The second patient. A Pioneer PL-610 turntable. This device has been troublesome for quite some time. When I originally purchased it, it was an out of the box in store display model. The shop owner told me that when he received it, it ran backwards. He said it had been sent back to the factory and repaired and had ran fine ever since. I was young and stupid, saw a neat piece of equipment for a good price and purchased it. Of course I now know that someone else had purchased it and returned it, he probably sent it to a factory authorized service center and put it back on the floor. I know it didn't go back to Japan.
It worked fine for probably 10 or 15 years and then started to act up. When I would move the tonearm over the record sometimes it would move an inch or two in both directions and then start turning the right direction. It did this off and on for a few years and then one day it started running backward. It would do this for a few minutes and then run the right direction.
Then while playing it began not holding a steady speed. I would turn the quartz lock off and run it with the pitch gauge on and adjust it manually, then I would lock it back on. This worked for awhile, but eventually it would not hold a steady speed in any mode.
I took it apart and cleaned the pot that adjusts the pitch. This seemed to help for awhile, but didn't solve the problem completely. When the quartz lock button is pressed, the pitch adjustment needle is supposed to automatically return to zero (center) and the light on the pitch adjustment dial goes out. The light goes out, but the needle continues to respond, even though it's not supposed to and it usually doesn't return to 0% (center).
The arm-elevation (cueing arm) quit working properly. It's driven by a belt connected to a small motor. I replaced the belt, but I think I didn't get the exact size needed. It elevates and stops now, but when it's lowered the motor continues to run and it makes a "click-click sound over and over and I can see the arm elevator rod moving up and down in synchronization with the clicking sound. I just turn it off to make it stop.
I don't know about this turntable. It seems very troubled. It seems it would take someone who knows a lot about this type of design to fix it. I think it's over engineered. I like it and it looks cool, but I don't know if there's a cure.
[this post was last edited: 3/23/2013-09:15]
