Newbie With The Mod Bug SL1210 MKII

[RobbieGong]

Rob, I think your going to be in for a very nice surprise when you get your SP10 back. I'm happy with my 1210 and I'll never get another DD turntable. TBH I think I'm at the end of my hifi journey. It would have to be something very very special for me to get another deck or start another major resto project. So what's the difference between the tonearm cables?

Looks like various improvements in terms of build, construction, shielding etc - I found the 423.5 excellent and would expect the 423.5 Plus to have the same excellent qualities in terms of it's way with the music, which was generally allowing the music to come through naturally with insight and textural accuracy. https://www.back-promo.co.uk/html/42...litz_plus.html

[vs_jk]

I have a couple systems at home. One is a speaker system with digital front and Magnepan speakers. My second system is headphone based with a turntable only as source. Because I listen through headphones to this turntable system, it can be very revealing of changes.

I’ve had my Technics SL1210 MK2 since new many years ago when they were relatively inexpensive. However, I’ve only started modding my turntable about 5 years ago. Even then my modifications are not nearly as extensive as many of the other people on this forum. I can offer the following comments about each modification. These are in chronological order from the first to most recent.

Heatshrink on tonearm - This provided the first taste of how much the turntable can be improved with modest modifications. I was really amazed at how much the overall sound improved from this simple and cheap mod. It really did improve just about everything in the sound. I would highly recommend doing this!

Vibrostop platter mat - These turntables are known to have a dark sounding coloration. This mat did change the sound, although subtly, away from the dark sound.

IanMac bearing with oil reservoir and KAB thrust plate wax - There is more focus to the overall sound and not just the lower registers. The bass got better defined but so did the rest of the frequency range. Because of the lowered noise floor, the perception is of being able to hear deeper into the mix and therefore also getting more details such as reverberations. The sound comes from a black background.

Upon listening to a lot of my albums, I found there are new things I heard in them. For instance on Rush- Power Windows, there are moments in the music where on my main speaker system, I can hear holographic transparency. This wasn’t readily apparent on my turntable based system until the Ian Mac bearing went in. I think it’s because it lowers the noise floor and it tightens things up that these types of sonics are more readily heard.

I have no regrets about the bearing upgrade and am very impressed with it. Because the rest of the system is fairly resolving, it easily reveals changes in sound with each tweak. And I can honestly say that the bearing was not a subtle difference.

custom cherry wood cabinet with Vibrapods underneath - In my opinion this definitely improves the turntable aesthetically. And the Vibrapods underneath help in isolating the turntable.

KAB tonearm damper - I could hear a difference in sound immediately. The noise floor was lowered and the highs came across with more sparkle. This combined with the lowered noise floor made the recordings seems more 3 dimensional and realistic sounding. The natural reverb from the recording venue were more clearly distinguished. However, the bass was initially reduced while at the same time seeming more tight. What I learned is that the amount of oil in the reservoir is directly related to how much bass you get out of the sound. Experimenting led to finding that 30% full was for me just the right amount to where I got all the benefits including the bass being tighter yet not diminished overall.

With these mods, I can say that the top 3 are easily the IanMac bearing, heat shrink on tonearm, and the KAB tonearm damper. I would highly recommend starting out with the tonearm heat shrink as it will only cost you a few dollars but will give you good insight into how much the stock deck can be improved.

The only other mod I plan to do someday is the external PSU. I haven’t settled on any particular one but will most likely go with the KAB.

[RobbieGong]

I have a couple systems at home. One is a speaker system with digital front and Magnepan speakers. My second system is headphone based with a turntable only as source. Because I listen through headphones to this turntable system, it can be very revealing of changes.

I’ve had my Technics SL1210 MK2 since new many years ago when they were relatively inexpensive. However, I’ve only started modding my turntable about 5 years ago. Even then my modifications are not nearly as extensive as many of the other people on this forum. I can offer the following comments about each modification. These are in chronological order from the first to most recent.

Heatshrink on tonearm - This provided the first taste of how much the turntable can be improved with modest modifications. I was really amazed at how much the overall sound improved from this simple and cheap mod. It really did improve just about everything in the sound. I would highly recommend doing this!

