theophile Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 SNA member turntable recently bought one of these.He is also the owner of a Raven turntable.I wonder if he could give the members his impressions of the pros and cons of each turntable,and his impressions of where they stand relative to other turntables on the market(that he has heard)?
soundfan Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 SNA member turntable recently bought one of these.He is also the owner of a Raven turntable.I wonder if he could give the members his impressions of the pros and cons of each turntable,and his impressions of where they stand relative to other turntables on the market(that he has heard)? Instead of talking about him in the 3rd person, why not ask him directly yourself? I am sure he won't bite. Chris
theophile Posted December 20, 2009 Author Posted December 20, 2009 Instead of talking about him in the 3rd person, why not ask him directly yourself? I am sure he won't bite.Chris I'm not shy either.This is an invitation for him to tell all of us.
metal beat Posted December 23, 2009 Posted December 23, 2009 Hi Theo Tough question - At the moment anyway I will need to sit on the fence. Mainly due to My Ortofon A90 and still playing with the P3 itself and learning about its tonearm. I got the P3 about 6 weeks ago and 2 days later received my Ortofon Mc A90. The best sounding table is the one that has the A90 on it I had the A90 on the Raven AC-3 at first as I was still setting up the P3. After a week or so I moved it to the P3 and it has been there ever since. The Raven wants the A90 back, but I am loth to remove the A90 from the P3 I have been slowly dialing in the P3 as well as marvelling over the A90. One noticable difference I have heard is the P3 has very good control over the entire bass range and an ability to start and stop musical notes without smear that is extremely interesting to listen to. The Raven in comparison is just a little bit slower and maybe a bit looser. Interestingly the P10 has a slightly bigger or looser bass, but not as powerful. The P10 has the same sound dna, except just a little looser overall, which on some records is not a bad thing. The P3 tonearm has the biggest single influence over the sound of the table thou. The P3 has integral fluid damping with a lot of potential settings using the dial - just the slightest change brings quite a different musical presentation - especially apparent with the ultra transparent A90. see photo below. This is a pro and a con - finding the best setting takes time - I am getting there, so lucky I have plenty of time. the P3 is actually a very big table, especially with its glass lid with wooden sides. See the photo of them all on the rack beloe to gtet an idea of the sizes. Bottom Line The 30 year old Pioneer Exclusive P3 & P10 are competitive and in the same class as the TW Raven AC-3. At the cost you can pick up these vintage decks, the performance is truly stunning as both are a lot cheaper than the Raven or similar decks. For vintage turntables you need to weigh the con's of, no warranty, limited support, limited spares, self imortation etc (lucky Pioneer will service any Exclusive product for life - pity its costs a fortune to ship to and from Japan if it needs help) For most this will be just too much of a hassle I would guess. BTW - For anyone interested - in the 1970's and 80's when Japanese hifi was at its peak, Pioneer was the first company to bring out its Exclusive(Lexus is a similar strategy these days) range as the best hifi Pioneer could make so it had a different "brand" name. So at the moment it will take quite a bit more time and listening to make any decisions on exactly how good the P3 is. But I will have a lot of fun playing and listening thou.
robin-hobart Posted December 23, 2009 Posted December 23, 2009 Was wondering if your hi-fi investments were, perhaps, just a tad over-weighted in the turntable department? Then realised nah.... I was simply envious 1
metal beat Posted December 23, 2009 Posted December 23, 2009 Was wondering if your hi-fi investments were, perhaps, just a tad over-weighted in the turntable department? Then realised nah.... I was simply envious Hey, Can't you see that luvely Meridian CD player bottom left. Oops, forgot - it is not even plugged in. merry Xmas 1
Guest JohnA Posted December 23, 2009 Posted December 23, 2009 big $$$$ cd players sitting alone on bottom shelves.... you should be ashamed
metal beat Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 big $$$$ cd players sitting alone on bottom shelves....you should be ashamed Yea right John , your'e one to talk wishing you a great Xmas dude, enjoy
Guest JohnA Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 Same to you and the family Shane. Thanks again for all your help
robin-hobart Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 Was wondering if your hi-fi investments were, perhaps, just a tad over-weighted in the turntable department? Then realised nah.... I was simply envious Is the CD that bit of kit with its back to us? Methinks it doesn't get much use then? I should talk - I have 4 turntables, 5 amps, 7 pairs speakers. And just one CD player! Mostly all stacked away gathering dust and/or awaiting work. Alas, nothing esoteric or expensive, but all vintage (my age group!). About the only overlap in our set-ups which I recognised in your list was the Ortofon SPU. Back in the '70's a Garrard 301 with Decca FFSS arm and SPU-T passed briefly through my hands. The Orto being one of the first MCs had its own tiny (but heavy) transformer mounted behind the cartridge in the headshell. I found it a ***** to track - lots of (what I was told was) 2nd harmonic distortion. Could not sort it out, so got rid of the combo because, after all, who wants one of those old-fashioned idler drives? Oh dear - another crook decision! But luckily there have been one or two decent ones! Will an LP12 fit down a chimney?
theophile Posted December 24, 2009 Author Posted December 24, 2009 turntable, I posed the questions,hoping for a reply.Your post however exceeded my hopes. You probably realise that I had an inkling of an idea as to how your reply would pan-out.I've done my research on these TTs and knew that they both richly deserve all the accolades they have had heaped upon them. I will probably,eventually,purchase a P3 one day myself.The A90 will remain an ideal due to it's exclusivity. Thank you for your reply.I hope you and all the SNA members enjoy the Festive Season,and I look forward to reading many thought provoking threads here in the New Year.
