Customer Reviews

Pioneer PL-990 Automatic Stereo Turntable

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When you're comparing turntables on the lower end of the spectrum, such as the Pioneer PL-990, it's very difficult to really find audible fault with these players. One is more apt to find personal faults in the players rather than in the performance, and such is the case here.
I have owned low end Sony, Technics, Audio Technica players in this price range. The Pioneer is the best looking players of all the lower end models. It features speed control, arm control, 45 play capability, fully automatic, just about everything you want in a player. I'm surprised the speed control is included in this price.
The sound of the player is nothing short of great, and not having played LPs for awhile made my old LPs come to life instantly.
My personal gripe with the player is that it doesn't allow you to hook into your existing PHONO jacks ( if you have them ) on your receiver. It has a built-in pre-amp and it won't allow you to bypass. I have a PHONO jack, and would have liked the option to choose to by-pass the pre-amp, like the Sony does. Luckily, I had some open jacks and I had sound instantly. The player would have received a 5-star rating if it weren't for this small inconvenience.
Other than that minor gripe, this is one snazzy looking player, and at this price, it will be hard to beat. The classy look of this player, plus all of the features will make a great addition to your existing system.

Excellent performance and functionality! Set-up is quick and easy and the pre-amp sounds great. Even handles record scuffage better than other turntables at this price. I went through two exchanges at a retailer on a low-end Sony turntable before I ordered this Pioneer unit through Amazon, and I highly recommend this turntable.

I'm REALLY pleased with this turntable - I love that it is fully automatic.
One thing to be aware of is that it has a built-in preamp, so you can't connect it to the phono inputs on your tuner/amp. I had to buy a $30 switch so that my CD and turntable can share the AUX input.
Even with that extra hassle, highly recommended.

I bought this turntable for my birthday after getting my hands on an uncommon record that I was really excited to hear. After reading various reviews for two days, I decided it was worth the extra money to go with the Pioneer over the Sony PSLX250H. This model *has pitch control* unlike the Sony models. The stylus is cheap to replace, but the cartridge isn't replaceable. Sound quality was good, but not great. I'm no audio expert, and even on my cheap speakers it sounded flat. As a comparison I had a friend bring his Stanton over to play the same record. His sounded noticeably crisper and clearer. The other major problem is that if the record is a little bigger than most or not quite a circle then it probably won't play. This may sound confusing, but it's the truth. The back end around the platter is raised, and the tonearm holder is placed directly next to the platter. Non-perfectly circular records tend to hang and rub on the raised backend, the tonearm holder, or both.

After owning the player for a little over a month I've decided to upgrade to an Audio-Technica AT-PL120.

I do not pretend to know much about record players, but this was AWESOME! It is virtually perfect! The wavey-old records play flawlessly because of the weighted arm, and it just plain rocks!

I own a high end Technics turntable (which I still have hooked up to another receiver) so I could compare. While the build quality of the Pioneer is no where near the Technics, the sound quality is impressively close. I swapped the rubber mat with the Technics (which is twice as thick) to help cut back on needle weight to the album.
Now the true test recording, the first song I tried was Bob Seger's, Night Moves because it contains some quiet parts (I wanted to see if the Pioneer would output any additional noise). I used Roxio's recording software and told it to detect and clip any spots without sound. The Pioneer passed with flying colors. It detected both quiet spots !!! I didn't think it would.
Final thought: While the sound quality doesn't match that of high end big buck turntables, for the money and casual listener/recorder (cause after you record a song with the software out these days, you can make it sound how ever you like). I'd have to give it 2 thumbs up.

I received this turntable as an anniversary gift from my girlfriend. I have a ton of CDs and over 18,000 songs on iTunes, however when it comes to analog sound systems, and vinyl records I'm a total newbie.

I had 2 albums to test my new record player with, Pink Floyd's The Wall and Led Zeppelin II.