Vibrostop platter mat - These turntables are known to have a dark sounding coloration. This mat did change the sound, although subtly, away from the dark sound.

IanMac bearing with oil reservoir and KAB thrust plate wax - There is more focus to the overall sound and not just the lower registers. The bass got better defined but so did the rest of the frequency range. Because of the lowered noise floor, the perception is of being able to hear deeper into the mix and therefore also getting more details such as reverberations. The sound comes from a black background.

Upon listening to a lot of my albums, I found there are new things I heard in them. For instance on Rush- Power Windows, there are moments in the music where on my main speaker system, I can hear holographic transparency. This wasn’t readily apparent on my turntable based system until the Ian Mac bearing went in. I think it’s because it lowers the noise floor and it tightens things up that these types of sonics are more readily heard.

I have no regrets about the bearing upgrade and am very impressed with it. Because the rest of the system is fairly resolving, it easily reveals changes in sound with each tweak. And I can honestly say that the bearing was not a subtle difference.

custom cherry wood cabinet with Vibrapods underneath - In my opinion this definitely improves the turntable aesthetically. And the Vibrapods underneath help in isolating the turntable.

KAB tonearm damper - I could hear a difference in sound immediately. The noise floor was lowered and the highs came across with more sparkle. This combined with the lowered noise floor made the recordings seems more 3 dimensional and realistic sounding. The natural reverb from the recording venue were more clearly distinguished. However, the bass was initially reduced while at the same time seeming more tight. What I learned is that the amount of oil in the reservoir is directly related to how much bass you get out of the sound. Experimenting led to finding that 30% full was for me just the right amount to where I got all the benefits including the bass being tighter yet not diminished overall.

With these mods, I can say that the top 3 are easily the IanMac bearing, heat shrink on tonearm, and the KAB tonearm damper. I would highly recommend starting out with the tonearm heat shrink as it will only cost you a few dollars but will give you good insight into how much the stock deck can be improved.

The only other mod I plan to do someday is the external PSU. I haven’t settled on any particular one but will most likely go with the KAB.

Can imagine heat-shrink applied sensibly would be effective at keeping resonances at bay.

Had the KAB damper at the start of my modding journey and yes, really liked it - just be careful with that oil, you dont want that spilling anywhere good if your deck stays put, not ideal if you tend to move it other places / transport it about .....

Again these dont 'cost' but make a difference for the better, incrementally even more so.

[HD Goofnut]

I don't believe Ian is making his bearing anymore and new parts seem to have been discontinued.

[Cycleallday]

You are correct - he was pretty ill a while back and no longer makes parts for these decks.

An alternative option is often found on eBay. Its a KAB modification to the existing bearing. The mod can be bought direct from KAB (USA) and added to your current bearing but on ebay it is sold as an already moded bearing (new base plate with wax to put under the bearing).

I have both on different decks and i doubt you would spot the difference unless you heard them side by side.

Mel

[mikeyb]

Ian has mended in fact he bought my spare Denon 103R the other day

But due to the cost of the original bearings and the fact that there isn’t much of a market for his upgraded ones he hasn’t done any in ages.

[Shovel_Knight]

There's also Dave Cawley's Timestep bearing which is still available IIRC.

[Spectral Morn]

I don't believe Ian is making his bearing anymore and new parts seem to have been discontinued.

pm him and if you supplied a bearing, always bearings on EBay, he might do you one. I never availed of doing that, because I moved on from the Technics being my main interest, which came about as a result of wanting to test everything that was being said on here and elsewhere. Having done that, wrote about it (I never did a comparison of mats, that was going to happen, but I think there is none to little interest now I won't) I moved on to other things. The Ian Mac bearing, if he will do you one will be about the best option, bar a used Spin, or Mike New, which do still crop up. Vantage Audio bearings are out there too.

I do still have a modded 1200, and I won't be parting with it, but my main turntable is different now.

[CageyH]

The Spin is one of the few still available, but it is not cheap.
I believe that the Timestep is also still available, as is the KAB. They were last time I looked, but it has been a few years.

[vs_jk]

I didn't have the opportunity to compare to other bearings. But I can tell you the IanMac is very well done. He used to have two versions. I got the type that has an oil trough. Here is what the bearing looks like compared to stock.