Mass of 1200 tonearm

[Canetoad]

Can somebody tell me if the standard Technics sl1200 tonearm is low, medium or high mass?

Cheers. :)

[DSJR]

I'd say it's a traditional medium mass arm - low by modern standards I think and perfect using the stock headshell for most sub £200 MM style cartridges out there. It's certainly lighter in the pipe than the old SL1500 tonearm I have. I'd only consider changing it if it was damaged by abuse or if you were going the whole Uber-Techie route, by which time you'd already done some upgrades to mat, feet, platter and even the power supply I think, which I'm sure the stock arm would reproduce ok - HELP FELLA'S.... :)

[RobbieGong]

I'd say it's a traditional medium mass arm - low by modern standards I think and perfect using the stock headshell for most sub £200 MM style cartridges out there. It's certainly lighter in the pipe than the old SL1500 tonearm I have. I'd only consider changing it if it was damaged by abuse or if you were going the whole Uber-Techie route, by which time you'd already done some upgrades to mat, feet, platter and even the power supply I think, which I'm sure the stock arm would reproduce ok - HELP FELLA'S.... :)

The stock arm on my MK5g carries the wonderful Ortofon 2M Black - (said to be one of the best if not the best mm out there) which is £450 new. That said it is helped along nicely by KAB fluid damper, Isonoe feet and the MK5g carries the better wiring in the arm as standard. The sound it produces is gorgeous :) I'm pretty curious though as to what high end mc is good on this arm - I'm talking £450+ type mc ??? Any ideas anyone ??

[DSJR]

The Ortofon is unlikely to put the kind of energy into the tonearm structure that a typical MC type can and often does and if you choose wrongly, say a Dynavector 10XV for instance, I suspect the sound would actually be worse, even with a Sumiko headshell, which is all but compulsory I think without spending hundreds on an Oyaide IMO..

The thing is, although a decent well matched headshell can minimise the effects of the headshell to arm-tube join, there is the pipe itself to consider and although I haven't measured it, I suspect it's rather "lively" if excited by an ill-matched pickup cartridge. For £500, the best tonearm/cartridge style upgrade really is the Jelco 750, which is not only more rigid, but the bearings are sturdier and there's the option of adding a touch of damping, which will aid it's use with cartridges designed for lower mass arms. The ortofon will love it and should you wish to tread heavily into MC waters, the arm is better suited IMHO.

[Canetoad]

I was more wondering how the Goldring G800 cartridge would sound on the Techie arm. To increase the headshell weight I was thinking of using an Ortofon LH2000 headshell, which weighs about 15 gms. I also have the Sumiko, which I currently have a Nagaoka MP-150 on.

I already have the Mike New bearing, Isonoe feet, Akromat and external power supply. I was just curious as to how versatile the stock arm could be.

I'm still tossing up weather to wait till I can afford a Jelco arm or spend some money on the stock setup with an AO rewire with the above combo. :scratch:

[DSJR]

Why not see about a heavy headshell and an add-on counterweight sleeve to increase the mass there - Doesn't speedy-steve do some good ones???? I'd probably suggest foam-filling the pipe too, but don't know how easy this is for "ordinary" peeps to do.

[Lord Soth]

The stock arm on my MK5g ......................I'm pretty curious though as to what high end mc is good on this arm - I'm talking £450+ type mc ??? Any ideas anyone ??

I'm currently using the Audio Technica AT33PTG/II on my Technics MK5g with stock tonearm and stock headshell.

Installed it with 2g VTF and 2g anti-skating setting.

The audio results are simply marvellous.

Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable" is simply.....unforgettable. Liquid smooth as is his daughter's voice.

Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" had a 3D soundstage effect.

This stereo cart also produced amazing effects with mono lps.
For e.g., Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (180 gm Mono Vinyl) actually had an expanded 3D stereo soundstage.

[thinker10]

12 grams with supplied Technics headshell

4.5 grams without headshell

Thanks

[Spectral Morn]

12 grams with supplied Technics headshell

4.5 grams without headshell

Thanks

Please pop into the welcome section of the forum and tell us a wee bit about yourself, system and music you like. AOS also requires you to put your first name and basic location into your user details. Thank you in advance.


Regards D S D L

[Gromit]

In my first Tecchy I used a Lyra Dorian for a while, and the std arm certainly didn't disgrace itself in any way. Used it in both the OEM headshell and a Sumiko.

Worked a treat, and added more cred to how good the Technics arm actually is. :)

[Marco]

Please pop into the welcome section of the forum and tell us a wee bit about yourself, system and music you like. AOS also requires you to put your first name and basic location into your user details. Thank you in advance.


+1. 'thinker10', please attend to that on your next visit - ta! :cool:

Marco.

[RobbieGong]

In my first Tecchy I used a Lyra Dorian for a while, and the std arm certainly didn't disgrace itself in any way. Used it in both the OEM headshell and a Sumiko.

Worked a treat, and added more cred to how good the Technics arm actually is. :)

I've always felt the stock arm is actually very good due to my experiences with it (Mine is the MK5g with the better wire through the stock arm as standard). In fact one day when funds permit (It's in a long line of other upgrades) I'll add the Ortofon Jubilee which is probably the mc bigger brother to my lovely 2M Black mm which shares the same nude Shibata stylus. I found something on the web where a guy had one on the stock arm and described the sound as beautiful. Some would say "Oh!! the Jubilee is too good a cart for the techy stock arm" but not everything I've heard people say has turned out to be right :eyebrows: