As a semi-automatic turntable it will auto return the tonearm back to its rest and shut off the motor. To get the motor to start the user would need to advance the tonearm into playing position manually. The unit is very clean and has had the strobe window polished to be crystal clear. The rubber mat has been reconditioned and cleaned. It is very pliable with no hard spots. It also sits flat.
Difficult to get a good photograph of the strobe during operation.
The cover has no cracks or chips missing and has been nicely polished to be crystal clear. There is; however, two small spider web type bruises to the plastic which is greatly exaggerated with the camera flash.
The cover sits evenly and the spring loaded hinges have been cleaned and lubricated and operate as they should.
The labels read clearly and are not faded.
The platter is made of aluminum weighs 2.5 pounds (fairly heavy).
The two operating buttons have been painted with silver paint and the speed adjustment control has been meticulously cleaned. Each control has also been de-oxified to provide smooth operation.
Top of deck without platter and mat.
The cueing level operates very smoothly. The headshell is removable and it appears to fit many Pioneer models from the same time period. The tonearm weight has a fine tune adjustment. Balancing the tonearm can be accomplished by setting the arm to free float turning the black portion of the weight, then without touching the black portion turn the weight to the zero position. After this is accomplished then turn the weight with the black portion of the weight to the desired tracking weight.
Back side of the turntable. The label shows no sign of wear. The power and audio cord have been reconditioned and are in excellent condition.
Bottom side of turntable. The red arrow points to 2 holes. Each can fit a small flathead screwdriver to adjust a specific speed. In this way you wouldn't have to adjust the speed knob every time you changed from 33 1/3 and 45 r.p.m. There are also 4 rubber washers added to the feet to stabilize the turntable and keep it from sliding. Not sure why this was not done at the factory. Only the front 2 are shown here.
The motor board has been rebuilt. Five capacitors and one resistor were replaced. They weren't exactly bad, but were giving questionable results during testing. The two potentiometers seen at the bottom have been de-oxified and operate more predictably than they did before. These are the speed adjustments mentioned from the previous photo. Although not needed, the motor shaft has one drop of sewing machine oil added.
Turntable partially disassembled. A fair amount of dust and dirt was present indicating it had not been opened up ever. It is now very clean.
These are the original insulation boots. The springs are located inside. The turntable will not sit quite right unless these are in good shape.
These are the same boots after being re-vulcanized. Notice that the spring on the far left looks more silver than the others. This particular spring should be located on the front left of the turntable. Its tension is a little different than the others.
This is a photo of the cartridge needle after much cleaning.
The needle does not show much wear. It is possible it is a replacement needle for the original factory cartridge. The cartridge has a model number of Pioneer PC-135 and the needle is Pioneer PN-135.
Pioneer PL-250 Semi-Automatic Turntable, Circa 1980
A collection of images from a professionally serviced semi-automatic direct drive turntable from Japan. Plays at speeds of 33 1/3 and 45 r.p.m. Has an isolated stiff floating suspension system which separates the platter and tonearm from the subchassis. Boasts a WOW and Flutter at 0.025% WRMS and Signal to Noise Ratio greater than 75db (DIN-B). Features include ±2% pitch control, recessed strobe light, anti-skating adjustment and dampened cueing.
Considered to be a mid-range turntable at the time. Today, considered to be high end when compared to others at double the price. The build quality is surprisingly good and probably the last of the high quality builds to come out of Japan. Has had much work done to it and is in very good condition along with the original factory cartridge with little wear.
The camera flash makes the unit look less polished than it really is. You can zoom in on the images if you mouse over them. During autoplay zoom is disabled.
Valued in the range of $175 - $200
Sold for $200 on 5-7-2021