What's wrong with a standard SL1200 arm ?

[Audio Al]

As above ?

I see lots of posts re changing the std arm , why ?

You can adjust the arm height and the anti skate , It has a removable head shell facility for quick cartridge changes so a much improved cart can be fitted and the std arm can be re wired again for improvement

What am I missing ? why change it ?

[freefallrob]

We couldn't have got the sound we had a Scalford without changing the arm Al, I think it's just not 'stiff' enough, and when the going gets tough it compresses and muddles.

I agree though, it is 'nice'.

[Audio Al]

the sound we had a Scalford

:eyebrows::wow::eyebrows:

[Rare Bird]

Al:
Are you trying to justify not Changing it? if you don't want to, if it does what you want, don't change.. Forget what people do on here, you know they have super duper hearing :lol: .. I personally don't give a rats arse what people think to what i use i really don't.

[Marco]

We couldn't have got the sound we had a Scalford without changing the arm Al, I think it's just not 'stiff' enough, and when the going gets tough it compresses and muddles.

I agree though, it is 'nice'.

Indeed, Rob. Even when the stock arm is rewired with quality Cardas cable, it's still rather limited, sonically, with an MC cartridge. Less demanding MMs, however, aren't so critical.

Further sonic improvements with the stock arm can be gained by damping the armtube, or even replacing the existing armtube with a carbon-fibre one, as some (Funk, in particular, have done). Trouble is, when you count up the cost of said mods (unless you're a DIYer), you'd be as well buying a whole new (better) arm in the first place....

Have you binned those 'orrible feet yet? ;)

Marco.

[Marco]

Al:
Are you trying to justify not Changing it? if you don't want to, if it does what you want, don't change..

Absolutely - at the end of the day, it's only YOUR OWN ears that matter! :)

Marco.

[UV101]

my arm is rewired and stuffed with cotton wool. Its plenty good enough for me at the moment. My main problem is the fact that I have already spent far too much considering the limited size of my vinyl collection. Having said that, the cartridge probably deserves something better and the Mike Bearing is never a million miles away from my mind!!!!!!!!!

its never ending!!! right now for me, I think the money would be better spent on software!!!! :)

Tempting tho!

[freefallrob]

Have you binned those 'orrible feet yet? ;)

Marco.

Er no....haven't gotten around to it yet:sofa:

[Marco]

Honestly, Rob, replace the stock ones with something like these, and you'll never go back:

http://www.amazon.com/Pangea-Audio-Pico-Small-Sorbothane/dp/B00609ZH12/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360717500&sr=8-1&keywords=pangea+pico

These types are also equally as good (if you don't want to shell out on Isonoes):


http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5368/foot1y.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/foot1y.jpg/)


Trust me, I'm not telling you this for the good of my health! ;)

Marco.

[RobbieGong]

Indeed, Rob. Even when the stock arm is rewired with quality Cardas cable, it's still rather limited, sonically, with an MC cartridge. Less demanding MMs, however, aren't so critical.

Further sonic improvements with the stock arm can be gained by damping the armtube, or even replacing the existing armtube with a carbon-fibre one, as some (Funk, in particular, have done). Trouble is, when you count up the cost of said mods (unless you're a DIYer), you'd be as well buying a whole new (better) arm in the first place....

Have you binned those 'orrible feet yet? ;)

Marco.

I really didn't want to change the stock arm and it was indeed the last major mod I did. It's on the fly vta is superb too. However having moved on to a respected Micro Seiki arm (with on the fly vta) I can tell you I've heard things on some of my fave tunes that I didn't know where there before. I'ts also more apparent to me how thin and tinny the stock arm is and how cheap feeling and looking the headshell collar screw is compared to that of say the Micro Seiki or Jelco. It isn't a totally crap arm, it's very good bearings and superb vta system see to that BUT it is limited. Lets just say there's a fair number of arms that are deemed as 'universal' ie: 'audiophile choice' whilst not costing lots of money and good enough to grace a good number of other decks,
(Rega, Jelco, Micro Seiki etc). I doubt the stock Techie arm would ever be used or regarded as an upgrade in that respect, even if you could find a way to fit one on a different deck and house its vta system) :)

[DSJR]

Just fit a 2M Black in a decent shell, get the wiring replaced with some posh ones, and sit back and enjoy :)

[Ammonite Audio]

I think it's fair to say that, with a helping hand from J7 at Audio Origami, the standard arm is not bad, but easily bettered. The earlier comment about muddled and compressed sound when things get going echoes my memories of the standard arm.

