Rebuilt clapped out SL1200MK2

[Kenny Brant]

I joined the group on 1-17-2014.

I rebuilt a SL1200MK2. New tone arm, tonearm fixing plate, Cardas wire, spindle, RCA cables, mat. Calibrated pitch and brake. Painted Sage green. Up and running and will in the future upgrade tone arm, spindle and power supply. Just enjoying right now.



http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b603/KennethBrant/GreenSL1200MK25_zps387c00d6.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b603/KennethBrant/GreenSL1200MK24_zps11b7ea09.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b603/KennethBrant/GreenSL1200MK23_zps2842b9b0.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b603/KennethBrant/GreenSL1200MK22_zps2f35d4d3.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b603/KennethBrant/GreenSL1200MK21_zps605a7bcb.jpg

[Kenny Brant]

Pictures don't seem to be showing and I don't know why. Maybe a little help from members. Used Photobucket.

I figured it out, thanks.

Kenny

[RobbieGong]

Well done Kenny, good work :)

[Magna Audio]

Looks nice.
Are you stopping there or on the upgrade path?

[Andrei]

Hi Kenny
You have come to the right forum! It will be interesting to see how you get on further down the track. The tonearm looks a little different, have you put something on it?

[synsei]

Hi Kenny
You have come to the right forum! It will be interesting to see how you get on further down the track. The tonearm looks a little different, have you put something on it?

Heatshrink perhaps? Another member did this a while back and reported good results, I forget who though :scratch:

[Kenny Brant]

Thank you RobbiGong, I appreciate it.

speedy.steve as of today I am stopping. I have a M3D to rebuild also. I have bought enough parts to rebuilt it. As a matter of fact everything I bought I bought two of. These tables were in sorry shape and I just for right now wanted to bring them back up to working order.

If I didn't like them I was going to unload them. But I have to admit I do like the MK2 so I am sure I will like the M3D after rebuild. The MK2 came with a new arm so I took it off and put it on the M3D and played the M3D for awhile to get a feel of the turntable. Because the queuing lever was broke off on the MK2 I got the M3D playing first and the arm on the M3D was worn out. So I got the best of the two working.

The rebuilt MK2 kicks the M3D sound wise after the rebuild. I am going to paint the M3D Cooper. I still need to buy new dustcovers as the ones that came with the tables are in pretty bad shape. I buffed down one of them and it looks good but still scratched. I want to replace both of them.

I plan to do more mods, I just have to rebound from the expense and labor involved in rebuilding them.

I had to repaint the base 2 times because after I was done I didn't like the way it turned out. The problem was the stickers. I painted the base with 4 coats of paint then put the stickers on then 4 coats of clear. Sanding between each coat. What I didn't like was the stickers made the table look cheap as they were stickers and not silk screen so you could see the outline of the stickers which bugged the heck out of me. So I redid the base again. Then some jerk that had the MK2 before me sanded down the base along with the tonearm base. I had trouble getting the paint to stick to the tone arm base where it was sanded down to bare metal. I finally got it to stick (really I just keep nicking and chipping it), just had to be real careful. I have a new tone arm base coming as I didn't like the way it turned out so I want to replace it.

Then I had problems with the anti skate, I had to take the tone arm off 3 times before I got it right. But I think I got it figured out and will have it done right the first time next time. I have never worked on a SL1200MK before so I had to teach myself and learn.

Here's pictures of my carts, a Dynavector DV20XH, a Shure V15VMR with Jico SAS stylus and a Stanton 681EEE with Pickering D625E stylus.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b603/KennethBrant/GreenSL1200MK26_zps6deedd21.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b603/KennethBrant/GreenSL1200MK28_zps85f2396d.jpg

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b603/KennethBrant/GreenSL1200MK27_zpse88b4025.jpg

Kenny

[Kenny Brant]

I used heatshrink tubing. I didn't like having the metal part of the tonearm showing and I am not good enough at putting heatshrink on tonearms (I've used it before lots of times just not on a tonearm) so I took black electrical tape and wrapped the ends so if I need to take the screws out I just take the electrical tape off to get to the screws. I think it looks better then leaving the end of the tonearm exposed. I put cotton in each end of the arm after re-wiring it and it has a KAB dampener on the end.

I put wax between the base and the spindle to dampen the spindle a little. I also isolated the tonearm base from the base of the turntable with foam and also the 3 screws that attach the tonearm assembly are isolated from the turntable base with rubber grommets.

Better feet, power supply, tonearm and spindle will come in the future, just not right now.

Kenny

[walpurgis]

I also isolated the tonearm base from the base of the turntable with foam and also the 3 screws that attach the tonearm assembly are isolated from the turntable base with rubber grommets. Kenny

Not sure that's entirely a good thing to do. Isolating the arm with a compliance (soft mount), will have very unpredictable effects on the sound. It goes against the popular principle of rigidity throughout the arm/TT assembly circuit. Who know's? It may have benefits, but I wouldn't do it myself.

[Kenny Brant]

I made a mistake on the color. It is Jade green. I decided between Fern, Sage and Jade. I picked Jade as Fern was too green and Sage was too gray. Sorry for the mistake, but all three was real close in color.

Well you might be right about isolating the tonearm, I tried it both with and without and I thought it was better with isolating the tonearm but maybe not. When I get the new tonearm base I take the form off and see if I like it better.

Kenny

[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! :spew:

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!

:exactly:

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! :trust:

Marco.

[freefallrob]

Great work OP:), love the colour:D.

Marco, I still haven't sorted my feet:o

You coming on Sunday?

[Kenny Brant]

Great work OP:), love the colour:D.


Thank you, so do I.

Kenny

[Marco]

Marco, I still haven't sorted my feet:o

You coming on Sunday?

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

:D

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

Marco.

[freefallrob]

Hi Marco, were are in Syndicate 15 on the 1st floor, up the stairs from the main reception, turn right through the door at the top, along the left of the stairs and on the left somewhere down there....(i've never been down there before!).

It's all a bit different this year, again!