For those of you who are salivating just looking at Tasso's gear I can confirm that it sounds much better than it looks. 

 

I was lucky enough to have an extended listen last week with SteveM.

 

It is absolutely stunning.

 

At a couple of points I actually jumped with the dynamic impact and attack.

very nice work, tasso.

love accuphase gear - such timeless style and great sound.

are they the a-200 amps?

how do they compare to the antileon signature? 

Yes they are the A-200's. They are quiet, sweet, dynamic and very powerful. Incredible clarity with black backgrounds. Big Gryphon Class A is sensational, and probably has a touch more low end slam , although the A-200 is no slouch either.

The Accuphase amps obviously mate extremely well with the C-3850 and things like imaging, depth , resolution, tonality and timbre are extraordinary. Like all good Class A amps they run hot ( as does the C-3850) but Accuphase don't have a switch to run it in low power mode like the Europeans do. That's no problem, I never use that anyway!

Impressive!!

I am awaiting the shipment of a Pioneer Exclusive P3a turntable from Japan. I don't know exactly how it will sound compared to the P3  but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

 

 

At the moment it is being boxed by  specialist packaging company in Japan before it makes the trip to its new home. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

exclusive P3 is one of the nicest turntables i have ever heard.

kalo taxedi!

Edited June 8, 20178 yr by analog brother

Ah ha, you did buy the P3a.  Awesome.  And factory packaging.

 

Look forward to the update.

 

And then Artisan?  

Edited June 8, 20178 yr by metal beat

exclusive P3 is one of the nicest turntables i have ever heard.
kalo taxedi!

Efcharisto!

Ah ha, you did buy the P3a.  Awesome.  And factory packaging.
 
Look forward to the update.
 
And then Artisan?  [emoji14]

I don't think so just yet. What got me hooked further on Pioneer Exclusive was when I opened the P3 to check the bearing oil. Those guys were ahead of their time, even by today's standards.

The design of the motor is the closest to a linear drive that I have seen.



Bearing is inverted type like all the better turntables today which provides better SQ and lower noise. Only that Pioneer did this in 1980 and is the only manufacturer that I know of to have done it with Direct Drive. It helps to have a huge R&D budget I guess.



Under the hood, constrained layer construction of thick aluminium plate and Barium Sulphate which itself is isolated from the external acoustic energy. As it turns out, barium sulphate is also used for radiation shielding which means that together with the Aluminium plate, there is zero chance of any EMI being able to reach the tonearm.

When P3a arrives it will be going in for an expert electronics check and overhaul. The moving parts are seriously heavy duty and show zero signs of wear so electronics upgrade and hopefully a new 230v transformer ( instead of using step down to 100v) will squeeze a bit more performance from it as well

How did they get the plinth off?

 

Mine was serviced by Pioneer before it shipped ex Japan.

 

Make sure they give the tonearm an overhaul as generally they have some level of damping fluid is inside the arm due to user error.

 

Cheers

On 10/3/2016 at 2:35 PM, Tasso said:

I hired professional carriers to carry the speakers upstairs. They make it look easy and didn't scratch a thing

Are those passive scm40's in the background?

Are those passive scm40's in the background?

They are indeed. They were on loan while I was waiting for the S7's to arrive from the USA.

How much do they weigh?

On 6/9/2017 at 7:39 PM, Cardiiiii said:

How much do they weigh?

 

 

S7's weigh 136 KG each

 

On 6/9/2017 at 5:27 AM, metal beat said:

How did they get the plinth off?

 

Mine was serviced by Pioneer before it shipped ex Japan.

 

Make sure they give the tonearm an overhaul as generally they have some level of damping fluid is inside the arm due to user error.

 

Cheers

 

 

Getting the plinth off is dead easy. Underneath there are  a number of locating screws that bolt the outer cabinet to the inner plinth. once they are removed, the cabinet lifts off 

The P3a arrived - all was perfect until i examined the tonearm .  the arm tower looked to be out of alignment  .   I have arranged with Pioneer in japan to  have it serviced - Pioneer have offered to rebuild it ( for a price of course) .   Hopefully that process wont take too long.

 

 

 

 

There are of course a lot of similarities between the P3a and P3.  the tonearm  ( tower and wand)  is different of course  and I noticed differences with the electronic circuits. all else is essentially the same.   

 

The  P3a will shortly be going to electronics expert @Doncentric  who will upgrade the unit to  230V  and replace all electrolytic capacitors.  He is currently working on a P3 for the same upgrades as we speak.  

 

In other gear where I have had voltages converted I have noticed SQ improvements once the step down transformer is removed from the equation.    I came across one guy in Germany who has had similar upgrades done and reported improvements in SQ. I really dont know exactly what to expect in this case but it will be interesting nevertheless.

