Pioneer PLX 1000 Questions

For grins, I swapped my turntables tonight. The PLX-1000 with the Nagaoka MP-300 went into the main rig. With the MP-300/Pioneer combo in place of the Hana/VPI, I was very impressed with how well the Nagaoka MP-300 combo competed with the Hana SL combo.

I’d surmise I was getting +90% of the Hana SL combo from the MP-300 combo; the MP-500 stylus would likely close the gap further. The MP-300 had much of the speed and tonal quality of the SL, but lacked just a bit of the shimmer and detail.

If you have a PLX-1000 and want to use a MM cartridge, I’d highly recommend the Nagaoka MP-300 and MP-500. Although they can be as expensive as the PLX-1000 itself (depending on where you buy the cartridge), they do produce the goods. The MP-200 could potentially be a great buy at a lower price point, as it also has the boron cantilever with a highly polished elliptical stylus.

When I replace a worn-out MP-300 stylus with the MP-500, I could see myself parking there for quite sometime. After listening with an Ortofon 2M Blue for years, I veered off the Ortofon upgrade path to the Nagaoka path. Very pleased with the results so far.
 
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The PLX-1000 has a way of charming itself into my graces. The biggest weakness it has, to me, is the tonearm. It just feels cheaper than what I'd prefer, but I can't find an actual sonic fault with it.

A few days ago it was in jeopardy of being knocked out if I replaced the VPI Traveler with a Classic in my main system (the Traveler would've stayed and moved down). But, listening to the Nutcracker with it and the Nagaoka MP-300 tonight simply warmed my heart.

It's still my go-to recommendation for a $500 - $1000 turntable.
 
Angsty said:
The PLX-1000 has a way of charming itself into my graces. The biggest weakness it has, to me, is the tonearm. It just feels cheaper than what I'd prefer, but I can't find an actual sonic fault with it.

A few days ago it was in jeopardy of being knocked out if I replaced the VPI Traveler with a Classic in my main system (the Traveler would've stayed and moved down). But, listening to the Nutcracker with it and the Nagaoka MP-300 tonight simply warmed my heart.

It's still my go-to recommendation for a $500 - $1000 turntable.
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I’d agree. Pricing has gotten screwy and although the Pioneer went up, $50 isn’t a deal breaker.

I do think it’ll get competition from the UTurn Theory, at least from the non DJ types.
 
Angsty said:
The PLX-1000 has a way of charming itself into my graces. The biggest weakness it has, to me, is the tonearm. It just feels cheaper than what I'd prefer, but I can't find an actual sonic fault with it.

A few days ago it was in jeopardy of being knocked out if I replaced the VPI Traveler with a Classic in my main system (the Traveler would've stayed and moved down). But, listening to the Nutcracker with it and the Nagaoka MP-300 tonight simply warmed my heart.

It's still my go-to recommendation for a $500 - $1000 turntable.
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It's a great table! And the used market is still very fair on them.

I will say re: tonearms, I have learned over the years that tactility and appearance don't necessarily equate to sonics! That being said, I do feel that the (intro) arm on my VPI tracks better than the Pioneer arm - I'm sure you probably feel the same about your Traveler. Definitely have the damper mod on my list of 2023 upgrades.
 
Angsty said:
The PLX-1000 has a way of charming itself into my graces. The biggest weakness it has, to me, is the tonearm. It just feels cheaper than what I'd prefer, but I can't find an actual sonic fault with it.

A few days ago it was in jeopardy of being knocked out if I replaced the VPI Traveler with a Classic in my main system (the Traveler would've stayed and moved down). But, listening to the Nutcracker with it and the Nagaoka MP-300 tonight simply warmed my heart.

It's still my go-to recommendation for a $500 - $1000 turntable.
Click to expand...
One thing I don’t think it gets enough credit for is being an absolutely unfussy workhorse. It’s singularly my favorite feature. At that price point, it’s really a selling point for people who want good sound but don’t have the scratch to push into the high-end Technics.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
It's a great table! And the used market is still very fair on them.

I will say re: tonearms, I have learned over the years that tactility and appearance don't necessarily equate to sonics! That being said, I do feel that the (intro) arm on my VPI tracks better than the Pioneer arm - I'm sure you probably feel the same about your Traveler. Definitely have the damper mod on my list of 2023 upgrades.
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Yes, the damper did help with tracking but it "damped" the sonics of my Nagaoka cartridge, so I took it off. It did help the Ortofon 2M Blue, though. As is said, your results may vary! Similarly, I had no issues at all with the VPI.
 
Angsty said:
Yes, the damper did help with tracking but it "damped" the sonics of my Nagaoka cartridge, so I took it off. It did help the Ortofon 2M Blue, though. As is said, your results may vary! Similarly, I had no issues at all with the VPI.
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That's excellent feedback - err, lack thereof! 😜 Thank you!
 
Angsty said:
Yes, the damper did help with tracking but it "damped" the sonics of my Nagaoka cartridge, so I took it off. It did help the Ortofon 2M Blue, though. As is said, your results may vary! Similarly, I had no issues at all with the VPI.
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And also, just a fantastic observation in general. Sometimes something tracks SO well on paper that it loses some of that, well, looseness!
 
Angsty said:
Yes, the damper did help with tracking but it "damped" the sonics of my Nagaoka cartridge, so I took it off. It did help the Ortofon 2M Blue, though. As is said, your results may vary! Similarly, I had no issues at all with the VPI.
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Oddly enough on this topic, with my GR I had purchased sorbothane feet, they were actually cups to put the feet in, they also had an option for glass inserts to increase the dampening. Well, to your point, with the glass inserts, the dampening killed the sound on the GR, it became lifeless.............your post just made me chuckle because when I went to return them the vendor was ok with it, but never heard of such a thing as ever having "Too much dampening" effecting sound quality, I don't think he believed me, so thanks for the reassurance ;)
 
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