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upgrade for less than $1k

I have a sweet vintage Pioneer PL-630 which is well built, has good isolation and a decent arm I imagine since it was their higher end model at the time. Can I do better with a modern TT under a grand? I had a rega P2 a while back and was dismayed at the wobbly mdf platter, plastic sub-platter and a thin particle board for a plinth. I know the RB-250 tonearm is a good one but it didn't have a chance to shine being mounted on that TT! So, is an upgrade possible for the money? I see that keeping it under $1K doesn't even get you proper speed control. How about that pro-ject xpression III with a speed box maybe?
rotarius
rotarius OP
431 posts
 
I have a few carts lying around but use a denon dl110 most of the time, particularly for classical. Phono stage is a monolithic ps1.
Ths364, I thought Rega sound was decent, I do think my current tt/cart combo is more refined though.
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rauliruegas
12,779 posts
 
Dear Rotarius: IMHO the PL-630 is a good TT/tonearm item ( I owned and my unit now belongs to my brother's system. ) that maybe you can improve it with an internal tonearm re-wiring all the way down to the phono stage and of course tests different headshell wires.
The PL-630 is a trusty item.

Regards and enjoy the music,
raul.
johnss
564 posts
 
Rauliruegas is correct. re wire the arm, then get a better phono stage, or modify the current model you are using.

Good sound is within reach.
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