Pioneer PL-100

 Anti-Howling Design for Superb Performance

Slim Design and Coaxial Suspension to Prevent Howling

Ultra-Thin DC/FG Servo Motor and "Stable Hanging Rotor™"

Reliable Auto-Return and Quick-Start Convenience

Additional Features

Illuminated Strobe lets you check to make sure the platter is rotating at exactly 33 ⅓ or 45 rpm.

Pitch Control ±2% lets you tune your records to a musical instrument.

Low-resonance headshell is made of high-impact resin mixed with glass fiber. Not only does it feature ideal internal loss for less resonance and better acoustics; it's also almost impossible to nic or scratch.

Anti-Skating Control is of the knob-type for easy skating-force compensation.

Oil-Damped Cueing allows quick accurate and safe manual operation.

Free-Stop Hinged Acrykic Dust Cover is durable, resistant to resonance and attractive.

 Auto-Return - A "Plaatinum" Record for Endurance

Pioneer put the Auto-Return mechanism in the PL-100 (the same as offered in Pioneer's most costly models) to a harrowing test of its durability, dependability and the silence of its operation; 100,000 consecutive automatic returns. We're pround to announce that the results were worthy of a platinum record; absolutely no sing of wear or tear, no errors and no annoing mechanical noise. When your record comes to an end, the stylus with tone-arm, begin to move more rapidly toward the center as they enter the spiraling lead-out groove. Our end-of play detection device catches this increased lateral speed as well as the position of the lead-out grooves, triggers the auto-return mechanism, and the arm is returned gently to its rest; power is then shut off automatically.

 Quick-Start Function - Additional Convenience

Power is switched on and the platter starts rotating automatically as you move the tone-arm towards the edge of the platter. We call it "Quic-Start" but it's more than just fast and convenient; it also saves energy and motor-shaft wear. And once the tone arm is over the band where  you want to begin play, an oil-damped cue lever lets you lower the stylus gently, preventing accidental damage to the record or to the stylus.

Controls on Front Panel - Easy Access

All controls [Speed, Pitch and Strobe] are grouped together conveniently on the front panel of the turntable. Operation of auto-return/shut-off is possible without touching the tone arm or even raising the dust cover. Your records are protected against fumbling fingers.

Shock are Damped with Coaxial Suspension

Short of weighing a turntable down with scrap iron, the most effective way to dampen vibration is with our Coaxial System, a Pioneer development for improved turntable performance. The external cabinet is suspended independently on four insulators; inside is a second independent structure supporting the base on which the motor and arm are mounted. This is in turn suspended on springs which share a common axis with the insulators. Any vibrations reaching the cabinet are dispersed laterally before they can multiply and cause noticeable resonance in the sound reproduction.

 Silent FG Motor Drives Stable Hanging Rotor™

The PL-100 uses a "magnet-with-coil" DC FG motor for superb speed control. Speed is controlled in this way; the FG sends signals in proportion to the motor speed to the drive circuit to let it know how fast (or slow) the platter is turning; if speed is incorrect - too fast or too slow - the servo orders a change and proper speed is again achieved. It all happens much too quickly for your eyes to see and too quickly for speed inaccuracies to spoil what you hear.

Power is transmitted from the motor to the low-resonance die-cast aluminum platter rim via an elastic belt, as in other belt-drive turntables. Any vibration from the motor is absorbed or attenuated, resulting in low-howl performance. Where the Pl-100 differs from the conventional belt-drive model, however, is in its Stable Hanging Rotor, a deluxe feature borrowed from Pioneer's more expensive turntables. The Stable hanging Rotor is a kind of cup fitted to the shaft under the platter. It gives the platter a kind of gyrostatic, stabilizing force that keeps the platter steady as it revolves. Since the pivot support coincides with the center of gravity, this design eliminates the kind of axis-tilt airplane and spacecraft pilots call "yaw".

 A Pioneer Exclusive - The Mass-Concentrated Tone Arm

Newton said it best, "…bodies at rest tend to stay at rest."  Likewise, as he observed, bodies in motion will not stop of their own accord. Thus inertia must be strictly controlled if the side-to-side and up-down motions of your stylus are to reflect the undulatins in the record groove and not outside vibrations. Pioneer has outfoxed inertia with the Mass Concentrated design. By shorteniing the distance between the support and the counter weight on the tone arm, and reducing the mass at the stylus tip, we have reduced cross-modulation distortion, improved separation and tracking sccuracy and prevented the reinforcement of all forms of extraneous vibrations and resonance. With the addition of an extra-solid tone arm base, the arm on the PL-100 is as steady, sensitive and resonance-free as you will find in any price range.

 Low low Silhouette

Thanks to the low-profile design of the DC FG motor and coaxial suspension, the PL-100 is one of the world's trimmest, thinnest turntables. It's only 96 mm high,with a total surface area 20% less than on our other turntables. But we weren't just trying to trim fat; the slimmer a turntable is, the less prone it is to floor-and air-bone vibration. Mechanical strength is improved, too. Add to this Pioneer's own Coaxial Suspension, and you've got a turntable almost totally immune to any kind of vibration, internal or external; the PL-100.

Specifications

Drive System:  Belt-drive

Motor:  DC FG Servo Motor

Turntable Platter:   310 mm ø, aluminum alloy die-cast

Moment of Inertia:   kg/cm² (including platter mat)

Speeds:  33 ⅓ and 45 rpm

Speed Control Range:  ±2%

Wow & Flutter:  0,045% (WRMS)

Signal-to-Noise Ratio:  70 dB (DIN B)

Tonearm

Type:  Static-balance type, S-shaped pipe arm

Effective Arm length:   221 mm

Overhang:   15,5 mm

Usable Cartridge Weight:  4 g (min.) to 9 g (max)

Subfunctions:  Auto-return mechanism; Anti-skating force control; Stylus pressure direct-readout counterweight; Cueing device, Strobe light; Free stop hinges

Semiconductors:

1 x IC; 1 x Transistor; 1 x Diode

Power requirements:  AC 110/120 220/240 V 50/60 Hz

Power Consumption:  4 W

Dimensions (W x H x D):  420 x 96 x 365 mm (16-1/2" x 3-3/16" x 14-3/8")

Weight:  5,2 kg (11 lb 8 oz)

PC-110/II  Specifications (only model PL-100X )

Type:  Moving magnet type

Stylus:  0,5 mil diamond (PN-110/II)

Output Voltage:  3,5 mV (1kHz, 50 mm/s peak velocity, LAT)

Tracking Force:  1,5 g to 2,5 g

Frequency Response:  15 to 25,000 Hz

Recommended Load:  50 k Ω + 170 - 300 pF