Mike New platter, Oyaide MJ-12 mat & STB-MS stabiliser arrive at Marco Towers...

Hahaha... Guys, you'll have to be patient before I reach any definitive conclusions with mats, as this is something that takes time to do right. I should have reached a pretty firm conclusion by the weekend :)

At the moment it's looking like the best mat to use with the stock platter is the Oyaide (with its stabiliser), but the copper mat and Achromat all have their plus points, and after all it's all about achieving the right synergy in different systems, so I can only give a snapshot of what might be expected.

The huge sonic improvement of the Mike New platter though is a no-brainer. I will obviously revisit the stock platter again, because I have to, but once you've heard what Mike's platter does, there no way you'd go back to the stock platter, no matter what mat was used with it.

The fact is no mat, no matter how good, can override the fundamental design flaws of the platter itself. In effect, all you are doing is papering over the cracks!

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Never heard an SP10 sound like this, that is quite a statement Marco

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Hi Andy, well I've heard enough good ones in my time to be able to judge! ;)

Quite simply, my SL-1210 is now performing sonically on a different level to any SP10 I've heard. There's no question in my mind about that. I heard the same with Martin's T/T (connected with the SR5 PSU) when I was at his place earlier in the year. This is genuinely jaw-dropping stuff.

Marco.

P.S David, I love 80s pop music - it was *so* my era! However, I listen to all sorts these days. The other thing is that 12" singles then were more often than not very well recorded, and sound absolutely stunning played on a quality direct-drive T/T, able to fully maximise their massive dynamic range!

Hi Marco

Very good write up ' and well done with the piccies , now that is a bold statement ! it might upset Guy you know ;) you might have to invite him round for a bake off:).

The stiffening plate is now a must then surely ? , for me its not really feasable to upgrade to a MN platter and bearing at the moment ! well over £1000 , but very interested in your final conclusions all the same .

As a side note ' i'm shortly to meet up with Richard of vantage audio with a view to service and modify my other Techie deck (SLQL1) i'm very keen to keep this little 2nd deck in tip top order .

You must be seriously into your vinyl to spend these amounts of wonga just on up-grades when a shiny new GOOD analogue spinner can be purchased for similar amounts! IMHO of course and as an SL1200/1210 owner for many years (being an ex-dj of course), it was a good deck back in the 80's and still is now!

Maybe I have 2 or 3 in my loft I may have to get back up there!

I would like to know if the Oyaide mat and weight is any good on my new Lenco though.

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Originally Posted by Mains Cables R Us

I think Neil is trying to say politely hurry up and get on with it!

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The evaluation process takes as long as it takes.

Obviously I am keen to read all of Marco's conclusions at the end but the journey is also interesting.


Regards D S D L

Hi Chris,

Thanks for that. Guy knows he's welcome to come anytime for a bake-off, as he's been here a few times on the way back from the Audio T Manchester city centre show :)

His is about the best SP10 I've heard. The trouble is though it always has a huge advantage by having an SME V and (£2500?) Audio Note Io Ltd fitted to it! :eek:

Therefore it's more about trying to analyse what the respective T/Ts themselves are doing. Prior to fitting the Mike New platter and Paul Hynes SR5 PSU, I always felt that a good SP10 had the edge on my modified SL-1210, but the effect that the combination of those two items has had, in my opinion, has now more than levelled the playing field.

Good luck with the SLQL1. That sounds like a fun project in the making. Next time you speak with Richard, ask him to join AoS - I've been wanting to get him here for ages, where his knowledge and experience would be invaluable to our members :cool:

Marco.

Will do Marco ' all being well it will be this saturday ! weather permitting :)

Richard has made some suggestions to improve this little deck which sound really interesting ! he knows his stuff alright .

Hi David,

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You must be seriously into your vinyl to spend these amounts of wonga just on up-grades when a shiny new GOOD analogue spinner can be purchased for similar amounts!

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Indeed - and I also made that very point earlier.

The answer is of course a resounding 'yes', but the whole point of upgrading the Techie to this (some would say absurd) level, is to expose its latent potential and realise just how good the Quartz-controlled D/D motor unit is (in terms of its highly accurate speed stability), and how fundamentally important this is in terms of faithfully reproducing musical information on vinyl.

In my view, if the platter on your turntable isn't rotating at a constantly accurate speed under load, then the game's a bogey from the off!

This has been said many times before, but if the likes of SME or Michell were to produce a direct-drive motor unit of comparable quality today, it would cost thousands of pounds - and that's before any arms or cartridges were fitted to a finished turntable!

Therefore, I've always viewed an SL-1200/1210 as being merely the donor of the motor unit, and so all stock ancillaries are expendable in the pursuit of extracting maximum performance from the motor unit by replacing them with items likely to achieve that aim, which is typically where Mike New's products come in.

Once done, a suitably modified SL-1200/1210 will compete with (and in some areas outperform) recognised 'hi-end' turntables from established hi-fi manufacturers at many times the cost of whatever modifications are carried out. And *that* is the whole point of the exercise...

As an example, I've so far spent around £3.5k on my modded SL-1210, but I wouldn't hesitate to put it up against 'audiophile badged' turntables up to £15k and perhaps beyond, in the very same way as I would do with my modified vintage Tannoys, and many much more expensive speakers made now.

At the end of the day, it's about achieving the highest sound-per-pound value, because *that*, my friends, is one of the best ways to ensure long-term system satisfaction! :cool:

Marco.

System satisfaction is what it is all about matey.

Indeed. So when are you gonna fettle one of yer Techies? Get 'em down from that loft, boy, and discover how good they sound in a proper hi-fi system! :eyebrows:

Marco.

David, The Lenco bearing may not be up to too much extra mass and some of them wobble.....

The SL1200 series has the benefit of a pretty solid plinth. I'm really not sure whether the lower caste Technics decks from the 80's would be up to anything other than a mat and foot upgrade tbh.