First 1210 upgrade

[JRS]

I fully intend on getting a jelco 750 for the 1210 when funds allow, but until then I've decided to upgrade the cartridge with something that will work with the jelco and the stock arm so advice on suitable MM carts for around £100-200 if you please
Also, Is there a preference for head shells.

Thanks in advance

[colinB]

Sumiko headshell works well. Used both a Ortofon 2m blue and presently a Goldring 2500. Both are good.

[DSJR]

Have you done the feet and mat yet?

Seconded on the Sumiko headshell advice too and didn't I read somewhere that the 2500 series Goldrings are actually made my Nagaoka for them???????

[JRS]

Both feet and mat are standard. Do they make a whole lot of difference to the
Overall sound?

[Tarzan]

Hi Jamie, for me the Isoefeet, and Sumiko headshell were my first upgrades, the Isoefeet made a dramatic upgrade for me, and at around £100, they for me are great VFM, they really are works of art, they really do there job, and the Sumiko headshell also made a nice difference for the money, on the cartridge side, Nagaokas work well, Denons, Ortofons, depending on your phono stage etc, anyway have fun

[MartinT]

The Isonoe feet make a substantial improvement, as does a good mat - take your pick from Herbies, Achromat, Blue Horizon etc.

The Jelco can take a good high output MC cartridge such as the Denon DL-160 or Dynavector DV-10X5.

At this level, an external power supply would be the next natural step.

[JRS]

So, is the goldring 2500 a big improvement on the 1042 which is a dead ringer for the reson cart? There seems to be a big price difference in them. This may sound like a dumb question but how can feet an mats make such a difference? Is it all about damping and if so, wouldn't it be better to wall mount the deck?
FYI it's on floating wall mounted shelf with a speaker below it.

[MartinT]

The feet are about decoupling, the mat is all about coupling. Both make a difference and the Technics is a sufficiently dead and tonally neutral deck that it reveals the differences rather obviously.

[Cliff]

Just wanted to add that I just had my SL 1200 tonearm rewired and I am shocked at the transformation. It made more of a difference than the (limited) footer experimentation I had done with things I have around the house. It completely changed the sound of the deck for the better. If you plan on using the stock arm for very long, I would seriously consider maybe having a rewire done early. You won't hear most of what the deck sounds like or can do without one, in my opinion.
My deck with rewire and stock feet sounds MUCH better than it did with stock wire and the best footer solution I had on hand, which was 3 Audio Points brass cones under body of plinth.
As I am in the US, I had a custom version of the Cardas rewire done by KAB.
Cheers,
Cliff

[WOStantonCS100]

Hey Cliff,

It appears you are confirming what I've read elsewhere; that cones don't seem to work well with the 1200. I'm leaning toward the Isonoe's myself. My other 1200, with the stock arm, has the KAB fluid damper. Have you thought about giving that a go? It was such a noticeable improvement that I put it on and have never once thought about removing it.