PDA

View Full Version : Another view on the Techie



AndrewR
21-04-2010, 10:28
From the Digital Impression area.


Hi Ali,
Many turntables (mostly of the low-mass belt-drive variety) sound tubby and coloured as hell... The Techie avoids the cloggy euphony many (wrongly in my view) deem as the recognised 'signature of analogue', by presenting a more accurate portrayal of the information that is actually on records.

Marco.

Hi Marco,

I can see where you are coming from, the Technics decks do seem to offer an alternative presentation from the likes of Linn, Thorens and Rega. However, are they really uncoloured?

From hearing a modified Technics deck a couple of times in the flesh and as needle drops, they appear to provide a detailed and well-lit performance. However at the same time there appeared to be a form of reinterpretation going on, not the type that is typically associated with belt driven decks, but an impact that affects the mood of the music.

For me the mood is a little sober, consistently giving a more staid and quite intimate atmosphere to the music. The result still exhibits good qualities that will hold the attention while offering another perspective to music replay. Whenever I have heard a modified Techie, it has invariably reminded me of the way the Conrad Johnson/Avalon demos (i.e. recent Audiofreaks demos) portray music.

Having said all this, this is only the current impression I have from a few occasions in unfamiliar circumstances and would be interested in whether my thoughts are on the right track or whether there is something about the Technics decks I have missed.

Andrew

Marco
21-04-2010, 10:44
Hi Andrew,

How's it going? It's nice to see you over here for a change :)

You raise some interesting points, which after I've completed a few tasks I will answer. In the meantime, I'm sure that the other resident Techie fans will offer you their thoughts.

Enjoy the forum and pop over more often! :cool:

Marco.

AndrewR
21-04-2010, 10:51
Cheers Marco,

I've been "getting around" to joining the forum for a while, but been having a hectic time at work and at the home. A very interesting forum, particularly as:

1) I am using a TC-7520 (and looking to have it modified)
2) Many of the discussions are quite open minded/experimental

Andrew

DSJR
21-04-2010, 15:26
I've always found the older Techie 1200 ancestors a bit "dark-toned" as well, but you may just find a touch of "raw-ness" in the current model with the lightweight arm (compared to the 70's varients).

I'm sure that there's not a huge amount of the original character left once the power supply is sorted and the mat and feet attended to, let alone the extra refinement brought about by the quieter and (even) better toleranced bearings now available as upgrades. Whether what's left is truly giant-killing remains to be seen, as I haven't yet compared a fully tricked out Techie with, say a UK made NAS Hyperspace, which it closely approaches in price IIRC...

I still feel in my bones that a "sorted" SP10 in sympathetic plinth really is the better turntable and money-no-object it's the one I'd plump for...

There's still a slight "Wow" issue with many AR/Thorens/Linn springy belt drives, not so much with light-tracking pickups which they were originally designed to work with, but 2gramme trackers (and above) would possibly upset these decks I reckon (the 103 needs 2.5g and the better SPU models 3grammes).

I've actually had Marco tell me in a recent conversation that he has fond memories of the Td125 for example, the main issue for him being pitch stability as above. The Techie once sorted would run rings around it in this respect alone....

Work beckons, TTFN

MartinT
21-04-2010, 21:35
For me the mood is a little sober, consistently giving a more staid and quite intimate atmosphere to the music. The result still exhibits good qualities that will hold the attention while offering another perspective to music replay. Whenever I have heard a modified Techie, it has invariably reminded me of the way the Conrad Johnson/Avalon demos (i.e. recent Audiofreaks demos) portray music.

Hi Andrew and welcome. Your description had me thinking and I believe the answer itself is complex. The reality is that the Techie is a great base for modifying and experimentation. I have used two arms and three cartridges, changed my phono preamp, moved to using a SUT and added various other mods along the way, notably the Mike New bearing. In all these changes the Techie has highlighted new aspects to the sound while retaining a reasonably neutral stance. Is it slightly on the cool side of neutral? Not if I play highly emotional music, it isn't. Does it sound closer to a Linn or CD in tonality? I'd say it sounds closer to CD as it exhibits the latter's real-life dynamics and noise floor. Yet it can hold the attention like few source components I have ever heard.

The surprise is that it keeps on responding to mods with seemingly no ceiling to the performance gains - yet. Its fundamental quality therefore must be holding true and several of us have postulated that the motor must be world class in order to be able to do this.

What is also gratifying about the SL-1210 is that each mod can be taken slowly and in small steps. Yet we have Techies with SME V, Terminator and Dynavector arms just on this forum all performing at dizzying heights where the arm costs considerably more than the deck!

Perhaps the key phrase is your 'holds the attention'. That it does in spades.