Rebuilt clapped out SL1200MK2

[MartinT]

As I've found with using an ebony arm board, a little resonance absorption does no harm at all, so a lossy mounting may work. I personally would keep the arm rigidly mounted to the armboard and use a lossy gasket for the board to turntable mounting.

[Kenny Brant]

MartinT that's what I did. The tonearm is mounting directly to the armboard (arm base) but the armboard is isolated from the turntable base.

It won't take much to change it back to see if it makes a difference. I think what I notice is less bass but clearer and more focused mids and highs. I also think it has less width of the soundstage. But boy it seems to lock in a voice dead center or wherever the voice or instrument is. At least that is what I seem to hear.

One thing that always bugged me is when people eliminate the grounding wire. I know I know the ground is ground but I want to ground the turntable at the back of the preamp or receiver and have right, right ground, left and left ground separate. I'm just old school I guess. It just seems to have better focus that way. May be my imagination. Anyway I put The ground wire back on.

I can say one thing my Empire 598's spread the soundstage way out beyond the speakers that the SL1200MK2 doesn't. It is probably the tonearm and eventually I will grow tired of the arm and change it out for another arm.

I just wanted to get it up and running and see where to go from there.

Kenny

[MartinT]

Grounding a turntable is very important, and I think some users don't get the best sound quality purely due to their earthing arrangements. Deck, arm and (if it exists) SUT should all be separately star earthed back to the phono preamp.

[6L6]

Fantastic looking table - you should give the DIY PSU a try - it's really fantastic.

[Marco]

Hi Kenny,

First of all, welcome to AoS, and congrats on a nice DIY paint job with the Techy!

I can say one thing my Empire 598's spread the soundstage way out beyond the speakers that the SL1200MK2 doesn't. It is probably the tonearm and eventually I will grow tired of the arm and change it out for another arm.

Lose the stock thick rubber mat, and you'll cure a good percentage of your soundstage issues. Virtually ANYTHING else will be better, as that truly horrid rubber mat saps the T/Ts musicality - nasty thing only fit for DJs!

Then lose the stock feet (replacing them with Isonoes or one of the widely available Sortbothane solutions), and the soundstage will open up even more. The stock mat and feet are the two items which hold back the sound of the Technics the most, so before you upgrade anything else, attend to those areas first!



After that, your next move should be to 'externalise' the PSU and fit it inside a separate box (as shown on numerous threads in the Techiepedia) and/or upgrade it for one of the available high-quality off-board PSU options.

Having a big chunk of vibrating magnetic metal directly underneath the platter, interfering with the delicate signal produced by the cartridge, is another thing that's inhibiting the T/T's ability to image properly.

However, as they say, one thing at a time.......

Marco.

[Kenny Brant]

Thanks, I'll look into a different mat and better feet. Also will look at a separate power supply.

Right now it doesn't sound too bad, but will be looking for the next upgrade.

Kenny

[Marco]

Hi Kenny,

No worries. It'll still sound pretty good, but it'll be a hell of a lot better when you lose the stock mat and feet and replace them with something more in keeping with a hi-fi turntable!

Marco.

[freefallrob]

Great work OP, love the colour.

Marco, I still haven't sorted my feet

You coming on Sunday?

[Kenny Brant]

Great work OP, love the colour.

Thank you, so do I.

Kenny

[Marco]

Marco, I still haven't sorted my feet

You coming on Sunday?

Yer a bad, bad boy - and you know what that means, don't you?



Yes, I'll be there on Sunday. Which room will you be in, Rob?

Marco.