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View Full Version : Calling Dave Cawley - SL1500 questions..



DSJR
30-06-2009, 10:11
I was very fortunate recently in being *given* a Technics SL150 in reasonable condition. The speed was all over the place and the base was cracked...

The speed issues were nothing more than swiches and pots in need of a lube/cleaner and the mechanics of the deck are now stable and true to speed.

The base was another matter. Cracked and araldited to death, I was able to obtain a mint base from the almost identical SL1500 model (same as 150 but with arm).

My questions are to do with cost-effective upgrading - (money is VERY tight).

Firstly the feet. The SL1500 feet look similar to the 150's but excessive weight bearing down on them has caused them to crush terminally. Conversely, the 150 feet are in perfect condition and there's a fair bit of "give" to them. The tiny washers on the 1500 base are significantly larger on the 150 too. I've placed a 2p piece to give an indication as to the size of the insert on the base.

1 - Can the sorbothane feet from the SL1200 upgrade be fitted?

2 - I assume the mat you offer can be used, although the "lip" doesn't seem that severe on this generation (less than half a mm I estimate)

3 - I have a service manual for the 1500 (from VinylEngine). Would the power supply for the current 1200 series be a possible future upgrade?

4 - I doubt this applies and you'd have to test it, but are the servo's ok on this pre-quartz generation in your opinion? The servo seems very slow and rather gentle with little to no overshoot on this one and the torque seems more than adequate for a 2 gramme tracker.

There are a number of pre-quartz Techies out there and the better ones can sound very good with an AT120e or better, as long as the plinth isolation is attended to. I'm just interested to see what can be done with them, bearing in mind the developments on the current model.

I enclose some rough pics and have roughly fitted a Grace 707, the rubber isolated base of which fits the SME cut-out perfectly with no movement, even "finger tight!"

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/Sl150_Grace707a.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/DSCF0462.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/DSCF0460.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/SL1500base.jpg

You can see where the cueing device fluid has dripped on the base above..:)

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/DSCF0471.jpg

Dave Cawley
30-06-2009, 11:05
Hi Dave

A nice deck, I have one with a SME mount. The motor is identical to the current SL-1200 but the control is different. :kiss:


1 - Can the sorbothane feet from the SL1200 upgrade be fitted? Yes and I would suggest putting them on the existing feet!

2 - I assume the mat you offer can be used, although the "lip" doesn't seem that severe on this generation (less than half a mm I estimate) Yes it could and as Hi Fi World have discovered (August issue) it completely damps the platter. (download it now?)

3 - I have a service manual for the 1500 (from VinylEngine). Would the power supply for the current 1200 series be a possible future upgrade? Yes but we would need to lower the voltage, no problem and no extra charge.

4 - I doubt this applies and you'd have to test it, but are the servo's ok on this pre-quartz generation in your opinion? The servo seems very slow and rather gentle with little to no overshoot on this one and the torque seems more than adequate for a 2 gramme tracker. That is because there isn't actually a servo as such. It is just fine as it is but won't have quite the relentless timing and deep bass that the quartz servo ones have.

Regards

:bag:

Dave

DSJR
30-06-2009, 12:11
Dave, thank you so much :) I'll be in touch shortly... Any cheap old used bits kicking about (very cheeky here :))?

A couple more observations - the feet ARE different! I've waxed lyrical here and elsewhere about how feedback-prone some of these older Technics decks are and although the shape of the feet is the same, the 150 feet (which I've transferred over to the replacement base) are deeper and "squidgier." I'm positive that this aided the 150 to sound slightly better than the versions fitted with arms. The sorbothane feet (I only have some huge old Audioquest ones and can only find three at present) can only help. perhaps if I did a JMH and fitted an extra one in the cantre of the base, it may help damp out the base-board some more (?) - just thinking out loud.....