre-amps are not good enough, but said I should use the Esotec SC-6 instead; it sounds better than the 3650, in his opinion. :scratch2: I'm not sure that I agree, but presumably it does on the big systems with horns that he prefers.
He also said that one should ALWAYS replace All caps in an older amp --100% of them-- because even when the caps measure out okay on an ESR meter, caps still change sonically for the worse over time. Old caps just won't cut it. He said to recap one section at a time, and listen between doing each section, to hear the differences. Ironically, that is exactly what I have been doing, but mostly because I don't have an ESR meter, and don't trust my work well enough not to check it after each board!
He emphasized at one point that I was getting a really good deal (low price) on the PL-L1. He said on the day I first saw and bought it, a mainland buyer had actually been willing to pay more, but he didn't like the way the mainlander was "negotiating", nit-picking about little scratches and such, so he decided to sell it for less to me, instead. If he still had his shop, the price in the shop would have been double what I'm paying. I think I believe him, as I always felt his prices were a little on the high side, but the price on this seems very reasonable to me. I did tell him that I'd seen one on offer from a high-end shop in Japan, for well over a thousand dollars, but we agreed that Japan is a different market from Hong Kong, with different pricing.
Now if anyone knows of good resources/info on how to set up/adjust this linear tracker, or knows where I can get the user manual and/or service manual for it, I'd really appreciate it. I may try one of those services that helps people buy stuff from Japan (and will even translate it), for the service manual.
THE PL-C590:
I also met up with the guy with the PL-C590. He had already been holding it for me, but I paid him a deposit of $125 to secure it, and he gladly agreed to keep holding it for me for a while, no rush. I'll get it in a couple of weeks, when I get my next installment of "audio cash". [I allocate a certain segment of my income for audio, and try not to spend more than that each month.] So I'm definitely getting BOTH of these TTs!
[Please forgive my bananas, but I'm very pleased with these.
]
He told me that the man who brought in the turntable and sold it to him was an elderly man, around 70 years old. The old man lived in his own house and had originally used it with some very large B&O speakers and a good amp (don't know what one), The man had sold the amp and speakers quite a while ago, but kept the turntable, because he loved it so much he just couldn't bring himself to part with it.
But finally the man realized that it wasn't any use keeping the turntable just to have it sit there without any amp and speakers to use it with, so he very reluctantly decided to part with it. He just felt "too old to get back into it". The old man said he had always kept the turntable completely covered with a thick cloth whenever it wasn't in use, to protect it. I believe that, because the thing looks virtually new, as if it was unpacked a few weeks or months ago, not years ago. The one or two tiny scratches on the dust cover my friend (the dealer) admitted were put there by him, when he first moved it into the warehouse and was moving gear around. :sigh: After that, he put it up high on top of a stable stack (where it is now), so that no further scratching would occur. he also put some newspaper on top of it, to help protect it. I asked him to PLEASE continue to keep it completely untouched and undamaged, until I pick it up, saying it would be a shame for something that old that had survived so well, to be damaged after all these years. He agreed. I said I would continue to keep it covered after I got it, and protect it like the old man had done,, which I will do. :yes: In fact, I think I'll eventually design/make a nice custom cover for it, maybe with the Pioneer logo or something like that.
The old man had also emphasized to my friend (the wholesale dealer I'm getting it from) that he must NOT sell the turntable cheaply. It had cost him a LOT of money when he had first bought it (over a thousand US$),, and was WORTH A LOT, or so the old man was at great pains to emphasize. His "instruction" was to sell it for AT LEAST $650 at an absolute minimum. I'm paying substantially less for it, of course.
I don't know how much my friend (the dealer) paid the old man for it, but don't worry, he's still making a profit. We both know it could fetch more in an upmarket shop downtown, but that is the nature of the business. Guess I'm buying in the "right" locations for relative bargains.
So I'm getting both of these Pioneer turntables, for certain. I'm very pleased about it, needless to say. I will now FINALLY sell off the bunch of mid-fi and lesser TTs I have around. Funny how psychology works: I thought about doing that for a long time, to free up room (and funds) for something better, but kept putting it off. Now that I actually HAVE got something better,it is very easy for me to let go of the others. It will feel good to reduce some of the lesser audio 'clutter' and make a few bucks, too.
It's a little surprising to me that things turned out this way, in that when I previously thought about what turntable(s) I'd really LIKE to find, Pioneer did not really come to mind. I thought of maybe a Thorens or a nice Micro Seiki, or perhaps a Linn, but Pioneer?
:thumbsdn: I just didn't associate the brand with really good TTs, and I didn't realize how nice these models were, until I saw them "in the flesh". Now I'm perfectly contented to become a "Pioneer TT guy", instead. :yes:
And yes, I know you all want/need PICS. Please be patient, as I haven't even brought the TTs home yet! But they are among the first things I will (eventually) photograph and post on AK, just because I think they are so 'pretty'. :yes:
Thanks to all for your comments/advice so far. Y'all helped me make up my mind to get both of these (although I knew I wanted both, all along), and I'm grateful for that. :yes: :thmbsp:
