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At the beginning of the 80s almost every japanese company had some kind of flagship record-player in its line. Below you see some of that beautiful machines which marked the dawn of the analog era.
Exclusive
JVC / Victor
Marantz
Onkyo
Pioneer
Sansui
Yamaha
Exclusive
Beside its well known MidFi gear Pioneer established a Stzate-Of-The-Art line under the brand name Exclusive. These no-compromise components were rarely exported. There were speakers with the famous TAD-horn-drivers and cost-no-object amplifiers like the C7 and the M5. The record players of that line were fine examples of japanese engineering at those days.
Exclusive P-10
Top-of-the-range model from the beginning of the 80s. The P10 wasn't sold outside of Japan.
Exclusive P-3
One more model from Pioneer's Exclusive-line. Like many top-decks of this time it featured interchangeable armtubes.
JVC/Victor
JVC/Victor Corporation in the 70s were one of the leading companies in audio. During Quadro-days JVC engaged itself very strongly. The Direct Drive decks from JVC in the early days had a stron resemblance to the ones of Denon but JVC changed to pll-quarz controlled motors quite early in the mid-70s. Very interesting are their top-models from the early 80's which featured a main-bearing supported by magnets.
JVC QL-A95
This was the top-model from JVC in the early 80s. The looks still reminds one of the Denon models of that time. As for their tonearms: they look better than they sound. Most plinths of JVC tend to resonate very strong but you can easily put the deck in a better plinth. Today those flagships are rarely seen fetching 300,- to 500,- Dollars on the used market.
JVC QL-A70
Like the QL-A95 the QL-A70 had the innovative magnet-supported bearing.
JVC QL-V1
This was Victor's top-of-the-line model at the beginning of the 80s. Note the HMV label on the deck, very nice...
Marantz
Marantz made its statement in the beginning of the 80s by introducing the "Esotec-Series". Belonging to the Esotec-Series was also a Direct-Drive turntable, the TT-1000.
Marantz TT-1000
The Marantz TT-1000 featured a unique plinth. A sandwich made out of glass and alloy holds the heavy platter, which carries a glass-mat. Unfortunately the sonics didn't match its beautiful looks - the glass-alloy sandwich just didn't sound very good. Today the TT-1000 is more interesting for collectors than for the music-lover.
Onkyo entered the turntable-craze in the 80s and made its statement with the gorgeous PX-100.
Onkyo
Onkyo PX-100
Their top-of-the-line model. Just like the Trio/Kenwood L07 it had a "platter-mat" made out of steel. It was only sold in asia and was never seen in europe. Look at the price-tag. 500000 Yen were a lot of money back in the 80s. The PX-100 featured a so called "linear drive" which means that the platter itself served as a motor-inductor. A second motor was used to start up the platter till it reached its nominal speed and then was shut down. The 'linear drive' concept allowed for speed-regulation in both directions!
Pioneer
Even Pioneer hat to make a statement-model in the late 70's. At that time almost every japanese audio-company had some battleship in its program mostly of image-reasons.
Pioneer PLC-590
This machine is quite seldom seen today, but with its plinth made out of alloy and its heavy platter might well be a good performer. Unique is the analog meter showing current speed. Once saw one for 500,- bucks.
Sansui
Sansui was known that days for their excellent amps and tuners. Their big analog shot carried the name XR-Q7 and was introduced in the early 80s.
Sansui XR-Q7
The XR-Q7 featured an innovative motor called "Silent Syncrotor" which should reduce motor-noise. In the beginning of the 80s there was a trend for changeable arm-tubes and the XR-Q7 allowed this by giving you the opportunity to select different (straight and S-shaped) arm tubes. Used price for a XR-Q7 should move in the 300-400,- Dollar range.
Yamaha
Yamaha was a japanese company which made almost everything from motorcycles to pianos to well regarded audio components. Of course they had a statement-model too.
Yamaha GT-2000
Oooh what a machine. "Gigantic" is really the word that describes the GT-2000 best. Only few models made the journey to Europe or the US. Never seen one but the price should be hefty anyway. Here you see the follow-up model the GT-2000X:
