PLX-500 Direct Drive Turntable

While it may not have quartz-regulated speed, the speed is very accurate and there is no audible wow and flutter. Currently I have no equipment to measure that. The motor is at least as good as Audio Technica AT-LP120XUSB, or better- it spins up and slows down faster. The tonearm is exactly the same. The build quality seems better (buttons and general feel of the device). Sadly, the output cable is attached permanently and quite short - about 90cm. And there is no ground connector on the turntable. The built-in preamp is OK to see if it works, but that's about it (same story as AT-LP120XUSB that I had before moving). You really should get a separate preamp (Fosi Audio X2 is good and cheap-ish), that improves the sound more than upgrading the cartridge. The included cartridge is actually pretty good, I was happily surprised by it, since it's conical and has no specifications given other than that - I will keep using it until the stylus is old and then upgrade. And it does come adjusted well enough, at least on mine. Sounds best with 3g tracking force and 2.5g anti-skating. But to get it to sound best, get a much thicker slipmat, or just put a rubber one ON the included felt one - the tonearm height is adjustable, but at minimum setting it's still a little too high for the included cartridge. Mine sounds best after adding a 3mm rubber mat on the existing one, and then setting thearm height to 0.8mm. The height adjustment does audibly affect the highs and lows, and it is the reason to get this over the AT-LP120X (there is a bit more or less bass, but more importantly the highs get least distorted with the correct arm height, especially in the inner groove). This height adjustment lets you use cartridges of different heights in the future, without customizing the headshell or doing something equally wacky- the angle at which the cartridge is is important, as it makes the sides of the stylus parallel to the sides of the stylus used to cut the original record, and thus your stylus will follow them more accurately. And that angle xepends on the arm height. You can also get an Audio Technica AT-LP140X and it has that height adjustment, but has no preamp and is more expensive than this Pioneer PLX-500 AND a better preamp. So the Pioneer is a more cost-effective option that will probably be at least just as good. Also the lid on the black version of PLX-500 is darker-tinted clear instead of just clear, this may affect your colour choice (there is also a white version of this turntable). The legs have a lot of travel, so you can level it properly even on a saggy old shelf. But probably don't use furniture so flimsy that it tilts when you open the lid, this would make leveling difficult. The anti-skating does work, as in adjusting it does make the arm move inwards or outwards on a smooth surface, no idea if it's accurate though. And it does seem to have quartz speed control, as there is in fact a quartz resonator connected to one of the chips on the motor controller board (the chip name is painted over though. A second resonator is for the USB ADC, but I don't mean that one). And you most likely will need to do some simple modifications if you want an Audio Technica cartridge, as there is a low-pass filter on the preamp board, and it's after the switch for some reason. So it's always in circuit. And that increases the capacitance, and most AT cartridges require an extermely low capacitance that probably the cable alone has. But it's literally bridging 2 inductors and removing 2 capacitors, and maybe replacing the cable with jacks if you are so inclined.

A great turntable for the money. Well made, easy to set up and it plays great. I was impressed by the design, the materials and the performance. Highly recommended. It will not return the tone arm after the last song has played, if that is what you are looking for. But, it does have adjustment for gram force on the stylus, track alignment and platter spin accuracy. The tone arm release allows the arm to "float" down at a slow speed so the stylus is in the track groove with jumping or skipping. The feet are adjustable so the platter is level and there is enough mass to the unit to absorb being bumped. I have had this table for about three months and as you can tell I am very happy with it.

I recently took up carpet in my "cave" and put down LVP. I was rocking my vintage 1979 technics turntable, which was working fine, until we removed the carpet. With the LVP the vibration from the floor was ridiculous! I tried everything from purchasing pads that go under the feet of the turntable to absorb vibration, to putting a heavy concrete paver under the turntable, then bought a turntable platform to go under the old turntable which was supposed to absorb vibration and skipping of the stylus. Nothing worked. So I decided to upgrade my turntable. A review said it was heavy, and I like Pioneer products, so I decided on this one. I do have this turntable on the platform, as the platform wasn't cheap. However there is NO stylus skipping anymore. I can walk all over the room and there is no problem at all. I wish I had purchased this first so I would have avoided all of the other so-called fixes. The sound is great and it was easy to set up. Definitey recommend!

What happened to the days when turntables would automatically lift the arm at the end of an LP? This turntable plays great and sounds great, but you've got to be on your toes to lift the arm when the album ends, otherwise you're grinding your needle.

Excelente producto

Although aesthetically this Pioneer DJ PLX-500-K is an almost dead ringer for the Audio Technica AT-LP120 it replaces in my HiFi setup, the build quality and functionality is noticably better. The motor of the PLX-500K is much smoother than the AT-LP120, and the sound from the built in pre-amp is noticabily clearer, and less distorted in the higher ranges, and less “muddy” in the lower range. I’ve paired my AT with a Shure M44-7 Cartrige and even then the stock needle on the Pioneer sounds clearer. I can’t wait to try out my Shure M97xE High-Performance Magnetic Phono Cartridge on my new Pioneer PLX-500-K! There is no wobble in the platter of the Pioneer (which was quite noticeable in the AT). Couldn’t justify the price of the Pioneer Pro DJ PLX-1000 at the moment, and the TECHNICS SL1210MK2 would have probably resulted in my sleeping on the couch next to my HiFi if my wife found out the price, so the PLX-500-K was definitely a good compromise between price and quality. Only had this turntable for a short time, but so far so good. Now that this Pioneer turntable has found a spot as the crown jewel of my listening room, I’ve relegaded the AT to my bedroom for personal listening when others in the house aren’t a eager to share my listening experience. :)

The product is good but packing done by the seller was not good due to which the dust cover received in broken condition. Extremely disheartening😔

La tornamesa es pesada, creo algo necesario para evitar vibraciones que pudieran afectar el sonido. La velocidad del plato se ajusta perfectamente a la media lo cual se puede comprobar al poner el control de velocidad al medio (luz verde encendida) y verificando en el estrobo. Una vez calibrada (se incluyen instrucciones detalladas) el aparato es fácil de usar y se ve excelente. Mi intención es utilizarla para reproducir mi colección de discos en casa, pero se ve bastante robusta como para trabajo profesional (DJs). Creo que es un excelente producto en calidad y precio.

Beautiful unit, easy to set up. Sound is perfect. Nice and heavy has the look and feel of quality.