PIONEER PD-M90X Magazine CD Player (1987), First Reference/ELITE Magazine CDP!!

hot damn, am i ever excited!! i'm about to secure a deal on a PRIME example of this beauty, a one owner copy, bought directly from the factory by the owner when he was living in japan in the late 80's, as complete as if i had bought it myself, (including box!!) for $35.00 plus shipping!! this is the first model i ever saw that totally made me fall in love with PIONEER magazine CDPs! a dream is coming true!! i'll keep you guys posted, in a couple hours the seller will call me and we'll work out the final details!!



















http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/s...D-M90X142-1.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/s.../PD-M90X137.jpg

This post has been edited by MacGyver on December 23, 2008 03:24 pm

That's simply awesome. Congrats.
Keep us posted.

the deal is sealed!! me and the family are going to be heading up to portland on tuesday to pick it up, and also take the opportunity for for a late christmas visit with my grandma and aunt! next you hear from me, i'll have a pic of this beauty in the system!!

Like TEAC with the VRDS, does it have Pioneer's "Stable Platter Mechanism"?

the stable platter design never came out until the 1990's. further, it was only employed in those 90's, single disc models with the centrally mounted, pull out tray with the mini-turntable platter you set the disc upon, label side down. i personally dislike those models, and have found nothing in the PD-91 that i have that leaves me wanting. i simply have always had a fascination with the PIONEER invented magazine CDP. i already have their VERY FIRST model, the 1986 PD-M6, and now i'll also have the very first REFERENCE/ELITE model as well. i do not plan on any others; these two satisfy me completely. my little sister has the 1987 PD-M50 that was the very first PIONEER mag-CDP i ever owned. as an aside, i actually paid the same exact price a couple of years back for that cheap thing as what i'm going to be paying tomorrow for this complete PD-M90X! anyway, i hope to find her one of the better non REFERENCE/ELITE models someday (M60/M70/M700) as a REFERENCE/ELITE model would never fit in her entertainment center, and IMO she deserves MUCH better than the lowly PD-M50...

This post has been edited by MacGyver on December 29, 2008 10:49 am

Tanx for the info.
I know a guy who has the PD-S904 together with an Audiolab 8000A and a pair of Monitor Audio Studio 2 and he's very satisfied with it.

Portland on tuesday huh? Cool, that gives me time to snag it out from under you today

and here it is!! fully functional!! sorry about my crappy camera! it isn't mint, but in fairly good shape overall. especially for the price. i also have a PD-M6, the very first of it's kind, which is in near mint shape. the stock aluminum ringed isolators were much to small for my taste, so i put them on the M6, and placed a set of large PIONEER isolators with extra thick pads in their place. also, i already had a CU-PD005 remote that i bought from AUDIOKARMA member "TRIPQZON" last summer. it was a spare for his M90X that he was willing to let go. i am glad that i got it from him, as the PD005 that came with this example is pretty thrashed, cosmetically. anyway, a good clean-up and some additional lube and it's good to go! BTW; the original owner forgot the instruction manual on his table when he left for work and to meet me. he said he'd mail it out to me right away yesterday. it should only take a couple days or so to get here...



my PD-M6 (1986) with the M90X's isolators in place:

congrats John! its a gorgeous piece to be sure, but how does it sound?

it doesnt even work, but it looks nice. just kidding

If the original owner bought it in Japan it runs on 100V. Unless it has a voltage selector you're going to need a step down transformer for it.

If that's the case John, I have one from my Japan market Sony DAT that I'm not using anymore. You're welcome to it ! And congrat's on the Pioneer, indeed a fine looking machine and remote!

thanks, stuwster! it actually has a voltage selector on the back, that was set to the japanese setting when i got it. it nevertheless worked fine. still, i set it to the U.S. setting not long afterwards. damn good sounding for a changer, and suprisingly close to the PD-91 to boot!! a very similar warm tonal character. it does have intermittent issues with a CD, whether CD-R or factory original, which leads me to believe that the pick-up is perhaps on it's death bed. anyone here that can verify this theory? if it is dying, no worries, this CDP shares transport assemblies with the PD-M6, PD-M60 and PD-M70. i can swap out the transport of the M6 i have for a one-step solution, and then stock up on more M6es, which are quite common on the bay, and can be had for cheap, to get my M6 back in functional condition, and build a collection of spares for the M90X...

here are high quality scans of the PD-M90X portion of the 1988 PIONEER RLITE catalog, and a link to scans and a PDF of the catalog itself:


http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/s...E/Document9.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/s.../Document10.jpg




http://www.elitebypioneer.com/PioneerElite...1989Catalog.htm

getting into detail regarding the PD-M90X's sound; in a word; FABULOUS. it would have easily been the best sounding CDP i have ever had the pleasure of owning, had i not already owned the PD-91. nevertheless, the M90X possesses a suprising degree of the 91's magic; stout, full bass, luscious midrange detail, and superb stereo seperation. it might not twinkle in the highest treble registers like current CDPs, but it has musical sound where it counts. i personally prefer a warm and detailed euphonic sound to a sharp, clinical one, myself. the PD-91 and PD-M90X are my two babies, and they have my highest recommendation. i am in CD audio nirvana...






This post has been edited by MacGyver on January 04, 2009 10:05 am