Don't Trash That Pioneer PL-600 Belt TT...Ebay's Stevelec To The Rescue!
Aug 14 '08 (Updated Aug 15 '08)
The Bottom Line One man's/woman's junk is another man's/woman's gold! Parts are available for your old Pio PL-600 Belt Drive. You just need to know that Ebay's got 'em!
I'm walking my usual 3.5 mile hike from work one afternoon and as I enter our humble and rather quiet narrow one-way street...I am most intrigued by my neighbor's very nicely setup of a pile of goodies for the taking! Yes the sign says..."FREE"!! She is planning to move and must rid her excess quickly.
There...on top of a dresser...lonely and abandoned...much to my delight stood a classic Pioneer PL-600 Black belt-drive turntable in fairly decent looking condition just begging for a proverbial "knight in shining armour" to rescue her from her undeserved fate. Not ever balking at the chance to save a damsel in distress {or saving a turntable from the trash can}...I quickly tucked she safely under my arm and rode her off into the sunset...well er...I...ah...continued my walk home.
When I got her to my doorstep it was quite clear...although beautiful...she was in desperate need of some nourishment. After some good Windexing and light oiling...I decided to pop her platter! Ahh...just as I thought...her rubber belt was shot! Actually...the darn thing was stretched, burned and welded at one point to the metal rim of the platter!
After careful surgery...the bad belt was completely removed leaving only the desire for a suitable replacement. Just happen to have a spare orange BIC belt kicking around here somewhere...ah yes...here it is. Just stretch it over the rim platter a bit...wow that's tight...and we're ready to play!
Only problem is...my "Come And Get Your Redbone" sounds more like come and get your chipmunks! The darn orange BIC is riding too high on the shaft of the pulley and now I must find a more suitable replacement part. So much for my spare BIC braindead...I mean...ah...brainstorm!
When it comes to turntables...there is no substitution.for ordering the correct size belt. If you don't...you will quickly find out the wisdom of my words! You have to have the correct fit and tension to boot. The correct size belt is 22.4" X 0.155" for the PL-600.
Enter Ebay and "Stevelec". This Ohioan seller is a specialist in analog belts. Most impressive is the fact that he explains to you in simple layman's terms how to measure your old belt if your model is not listed on his site. On the other hand...you will not need to even think about this as he has many belts listed and a simple "search" should find your particular belt easily. This link will get you to his Ebay store...
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Stevelec-Store_Turntable-Belts_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ2QQftidZ2QQtZkm
In the case of the PL-600...a few OEM Pioneers selling for about $20 each and more than a few generics selling for about half that will easily be discovered. He even highlights the PL-600 in his generic belt listings. These prices are very reasonable w/s+h but beware as Steve himself warns you that he will be forced to raise these low prices soon due to scarcity and his ever-increasing costs. So order two or three like I did to avoid disappointment down the road!
What impressed me most about Steve was his pleasant helpful attitude and unusually quick response time to my emails. No wonder his store has a perfect score on Ebay with a 100% rating!
I decided to try his Generic belt listing for the PL-600...a decision I will never regret! Although he stated to me that the belt had very slightly less tension than the OEM replacement...he assured me that it had more than enough.
He was true to his word and the belt arrived in record breaking time after using "PAYPAL" to close the deal. Total cost to me...about $12 for the one belt. This was Friday afternoon and I receive the belt Monday w/standard shipping thru the mail. It was packaged well and easily installed on the PL-600 in record-breaking time {pun fully intended} by simply placing the belt around the inner rim of the platter while slipping a small flathead screwdriver under the belt to pull it over the pulley simultaneously.
You can also carefully use a nail file to accomplish this task. Then after the platter and belt were reinstalled...I placed the rubber Pioneer mat with the company logo on the upside onto the center spindle. Then I rotated the platter back and forth gently a few times about 1/8 turn so as to fully center and seat the belt on both rim and pulley.
There was plenty of startup torque and more than enough tension as Steve predicted. The only thing necessary after that was a minor speed adjustment for both 33 and 45 rpm as I suspect they were set too high at the factory years before and most people do not bother to fine tune them.
