I have two turntables, a Pioneer PL-41 my wife (then girlfriend) found for free, and another I bought inexpensivley here: a Music Hall MMF2 (not 2.1).
The Pioneer is very cool. It is enormous and heavy. It has a cast metal plinth, a good size bearing, a heavy (by cheap standards) aluminum platter, and a big AC motor (I know big isn't great.) It has a terrible tone arm. The bearings are loose as can be. I'm sure I could get 'em tighter, but it's still darn short and heavy.
Unfortunately, last I spent much time with the Pioneer, the pitch sounded a little unstable. I oiled the bearing. I don't really know what the deal is. Could the motor circuitry affect it? The weird, plasticky thrust plate is cracked. I figured I'd make another out of teflon or something. Could the loose tonearm bearings make the pitch weird? I figured this problem is solveable.
The MMF2 has a nifty tonearm. Most everything else is crap. The "bearing" is terrible (platter wobbles considerably when you push on an edge, I guess this is why the 2 was quickly changed to the 2.1) The spindle is too small. The thin steel platter rings like a bell. The motor was originally designed for 50hz, they figured "close enough" I think. It's mostly shot, a new one would only be $30.
So, thinks I, I've got a decent table, and a decent arm, why not combine them? There are a couple of tactics I could take. I could drill a new hole in the cast Pioneer plinth and mount the MMF arm. I could also drill a larger hole in the MMF plinth (particle board) and mount the Pioneer bearing. I could then build an outboard mount for the motor. That would look fancy. The other way would retain the classic look of the Pioneer. Is either idea preferable?
Or, should I build a diy Unipivot arm for the Pioneer, toss a new motor into the MMF, and have two TT's? Any chance a diy unipivot (low budget, simple) would outperform the MMF2 arm?
thanks,
pj
The Pioneer is very cool. It is enormous and heavy. It has a cast metal plinth, a good size bearing, a heavy (by cheap standards) aluminum platter, and a big AC motor (I know big isn't great.) It has a terrible tone arm. The bearings are loose as can be. I'm sure I could get 'em tighter, but it's still darn short and heavy.
Unfortunately, last I spent much time with the Pioneer, the pitch sounded a little unstable. I oiled the bearing. I don't really know what the deal is. Could the motor circuitry affect it? The weird, plasticky thrust plate is cracked. I figured I'd make another out of teflon or something. Could the loose tonearm bearings make the pitch weird? I figured this problem is solveable.
The MMF2 has a nifty tonearm. Most everything else is crap. The "bearing" is terrible (platter wobbles considerably when you push on an edge, I guess this is why the 2 was quickly changed to the 2.1) The spindle is too small. The thin steel platter rings like a bell. The motor was originally designed for 50hz, they figured "close enough" I think. It's mostly shot, a new one would only be $30.
So, thinks I, I've got a decent table, and a decent arm, why not combine them? There are a couple of tactics I could take. I could drill a new hole in the cast Pioneer plinth and mount the MMF arm. I could also drill a larger hole in the MMF plinth (particle board) and mount the Pioneer bearing. I could then build an outboard mount for the motor. That would look fancy. The other way would retain the classic look of the Pioneer. Is either idea preferable?
Or, should I build a diy Unipivot arm for the Pioneer, toss a new motor into the MMF, and have two TT's? Any chance a diy unipivot (low budget, simple) would outperform the MMF2 arm?
thanks,
pj