Pioneer PL-518 Has A New Home

rtp_burnsville

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#1
I'll start a new thread on this one, Hmmmmmmm, wonder if anyone will find me????

Here is a Pioneer PL-518 that I actually bought back in college days. My brother ended up with it and after he has hauled it around the country to more places than I can count he decided it needed a better home than a shelf in the garage, lucky me!!!! It is in need of a little care but should be able to spin that pile of LP's in the not to distant future.
[attachment=2:1vaev0i4]Img_0539_rs_pl518.jpg[/attachment:1vaev0i4]

It appears that the metal lift tab on the arm is bend so that is one thing to fix. The rubber isolation feet also look a bit like old belt material so those need help as well.
[attachment=1:1vaev0i4]Img_0540_rs_lift.jpg[/attachment:1vaev0i4]

Nando asked about the stylus in the other post:
[attachment=0:1vaev0i4]Img_0541_rs_stylus.jpg[/attachment:1vaev0i4]

Robert
 

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#2
Hi Robert,

For a kick you might check out this original Pioneer television commercial: http://www.blueboyrecords.com/record-tu ... rcial-1979 You'll instantly recognize the voice in the ad.

If you have difficulty finding feet for your turntable, I could check Innovative Audio for a set. It isn't often you have a boomerang turntable. Nice of your brother to have hung onto it for so long.

I have a couple of Pioneer turntables, too, which I intend to keep. I, gifted two Akais, already.

Nando.
 

rtp_burnsville

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#3
Thanks for the offer Nando..... I'll let you know if I need assistance on the feet.

My brother had my old Pioneer cassette deck but it was stolen out of his storage several years back. It was nice for him to give me the TT as I had forgotten about it until he showed up with it this weekend.

PS: The tapes appear to be erased.... Currently taping the first one.... Is it Christmas by chance??

Robert
 

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#4
rtp_burnsville said:
Thanks for the offer Nando..... I'll let you know if I need assistance on the feet.

My brother had my old Pioneer cassette deck but it was stolen out of his storage several years back. It was nice for him to give me the TT as I had forgotten about it until he showed up with it this weekend.

PS: The tapes appear to be erased.... Currently taping the first one.... Is it Christmas by chance??

Robert
But, I bet there had been rockabilly on those reels, before they were erased. Are you recording from CDs? Was it a Pioneer CT-F series cassette deck that was stolen?

Nando.
 

rtp_burnsville

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#5
Hi Nando,

You are likely correct on how the magnetic particles were miss-aligned.....

I think the deck was a 650, sort of a mid-line one as that was all I could afford at the time. The place where I bought it was a catalog warehouse place that had a great stereo department. I remember slobbering on the Spec1 rack systems and the 707,909, and 1020 RTR decks.

I am taping some CD's from the Onix CDP that I got a couple weeks back from Lee. That thing is amazing, first CD player I can listen to for more than about 20 minutes. Do you tape at the 3.xx speed or the 7.xx speed? I am doing this one at 3.xx. It should be to the end of side 1 in about 30 minutes or so.

Robert
 

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#6
Robert, regarding the tape speed on your Teac A-7300: are the two speeds not 7.5 ips and 15 ips? If so, try the slower speed. The most important thing in recording is setting the eq and bias switches at the recommended settings for the tape you are using. Do you have the OM? Try listening through the headphones while recording and switched to tape/monitor on the deck. Find the most suitable eq and bias settings pleasing to your ears. Although the tapes have been used, sometimes ff then rw the tape to the beginning will loosen the tape pack before you are ready to record. The Maxell tapes aren't prone to shedding, but keep an eye out for any evidence of delamination dropping onto the stereo shelf. Were you able to demagnetize the heads? I'm assuming you cleaned the tape path vigorously with 99% isopropyl alcohol. And I would hope you are recording some classic rock, or even some blues, or jazz. Any music with acoustic guitar will reveal the capability of your new machine. And before Lee chimes in: you have got to try some Shpongle! Have fun!

