Denon DP-59L

preliminary

Bestselling vinyl spinner of the electronic kind, and firm departure from the typical 1970s Denon styling à la flying saucer.

Inside is a low-center of gravity AC Servo Quartz PLL motor keeping steady speed through Denon's staple magnetic imprint and reading head. Most important, the servo is bi-directional, as pioneered by Victor in 1976 in its bestselling TT-101 series.
The 32,5cm platter weighs 2,2kg, hides 1000 magnetic points and rotates around a 10mm shaft. Braking is electronic, too.

The tonearm is of the Dynamic Servo Tracer kind : molto electronica to keep resonance down and the tonearm tracing the groove even if the DP-59 suffers the Armageddon.
OFC wiring inside and, contemporary fad, lightweight assembly.
Beyond the PCL-59 straight wand, an "S"-shaped arm wand was optionally available (PCL-59S) ; the two side knobs allow Q damping and anti-skating.


The DP-59L is the fully automatic version with ±9% pitch-control and LCD display ; real-wood cabinet with rosewood veneer in ultra-gloss style measuring 11cm in height. Impressive - if a bit overdone.

With 15kg in toto, 82dB of s/n (DIN-B) and 0,006% of wow (WRMS), the DP-59L at 89,800¥ was a fair mid-end player of the very reliable kind.


A real 59L here ; a real 59M here.