I got my used SL1500C on an ebay "buy it now" for a hefty reduction. It's in pristine condition, the only problem was the headshell which was off axis. The adjusting grubscrew had indented the soft alloy collar making it impossible to correct. It kept returning to the indent. An inexpensive replacement AT headshell is pefectly true.
Having read much about the cueing I was expecting it to be dreadful. In fact it's ok, just takes a little getting used to. When auto lift off is defeated, there's even a little damping to the lowering action. And back to the auto lift, it works most of the time. I've had a couple of premature lift offs. It's easy enough to defeat if needed.
The internal MM phono stage is fine and as previously written, compares favourably with a dedicated £250 stage. I prefer my Luxman's internal stage, but there's little between them.
The 2M Red compliments the arm well. It tracks well at 1.9g. I like the Ortofon sound; I find it slightly brighter and more detailed than my trusty VSM20E/11. The VSM also sounds great fitted to the SL1500C. I tried my AT33PGT/11 and found it tracked well but was a little behind in resolution compared to when fitted to my Jelco 750D. When the warranty runs out on my SL1500C I'll be looking to fitting the Jelco. That's if the Technics' auto lift arm doesn't win me over.
It's a fantastic package.
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