Basically, there is a built-in "pre-amp", and there are only 2 cables coming out of the player, a power cord and a pair of AUX output cords (a red and white cable). The record player itself was easy to set up. The metal tray just has to put onto the turn table, and the elastic belt has to be looped around the motor arm (easy with the help of the included red ribbon, but also simple to do without the ribbon).

To get the player to play properly, you need a pair of speakers (obviously), and an amplifier (not as obvious to a person that's new to the world of vinyl). The red and white cables just need to be put into a receiver/amplifier with AUX input (look for red/white cable ports on the back). I simply used an old stereo system that was gathering dust in my basement, and it works fine (make sure you adjust the AUX level, if there's an option).

That's about it, it's a no-frills record player that's great value for your money. The best part is the automatic: feature. You should never really have to lift or drop the needle/stylus. If you want the lift the stylus up (to let the record spin freely for cleaning, or to skip to a specific song) there is an Arm Elevation button. Once the arm is up, you can swing the stylus back and forth, then push the button again to gently bring it down. This minimizes stylus wear, and eliminates scratchy sounds.

Once a record is finished playing, the record player will lift up the stylus, set it back down properly on the rest, and shut the record player off. Great feature, I can put on a record before bed and know that the record player will be off in the morning.

Another nice thing is there is a speed control wheel, which slightly changes the speed, changes the pitch slightly if you need to fine tune the playback.

It can play 45s (an adapter is included for the huge hole in the middle of 45s) and 33.3's (standard LPs). I only own 33's, but I'm sure the player has no problem with 45s. Only drawback is there is no 78 speed setting so this might not be the turntable for a record collector with lots of 78s.

Great player overall, I'm happy with the sound quality and ease-of-use of this turn table.

*goes back to listening to Led Zeppelin II*

I was on the fence between this and a more expensive, manual audio technica turntable. I went with this one since it was automatic and less expensive. The second I played some new LP's I ordered, I could tell the sound was very flat and dull. I am no audiophile, but I am picky about how things sound. I figured it would at-least come close to listening to an .mp3, but it was far from it. I wanted to start a collection of my favorite CD albums on vinyl and have a half decent turntable to listen to them, but this turntable disappointed me. I dont know what I was expecting, but I thought it would sound as good as if I were listening to it on my computer. I enjoy the idea of listening to an album the whole way through and not being able to skip songs, but its annoying when the sound isnt very rich. I have returned it and I am ordering the better audio technica, hoping it delivers better on the sound. Its a good player if you just want to hear your LP's, but dont expect it to deliver good or excellent sound quality.

I just got the audio technica at-PL120 and its sooo much better than the pioneer. It easily sounds as good as listening to a CD, or possibly better. Do yourself a favor, and spend the extra $30 for a much, much better player.

I read some reviews here before I bought it. I was a little uncertain as to what would show up. Now that I have it I cannot see how anyone could have given this a negative review.
Just set mine up and am very impressed. It beats the sound of my old 1970's turntable considerably. It does not have the look or wood and metal materials of my old one--but it is still a great device. A simple hook up into my CD outputs on my modern Pioneer Recvr. (I removed my CD player to a differant hook-up port. I have many to chose from.) I played a couple LP's: A Pink Floyd one and a George Harrison one. Both sounded just golden. Never wish to use a CD player again! I have a substantialy large LP collection that I assembled back in the 1970's and plan on getting back on good terms with my LP's now. Hail Hail Rock 'N Roll.
Oh B-T-W what was that some reviewers said about stubby jack cords? These that I have are a normal length that every turntable I ever saw had.

The pre-amp in this thing is ludicrously loud, that said it works great. It has very short cables coming out of the back of it you can't remove but that is no big deal with adapters. It works great for transferring vinyl to the PC, just adjust the levels accordingly. I would not recommend this unit for home stereos as the pre-amp is over the top and causes the music to be a bit harsh for true vinyl lovers.