metal beat Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 Is the CD that bit of kit with its back to us? Methinks it doesn't get much use then?I should talk - I have 4 turntables, 5 amps, 7 pairs speakers. And just one CD player! Mostly all stacked away gathering dust and/or awaiting work. Alas, nothing esoteric or expensive, but all vintage (my age group!). About the only overlap in our set-ups which I recognised in your list was the Ortofon SPU. Back in the '70's a Garrard 301 with Decca FFSS arm and SPU-T passed briefly through my hands. The Orto being one of the first MCs had its own tiny (but heavy) transformer mounted behind the cartridge in the headshell. I found it a ***** to track - lots of (what I was told was) 2nd harmonic distortion. Could not sort it out, so got rid of the combo because, after all, who wants one of those old-fashioned idler drives? Oh dear - another crook decision! But luckily there have been one or two decent ones! Will an LP12 fit down a chimney? Robin You don't get off that lightly. WE need the list of all your gear and some photo's. I am sure you have a sweet sounding setup. I have seen photo's of those old SPU's - they must have been VERY heavy. My SPU's are a little more modern - It is great they still make them Merry Xmas
metal beat Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 turntable,I posed the questions,hoping for a reply.Your post however exceeded my hopes. You probably realise that I had an inkling of an idea as to how your reply would pan-out.I've done my research on these TTs and knew that they both richly deserve all the accolades they have had heaped upon them. I will probably,eventually,purchase a P3 one day myself.The A90 will remain an ideal due to it's exclusivity. Thank you for your reply.I hope you and all the SNA members enjoy the Festive Season,and I look forward to reading many thought provoking threads here in the New Year. Hi Theo glad my waffle was of interest to at least one person Funny, I briefly thought that I may sell the P10 after I secured the P3, however it sounds so damm great ( it will crap all over any new turntable/arm combo this side of at least 5k) and for the price, it is stupid to even think of selling it. Besides Big brother and little brother look pretty kool together. that is what my daughters call the two tables. The Raven does have one very big advantage over the P3 - It has the flexibility to put any tonearm on the table. The P3 is a more intergated design, so aftermarket tonearms are limited to the Audiocraft AC4400 series and the Micro Seiki 282. One need not have any modern turntable envy with your lovely Yamaha GT2000 table. The japanese new how to make a quality product when they put their focus and considerable then resources to the job. A mint Yamaha PX-1 or 2 would look magnificent in my system :-) As you mentioned thou, you can always add one or more tables to what you have cheers Shane
jaspert Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 That's a very enjoyable waffle. You still need some space for that slate Garrard 401 so let me look after your P10.
metal beat Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 That's a very enjoyable waffle.You still need some space for that slate Garrard 401 so let me look after your P10. Jasper I'll do a deal with you. You get a nice 401/slate made up and we can swap for 6 months and see how each floats our boats. I'm serious BTW Now that that is off my chest. Why are you on the internet chatting to dags like us when you should be snorkling in Borneo and looking at luvely ladies on the beach ??
Keith_W Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 Shane, could you tell me why the body of the Pioneer is so high? What's in there? A heavy platter? Why are you on the internet chatting to dags like us when you should be snorkling in Borneo and looking at luvely ladies on the beach ?? The guy is in Sibu. This is Sibu and Melbourne in the same scale: [ATTACH]12337[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]12338[/ATTACH] You could fit the whole CBD of Sibu into the Royal Botanic Gardens, easily
jaspert Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 Keith is right, no beach nor eye candies here , just humid weather,mosquitoes ,a big dirty river and plenty of cheap food.. Hmmm.. i will have to chew a bit more on your proposal. There's a pic on Vintageknob website showing the internal of the P3 and the reason for the tall plinth body.
theophile Posted December 24, 2009 Author Posted December 24, 2009 Shane, could you tell me why the body of the Pioneer is so high? What's in there? A heavy platter? The guy is in Sibu. This is Sibu and Melbourne in the same scale: [ATTACH]12337[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]12338[/ATTACH] You could fit the whole CBD of Sibu into the Royal Botanic Gardens, easily There's a picture on The Vintage Knob which illustrates what you need to know,quite nicely: http://www.thevintageknob.org/PIONEER/P3/P3.html
theophile Posted December 25, 2009 Author Posted December 25, 2009 I just thought I'd share with you the reply I gave to an Intellectual Giant,over at the AudioKarma site: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3299705&postcount=50
metal beat Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 Guess who at SNA now has a P3? Conrats and welcome to the club. Club of two now
Guest JohnA Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 (edited) He just can't help himself our Jaspert congrats again mate on a mighty fine TT. Now i have a question, what are the main differences (sound wise also, with all other things been equal) between the P3 and P10 Edited June 25, 2010 by JohnA
jaspert Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 Shane, I got it to see if you are talking bull. Luckily you're not. More eye candy. John, you didn't quite finish your question? Shane could answer it better I think.
metal beat Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 You need little brother now Jasper. make Tommy an offer he can't refuse :-)
jaspert Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 You need little brother now Jasper. make Tommy an offer he can't refuse :-) I'm not bending over for Tommy again.Once is enough. Besides there's a nice one on Yahoo for a fraction.
metal beat Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 It looks in good nick, pity I can't understand Japanese
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