CHERRY VINTAGE AUDIO / objets d'art (Since 2014) 

CHERRY VINTAGE AUDIO / objets d'art (Since 2014) 

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Page 1 Stereo Turntables (NO shipping)

Pioneer PL-A25
Pioneer PL-A25

Pioneer PL-A25

('70-'71)  $450 (rare, pristine)

In pristine cosmetic, fully serviced and fully operational, this beautiful Pioneer PL-A25 was Pioneer’s first fully automatic stereo turntable. It was an export-only model from Japan during the late 60's and very early 70's. 

At the time of its introduction, the PL-A25 was a big deal and a triumph in engineering for Pioneer. (they remained the industry's leading manufacturer of fine stereo gear for many years.)  It was originally described as the "combination of superb sound and easy, automatic operation."

The gorgeous real timberwood cabinet has been lightly sanded and refinished. The original pristine acrylic tinted dust cover was hand polished, it has no cracks or noticeable damage and the strong metal hinges will never break.  As an added bonus, we have installed four beautiful matching real timberwood feet with shock absorbing rubber pads under each foot. 

The straight pipe tonearm has the original Pioneer headshell with a Realistic R27e cartridge (rebranded Shure M75) and a brand new N27e stylus.

Features:
~High quality outer rotor hysteresis synchronous motor...
~Heavy platter for rock steady flywheel action...
~Unique two motor system: drive motor is separate from the timing motor (automatic devices) working quietly and independently from each other...
~Newly developed (at the time) straight tonearm for use with lightweight stylus tracking.

At the time, the belt-drive system used in the design of the PL-A25 was considered the best and steadiest system ever devised to achieve a steady turntable platter revolution (the turntable comes with a correct, brand new belt)
Adding to this steadiness is the heavy, cast aluminum alloy die-cast platter.  

From Pioneer:
"Very important, there is a system of automatic devices for the tonearm - auto lead-in, auto return, cut and repeat making for very easy operation.  The tonearm also has a lateral balancer for better stereo balance."
 

Essentially, besides the fact that this Pioneer PL-A25 is in remarkable condition for being almost 52 years old, it's a classic vintage turntable that is a must for any serious collector of fine vintage stereo equipment.


Basic specs:

Drive system: belt drive, fully automatic
Motor: 4-pole hysteresis synchronous outer-rotor motor
Speed: 2 speeds: 33.3 and 45 RPM
Platter: 12" diameter aluminum-alloy die-cast; weight, 2.2 Ib.
Wow and Flutter: 0.1% or less
S/N Ratio: More than 46 dB
Tonearm: Static balance type pipe arm
Dimensions:17.3"W x 6.7"H x 13.8"D
Weight: 17 lbs


About Pioneer...
Not much needs to be said about Pioneer other then the simple fact that the name is known worldwide for above average quality and excellence in high fidelity component design.  They were the unchallenged leader in stereo advertising and marketing in the 70's.  Back in the day, Pioneer made it clear that if you didn't have a Pioneer stereo system in your house (or college dorm) you just didn't have the right stuff.


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Technics SL-BD21

('86-'90)  $225

In excellent condition and fully operational, this Technics SL-BD21 is best described as both vintage and a not-so-vintage turntable. Because it's such a reliable workhorse it hung around for quite awhile before finally being discontinued. It was first introduced in 1986 and was one of the last models that Technics built before they got out of the lower-to-mid-end turntable market.  It had a production run of almost 4 years and, even though it was an entry level unit, it still outperforms many higher priced turntables on the market today.

The Technics SL-BD21 is an inexpensive (but solid) belt-drive, semi-automatic turntable with a P-mount arm which makes it easy to set up for those newer to the turntable scene.


The straight pipe arm has a Realistic RX-1500 cartridge (identical to the Audio Technica AT155LC/G) with a new stylus.  Since the counterweight and anti-tracking were permanently set at the factory, there are no tracking adjustments that need to be worried about. 

The turntable comes with an aftermarket grey felt anti-static platter mat.Bottom line: it's a well built and reliable turntable for the price. 


About TECHNICS / MATSUSHITA / PANASONIC...
Founded in the 1920's, the huge Japanese conglomerate Matsushita had interests in many electronics companies.  The most well known would be Technics and Panasonic. Technics was introduced as a brand name for premium loudspeakers marketed domestically by Matsushita in 1965.  Eventually, Technics became a premium brand bringing classics like the SL-1200mkii turntable and the absolute monster receiver at the top of the list: Technics SA-1000 (330 watts per channel)


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Hitachi HT-40S
Hitachi HT-40S

Hitachi HT-40S 

 (1980)  $225

In excellent cosmetic and working condition, this Hitachi HT-40S is a direct-drive, 2-speed, "auto-manual" turntable.  Similar to Pioneer's "auto-manual" turntables, it just means you never have to manually place or lift the arm to play a record.  Simply use the onboard controls to set the arm down on the record and press "cut" at the end of play.

One of the main features of the 40-S would be the very reliable "UniTorque" brushless DC motor attached directly to the platter itself.   Although not one of Hitachi's top models, the 40-S is a solid, well designed entry level turntable and relatively affordable.  

The straight pipe tonearm is highly sensitive with top notch gimbal support. As an added bonus, the P-mount headshell comes with an excellent and pristine (original) ElectroVoice / HiTec (by Signet) H-12 cartridge and stylusIt should be noted that, even though this stylus is basically new and good for about 800 hours, a correct replacement stylus is readily available online.

The original spring loaded feet have additional foam pads to help guard against unwanted resonance.  The original dustcover has solid metal spring hinges that will never break.