Edited July 19, 20178 yr by Tasso

Just now, Tasso said:

The P3a arrived - all was perfect until i examined the tonearm .  the arm tower looked to be out of alignment  .   I have arranged with Pioneer in japan to  have it serviced - Pioneer have offered to rebuild it ( for a price of course) .   Hopefully that process wont take too long.

 

 

 

 

There are of course a lot of similarities between the P3a and P.  the tonearm  ( tower and wand)  is different of course  and I noticed differences with the electronic circuits. all else is essentially the same.   

 

The  P3a will shortly be going to electronics expert @Doncentric  who will upgrade the unit to  230V  and replace all electrolytic capacitors.  He is currently working on a P3 for the same upgrades as we speak.  

 

In other gear where I have had voltages converted I have noticed SQ improvements once the step down transformer is removed from the equation.    I came across one guy in Germany who has had similar upgrades done and reported improvements in SQ. I really dont know exactly what to expect in this case but it will be interesting nevertheless.

I admire your patience.

 

@Tasso - if you do find yourself preferring one TT over the other would you look to keep both or sell one? If selling, color me interested. Love your setup by the way. In many ways its my end game rig you've got there. Congratulations again!

13 hours ago, Galactic Soap said:

@Tasso - if you do find yourself preferring one TT over the other would you look to keep both or sell one? If selling, color me interested. Love your setup by the way. In many ways its my end game rig you've got there. Congratulations again!

 

The P3 has already been sold.    I moved away from the idea of trying to fit a new arm to the unit after i saw the way the P3 was put together. Pioneer went all-out and spared no expense to build the very best turntable at the time and  I could see the value in keeping the whole unit in original condition.

 

Buying from Japan is not that difficult but I would recommend  using an agent like I did  -  http://personalshopperj.com    There are other English speaking alternatives but this guy  speaks English fluently and acts as your personal agent so there is a lot more flexibility.  His approach to safely packing the gear borders on paranoia,  so there is no way you will have anything damaged in transit.  He has also  arranged for the tonearm service with Pioneer in Japan.

 

The engineering of the P3 is so thorough I cant imagine that any  unit  will  have major mechanical issues even today.  Pioneer used a motor fit to drive  a tractor to slowly turn a 120g record.   This is a renovation of faulty P3 bought cheap in Japan.   For an automatic translation, open the link in Google Chrome.

 

http://www.analog-forum.de/wbboard/index.php?thread/100224-pioneer-exclusive-p3-vollrestauration/

 

On 03/10/2016 at 0:15 PM, metal beat said:

 ...When are you upgrading to the M3's? 

 

Whilst M3 is a newer model and more expensive than S7, it would be highly debatable whether such a move would be an overall upgrade. It depends on the volume of the listening space, and how much you value deep bass of S7 against mid and treble performance of M3. At my place M3 would win over S7, but at Tasso's place S7 is probably the better choice.

Edited July 20, 20178 yr by WhakPak

Is that a 2 person dead-weight straight lift, or did they shimmy it up the stairs? It's about time you installed a crane in your ceiling for these heavy listing jobs!

 

Edited July 20, 20178 yr by WhakPak

On 7/20/2017 at 10:29 AM, WhakPak said:

Is that a 2 person dead-weight straight lift, or did they shimmy it up the stairs? It's about time you installed a crane in your ceiling for these heavy listing jobs!

 

 

They lifted each speaker with straps around their arms. They looked a bit knackered after though.    I called these guys because they had specialised lifting equipment ( stair crawlers, internal cranes) but they decided it would be quicker to manhandle them upstairs.  

 

Pioneer have rebuilt the tonearm for the P3a and I've had it for a few weeks now.  I can say it was well worth the wait.     

 

 

 

 

To explain a bit further,   the P3a tonearm controls the Lyra Etna noticeably better.    Resolution has improved across the board and  it can resolve bass  at lower, room shaking frequencies.  The P3 is certainly  no slouch in this  area so I didnt really expect this.   Its a case of pioneer pushing the boundaries I guess.  Of course, new found resolution can also presents  challenges ,  but the cool thing about vinyl is that there are so many  adjustments  that you can tweak to get the sound exactly  how you like it. 

 

 

22 hours ago, Tasso said:

 

To explain a bit further,   the P3a tonearm controls the Lyra Etna noticeably better.    Resolution has improved across the board and  it can resolve bass  at lower, room shaking frequencies.  The P3 is certainly  no slouch in this  area so I didnt really expect this.   Its a case of pioneer pushing the boundaries I guess.  Of course, new found resolution can also presents  challenges ,  but the cool thing about vinyl is that there are so many  adjustments  that you can tweak to get the sound exactly  how you like it. 

 

 

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