I read that Howard Popeck once owned a Marantz TT-1000 Mk1. I have one too. It is lovely turntable. Original and unmodified. I think my TT-1000 plays very good but I wishes to do some tweak to make it play better. Do you have advice on this matter? I use a SME 3009 Improved and an Audio Technica AT 1010 on the Marantz. I also read that it was for a while in HP’s reference system? If so then he must have thought it to be a very good turntable.
Yes, it was and no doubt still is a very good turntable. It certainly compared well in sonic terms to every modern high end turntable I’d owned or borrowed at the time. Costing four times as much as a Linn LP12 when it first came out, it's an expensive device and durable too. To me it seemed to be a heavily tweaked Micro Seiki. This is helpful because they're fairly straightforward to rebuild (as high end Japanese direct drives go)!
I can’t comment on tweaks as I don’t have any direct experience. Rather than speculate, I recommend you contact by Richard Peachey of Vantage Audio of Taunton 0845 4294643).
Meanwhile, you might find the following links useful
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1304672585&openflup&40&4
http://www.head-fi.org/t/239704/quality-of-marantz-turntables-from-the-1970s
http://zstereo.co.uk/2013/05/04/marantz-tt-1000/
Thank you
Neil McCauley / editor in chief