Basic specs:

Type: auto manual
Drive method: direct drive
Motor: brushless DC servo
Speeds: 33 and 45rpm
Speed change system: electronic change over
Cartridge weight range: 4 to 10g
Dimensions: 17"W x 14.4"D x 5"H
Weight: 13 lbs


About Hitachi...
Unknown to many people, Hitachi (like Sanyo and Toshiba) were major Japanese tech firms that either directly built systems for other electronic companies or had Hitachi high end parts (like output transistors) inside the competitors products.   Class G is just one example of Hitachi's leadership in vintage audio technology. 
Power MOS FET amplifiers, R&P 3-head system cassette decks, Uni-torque turntable motors and gathered-edge metal cone speakers are just some of the others. There's a lot more.  Hitachi of Japan was one of the companies that made their own filter caps, transformers, etc...in-house.  They also supplied many other famous names with Hitachi-made components (like Pioneer, Sony, even Marantz used Hitachi parts.)


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Dual 1215
Dual 1215

Dual 1215 

Dual 1215 ('70-'72)   $325

Obtained from the original owner, this Dual 1215 had been sitting in storage for decades.   After some minor surgery on the bench that included lubing and rejuvenating the bearings in the 4-pole synchronous motor and spindle assembly, all three speeds (33.3 / 45 / 78 RPM) are now accurate.  The single play, semi-automatic operation has been upgraded to conveniently power on & off with the included wireless remote control.


Fortunately, the gorgeous United Audio walnut base was easily restored to its original (excellent) cosmetic condition.  The factory dust cover is also damage free.

The Dual 1215 is an idler drive, 3-speed unit with the spring-balanced plinth mounted onto a timberwood base.  The spring suspension greatly helps to avoid any accidental record or stylus damage from "thumps and bumps" during the operation.

Features include a vernier pitch (speed) control with a 6% range, anti-skate mechanism, auto/manual cue control, feather-light tonearm trip and the powerful, constant-speed, high-torque motor.  The attractive aftermarket gold plated feet offer solid support for the entire turntable.

As a major bonus, the original (correct) headshell comes mounted with a very high quality and pristine Pickering XV-15/625E cartridge and stylus.  Using a jeweler's loupe for inspection of the Pickering D625 stylus, it appears as almost new with negligible wear on the tip.  For future reference, this stylus is readily available online.
(NOTE: the audiophile level Pickering XV-15/625E is often compared to the comparably excellent Shure V15 Type III.  They are essentially similar with slightly different coloration depending on the actual versions of stylii available.)


About Dual...
Instead of our usual back story, here is a wonderful link to the amazing history of Dual:

https://www.stereolifemagazine.com/articles/item/1546-over-a-century-of-spinning-a-history-of-dual


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Pro-Ject Debut III

(2005)  $250

The Pro-Ject Debut III is a manually operated unit and was the second version of the earlier Pro-Ject 1.2 and is basically the same turntable.  Very few analog hi-fi products were more often honored to be a real "Best Buy" than this one. It was (and still is) considered a real bargain with outstanding sound quality! 

This turntable is a complete "plug'n'play" unit that includes a Pro-Ject 8.6 tonearm and an Ortofon Omega moving-magnet cartridge.  The Pro-Ject's AC motor has a two-step metal pulley, for 33 and 45rpm which drives the hub and platter via a flat-ground belt.

To reduce the transmission of vibrations, the motor is decoupled from the fiber-board plinth, which sits on four shock-absorbing feet. The steel-sheet platter is fitted with a felt mat and sits on a hub with a spindle of chrome-plated stainless steel runs on a polished ball bearing in a brass housing.  The unit's power supply is separately housed.The headshell and undamped arm-tube are cut from a single piece of aluminum. The inverted horizontal bearings consist of two hardened stainless-steel points.  However, the arm's vertical tracking angle (VTA) is not adjustable. The phono cable terminates in gold-plated plugs.  The attractive, original dust-cover is included.


The Pro-Ject Debut III:

• Plinth is made out of MDF in piano black gloss (an optional wood & aluminum base is available at extra cost)

• 3 lb balanced steel platter with felt mat  

• Bearing Block 3: Low-tolerance chrome-plated stainless-steel axle runs on a polished ball bearing in a brass bearing housing  

• Motor decoupled to reduce vibration  

• Special, resonance damping feet are copied through the base of the console 

 

The Tonearm 

• 8.6" tone-arm with aluminum headshell made out of one piece  

• Inverted tonearm bearing comprises inverted hardened stainless steel points and sapphire thrust-pads  

• Single-screw fixing of arm-tube allows rotation for easy adjustment of needle azimuth despite fixed headshell  

• Silicon damped tone-armlift 


Specs:
Dimensions: 16.2"W x by 4.6"H x by 12.5"D.
Weight: 12.1 lbs
Platter weight: 2.7 lbs


About Pro-Ject...
Heinz Lichtenegger founded Pro-Ject Audio Systems in Austria in 1990.  He made no bones about his abiding faith in the superiority and endurance of the vinyl record medium. Was this “old school” audiophile out of his mind? It certainly seemed that way, because virtually everyone in the audio business just knew that the LP (long playing) was destined to be dead as a popular music-reproduction medium.

The last laugh now belongs to Lichtenegger, whose company’s Czech-made record players are selling quite well, along with its host of related record-playing accessories (preamps, cleaners, stylus gauges, cables, and more). Today, Pro-Ject offers a dizzying menu of turntables at wildly varying prices. But, very evidently by design, there are extremely attractive choices for music lovers who are just entering the market or are serious about upgrading from a low-end turntable.

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