Calling all SL-1200/1210 owners!

[WikiBoy]

Looks great, Richard. Nice find

I (and I'm sure a few others) look forward to reading about your forthcoming escapades with it.

Marco.

This thing is as rare as hens teeth in the UK (far more common stateside) and I was surprised to find it on ebay. To get it for the price I paid was a bigger surprise, only one person recognised it for what it is and the rest just thought it was one of yer run o' the mill cheapy DDs. It only got bid up to £9.99 with 30secs to go, but I was willing to go over £100 for it, got it for £68. The motor is bigger and stronger with more poles than the 1210 and the PSU is more advanced and complex and so needs less modding. Some cap changes mostly because of age then just regulators and some big fat high va torroid trannies. The only thing I am unsure about is the arm, but we will see when I get it.

Up there at least with the Microseiki and I think probably better, and Microseiki's are going at double 1210 prices when they come up at ebay. They are a lot rarer, but not as rare as this.

[WikiBoy]

This is very interesting, espacially the EMT and the pro Pioneers.

http://www.thevintageknob.org/MISCEL.../SS1980TT.html

[WikiBoy]

I want one

http://www.thevintageknob.org/PIONEER/P3/P3.html

The domestic version was PL70 which has much in common motor and construction wise with the PL71 I just bought. Wish I had that arm to play with though.

[Mike]

Help yourself:

http://www.hifido.com/KW/G0301/P0/A1...7468-21740-00/

[WikiBoy]

Help yourself:

http://www.hifido.com/KW/G0301/P0/A1...7468-21740-00/

Gulp! how much is that in clam shells.

[Gromit]

Gulp! how much is that in clam shells.

About 2 grand in our dosh.

Just got myself my very own 1210 this afternoon - a very clean Mk2. Let the tweaking/fiddling/wrecking/swearing begin.

[scoobs]

Another NAS bites the dust eh!
Congrats Rich, No doubt you'll have a lot of fun fettling from scratch.
I wish I had bought a mk2 instead of 5 now. I like the look of the mirror chrome changable covers that are doing the rounds on ebay, for when you fancy a change like.
Just remains to see if you'll buck the tend and keep the faith with the stock arm - we watch with interest!

What did you make of the comparison to Ray's KAB 1210?

[Gromit]

Nick - the comparison with Ray's KAB was a very interesting experience. Needless to say his rig sounds marvellous, especially on orchestral music, being musically intense and with bags of scale and colour. The Mk5G does also look da bollox.

The bias was perhaps tipped slightly in favour of the standard 1210 as it had the Lyra fitted as opposed to the DL304 in Ray's KAB - I'm a huge fan (as you know) of the 103 and its ilk but I'm not so much of the 304. Still, in the the KAB it did play very well and despite my slight reservation over the cartridge, the KAB was obviously better. Still, with the Dorian in the std deck it was still quite a shock how good it sounded.

Spent yesterday evening comparing 'my' 2 1210's - it's quite interesting how different they sound to eachother. I've used the exact same cartridge and mat in both, yet they still have slightly different characteristics. One is sprightlier but slightly coarse, the other is bigger, bolder but perhaps more musically 'measured'. This was a surprise in as much as I didn't expect two mass-produced turntables to sound that dissimilar. I am wondering if my 1210 isn't really run-in yet? The previous owner states it's only had a few hours' use in its 3 years of life.

[ray70]

Nick - the comparison with Ray's KAB was a very interesting experience. Needless to say his rig sounds marvellous, especially on orchestral music, being musically intense and with bags of scale and colour. The Mk5G does also look da bollox.

The bias was perhaps tipped slightly in favour of the standard 1210 as it had the Lyra fitted as opposed to the DL304 in Ray's KAB - I'm a huge fan (as you know) of the 103 and its ilk but I'm not so much of the 304. Still, in the the KAB it did play very well and despite my slight reservation over the cartridge, the KAB was obviously better. Still, with the Dorian in the std deck it was still quite a shock how good it sounded.

Spent yesterday evening comparing 'my' 2 1210's - it's quite interesting how different they sound to eachother. I've used the exact same cartridge and mat in both, yet they still have slightly different characteristics. One is sprightlier but slightly coarse, the other is bigger, bolder but perhaps more musically 'measured'. This was a surprise in as much as I didn't expect two mass-produced turntables to sound that dissimilar. I am wondering if my 1210 isn't really run-in yet? The previous owner states it's only had a few hours' use in its 3 years of life.

Good to see you've taken the plunge Richard!

As I told you on the night, I was amazed at how good the stock 1210 was. I also agreed that the KAB sounded better, but the stock 1210 is an excellent platform for further tweakery.

With hindsight, I'm glad I bought the KAB because I know how little willpower I have. If I had bought the stock, I know that I would be having constant thoughts of upgrading in the back of my mind, and it probably would have detracted from my enjoyment of the music. With the fully modded KAB, there's nothing else I want to do with it - except spin more records.

Good luck with the journey Richard - keep us informed about how you get on!

[Marco]

Great stuff, Richard, and welcome to da 1210 club!

I knew you'd end up getting one of your own, and you'll no doubt have lots of fun modifying it

I would suggest the first thing to do is ditch the stock rubber mat and buy an SDS Isoplatmat to damp the ringing in the platter and top it with a Herbie's or Achromat, then fit a decent headshell (I have a spare AT magnesium one you can have F.O.C if you like) and then get the arm rewired - this is essential to hear what the stock arm is capable of.

That should be enough to keep you going in the meantime. Let's see some pics of the beast in situ!

Marco.