(Pacific Stereo, 1980)  SOLD  (rare one owner, pristine)

Of all the true audiophile gear released under the Concept Audio brand, there was only one turntable model; released in a very limited production run in 1980, it was the Concept 2QD.  This particular one has been Cherry Vintage Audio's personal turntable and is in pristine cosmetic and operating condition.  The original headshell comes with a new Ortofon OM-10 cartridge & stylus.  The table sits on four custom-designed, fully adjustable, polished aluminum feet with 1/2" anti-resonant foam riser pads.  The owner's manual and full color brochure are included

Depending on your knowledge and/or your desire to obtain rare high quality vintage equipment, the 2QD may be on your radar.  To those who may have followed Cherry Vintage Audio over the years, it's no secret that Concept gear is near the top of our list for premium quality HiFi gear.  

The Concept 2QD is a heavy (yet super quiet), two-speed, quartz locked, direct-drive, fully automatic turntable.  The front placement of the easily visible strobe immediately shows the platter locked in at perfect speed for either 33 RPM or 45 RPM.
It was the result of a concerted effort to design a turntable that offered both ultimate precision and ultimate convenience.  From the trademark Concept rosewood veneer plinth to the soft brushed aluminum control panel, it is just flat-out gorgeous.

The 2QD has two motors; the platter motor is a 90 pole brushless DC servo design that is controlled via quartz crystal reference phase-locked loop servo system.  The 3.5 lb platter has a start-up time of 1.8 seconds.  A second induction motor handles the automatic tonearm functions.  The straight pipe tonearm itself is made of ultra low mass aircraft quality aluminum that results in minimal inertia and resonance.  The 2DQ uses a strictly proprietary headshell.  There are many more features but instead of listing them all here, there is an available (online) full-color Concept 2QD brochure and copies of the original owner's manual.

Every detail, from the action of the controls to the damping material of the feet had been carefully thought out and crafted by a distinguished team of designers and production engineers in Japan.  The assembled team of these Japanese engineers was part of Pacific Stereo's long history in cultivating relationships required to build the Concept components.  The final result was a remarkable record playing instrument - a turntable designed to satisfy even the most discerning audiophile.

About Concept...
Recognized universally as some of the very best stereo equipment ever made, the Concept receivers and turntable circuitry was designed in-house, by Dick Schram, at Pacific Stereo (late 70's California). Tom Ishimoto, former product development manager of Marantz, also had a hand in building some of the Concept line at NEC of Japan. The bulk of the manufacturing was done by TCE, an electronics manufacturing division of Tandy Corp. (Tandy was the parent company of U.S. electronics retail chain Radio Shack). A lot of effort was made in upgrading the Concept design capabilities, and TCE's production techniques at the time were described as "terrific". Several other manufacturers were considered for the Concept receivers, but, as far as Schram was concerned, TCE was by far the best. They had gifted engineers who were excited to work on some REAL hi-fidelity audio products and became very loyal to him during the entire process. The Concept credo was "better quality parts, operated with more margin of safety, superior circuits and no shortcuts" - that's why they last so long and still sound as good today.

More about Pacific Stereo (and Concept...)
The Concept line of stereo receivers, speakers, etc were offered by Pacific Stereo as their top tier house brands. (in order, top to bottom: Concept, Reference by Quadraflex, Quadraflex and TransAudio) The top of the line receiver was the Concept 16.5 (165 watts per channel, considered by many to be the best stereo receiver ever made!).  Basically, when a customer went into a Pacific Stereo store looking for Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood, etc, the salesman would steer them toward one of the "house" brands, the best of which were the Concepts.  Normally you might think that the house brand would be some cheaply made unit designed for maximum profit to the retailer. But, in this case, the Concepts (and secondarily, the Reference series) were very well built and high performing receivers.  Of course, there was the very special Concept 2QD turntable that was the only one good enough to carry the Concept name.   And then there was the Reference 650FETR which was Richard Schram's baby all the way, a very fine stereo receiver that deserves to be in any serious audiophile's collection.

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 (Early 70's)  $500 (pristine with extras)

In stunning cosmetic condition and fully operational, we've managed to obtain another of these stunning, early 70's Pioneer PL-50 turntables.  In our humble opinion, it's definitely one of the best looking designs to come out of Japan during the beginning of the "Golden Age of HiFi".  The owner's manual is included.
(NOTE: Pioneer's model PL-50 had two different years of production.  In the early 70's this one described here was the first incarnation of the PL-50 model.  Later on, in the late 70's & early 80's, an entirely different PL-50 was released by Pioneer.  Other than bearing the same model number, they were entirely different.)

This classic vintage turntable was painstakingly serviced and restored.  That includes: a new 35.1" belt, all pivots, joints and internal contact points lubed and fresh silicone oil applied into the motor bearings.  Fortunately, even the oil tubes and wicks leading to the bearings are intact which allows the oil to do its job.  The wood has been lightly sanded and refinished.  The original, lightly tinted dust cover has been hand-polished.  The entire unit rests on four custom-made, fully adjustable, polished aluminum feet.

The PL-50 is a semi-automatic turntable featuring tonearm auto lift, return and shut off at the end of the record.   The automatic return and automatic cut are carried out quite simply by moving the single function lever.
The aftermarket timberwood headshell comes with a brand new Ortofon Omega cartridge and stylus.  Besides the counterbalance and anti-skate, there is an additional lateral balancing weight attached to the rear of the arm.

The beautiful timberwood base design successfully achieved a high anti-vibration structure along with its massive look.   This kind of engineering craftsmanship came from an era when Pioneer's designers insisted on creating a massive real timberwood base to surround and cradle the controls, motor and platter assembly.  As the years went by, competition was so fierce that designs featuring real wood were becoming scarce. In order to keep the cost down, some manufacturers began to use less expensive vinyl wraps.  Essentially, there's nothing better than real vintage wood on classic vintage models from the early 70's.

When describing the Pioneer PL-50 it's interesting to note that they also built the entire unit around a "floating" suspension that featured a three point spring-on-motor, adjustable VTA on the tone arm and a high rigidity plinth.  Pioneer had developed a 4-pole synchronous motor that's so reliable that even some 50 years later, the speed is still very accurate for both 33.3 and 45 RPM.  The auto-up-stop mechanism has no electronics involved; it's a purely ingenious mechanical design using a spring activated "catch and release" system.  Aside from a switch activated pilot light (that doubles as an overhang index marker), there are no other circuits to worry about.  

The Pioneer PL-50 is a fairly heavy turntable at about 22 lbs and larger than most with dimensions at about 7.75"H x 19.5"W x 16.75"D.  

('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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