Nando.
 

rtp_burnsville

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#7
Elite-ist said:
Robert, regarding the tape speed on your Teac A-7300: are the two speeds not 7.5 ips and 15 ips? If so, try the slower speed. The most important thing in recording is setting the eq and bias switches at the recommended settings for the tape you are using. Do you have the OM? Try listening through the headphones while recording and switched to tape/monitor on the deck. Find the most suitable eq and bias settings pleasing to your ears. Although the tapes have been used, sometimes ff then rw the tape to the beginning will loosen the tape pack before you are ready to record. The Maxell tapes aren't prone to shedding, but keep an eye out for any evidence of delamination dropping onto the stereo shelf. Were you able to demagnetize the heads? I'm assuming you cleaned the tape path vigorously with 99% isopropyl alcohol. And I would hope you are recording some classic rock, or even some blues, or jazz. Any music with acoustic guitar will reveal the capability of your new machine. And before Lee chimes in: you have got to try some Shpongle! Have fun!

Nando.

Hi Nando,

The deck has 3.75 and 7.5 ips...... Yes, I have already downloaded and read both the OM and the SM (lucky to have found readable copies of both).

Yes, have cleaned the heads and path about a dozen times as they were very dirty. I used 99% for the tape path and some Tascam rubber treatment on the pinch roller. (same as I use on the cassette decks) Demag all the metal too. Darn, we think alike, SCARY!!!!

Just finished the first tape and am playing it back. I picked Vince Gill as he has a wide range of tunes. I used the type II EQ as that is what the tape was suppose to be and it sounded best, quiet and the source monitor switching matched pretty close so guessed the bias is somewhat close.

One issue, I think there is a bit more Wow and Flutter than there should be at times. I was also playing with the pitch control and that is not quite right at certain adjustment settings. I am wondering if some capacitors are leaky or something is changing timebase to the DC capstan motor. I sorta noticed that when I had it downstairs but thought it was the tape as one of the blank reels had some junk tape on it so was using that at first to see if the transport appeared to work right (did not want to waste a good tape if all went bad). Think I'll run it a bunch the next few days and see if there is a change....... Sometimes if capacitors are just a little leaky they tend to heal themselves with use, especially if they have been sitting like this deck has. The sound quality is very good other than that, very musical, I am hooked BIG TIME. Oh, it's the acoustic piano that I notice it most on, when the note decays.

Thanks for the tips.... Robert
 

stuwee

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#8
That's a cool old Pioneer Robert, I bet it's nice to have back home again!

I only like manual TT's, I haven't used the tonearm lift on mine in 30 years! I do stop playing it when the drink starts to take affect, those ker-chunk, ker-chunk, ker-chunks when you wake up in the morning are very annoying :oops: :eek: :oops: :p
 

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stuwee said:
That's a cool old Pioneer Robert, I bet it's nice to have back home again!

I only like manual TT's, I haven't used the tonearm lift on mine in 30 years! I do stop playing it when the drink starts to take affect, those ker-chunk, ker-chunk, ker-chunks when you wake up in the morning are very annoying :oops: :eek: :oops: :p
I get paranoid using the manual tables. On my Ariston Audio RD-80, it somewhat takes the enjoyment out of listening to the last rotations of a song while I'm waiting to lift the tonearm before it hits the run-out groove. Especially, if you are using a moving coil cartridge because they seem to be prone to less abuse than the the mm or mi cartridges.

Nando.
 

stuwee

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#10
Elite-ist said:
stuwee said:
That's a cool old Pioneer Robert, I bet it's nice to have back home again!

I only like manual TT's, I haven't used the tonearm lift on mine in 30 years! I do stop playing it when the drink starts to take affect, those ker-chunk, ker-chunk, ker-chunks when you wake up in the morning are very annoying :oops: :eek: :oops: :p
I get paranoid using the manual tables. On my Ariston Audio RD-80, it somewhat takes the enjoyment out of listening to the last rotations of a song while I'm waiting to lift the tonearm before it hits the run-out groove. Especially, if you are using a moving coil cartridge because they seem to be prone to less abuse than the the mm or mi cartridges.

Nando.
Well, your correct there Nando, I had a delicate AQ 404 for a spell, super sweet MC cart, now I have the rugged, trusty Shure V15 IV, which was designed with my Shure/SME arm in mind hehe! I have a sneeky feeling when the ONix CDP gets here, I'll be listening to a hell of lot more CD's... :oops: 'scuzie Father...'scuzie :oops:
 

rtp_burnsville

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#11
Hi Stuwee,

Good to see you have returned..... Yes, it is interesting how somethings go full circle. It will be fun to see it back working once again. Not exactly sure when I will get to it as that new Teac A7300 has a major speed control issue that I would like to get resolved first.

