Pioneer PL-L1
(december 1978 - 1981)

An unfortunately xxx-rare turntable and the original model for the well-known PL-L1000: same Stable Hanging Rotor, same arm structure, same carbon-loaded materials, same black looks... only the PL-L1 weighted 26kg! Placing the bearing under a very small shaft and almost at platter level, the SH Rotor was a Pioneer staple from the Exclusive models to the equally successful PL-50L and PL-70L/LII.

Accounting for the L1's rarity might be, market-wise, the slightly earlier but extremely successful Exclusive P3 - and linear-trackers, however lavishly engineered, never did really cut a groove... in the market! The L1, however, like all of Pioneer's "1" units (C-Z1, M-Z1, P-D1 or CT-A1) is an extreme good-looker and I sure wish I could find out if its sonic qualities were on the level of its design !

You can refer to the PL-L1000 post of this website for the details of the tonearm and SH Rotor as it is the same theory.