Pioneer Pl-31D: What For Cartridge To Look For ?

[Henk1962]

Hello everyone,

I,m in the proces of making an old Pioneer PL-31D playing again.
And one of the last issues I have is: what for cartridge will suits this turntable.
It has still the original arm (I hope it,s the right word for it )
It must be a good middle-class one, so no overkill.
I think it will be a MM-type but as I own a Cambridge 640P a MC-type cartridge Maybe also could be possible.

Some information from the manual:

The tonearm is a static-balanced type
The original cartridge was a PC-35 induced magnet type.
Stylus pressure: 2 to 3 grams
And for what it,s worth: the compliance is 10 x 10/6 cm/dyne at 100 Hz

As I am not a technician please not to difficult !

Thanks already, Henk

[Cornelius900]

something of the nagaoka series maybe (MP100 .. MP500) or the older series MP10-MP50.

Depends on what you want to spend.

maybe this is of interest to you (Audio technica 110)

http://link.marktplaats.nl/416092235

[patleaver]

I believe the arm is relatively high mass so you will need to be carefull and not use too delicate of a cartridge and stylus. I once had a PL-31 and it used Shure and Audio Techinica carts.

[Henk1962]

I believe the arm is relatively high mass so you will need to be carefull and not use too delicate of a cartridge and stylus. I once had a PL-31 and it used Shure and Audio Techinica carts.

Does that mean every type in the productline from Shure and/or Audio Technica ?and what is a good one in the middleclass, say from about 150 or 200 euro,s (approximately 200/250 dollars).

In that case a Grado prestige Gold is maybe not a good choice ?
And a Audioresearch aurum Classic ?

I don,t have much knowledge of cartridges, someone did also suggest a Ortofon Red M2 (MM cartridge) or a: Ortofon MC1 Turbo.

[Cornelius900]

Hallo Henk,

if you still have the original headshell, you can look for cartridges weighing 6.5 - 12 gr. (according to the manual p.26)

There are a lot of cartridges in that range.

I have a PL-12ac with nagaoka MP50 (did't buy it new) but these are sure fine cartridges. So maybe the MP15 or MP150?

Nice table!

[Henk1962]

Thanks Pat and Cornelius for posting some information here.
I now have a few brands and types of cartridges to look for (maybe new or second hand if I can lay my hands on one of them ).
The Pioneer is indeed a very nice period turntable, as is yours, Cornelius.
I don,t know how they perform, but visually I like old Pioneers a lot.
By the way it looks as if your turntable has partly the same tonearm as mine PL31-D.
One last question, I am giving my turntable a testride for one hour or so, after cleaning and re-adjusting the platterbearing and refill it with new oil,
new belt and fine adjusting the bearing using a stethoscope so I can hear
very well how the engine is running and how the bearings react on servicing.
However I find that the enging runs a little hot, so I,m thinking of disassembling the engine so I can clean that bearings also.
But befor that I like to know how hot is the engine after playing for a litlle hour or so ?
Because it,s maybe inside nearly the same turntable, Cornelius ?

With regards, Henk

[Alec124c41]

I have a PL-41, very similar. Those old Pioneers were well built.
The main bearing with the screw-in bottom-cap originally had a plastic thrust-plate in the bottom. The ones I have seen had completely gone to pieces. This both reduces the efficiency of the bearing, and drops the platter to where it it can be rubbing on something. I believe the original was about 1.5 to 2 mm thick.

You might consider a Denon DL-110 cartridge.

Cheers,
Alec

[Cornelius900]

Hallo Henk,

The motor of my PL12 also get warm, but not-too-hot-to-handle.

after 1 hour running, the temperature of the motor went from 17°C to about 55-60°C (measured with a thermocouple).

I think that is a normal temperature however.

I have cleaned the motor of my PL-12 a few months ago, because it started whining after half an hour of playing. There was a lot of dryed up oil in the bearings. The oil from the oil points under the platter had not been sufficient. Cleaned the bearings and the pivots of the motor and then lubricated.

Only minor thing was that the cooling fan on the rotor came off. Cleaned it and glued it back on with cyano-acylate glue.

It runs quiet now!

Did not take pictures of the inside of the motor, but here are some pictures of the inside of the cabinet.






Be a bit careful with the rotor, it has a permanent magnet on it, don't destroy it.

Cheers,

Kees

[TJLitt]

I have a PL-41, very similar. Those old Pioneers were well built.
The main bearing with the screw-in bottom-cap originally had a plastic thrust-plate in the bottom. The ones I have seen had completely gone to pieces. This both reduces the efficiency of the bearing, and drops the platter to where it it can be rubbing on something. I believe the original was about 1.5 to 2 mm thick.

You might consider a Denon DL-110 cartridge.

Cheers,
Alec

Likewise, running a PL-41 with a DL-110. Nice combination. I've also used a Grado Red, which wasn't bad, and am about to play with an old Stanton 680 series with the stock stylus and possibly a JICO Shibata. Will get back to you on how the latter combo works out, but the Denon is a very nice option.

[Henk1962]

I have a PL-41, very similar. Those old Pioneers were well built.
The main bearing with the screw-in bottom-cap originally had a plastic thrust-plate in the bottom. The ones I have seen had completely gone to pieces. This both reduces the efficiency of the bearing, and drops the platter to where it it can be rubbing on something. I believe the original was about 1.5 to 2 mm thick.

You might consider a Denon DL-110 cartridge.

Cheers,
Alec

Yeah I know, mine was also completely shot to pieces inside the cap.
In fact you did suggest me some time ago to use a kind of teflon sheet (thanx).
I,ve managed to fabricate a thrust-plate out of a teflon like material called: Werkstof S (or: HMPE 1000).
It seems to do the job well, because the platter is turning featherlight by now.
And I,m using a stethoscope (idea from a member from an Dutch site).
which is fantastic for hearing minor imperfections in the bearing adjustment (stethoscope was only 8 euro,s new including transport ), and I don,t hear no strange sounds at all.
By the way, there,s a guy on ebay.com who,s selling thrustplates including TT oil.

[Henk1962]

Thanks for the pictures, Cornelius.
I think mine turntable is a few years older, seems to me seeing the inside of your turntable.
I shall try to show a few pics here.
It,s difficult to measure the work temperature of mine TT-engine/motor.
maybe it,s not a so abnormale as I think.
By the way wht kind of oil or grease did you use for the engine and platter-bearing ?

[Cornelius900]

Hallo Henk,

when you can touch the motor for longer than a seconds without saying 'ouch' (at you own risk) I wouldn't bother about the temperature.
Please unplug the power before touching the motor. It is isolated, but after 40 years... well you never know.

I used a thin machine oil for the motor bearing, no grease.
Don't have specs.

How about using a light cycle oil (kroon oil 02002) or sewing machine oil?

[Cornelius900]

by the way: a good way to test if the motor runs smoothly:

take the belt of and give the pulley a swing with your hands: the motor should not stop directly, but run out in a few seconds until it stops.

[Henk1962]

It has been a while since my last visit.
Unfortunately due to very sad circumstances I won,t be able to work on the Pioneer for some time.
Thanx everyone here for all the advice.

Greetings, Henk