Last night I cleaned everything once again and removed the pinch roller cleaned it real good with rubber cleaner and lubed the bearings. Everything looks good so tonight I gave it a try and the control is getting worst by the minute. I even tried the fast speed and after a few minutes it was moving tape slower than the slow speed. :cry: Time to blow up the schematics on the copy machine and see if I can figure out what to try next.

Back to the turntable, guess I like something with a manual start and auto off. Like Nando mentioned all manual takes the joy out listening if you must think about is this the last song??

Robert
 

stuwee

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#12
And the Auto TT's ruin for me in the begining of the LP, Dale's linear tracker Pioneer is a pain with it's idiot logic crap, you have to hit start, then when it starts to set down, bring it back up again to pause to clean the Lp :angryfire: , then press start again, or lever down, whatever it is it drives me batshit!
 

rtp_burnsville

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#13
stuwee said:
And the Auto TT's ruin for me in the begining of the LP, Dale's linear tracker Pioneer is a pain with it's idiot logic crap, you have to hit start, then when it starts to set down, bring it back up again to pause to clean the Lp :angryfire: , then press start again, or lever down, whatever it is it drives me batshit!
Agree, that would drive me nuts..... Well, more nuts than I already am!
 

stuwee

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#14
rtp_burnsville said:
stuwee said:
And the Auto TT's ruin for me in the begining of the LP, Dale's linear tracker Pioneer is a pain with it's idiot logic crap, you have to hit start, then when it starts to set down, bring it back up again to pause to clean the Lp :angryfire: , then press start again, or lever down, whatever it is it drives me batshit!
Agree, that would drive me nuts..... Well, more nuts than I already am!
Crazy like a loon ya are up that way!!

I'm sure it all has to do with that fancy tonearm, there's like a ton of servo's and sensors on that puppy, he's probably spent $600+ keeping it running over the years, it was his first so I kinda understand....I've spent less than $75 and that was just for belts Hehe! And a few sips of oil.
 

rtp_burnsville

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#15
stuwee said:
rtp_burnsville said:
stuwee said:
And the Auto TT's ruin for me in the begining of the LP, Dale's linear tracker Pioneer is a pain with it's idiot logic crap, you have to hit start, then when it starts to set down, bring it back up again to pause to clean the Lp :angryfire: , then press start again, or lever down, whatever it is it drives me batshit!
Agree, that would drive me nuts..... Well, more nuts than I already am!
Crazy like a loon ya are up that way!!

I'm sure it all has to do with that fancy tonearm, there's like a ton of servo's and sensors on that puppy, he's probably spent $600+ keeping it running over the years, it was his first so I kinda understand....I've spent less than $75 and that was just for belts Hehe! And a few sips of oil.

Yep, up here in loon country...... I live here but was not born here so only partly crazed!

All that auto stuff is sometimes nice when it all works, but that usually only lasts for a very short time. KISS principal rules....
 

stuwee

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My Grams used to say that all the time (KISS that is) They lived in northern Michigan, had tons of real loons on the lake, man, they'd wake me up in the middle of the night, scared the crap outta me as a youngster :alien:

She didn't like all that power stuff on her cars either, but she sure loved her Lincoln tho :love4: , of course in the 60's Lincoln's never broke down, ever!
 

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Stu,

I found this Lincoln parked at the car show I attended this past Sunday:





Nando.
 

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I took my GS to the car show. i had to snap this shot while driving. It's no wonder the usual jerks kept clear of me while on the highway. Best drive I've had, yet!



Nando.
 

stuwee

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Ahhhhh! That brings a tear to me eye! Just like my '78! Did ya notice you can still see the pavement with that monster 460 in there?!? What a trip, mine was baby blue with white leather and a red dash and carpets, I tried to register it as a boat at DVM, she looked outside and saw the yacht flag I had on the antenna and LOL! She yelled to her girlfriend Clareece come look at this! I ain't right dudes!

and you hit 666 on the odo eh? Hehe, lucky to be alive :twisted:
 

rtp_burnsville

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#20
stuwee said:
Ahhhhh! That brings a tear to me eye! Just like my '78! Did ya notice you can still see the pavement with that monster 460 in there?!? What a trip, mine was baby blue with white leather and a red dash and carpets, I tried to register it as a boat at DVM, she looked outside and saw the yacht flag I had on the antenna and LOL! She yelled to her girlfriend Clareece come look at this! I ain't right dudes!

and you hit 666 on the odo eh? Hehe, lucky to be alive :twisted:
Stuwee..... Now that is too funny!
 
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