Pioneer PL-88F Turntable Review

The Pioneer PL-88F automatic singleplay record player is a completely integrated design that includes a high-output moving-coil cartridge, the PC-41MC, It is front-loading, and its quartz-controlled direct-drive turntable and tone arm are mounted on a drawer that slides in and out at the touch of a button. The unusual design of the record player permits it to be “stacked” with other components. Its styling matches that of other Pioneer products, and its heavy steel cabinet will support as much as 80 pounds.

The PL-88F is also capable of some unusual electrical integration with Pioneer cassette decks. In this mode of operation, the tape deck automatically goes into pause whenever the pickup lifts to move to another band of a record or when a record is completed. Another of the unconventional features of the PL-88F is its microprocessor control system, which can be programmed with front-panel buttons to play up to eight different bands on a record in any desired sequence. In fact, as many as fourteen programmed selections may be played automatically by selecting some of the eight available bands more than once. The system is programmed by pressing the numbered buttons in the desired sequence, which lights a red LED in each button. The light blinks while that selection is being played and goes out when it is finished.

The PL-88F has several modes of operation: automatic, programmed, indexed, manual, and repeat. The index scan button is convenient for searching the bands of a record to check on their contents, since pressing it causes the first 10 seconds of each band to be played automatically in sequence. Repeat operation is available at any time; pressing the repeat button causes the entire cycle (in the programmed sequence if a program has been entered) to be repeated until the button is pressed a second time.

For manual operation, the only mode available while the turntable drawer is extended from the front of the unit, the manual arm set/cut button is pressed. This causes the arm to move from its rest position (out of sight deep within the cabinet) and stop over the outer lead-in groove of the record, at which time the turntable starts rotating. The arm elevation button must be pressed to lower it to the record (alternate pressure raises and lowers the pickup, and a red LED shows that it is off the record). In the manual mode, the arm can be cued by hand, or it can be cued by means of the internal servomotor by holding in either the start or stop button to move the arm inward or outward over the record.

In ordinary automatic operation, the open/close button is first pressed to move the turntable out for loading a record. The clear plastic window that covers most of the front-panel area swings up into the cabinet, then the entire turntable/arm system moves out smoothly so that it is exposed as far as the center spindle (the arm is not visible at this time, since it is stored deep within the unit). When the record has been placed on the platter’s rubber mat, the open/close button is pressed again, causing the turntable to move into the cabinet and the window to swing down over the opening in the front of the record player.

To begin play, the start button is pressed (a single touch on START will also initiate the closing of the door before starting the playing operation). When the cycle begins, the arm swings out over the record and stops above the lead-in groove. During its movement, an optical sensor in the end of the arm counts the number of “dead” bands between recorded portions of the record (this information is used during programmed play for determining the arm position). The platter then begins turning, the arm descends, and the record is played in accordance with the selected mode. At the conclusion of playing, the arm lifts and moves inward to its storage position, and the turntable motor shuts off. The open/ CLOSE button must be pressed to remove the record.

On top of the PL-88F’s motorboard, visible when the door is closed, are green lights that show turntable speed (33-1/3 or 45 rpm) and a red light that glows when the speed is exactly locked to the quartz-crystal frequency reference. When the turntable stops, only the red light goes out. The speed must be selected manually by pressing the front-panel speed button (which toggles between the two speeds). Also on the motorboard, accessible when the turntable is out, is a three-position sensitivity switch for the optical sensor. The normal setting is suitable for almost all records.

The straight tubular tone arm is factory set for a nominal 2-gram tracking force. The antiskating correction is also fixed. The tracking force is not user-adjustable, although the stylus set-down point is. The Pioneer PC-41MC cartridge is a high-output moving-coil design with a replaceable stylus. Because of its high output, it should be connected to the moving-magnet cartridge input of a preamplifier, and it operates into the normal 47,000-ohm termination.

The cabinet of the Pioneer PL88F is finished in satin gold with a dark brown control panel. It measures 16-1/2 inches wide, 13-1/4 inches deep, and 3-3/4 inches high and weighs about 22-3/4 pounds. Price: $400.

Laboratory Measurements

Because of its totally integrated design, setting up the Pioneer PL88F involves little more than unpacking it, placing the platter and mat (which together weigh about 2 pounds) on the spindle, and removing the stylus guard from the cartridge. The output of the PC-41 MC was by far the highest we have ever measured from a moving-coil cartridge, about 4 millivolts at a 3.54-cm/sec stylus velocity (the channel levels were balanced within 0.4 dB). We terminated it in 47,000 ohms shunted by capacitance values from 70 to 300 picofarads. As to be expected from a moving-coil cartridge, the capacitance had not the slightest effect on the measured frequency response.

The frequency response with the CBS STR100 test record was flat up to 6,000 Hz, rising to a 5-dB peak at 10,000 Hz and returning to the midrange level at 20,000 Hz. This performance was confirmed by the response to the 1,000-Hz square waves on the CBS STR112 test record. The 10,000-Hz resonance was visible as one cycle of ringing with an amplitude of about 12 per cent of the square-wave amplitude. The test record’s inherent ringing, at about 40 or 45 kHz, was visible across the full square wave, indicating that the cartridge response extended well beyond the audio range. The channel separation was in the 22- to 27-dB range up to about 6,000 Hz and exceeded 10 dB all the way to 20,000 Hz. There were several small glitches in the frequency-response curve, at 100, 160, and 450 Hz as well as at 6,000 Hz and 12,000 Hz, all of which corresponded to discontinuities in the crosstalk response. The high-frequency resonances were undoubtedly in the moving system of the cartridge proper, but the lower-frequency resonances could also have been a property of the tone arm.

The measured tracking force was 1.9 grams, and the vertical tracking angle of the stylus was 30 degrees. The arm’s antiskating adjustment appeared to be correct. The horizontal tracking error was less than 0.6 degrees per inch, and at most radii it was less than half that much. When we played the Shure TTR-102 test record, the intermodulation distortion of the cartridge was quite low, from 1.2 to 3 per cent at velocities of 6.9 to 27 cm/sec, and it did not mistrack at all on this rather demanding record. The high-frequency tracking distortion, with the 10.8-kHz tone bursts of the Shure TTR-103 test record, was also quite low, from 0.6 to 1.3 per cent over the record’s range of 15 to 30 cm/sec.

Playing our other high-velocity test records, the PC-41MC acquitted itself quite well, the chief exception being in the case of the 300-Hz tones on the German HiFi Institute Record Number 2. The highest level it could track without distortion was 50 micrometers amplitude, although at 60 micrometers the distortion was barely audible.

We consider this marginally acceptable tracking performance for a high-fidelity cartridge.

The Shure “Audio Obstacle Course” records were played with reasonably good results. The ERA IV record could be played in its entirety without audible mistracking, and with the new ERA V record the cartridge mistracked at level 3. The tone-arm resonance, as determined with the aid of this record, was at 11 Hz, although the resonance was quite broad and could be detected over a range of 8 to 12 Hz.

The turntable performance was what one would expect from a good direct-drive, quartz-controlled design. The rumble was — 33 dB unweighted and —60 dB with ARLL weighting, and the rumble was a maximum in the 5- to 10-Hz range. Flutter was only 0.06 per cent weighted RMS (JIS) and ± 0.08 per cent weighted peak (CCIR), and it was predominantly at about 10 Hz. The turntable speed was 0.3 per cent high, although this is well within the possible error in the frequency recorded on the test record.

The automatic cycling times were fairly typical of other automatic record players. From the time when start was pressed to the beginning of play was 13 seconds. The fastest shutdown was achieved by pressing the open/close button, which brought the turntable to a stop in 8.5 seconds (when only the stop button was pressed, the shutdown required 12 seconds).

Comment

All the operating features of the Pioneer PL88F worked as intended and with a satisfying smoothness and quietness. The programmed mode was very easy and convenient to use. Pioneer is quite specific about the limitations of the optical sensing system (transparent or colored records and certain types of “dead bands” can confuse the system and require either automatic or manual play).

The turntable itself is obviously a good one and generally comparable to other quartz-controlled turntables we have tested. The PL88F has somewhat better than average isolation against base-conducted vibration in the low audio range (20 to 1,000 Hz) but is quite sensitive to jarring. Perhaps with a heavy stack of amplifiers and tape decks weighing it down, it would be more difficult to jar.

We are somewhat puzzled about Pioneer’s choice of a moving-coil cartridge for this player. True, it has a very sizable output, it is essentially independent of load conditions, and its stylus is readily replaceable by the user. However, it has a few shortcomings—the prominent, relatively undamped stylus resonance at 10,000 Hz, the 2-gram tracking force required by its 0.3 x 0.7-milelliptical stylus, and the undistinguished lower-midrange tracking ability—that we feel could have been eliminated or lessened by choosing any of a number of moving-magnet cartridges, including (no doubt) those made by Pioneer. The lack of access to the internal portions of the PL88F might also be frustrating to those users who like to modify or upgrade individual components. Even with the steel cover removed, virtually none of the mechanical operating parts of the PL88F are accessible.

It seems to us that this record player should have its greatest appeal to those who need its front-loading and stacking features. The PL88F sounds quite good and gives no obvious clues to its peaked high-frequency response. Moreover, the mechanical engineering is very clever and all of it works nicely. If you find its listening qualities acceptable and can use its unique operating characteristics, the Pioneer PL88F is an obvious choice.

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