('72-'75)  $750

In excellent cosmetic condition, fully bench serviced and tested, this beautiful vintage Pioneer PL-61 stereo turntable is globally respected and considered to be a rare and highly coveted turntable.   

It was well known for its advanced belt-drive system featuring a super quiet, brushless DC servo *Hall motor.  It was produced during an era when real wood was always part of the design.
The PL-61 was part of Pioneer's early-to-mid '70's line of turntables that included the PL-50, PL-41 and many others. (see "About Pioneer 70's Turntables" below)

More features included:
~Brand new belt 
~Double-chassis design (for reduced vibration)
~Pioneer quality build and overall design 
~Expected excellent sound quality and reliability
~full color copy of the brochure
~operation and service manual 

Extras:
The massive real timberwood base has been lightly sanded and refinished.  The removable original dust cover has been hand polished to pristine condition; it also has solid metal, long-lasting hinges. 
A brand new Audio Technica 3003 cartridge & stylus that comes mounted on a custom, unique, real timberwood headshell. 
The platter has a custom, color matched cork 'n rubber mat.

*NOTE:
The Hall motor utilized advanced semiconductors called "Hall elements".  It's an ultra-slow drive motor that is distinguished by extremely low vibration and distortion, the two factors most conductive to quality in any top shelf turntable.  Compared to a more conventional DC motor (which powered most turntables during the 70's), the brushless Hall motor has less electrical or mechanical noise, and a longer life as it has fewer mechanical friction parts.

Essentially, the PL-61 is everything that "audiophiles" have ever demanded in a vintage professional turntable; at the time of its introduction in the mid-70's, it was available only from Pioneer.

Specs:
Type: belt drive
Motor: brushless DC servo hall motor
Speeds: 33 and 45rpm
Speed control range: within +-2%
Speed change: electronic
Wow and flutter: 0.05%
Rumble: 55dB
Platter: 3 lbs, aluminium alloy diecast
Tonearm: s-shaped static balanced 
Tracking force range: 0.5 to 8g
Dimensions: 19.6"W x 8"H x 17"D
Weight: 25 lbs

About the Pioneer 70's turntables...

If you’ve been shopping for vintage gear, you’ve probably seen your share of Pioneer components. Founded in 1938 in Tokyo by Nozomu Matsumoto, Pioneer initially focused on speaker production. When they ventured into turntables in the early '60s and went all-in on them in the '70s, they brought the same precision and intent. From the iconic PL-12D in the '70s to the high-end models — PL-70LII ftw — Pioneer’s turntables became staples in both home and pro rooms. Best, because of the company’s success, there’s plenty of volume in the used marketplace. The brand has built more than 200 different turntables, more than 100 of which came out in the '70s.  Special interest has been building in regards to the iconic PL models that incorporated the real timberwood into their design.  Eventually, by the end of the 70's, real wood became too expensive in the furiously competitive late 70's and early 80's.  By the late 80's, thanks to the bean counters in their efforts to save money, the wood had all but disappeared. 

As with a lot of gear from the time, these turntables were built to impress, to be a highlight of your living room and an enduring part of your music experience. Until a few years ago, ubiquitous Pioneer turntables were virtual afterthoughts in the vintage market, ignored between Technics, Thorens and Garrards. But that’s definitely changed, and the prices for Pioneer turntables (especially those with the massive timberwood design) have been skyrocketing.

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 (1976)  $1100

Literally in perfect cosmetic and operating condition, this very rare Optonica RP-3636MKii turntable is one of the most unique designs to come from Japan in the mid 70's.

The original Optonica branded headshell comes with a brand new Ortofon Blue cartridge & stylus. 
Also included is an extremely rare Omega One platter mat made of very thin 100% carbon fiber.

The RP-3636MKii was, without a doubt, the most notable Optonica product designed during  their initial offerings of high end stereo gear was this magnificent direct-drive, manually operated turntable.  It should be noted that while most prefer a turntable with some automatic functions, most of the time a manually operated turntable is generally considered the *best by most audio repair techs.

Today, this incredibly hard to find turntable is sought after by collectors and audiophiles for obvious reasons.

Its unique construction is called "Mikage Granite Stone" which was developed by Optonica for use in turntable design.  It is a compound of both granite and resin that virtually eliminates feedback thus preventing resonance (rumble) to reach the tonearm.  Therefore, it's literally as "solid as a rock" because it's built on 15.8 pounds of that Mikage granite stone. Which means that vibrations from the speakers are absorbed, reducing acoustic feedback and maintaining maximum signal to noise ratio.  A similar compound was later used by Kenwood for their KD-5xxx series of turntables, some of which are affectionately referred to as "The Rock".

The Optonica engineers were so concerned about resonance, they even added a unique round chrome weight attached to the rear top of the proprietary dust cover.  This weight keeps the dust cover solidly flat (vibration free) on the granite base during play.  The turntable itself is very heavy weighing in at 35.4 pounds.  

