Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

jandl100 · Unread post by **jandl100** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:58 am

Some of the Japanese direct drive turntables seem to respond well to certain easy DIY mods.

A friend has a JVC deck and putting plasticine in the plinth and platter has worked well to firm up the sound and make it more dynamic.

Is it worth doing the same sort of thing with the PL-71?

Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:03 pm

Do it and tell us what you think.

Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:27 pm

I have done nothing to mine, there is a thread on AoS about PSU mods, but I can't be bothered it is bloody good as is and I don't have time.

jandl100 · Unread post by **jandl100** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:57 pm

Hmm .... I gave the platter a flick and the darn thing rang like a bell!

.. that can't be ideal.

I have some plasticine that I'll use to see if I can damp the platter a bit - hopefully a bit of extra mass won't over-exert the motor ....

I shall report back in due course.

jandl100 · Unread post by **jandl100** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 8:33 am

Werll, I finally got around to installing some platter-damping stuff in my PL-71.

Some plasticine-like material (that doesn't smell!) off eBay for a few £ and some damping pad stuff I had lying around anyway -- it looks like this -->

Easy to do, cheap as chips and entirely reversible.

As many will know, the venerable Pioneer PL-71 is an excellent turntable to start with, so the idea was not to try and make something naff sound half-decent, but to see if the excellent sound could be easily improved even further.

To cut a long story short -- yup, it works well.
Imaging is more solid, focus is enhanced. Going back to the undamped platter (it takes just a minute or so to do so) the sound now seems a little vague and ill-defined in comparison.

Speed stability seems unaffected - the plasticine stuff isn't adding much mass so motor load shouldn't be an issue.
Flick the platter now and the ringing is reduced but still quite obvious, I might well try putting a bit more plasticine in and have a listen to that.

Well worth experimenting with!

jammy395 · Unread post by **jammy395** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 1:52 pm

Wont all this palstecine unballance said platter, or will it not matter....!!!!

Sun Sep 16, 2012 2:03 pm

jammy395 wrote:Wont all this palstecine unballance said platter, or will it not matter....!!!!

Only a problem for a sprung subchassis

jammy395 · Unread post by **jammy395** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 1:18 pm

Cheer's Doc,
But i think i will leave my 1210 as is.........

Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

Re: Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

Re: Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

Re: Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

Re: Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

Re: Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

Re: Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

Re: Pioneer PL-71 tt - simple mods worth doing?

NVA Info

Contacts