* Why Technics? *

Dave R, I fully understand what you are saying. I now have a turntable that does eactly what I want with my vinyl. It plays the stuff with no fuss and uncovers amazing amounts of detail when compared to previous turntables. By not buying a VPI Scoutmaster II I have saved myself almost 3k with which I could buy a newer car. Result...!

Hi Dave,

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But would the VPI Scoutmaster actually out-perform the Techie in fidelity?

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I doubt that it would outperform it, or vice versa; more likely they would just be different :)

There's only one way to find out though - has anyone here in the UK got a VPI and fancies a shoot-out with the Techy, chez-moi?

Marco.

I feel a nice Hi-Fi session coming on...:)

Do you know anyone who's got a VPI then, Shaun?

Marco.

Alas, I'm afraid I don't. I do love the look of it though. Very bling...:)
If a session is arranged it would be nice to attend. Bloody long drive though.

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Originally Posted by Light Capture

Let me rephrase it. The Tech 12xx is highly regarded, but many of our audiophiles are too snobby to own it, not esoteric enough looking. I would be happy to own one.

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I think that statement still applies to a greater or lesser degree in the UK. It's just some of the more enlighted who have discovered the potential wonders of the Techie.

Using myself as an example, and someone who BAOS (Before Art Of Sound), concidered myself to be 'into my HiFi', I would not have considered a Techie 1200 series to be a serious HiFi deck, but a well made, robust, reliable and non-fussy one.

It's was actually all those reasons that made me look into getting one originally, as I just wanted something that wasn't a PITA to use.

It was only when I started Googling and came across Dave Cawley's Sound HiFi site by accident that I realised I could apparantely have my cake AND eat it. :)

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Originally Posted by Haselsh1

I have to balance what I said with the fact that if I had 3k lying around I would very definitely buy a VPI Scoutmaster II and an Ortofon Rohmann cartridge. I don't have 3k and probably will never have 3k so for me, it's an SL1210 MkII.

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One of the positives for me is that the Techie is definately 'Stealth HiFi'. i.e. one of those things that manages to fly under the *What's That It Looks Expensive Radar* by not drawing too much attention, while very much delivering the goods sonically.

The other great thing is that it offers a Stairway To Heaven upgrade path like nothing else I can think of, with each step being worthwhile in terms of improvements but also sensible in terms of cost.

My Techie purchase started off as an interest in improving my vinyl replay at low cost as a side-project. Now I find that I have a true high end component capable of competing with my SACD player for attention. So I agree with all those who have upgraded theirs with no apparent ceiling to performance yet seen. It's an ongoing and very interesting project in its own right.

If you have to deal with warped records, I'm not sure that a outer record weight (VPI style) would fit on
a Technics turntable, the platter with the slopping edge might interfere with it , I'm not sure
but maybe some Technics expert will know.

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Originally Posted by markf

If you have to deal with warped records, I'm not sure that a outer record weight (VPI style) would fit on
a Technics turntable, the platter with the slopping edge might interfere with it , I'm not sure
but maybe some Technics expert will know.

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Mark,
this outer rings should fit the SL 1200 with the stock arm
http://www.ttweights.com/rings.html

The 290 gr sure does. The 600 gr needs a mat of 5 or 6 mm, since it interferes with the strobo lamp tower.