My first Technics SL1200 MK2
I've just got one, it was delivered on Saturday, these things weigh a ton.
Mine is practically brand new and looks it, it came in an original box (from an SL 1210) including poystyrene packaging, a felt mat and the Technics rubber mat, dust cover, Techics stock tonearm and an old A&R Cambridge P77 cart.
I stuck the box on the scales before opening it and it weighed in at 14.2kgs!
First impressions are pretty amazing!
I previously had a RP3 wth an RB300 arm & an AR XE turntable with an AT 1120 arm and, on both TTs I tried a few different carts but always went back to an old Denon DL-110 cart that I bought SH a couple of years ago.
The Technics is in a different league sound wise and build wise to both of those other turntables.
First impressions are very good, the sound is really good and there's great bass, however with some albums the sounds is a bit different to what I'm used to but I'm putting that down to the cartridge.
The deck sounds fantastic with Jazz and female vocals, seventies soul and rock but I noticed that it's a bit 'bright' with some music such as some old Coltrane and Miles Davis albums however Kind Of Blue is stunning as is My Name is Julie by Julie London
My third press copy of Hunky Dory was a bit hard to listen to but on the previous two TTs it sounded amazing so again I'm blaming the cart for this as this particular copy of that album is a very good pressing I believe.
Listening to albums over the weekend I would say that this is the best that I've ever heard vinyl in my system, they almost sounded CD like but not in a bad way just very clear and transparent.
I've a new SAE 1000LT cart to try out which I'll do this week.
I've ordered two new Technics headshells and I'm now on the look out for a decent SH Denon DL-110 as I sold my old one
I've also got a Timestep PSU (mk 1, I think) which I'm going to install after I've had taken a good wee while to listen to the deck in stock form. BTW does anyone have set of instructions for installing the Timestep PSU?
For me it's early days but I'm already thinking that the deck is a keeper.
What I really like about the Technics is the ability to be able to pay singles without the faff of changing a belt to a different position and I also really like the way that the platter just stops dead when you press the button and the arm is really nice to use too.
I also like having the option of different cartridges on spare headshells and just simply changing them over on the arm without the big drama of the previous two TTs.
Most of all however, apart from how the deck sounds, I like that the deck is modern and works like modern things do, the other decks were nice but one of them was nearly 35 year old.
Now don't get me wrong I like old things that look great and that work, I do have a 1960 Lieca M3 and a 1966 Summicron lens both of which are stunning examples of fantastic engineering which has long gone now but sometimes modern stuff just does things better than the older stuff and this Technics deck is in that category, it's no wonder that people who use turntables for a living buy these things because they are ,quite literally, built like tanks!
Tony
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Originally Posted by Marco
just to get the cart set up and playing.