[Jan_A]

There is nothing wrong with the SL-1200 II standard arm, but perhaps with the choice of cartridge ? Arm and cartridge has to match, especially on the SL-1200 arm - else you get as some mention, "dark" and "closed" sound.

Those complaining, havnt done their home work, and only got "half" way - perhaps even using same cartridge on their Rega arm as on the SL-1200 arm, comparing - you cant compare different tone arms with same cartridge, you shouldnt even compare different tone arms, since choice of the cartridge on both determine the result.

Made a sound test when I got the SL-1200 MKII back in 2008, with a AT120E, comparing with the record and the CD, on various.

Grand Funk, Closer To Home: A big difference, much more details from the record - the CD sounds "dark".

Earth Wind And Fire, Raised: Almost on par in all aspects. Listening closely, the record gives a bit more details.

The newer the recording is, the less difference. Dont know if the "curve cross" at some point, havnt got newer records than 1985.

Sure, there is better arms around than the stock arm, but question if the sacrifice is worth while, I think as you also mention of the arm features such as arm base adjustment, SME HS, cheap spare parts, antiscating, durability, and can take a hit from a baseball bat. Perhaps better to start with an upgrade of the cartridge.

[Marco]

Absolutely, Jan. The problems with the stock arm only really occur when you present it with a quality moving-coil cartridge. There are dozens of MMs out there that the stock Techy arm is more than capable of making good music with! :)

Marco.

[Jan_A]

Forgot to mention - correct angle of the cartridge can also have a significant influence of the sound, red from owners, that the Ortofon Blue its quite critic about the correct angle, that there is a quite significant difference if not - the stock arm comes here in as a salvavida, since the arm height can be adjusted while playing the record, comparing live.

Its very difficult to stop, adjust and 5 minutes later listen again - are you sure you can remember what you heard 5 minutes ago, in details ? The ear forgets very quickly.

[Tarzan]

Easy to set up, VTA on the fly... sounds musical what is not to like within reason?:)

[Macca]

There's nothing wrong with the stock arm except it might not be the best match for some MC carts. References to 'muddle when things get busy' are certainly the result of other factors in the system as I have no such problems. If you change the arm you will no doubt make a change to the sound but to quantify it as an improvement would be purely a subjective decision. I do sometimes wonder if people mod their Techys just for the sake of it.

[WOStantonCS100]

I also don't think the arm is that bad and for that reason one of my 1200s remains stock (albeit with a KAB Fluid Damper which certainly makes for an audible improvement).

However, though I have no measurements to back it up, the heavier arms (and beefier headshells) of my Techy 1400/1500MK2s certainly seem to better the 1200's in regard to overall sound and wider cartridge compatibility. My main arm is a Trans-Fi T3. Safe to say, there is no contest there, as the T3 just flogs it for all it's worth, trounces and tramples it underfoot. It is what it is. They are what they are.

[Qwin]

Here is my take on the stock arm.

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Project_Images/TechArm/TechArm_006.jpg

It will need testing to see if it has any sonic improvements but unfortunatley the deck I am building for my girlfriend and which it is intended for, isn't ready yet. :(

Story can be found here: http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/TechArm_HTML/TechArm_Thumbs.html

[synsei]

Here is my take on the stock arm.

http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Project_Images/TechArm/TechArm_006.jpg

It will need testing to see if it has any sonic improvements but unfortunatley the deck I am building for my girlfriend and which it is intended for, isn't ready yet. :(

Story can be found here: http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/TechArm_HTML/TechArm_Thumbs.html

Nice job, it looks really smart too :)