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New Technics SL-1200...


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44 minutes ago, kevinmi said:

  I'd be afraid of the rumble from the direct drive motor.

I never had any noticeable rumble from my Technics SL 1300...do you know about its motor?  If you did, then maybe you would understand! Their DD turntables later on were not built the same way, as their earlier models...the stator is actually the platter in the early ones...weighing in around 2kg....in that original motor design...extremely low rumble...(-70 db!) to the point of non-existence...way lower wow and flutter than any belt-drives, too! (0.03%)….   I would love to have an old Technics 110 model, though!...just can't afford one! 

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  If this is an improvement over a SL-1200 Mk II I would not worry about rumble. 

  A better motor and speed controller seem to be part of the redesign. Rotational stability sets these way ahead of most belt drive  tables.

  I do not spin many records. But hope to once retired. 

  

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I knew I'd get a lot of flak with my rumble statement! I also knew that I'd get responses about DD tables having better specs than belt drives. It's just like PP amps have better specs than set amps. I don't listen to specs, I listen to the music.

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32 minutes ago, kevinmi said:

I knew I'd get a lot of flak with my rumble statement! I also knew that I'd get responses about DD tables having better specs than belt drives. It's just like PP amps have better specs than set amps. I don't listen to specs, I listen to the music.

If you have never listened to the turntables, then why would you even say anything about them?  EXPERIENCE is the determining factor, anyway...IMHO!

SL-110; SL-120; SL-1100; SL-1200; SL-1300 (fully auto set and return OR manually done); and surprisingly the SL-1350 (A CHANGER!!...for some still-unknown reason!)

Nobody else could touch them for performance when they came out!...And they were much less expensive than the other "high-end" turntables....sold like hotcakes...for GOOD REASON!

 

Their perfectly-balanced very heavy platters were a part of the DC DD motor itself ...they used a heavy viscous oiled bronze tapered PLAIN bearing in instead of a ball or roller bearing...virtually NO RUMBLE. 

 

 

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29 minutes ago, HDBRbuilder said:

If you have never listened to the turntables, then why would you even say anything about them?  EXPERIENCE is the determining factor, anyway...IMHO!

SL-110; SL-120; SL-1100; SL-1200; SL-1300 (fully auto set and return OR manually done); and surprisingly the SL-1350 (A CHANGER!!...for some still-unknown reason!)

Nobody else could touch them for performance when they came out!...And they were much less expensive than the other "high-end" turntables....sold like hotcakes...for GOOD REASON!

 

Their perfectly-balanced very heavy platters were a part of the DC DD motor itself ...they used a heavy viscous oiled bronze tapered PLAIN bearing in instead of a ball or roller bearing...virtually NO RUMBLE. 

 

 

I don't know why people assume I've never heard a DD turntable before. I've owned dozens of tables, used them in a DJ business, etc. I'm sure the tables are fine. I'm not here to start an argument.

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1 minute ago, kevinmi said:

I don't know why people assume I've never heard a DD turntable before. I've owned dozens of tables, used them in a DJ business, etc. I'm sure the tables are fine. I'm not here to start an argument.

I'm not arguing, just explaining...the 1200 was great, but the 110 was the king of the early Technics DD series...everything after the 110 was a compromise for mass-marketing at lower costs....and to fill particular niches...as in the SL 13xx line.  My only gripe about the 1300 was that the viscous damped cue lever on that series tended to blow its seal after awhile, so you had to use the lever to gently drop it, after that happened.  I still use the 1300 I bought in 1975.

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20 minutes ago, HDBRbuilder said:

I'm not arguing, just explaining...the 1200 was great, but the 110 was the king of the early Technics DD series...everything after the 110 was a compromise for mass-marketing at lower costs....and to fill particular niches...as in the SL 13xx line.  My only gripe about the 1300 was that the viscous damped cue lever on that series tended to blow its seal after awhile, so you had to use the lever to gently drop it, after that happened.  I still use the 1300 I bought in 1975.

Now you understand more of where I'm  coming from. The ad for the new table clearly says it's designed for DJ use. It is therefore designed for a niche market. It may sound fine in someone's system, but my concern is that it isn't designed for optimum performance as far as getting the most out of the music in a high end system. I am by no means bashing the product, having never heard it personally. But I have  experience with gear designed more for commercial applications, and it doesn't sound as good to me for personal use. This is just my opinion and not grounds for an argument.

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6 minutes ago, kevinmi said:

Now you understand more of where I'm  coming from. The ad for the new table clearly says it's designed for DJ use. It is therefore designed for a niche market. It may sound fine in someone's system, but my concern is that it isn't designed for optimum performance as far as getting the most out of the music in a high end system. I am by no means bashing the product, having never heard it personally. But I have  experience with gear designed more for commercial applications, and it doesn't sound as good to me for personal use. This is just my opinion and not grounds for an argument.

