Gigantic & Tremendous series of extremely successful LP turntables, alas only distributed in Japan. In exchange, the rest of us got the PF-1000 belt-driven record players.
So while we got belt-drive touted as best-as-can-be for LP replay, the japanese got direct-drive touted as best-as-can-be to spin musical vinyl - the arcanes of market-related marketing will always be full of contradictions.
Not to mention that the GT-2000 series took on where the PX-1, PX-2 and PX-3 left off, when tangential tonearms were supposed to be top of the pops :)
Unlike the PFs which consisted of one turntable available in two versions, the GT series took four shapes and many more optional accessories : the four shapes are the small and black GT-750, the not so small but still black GT-1000, the standard GT-2000 (black only) and the more luxurious GT-2000L (wood veneer only).
The ultimate, bigger and very rare GT-2000x came in, discreetely, in 1985 as a last goodbye to the vinyl format but all (GT-750/1000 /2000/L/x series) mostly came from Micro Seiki engineering :)
The 5,8kg platter is made from ultra-pure aluminium cast between 500 and 700°C with alumite coating ; as in the Sony PS-X9, its diameter is oversized at 37,4cm for even better rotation stability and linearity ; inertia moment amounts to 1,2t / cm2.
The motor is a high-torque 4-phase coreless DC regulated by bi-directional FG servo Quartz PLL (like the Victor TT-101 series) and can push 2kg/cm ; its shaft is 10mm in diameter.
The (non-Micro ?) YA-39 tonearm boasts 7mg of friction for both planes - already excellent but still higher than Technics' old EPA-100 for instance ; material is pure aluminium and solid brass with precision gimbal support and adjustable VTA ; the structure seems quite reminiscent of that of the earlier YP-D8 or YP-D10...
The 14,5kg enclosure is made of 5-layer particle board, coated with either walnut veneer (2000L) or the same rugged black finish as used in the NS-1000M loudspeaker for the regular GT-2000.
With a 4,5mm thickness, the acrylic cover ads 2kg to the already impressive weight. Feet are height adjustable spring+rubber. However intriguing, the big post stuck into the front of the platter only displays speed lock for either speeds ; it is a plug-in item.
The accessories go from dedicated external power supply (YOP-1), air-sucking turntable mat (YDS-1), cast-iron base (YAB-1, resting on Micro MSB-100 feet), solid gun-metal platter (YGT-1), one straight tonearm (YSA-1), an upgraded version of said straight tonearm (YSA-2), one S-shaped tonearm (YA-39), a dedicated wood rack (GTR-1B), an adaptable automatic arm-lifter (YAL-1), various counterweights (YPB-1), two central pucks (YDS-3 & YDS-9) and... I believe that's all !
A GT-2000L with all accessories skyrockets above 60kg and close to 500,000¥ - an expensive Lego of sorts :)
There are thousands and thousands and thousands of these in Japan.
A GT-2000x here, another one here.
A GT-2000L here, another one here (with a Technics EPA-100 !).
A GT-2000 with the YSA-1 tonearm
on the side, an YSA-1 all by itself, a YDS-3 here and a YGT-1 (looks more like bronze ?).
Since posting this page in 2009 with only one catalog, I have now gathered all the possible catalogs related to the series, including that for the GT-2000x !
None of them are scanned yet and this will take time because Yamaha published many - and this will only fit in the Knobber TVK : too many images !