The longer-than-normal tonearm is a copy of an excellent Shure Brothers arm. It is a very simple, very precise and highly sensitive S-shaped tonearm. Which means that the stylus will pick up subtle sound signals as accurately as the cutter stylus that recorded them.  The arm design also includes an oil-damped cueing control that gently lifts and lowers the tonearm.  This composite metal tonearm was made strictly for the 3636 MKii.   Notably, the direct-drive motor is the finest that they could create at that time.  
Because there are output jacks on the back, you can pick and choose your own audio cables...another major plus on this very fine audiophile grade turntable.

Specs:
Motor: 6-pole AC Servo motor with 72-pole FG servo mechanism
Drive system: direct drive
Speeds: 33 and 45rpm
Speed control range: within +-4%
Wow and flutter: less than 0.05% WRMS
Rumble: better than 68dB
Platter: 12" aluminium die-cast with strobe marks
Cartridge weight range: 4 to 18g
Dimensions: 19.75"W x 7.5"H x 16.25"D"
Weight:  35.5 lbs

*NOTE:
Why is a manual the "best" ?
All the design technology applied to the better manual turntables goes into the construction of the base, motor and tonearm.  There are no additional mechanics to interfere and operate the movement of the arm or the auto start/stop functions. Pure and simple...that's what a manual unit does best.

About OPTONICA (Sharp Electronics of Japan)...
The Optonica brand was created and first launched by Sharp in 1976 as a separate high-end brand to compete directly with Pioneer, Technics (Panasonic), Fisher, Marantz, Nakamichi, Sansui, Kenwood and Sony.  Sharp Electronics Corporation of Japan was founded in 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder’s first invention, the "Ever-Sharp" mechanical pencil. Obviously, they also designed and sold much more over the years.  By the mid-70's their electronic equipment (mostly gadget oriented items sold in catalogs and department stores) was well situated in the USA.  Major decisions were made to move into the select high-end stereo component market.  They absolutely hit a home run with their Optonica lineup. Unique, powerful and definitely well built, they are now very well known and commanding prices approaching the better Marantz and Pioneer units.

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 ('76-'78)  NFS

In beautiful cosmetic condition, fully serviced and operating perfectly, this stunning Miida T3115R is identical to the Denon GT-700.  Under the Miida badge it was destined for export only while the GT-700 was available only in Japan.  Unlike most turntables made in Japan by CEC, the Miida T3115R was built by Denon for Miida under a non-competitive contractual agreement. 

This very rare Miida T3115R stereo turntable is a manually-operated, servo-controlled, direct-drive, 2 speed (33, 45 rpm) table powered by a six-pole synchronous motor.

****BONUS Garrott P-77 cartridge****
This very well-built turntable is complete with the original Jelco S-shaped 8.5" static balanced tonearm and anti-skate.  The original headshell is fitted with an extremely high quality (NOS) *Garrott P-77 moving magnet cartridge & new stylus

*NOTE: The Garrott Brothers P77 technology:
The Garrott creates an electrical signal using a small magnet fixed to the end of a cantilever. As the magnet moves within a pair of coils fixed inside the cartridge body, an electrical current is created. The P77 has two models above it in the range. The output voltage is 4mv, compliance is medium, weight is 5.8 grams and the frequency response is 20-20'000Hz +/-2dB. On the end of the P77's twin aluminium cantilever sits an exquisite Garrott Microscanner diamond. Garrott recommended a tracking weight of 1.7 to 1.9 grams and I applied 1.8 grams with 50kΩ loading. The Garrott's styling can be described as retro.  But looks can be deceptive because underneath the microscope, the P77 displays a level of craftsmanship and quality control that easily equals the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze.

On the turntable, the speed adjustments and controls are all built into a large and elegant brushed aluminum plate on the tonearm section.  The opposite side features another smaller brushed aluminum housing containing a backlit strobe.  The 3.3 lb platter is a 13.3" diameter aluminum alloy injection molded platter with strobo marks.

Basic specs:
Power consumption 17 watts
Dimensions: 19.1W x 6.4"J x 15.9"D
Weight:  23 lbs

About Miida...
Miida was formed as a subsidiary of the ancient Japanese company Marubeni-Iida.  Miida was primarily a Japanese import-export company that specialized in exporting mid-fi electronics (and other goods) mostly to Europe, the Philippines and the Americas.  Their American headquarters was located in Lyndhurst NJ.  
Marubeni of Japan was founded in 1858 by Chubei Itoh.

Denon = Nippon Columbia Co.,Ltd;
The DENON brand was formed in 1947 and originated from the merger of Japan Denki Onkyo (commonly known as "Den-on"), one of the affiliates. Den-on was a group of engineers in business-purpose audio equipment, dating back to Japan Electric Recorders Mfg., which was established in 1939. The company was developing and manufacturing turntables and cartridge tape-recorders for NHK and other broadcast stations.

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