I fully understand your point on the 1200, after it became so very popular with DJ's...its quality definitely went downwards, even as some of its features such as the change to quartz-electronic servo drive early-on became better...that's the problem when reducing over-all weight for portability, which is a good part of what made the early version so good to begin with!...as in HEAVY PLATTERS.

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At this time, there are 3 models of SL-1200s available:  the two Grand Class models, the 1200G and its stripped-down brother the 1200GR, and most recently the 1200MK7.  The G models are definitely hi-fi turntables, but the MK7 is a different story.  That may be the one you're thinking of.

 

One review described the MK7 as looking like a cheap knock-off of an SL-1200, rather than an actual Technics turntable.  The reviewer was clearly not impressed.  I haven't seen the MK7, but I've seen the SL-1200GR, and it looks just a bit cheap to me, especially when compared with my SL-1210M5G.  So if I was in the market for a new turntable, the SL-1200G (or a 1210G.  I prefer the black colour) would be the one I'd want.  The MK7 wouldn't even be considered.

 

There's been a lot of grumbling and complaining in DJ circles about the prices of the new turntables.  Spoiled by literally decades of low-priced SL-1200s, for which the tooling and engineering was pretty much amortized by maybe 2000 or so, they feel that the new turntables are some kind of rip-off, apparently not realizing that the re-design, with new parts produced by new engineering and tooling, was quite expensive.  They'd like to see the all-new deck selling for under $1000, preferably way under.  Maybe that's why Technics released the budget-styled MK7.  It's the only one they promote as a DJ deck, and it has features of interest mainly to DJs and turntablists, like reverse play..

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Had a neighbor who worked for Panasonic named Ron who was one of the designers for Technics, really into music and sound systems much like many on the forum here. Ron was always telling me never to buy anything audio related to Panasonic as the management was always short changing the designs aimed at the company's bottom line rather than getting the best sound out and longevity of the designs.

 

This was 30 + years ago, things have probably changed since then for better or worse.

 

 

 

 

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38 minutes ago, jason str said:

Had a neighbor who worked for Panasonic named Ron who was one of the designers for Technics, really into music and sound systems much like many on the forum here. Ron was always telling me never to buy anything audio related to Panasonic as the management was always short changing the designs aimed at the company's bottom line rather than getting the best sound out and longevity of the designs.

 

This was 30 + years ago, things have probably changed since then for better or worse.

 

 

Well yea. Would you buy a Panasonic stereo system (or a Sony, or Sanyo)?  Sony has some good receivers (I think) but mostly budget systems.  But the SL1200 is a different animal.  I have an SL 1210 that I modified,  When I took it apart I was really impressed with the design and construction. 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, tigerwoodKhorns said:

 

Well yea. Would you buy a Panasonic stereo system (or a Sony, or Sanyo)?  Sony has some good receivers (I think) but mostly budget systems.  But the SL1200 is a different animal.  I have an SL 1210 that I modified,  When I took it apart I was really impressed with the design and construction. 

 

 

 

Dad had a Technics turntable (forgot the model) it lasted 15 years or so and could no longer maintain a constant speed, i removed the Shure cartridge and threw it away figuring it was not worth repairing.

 

As for Sony i still have a few ES series CD players, never had any Sanyo products besides a room fan.

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Yea, Sony made some really nice CD players. 

 

I am also thinking of the "all in one" Sony system that my mother bought that never worked correctly.  She now has Klipsch speakers that I bought and oddly enough a Sony receiver that my brother bought (I told her to get a Denon).

 

I have a Technics  SL 1210 and a SL 1300, both great TTs   

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I got 2 SL-1200MK2 models for $300, that had been used by a dj. I sold one for $300 so mine was basically free. It works and sounds great.

 

From the pics in the ad, the MK7 doesn't look cheap to me at all. It is lighter, due to the new motor design, but I also like the black. I also like the fact that there are detachable power and phone cables. Not that mine have broken, though.

 

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 I have a 1 year old SL-1210gr which betters the new SL-1200 only slightly in terms of specs.  

 

My 1210 is .Absolutely the quietest TT I have ever owned plus piano notes are rock steady.  And when I cue up the same 12 minute song on both my CD player and SL-1210gr and synchronize them they both play in perfect sync with each other  all the way to the final note.  

 

...No warbling sustained piano notes, no speed issues, and no audible rumble whatsoever.  ..I've never been as impressed by any exposed rubber-band/ motor TT.

 

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