Technics SL1210 MK5g, BLACK BEAUTY - Some Pics

[RobbieGong]

Been a long journey but at long last I've had the Micro Seiki MA 202 tonearm fitted by Speedy Steve with one of his superb, must have, bespoke Ebony Armboards - big thanks Steve !! for mounting the arm with your excellent custom armboard - Top guy ! (camera flash shows armboard a deep woody brown but it is very black, like the deck, in the flesh)

Picked the deck up from his place on Saturday and got to fitting my Mike New ETP platter this evening - Cheers Mike !! What a sweet hunk of a platter. Install was a piece of cake thanks to easy instructions.

Thanks to Alex (alcarmichael) for bringing the MA-202 to my attention here, which made me investigate one - on the fly vta also swung it and MartinT saying it was a good arm didn't do any harm either :eyebrows:.

Thanks to Angus (phonomac) for kindly offering info and advise re: the arm and mounting - Cheers Angus !

Thanks again to John (Prestonchipfryer) for warmly responding to my pm's re: his experience of the Mike New ETP - Top man !

So.. mods to date are

Ortofon 2M Black
Mike New bearing
Isonoe feet
Custom Cables DC-3 bespoke external Power supply (Upgraded version of his DC-2 on request)
Mike New ETP Composite Platter
ADC Magnesium Headshell with Ortofon LW-800S pure silver headshell leads
Yannis 423.5 pure silver Litz tonearm cable, double shielded and fitted with Furutech Carbon din and Eichman silver bullet plugs.

My amp has been down since August :( - Absolute agony, so I havn't even heard the deck in my system yet which is soon to change as I have a duplicate amp, won on ebay, being brought down from Manchester by a super gent of an AOS member, Julian Julesd68 on 23rd Dec :) .Cant wait to get the whole thing set up properly and fully running at which point I'll report back on what my ears hear. In the interim, here's some Techie Magic pics, in the form of my very own Black Beauty :cool:

[Johan]

Been a long journey but at long last I've had the Micro Seiki MA 202 tonearm fitted by Speedy Steve with one of his superb, must have, bespoke Ebony Armboards............



Nice table, I love the ebony armboard. Too bad he doesn't make it anymore.

[prestonchipfryer]

Looking good Robert, looking good. :)

[Marco]

Absolutely fantastic, Robert - bet you can't wait to hear how it sounds! :)

Just make sure that before you listen, you remove that HORRIBLE SOUNDING thick rubber mat, or you'll ruin the whole effect!! ;)

Marco.

[Tarzan]

Very nice looking pimped Techie,there Robbie- full review and blog required:)

[nickbaba]

Very nice Robbie!

[RobbieGong]

Absolutely fantastic, Robert - bet you can't wait to hear how it sounds! :)

Just make sure that before you listen, you remove that HORRIBLE SOUNDING thick rubber mat, or you'll ruin the whole effect!! ;)

Marco.

Hi Marco, Itching to hear it wouldn't even come close to how desperate I am to hear how it sounds. To give you some idea, the last time I heard it (and my system) was back in August, minus the arm, platter, headshell and headshell leads. I've also upgraded my interconnects to QED Silver spiral to match speaker cable, Silver Spiral jumpers are an addition as will be Soundcare Super Spikes under the speakers, so it's gonna be pretty interesting. Things need to bed in and need to set up arm properly with Stevenson protrator, set vta and azimuth etc and pray for synergy :eek:
Re: the mat. Will start with stock mat which as you know I've never had a problem with in my system - always sounded better, (more open, great mid clarity and separation of parts) than any of the numerous exotic, 'name brand' jobbies I've tried and I've tried most of them, including the Achromat. I also know I'm not alone in actually finding the stock mat to sound better over other so called 'upgrade' mats. Granted I've not tried the Achromat with the current set up, Micro Seiki arm and ETP platter so who knows. However, will set up with the stock mat which actually isn't thick at 3mm (It is not at all hard and thick like the Techie heavy 5mm mat that KAB do), and if the deck /system sounds sweet to my ears then it will most definately stay. In fact the guy who did an early review Mike posted a while back of his ETP, said he'd tried out several mats during the process and at that point had found the stock mat to sound most favourable. Some like the Achromat, some dont, here and all over the net. That goes for probably all mats too I (One mans meat, systems, variables - you name it). When I first came across the Herbies mat (Sound hifi) I just had to have one, it read like it was the mat to most definately have on the Techie. When I listened I was most disapointed, it dulled / killed the music stone dead !! - Now that for me was HORRIBLE, but I know for others a different personal experience, that said I've read where others found it muffled the life out of the music too.
I'm sure I told you about the guy who I sold my Achromat to !? Yes, the same one who took out a dispute against me on eBay accusing me of selling him a fake :eek: Yes a fake, or to be precise 'counterfeit' (his words) I kid you not. Why? because he discerned a difference so indifferent and minimal that he felt I'd done a number on him - seriously!! :doh: I'm gonna trust mi lugs as always and see. If not happy I certainly wouldn't dismiss the idea of trying out different mats, but that's only and if only the system sounds 'wrong' and curiosity gets the better of me as a result :)