On the PL-600...the speed adjustment is via two small pots located beneath the platter. This requires removing rubber mat, platter and belt in order to access the adjustment screw each time. It's great that Pioneer included these adjustments but a royal pain in the a$$ to deal with them as they are ever so sensitive and took the major part of my day off plus a whole lotta flavor-filled vocabulary to successfully perform the task.
Once accomplished...the PL-600 sounded pretty darn good for such a cheapy entry level unit. I was so impressed with the belt...that I decided to order another. This time...I ordered the belt on Monday and received it on Friday...pretty darn good, sir! I may order a few more of these quality generics in the near future as I find myself using my new treasure quite a bit lately. The more you order at once...the more Steve will save you on s+h. I wish to be able to replace the belt about every three to five years and want to be able to do so say...twenty years from now...Lord willing.
Aside from the outstanding "Stevelec"...Ebay also sports two other outstanding vendors who will help you resurrect your Pio PL-600..."Dang-Good-Stuff" who specializes in analog equipment feet...and Ed Saunders whose specialty is hi-fi phono cartridges and replacement styli.
My particular PL-600's rubber feet were shot and the "Dang-Good-Stuff" Ebay store answered the call with four inexpensive rubber-like stick-on feet that cost me all of nine bucks complete to arrive at my doorstep in timely fashion.
"Sorbothane is a proprietary visco-elastic polymer which is a very effective acoustic damper and absorber." So sayeth this excellent vendor and I can tell you the stuff works great!
After peeling the paper off of each 3/4" foot and exposing the sticky adhesive side...I simply placed each foot over the four remaining screws that held the former rotted feet in place. Then for posterity...simply added some dollar store rubber sealer to each foot for better adhesion between the screws and chassis.
Actually...I didn't really have to do it that way! I could've chosen to simply place the Sorbothane self adhering feet over four flat points on the plastic bottom chassis and everything would've been just fine. Whatever you so choose. The feet are great and isolate the table nicely!
Just keep in mind that the material itself is kind of sticky and may adhere itself to the wooden top of your O'Sullivan cabinet. Just a minor drawback though...as this is a real winner for the poor man!
Then finally...the onboard Pioneer phono cartridge needed replacement. This is where Mr. Ed Saunders {world famous moving magnet phono cartridge and stylus replacement dealer} came in with his outstanding bargain basement ESC-MG9 "Red Ed" audio-technica phono cartridge for less than fifteen dollars...and answered the call!
This pickup's outstanding playback abilities are well documented...
http://www.epinions.com/content_215623569028
... and I purchased a number of them a few years ago. Don't worry as they are still available at www.edsaunders.com for the same low price today with reasonably fast s+h and will save you the time and more money it would take to find a proper Pio replacement stylus {although he sells 'em too!}.
If you do not wish to pay him via "PAYPAL" or credit card...you may opt to fax your order to him and pay with check or money order. Of course the latter method will slow the shipping process down a bit but you should still receive the great cart in about two weeks time.
Once received...this low mass cartridge mounts easily into the headshell and overhang can easily be accomplished via the free downloaded two-point protractor I used from www.enjoythemusic.com. There it is...your Poneer PL-600 turntable restored for about $36 complete...and you did it yourself...ok...with a wee bit o' help from Ebay!
Now I realize that at the time of this writing there were actually two different Pioneer PL-600 models...one sporting a better more heavy duty direct drive platter from the late 70's...and the other the belt driven lighter cheaper model of the early 80's that I speak of. I also realize that the earlier model was superior and more costly to make. Having said this...I do believe that one can still have quite a decent table with the "New PL-600" finished in either black or silver...it still can be quite an enjoyable analog source!...PJS Series II
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Epinions.com ID:
sam-pro
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Member: Peter J Sammon II
Location: The Bloomfield Burying Ground, USA
Reviews written: 218
Trusted by: 121 members
About Me:
Every once in awhile something great arrives at relatively low cost to you...Priceless!
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