A direct-drive turntable from Sony's 1970s audio lineup, with a linear slotless motor and precision Magne-disk speed control.
Overview
The Sony PS-X3 is a manual turntable from Sony's high-fidelity audio era. It's direct drive, with a newly developed linear slotless motor and a 32 cm aluminum die-cast platter for stable rotation. A crystal lock system holds the speed, using Magne-disk rotational frequency detection, a technology derived from Sony's precision instruments. The tone arm is a static balance S-shaped design with adjustable height. The head shell is aluminum die-cast, and the dust cover is removable acrylic.
Specifications
| Turntable | 32 cm Aluminum Die Cast |
| Motor | Linear slotless motor |
| Drive system | Direct drive |
| Servo system | Crystal lock magnedisk rotational frequency detection method |
| Number of revolutions | 33 1/3, 45 rpm |
| Wow and flutter | 0.025%wrms |
| Signal-to-noise ratio | 73dB(DIN-B) |
| Tone arm type | Static Balance S-shaped |
| Tone arm effective length | 216.5mm |
| Tone arm total length | 300mm |
| Overhang | 16.5mm |
| Needle pressure adjustment range | 0 ~ 3g |
| Shell dead weight | 10.7g(SH-145) |
| Usable cartridge weight (when using the attached shell) | 2.4g ~ 9.4g |
| Usable cartridge weight (Auxiliary Weight Used) | 8g ~ 14.8g |
| Cartridge type | MM Type (XL-15) |
| Cartridge frequency characteristic | 10 Hz to 30 kHz |
| Cartridge output voltage | 4 mv (1 khz, 5cm/s) |
| Cartridge optimum load impedance | 50k Ω ~ 100k Ω |
| Cartridge needle pressure (optimum needle pressure) | 1.2g ~ 2.5g (1.7g) |
| Cartridge needle | 0.6 mil diamond needle |
| Cartridge dead weight | 5.2g |
| Exchange needle | ND-15G(¥5,500) |
| Power supply voltage | 100 VAC, 50Hz/60Hz |
| Power consumption | 6W |
| External dimensions | Width 445x Height 150x Depth 365 mm |
| Weight | 10.5kg |
Design
The PS-X3 uses a linear slotless motor to turn the 32 cm aluminum die-cast turntable directly. Speed control comes from a Magne-disk rotational speed detection system, based on Sony's Magne-scale technology. It has a peripheral strobe with a stroboscopic illumination prism, an oil dump type arm lifter, and a tone arm height mechanism with 6 mm of vertical adjustment. The tone arm has a rotatable arm rest to make needle pressure setup easier. The head shell is aluminum die-cast with a slide bar. The cartridge has a conical damper and pole piece blocks made of resin mixed with carbon fiber. The cabinet is an integrated SBMC structure. The unit comes with two replacement shell stands and a low-capacity phono cord.
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