[Stratmangler]

Looking at the piccies would it be safe to assume that you do not remove the dust cover when you're playing records?
If this is the case then I offer you a decent, and above all free upgrade - take the fecking thing off altogether when you're spinning discs :)

[RobbieGong]

Looking at the piccies would it be safe to assume that you do not remove the dust cover when you're playing records?
If this is the case then I offer you a decent, and above all free upgrade - take the fecking thing off altogether when you're spinning discs :)

:lol: It does come off when spinning tunes :)

[Stratmangler]

:lol: It does come off when spinning tunes :)

:)

[nickbaba]

Hi Robbie - RE the rubber mat... I believe the main problem with the Technics mat amongst audiophiles is that its not machined to sit inside the slightly raised rim of the Technics platter. Therefore the outer edge is always slightly raised, and the record doesn't contact the mat surface evenly.
Since you have done away with the stock platter I can see from your pics that your mat sits perfectly flat - therefore eliminating the problem.
PS since you have an acrylic platter, have you tried sitting the records directly on it, without any mat? Thats the way I'm using mine, and its sounds waaaay better that way than with any of the mats I've tried on it (stock Techie, Herbies & Achromat). Just a thought.

[RobbieGong]

Hi Robbie - RE the rubber mat... I believe the main problem with the Technics mat amongst audiophiles is that its not machined to sit inside the slightly raised rim of the Technics platter. Therefore the outer edge is always slightly raised, and the record doesn't contact the mat surface evenly.
Since you have done away with the stock platter I can see from your pics that your mat sits perfectly flat - therefore eliminating the problem.
PS since you have an acrylic platter, have you tried sitting the records directly on it, without any mat? Thats the way I'm using mine, and its sounds waaaay better that way than with any of the mats I've tried on it (stock Techie, Herbies & Achromat). Just a thought.

Yep, it sure is good to see the mat lay flat and not raise over any outer lip like the stock item.
I have the ETP without the recess as I really wanted to be able to start with the stock mat / try other mats as an option. One other member who has the ETP albeit with recess said that after fitting he tried it 'naked', i.e. no mat and found this gave a presentation which was very clear in mids with a somewhat recessed treble but with bass far too heavy for his taste. He prefered the presentation with a felt mat and record weight. Again as you can see and probably already know, there is no 'one size fits all' in this game - oh no !! :lol:
After all the decorating, loss of amp and other commitments I still havn't quite wired up my system again. Fortunately Julian (julesd68) picked my replacement amp up for me which I now have up on my hifi shelf - Yippee !!! The wife thought it was brand new - Yippee, Yippee !! :lol: Any day now i'll get all the other bits connected, speaker cable, cd etc. Unfortunately my big fat meaty external psu has had a problem on start up, more or less from day one, where the platter stutters / labours to rotate and the start /strobe light (now disabled ) and now the psu light flicker so Its packaged to go back to have the regulator board replaced with a newer version, free of charge of course. So I still havn't been able to listen to my deck since all the recent mods :( wont be long now though he reckons I may well have it back by new year. In the meantime I'll set up my system and listen through cd, for the first time since upgrades - Interconnects now (QED Silver Spiral), QED Silver Spiral speaker jumpers (to match the Silver Spiral speaker cable) Replacement Amp (Technis SU VX800 as before, because it is an awesome amp and I need to see that it works properly before I give ebay feedback) and Soundcare Superspikes under the speakers - gonna be very interesting what changes my ears hear. I just hope to high heaven my ears hear amazing, which means there has to be the all important synergy :D

[nickbaba]

Hi Robbie - OK gotcha - didn't realise you had a flat platter with no recess. That changes things, of course - good luck finding that magical synergy!

[RobbieGong]

Have managed to get some proper listening and tune playing time in. As a result I've added a few more desperately needed hours on the new external psu, Yannis 423.5 tonearm cable, pure silver headshell leads alongside the upgrade Micro Seiki MA 202 tonearm and Mike New ETP platter to give things a chance to settle and bed in etc. After some serious arm set up, protrator usage and vta fiddling (vital with the 2M Black) all I can say is MY GOSH :eek: !! Feckin' (and that's coming from a Christian Man :lol:) Sounding amazing !!! - Inner detail retrieval, natural, musical, you name it. I can really hear the individuality of each recording. All my fave tunes sound easily as good as they did when my system was in sweet spot before upgrades but 'different' in a better way - It's been said before but same applies here, 'Cant Stop Playing Tunes' :D :D :D

[vandergraafuk]

Hi robbie,
The end results have been achieved you are playing music. I have got a question for you, where did you get the record weight/puck?

[RobbieGong]

Hi robbie,
The end results have been achieved you are playing music. I have got a question for you, where did you get the record weight/puck?

Lol - Man it's been a journey, been through the mill, Amp failing, search for replacement then getting it down to London from Manchester, psu with teething problems, sent back for new internal regs board, long drives out to have armboard and arm fitted twice. Decorating duty - Havn't played music properly since August - Torture !! but been worth it trust me on that - (Tunes sounding sweet as I type :D ) Anyway less of me going on :lol:
Yeah, The puck is gorgeous, even nicer in the flesh, honest - comes with it's own leather pouch and box. Wasn't going to reveal, but the guy who does them is an absolute diamond genuine guy and deserves all the success he gets because he's very bothered about producing quality, aesthetically beautiful items as you can see. It even has the nice black felt underneath and fits over the Mike New bearing perfectly. I cant see the version I have anymore (no kidding !) but here's the copper version, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Record-Weight-Puck-Record-Stabilizer-Record-Clamp-Plattengewicht-/140900158214?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiF i_Turntables&hash=item20ce4dcb06#ht_1101wt_958 he also did a gorgeous black version too when I bought mine, I was torn which one to go for. Shoot him a line and tell him Rob the very satisfied customer who had the silver / alluminium version for his Technics told you to give him a try, he may be getting more of the one I have in - They are a real beaut to see and hold, not silly heavy either at a perfect 340gms and yes you do hear a nice subtle difference for the better when it's on. All the best Glen:)

[zenmaster]

I was wondering how things were after some time. I have a Techie with 2m black and think its a great match. It is kind of expensive but I think you can clearly see the benfits of this compared to the other carts I have tried recentley, Shure 97 mxe, Sumiko Blue Pt homc, Gring 1042, which is another great sounding cart on a 1200.The 2m Black makes a nice musical presentation, especially good if you get your deck well isolated on a nice platform. Great looking table you have btw.

[julesd68]

Robmeister, just seen your record weight - sheer porn - another thing to go on the shopping list!

[RobbieGong]

Robmeister, just seen your record weight - sheer porn - another thing to go on the shopping list!

Hi J, Lol! I know! I just love the thing, beautifully finished and unlike some it even has a nice layer of felt underneath - a nice touch. It defo adds focus to the music and isnt daft heavy at what is for me a perfect 340gms.
The previous poster is also feeling 2M Black joy ! - Has to be the best mm known to man ! - :lol:

[RobbieGong]

I was wondering how things were after some time. I have a Techie with 2m black and think its a great match. It is kind of expensive but I think you can clearly see the benfits of this compared to the other carts I have tried recentley, Shure 97 mxe, Sumiko Blue Pt homc, Gring 1042, which is another great sounding cart on a 1200.The 2m Black makes a nice musical presentation, especially good if you get your deck well isolated on a nice platform. Great looking table you have btw.

Hi Bernard, I kid you not, I have never heard my deck / system sound so good, it is absolutely compelling - seriously. The external psu, Yannis tonearm cable and the pure silver headshell leads have got some good hours on now and she sounds wonderful. The icing on the cake for me though is always finding the sweet spot after some meticulous arm / cart set up. The last perameter for me is carefully finding the sweet spot with the on the fly vta. It can take some time but once I've hit it / heard it then boy !! She sings, horns parp, instruments so life like and the sense of realism and inner detail with regard to what is happening on the recordings in that life like sense is gorgeous and bloody addictive. I just cant stop playing tunes !! :eek: