Aiwa LP-3000
(1979 - 1981)

Of the ultra-rare-ultra-invisibilia kind.

It seems this was introduced in 1978 and therefore still plain science-fiction at the time even if two years after the 1976 Accutrac 4000 : all the features of a PL-L1000 or PS-X800, Quartz-Lock Direct-Drive, tangential tonearm, feather-touch buttons, LEDs pitch displays, solid build quality with diecast aluminium base (diecast zinc 3,2kg platter, 15,2kg in toto), programmability with backward and forward "skip", "repeat", auto disc-size and even an auto-record link with Aiwa's cassette recorders of the times ! An optional RC-20 wired remote control was available as well.

With such features, the LP-3000 was almost a year ahead of everybody and head to head with Sharp and its Optonica RP-9100 ! The catalog from which the two images here published were scanned from (top, left and pop-up details) was printed in may 1979 and the owner's manual also bears that date - at least the export model was a bit later than 1978 :)
The LP-3000 was named LP-20X in Japan I believe but I have yet to find a japanese catalog or even a single mention of it anywhere ! Whatever its moniker, the Aiwa didn't sell much and its price was in it for something : a Technics SL-10 cost 3000FF in 1980 and the PL-3000 pushed programmability, linear tracking and sci-fi looks to... 8200FF.

The LP-3000 has three motors, all are of the BSL kind : a beefy one for the platter, another for the tonearm's translation and one for cueing. The tonearm's lateral movement works with a threaded rod powered by said BSL motor - a down to earth approach not as "cool" as magnetic rails (Pioneer PL-L1000, Sony PS-X800) but more elegant than Yamaha's flat belt + roller guides (PX-2 & PX-3)...

The tonearm itself has tracking force and zero balance set at its back while the little "tit" protruding at the top in front of the bearings' cache is in fact a dial to adjust the cartridge/ mat distance. Since the supplied headshell holds the "disk sensor", the use of another cartridge/headshell couple requires some twiddling with spacers and specific alignements. Nothing however to scare anyone who has already put a cartridge on a tonearm and far far far from the pain of doing that on a Revox B-790 !

The sensing feature works with a LED and photo transistor detecting weak or strong reflections on the vinyl surface. Build quality is magnificent if circuit-wise a little frightening : 23 ICs, 54 transistors, 60 diodes and one LSI is a lot that can go haywire. However, it seems that samples still working today will go on forever while those that failed back then... failed back then. The same is true of the original 1978 Sony Biotracer : if it had to fail, it would've done so sometime during the past thirty years. If it hasn't yet, it won't.

According to a 1980 test I have at hand comparing the LP-3000 to the B-790, PL-L1000, SL-10 and PX-2, the LP-3000 comes in second alongwith the PL-L1000 regarding wow & flutter, s/n ratio and stereo separation ; the SL-10 ranks fourth (but for its ideal 12Hz tonearm resonance) and the PX-2 last ; tonearm resonance of the 3000 is however a bit low indeed at 7Hz.
Pity that Sony's PS-X800 and Akai's AP-L95 only came out on the market in 1981 for the comparison with these other well-known trackers would've been interesting.

The Aiwa LP-3000 was featured in UK's Hi-Fi World "Olde Worlde" review by Adam Smith this march (2009). Adam Smith now owns the reviewed sample which he bought from Keith... who sent the detailed images you can see here :)