Technics SL1210mk2 - Where to start

[DSJR]

Hi Richard,

Just read of your experiences "elsewhere" and so glad for the info you and the other usual suspects have contributed. Great that one doesn't need to spend thousands on add-ons to seriously lift this deck's performance

[Darren]

Neat and tidy. But rather wayward as well?

[Gromit]

Neat and tidy. But rather wayward as well?

The sound is 'neat and tidy' in hifi terms, but musically 'wayward'.

Pasted from another site where I'd been describing what I felt was going on:

"Whilst our room isn't great dimensions-wise, we are fortunate in having a solid floor so FF's in no way an issue so the 'Iso' effect (be it good or bad) is a good deal more subtle. I can usually make my mind up within the first phrase of a piece of music - which I think I have with these, but will just let things sit for a short while and come back to them later today.

What they have done is introduced a - how best to describe - a dynamic 'sameyness' into the proceedings. Just been listening to Perlemuter playing Ravel (Gaspard de la Nuit, on Nimbus records). This is possibly the most 'difficult' record I own as it'll seek out any slight defficiency in colour, dynamic shading and murder any bit of equipment that's not playing ball. Perlemuter, even though he was well into his 70's when these records were made, had such a deftness of phrasing which was utterly beautiful - but if this goes missing from the mix then his magic is lost. My old piano teacher studied under Perlemuter at the Paris Conservatoire and she would sometimes play me recordings of the 'old man' to prove a musical point. One such record was the Ravel I own now so I count myself so incredibly lucky to have almost 'insider' knowledge of it".

I went on to say:

"I knew something was missing within the first 20 secs or so of music playing - listening to the Ravel again ('Menuet Antique' which is the 1st track side 1) the phrases are so short, each one containing the most subtle of dynamic pushes ending in a slight rallentando into bold, heavily struck chords which are allowed a moment to decay. The very start of the piece though has syncopated, falling patterns, the syncopation relying upon the tiniest dynamic nuances to let the ear position each note in time and space, ie create the music - with the Isonoes the plot just fell apart as though it was groping around in the dark.

I began to have a play with different set-ups (as I'd described before) but with no real improvement. Listening to some Bob Florece Limited Edition (big band) in this instance 'Magic Time' BF has written a chart where he replaces the Saxophone section with 3 Bb Clarinets, one Bass Clt, and a Contrabass - makes an awesome sound, and very different to the 5-Sax section one would normally have in a standard big band line-up. With the Isonoes, there was less substance, gravitas perhaps to the sound of the reed section; whilst I was hearing the peripherals there was less fundamental.

Chatting to Theo this morning we were talking about breathing techniques on wind instruments and how one should breathe from below the diaphragm to allow the 'big' muscles down there to support the air supply to the instrument. Now, with the Isonones in place it felt as though the players were using poor air technique ie breathing by lifting the shoulders, taking shallow breaths and not supporting the air column as described above. The Isonoes had them playing just to the front row of the hall - before they were hitting the back of the hall and were half way out the front door. It was though the band really weren't bothered - well rehearsed, neat and tidy admittedly but my God where's the music gone?"

Edit: I should of course add that all this is based upon what I like to hear in music, and of course is just an opinion. There's still no substitute for getting out there and giving various options a try - you may like it, you may not. But that's why this daft hobby is just sooo much fun

[Gmanuk101]

wow you guys really know you're stuff... I am a little scared now (joke btw).

I missed that amp!!

I've been advised by a friend of mine to look at the Yamaha AS500 amp as that's within my budget range as well.

Opinions? Worth it?

[Gromit]

Nothing to be scared of Graeme

Good luck with whatever you decide to do with your Tecchy - it's a turntable which responds so wonderfully well to tweaking it's all part of the fun of doing so. And what's more you don't have to spend a fortune to get it really singing sweetly, as I've been finding out. Of course there are guys on here who've seriously tricked-up their turntables and having heard Marco's at Scalford it does sound very impressive indeed.

Still, for around 100 quid you can turn the performance of your deck round in a big way - that'll get you an Achromat and a set of Vantage Audio feet. The next biggy (and the one which for me makes the biggest difference) is the power supply but the small mods mentioned above should give you an initial inkling of what the deck's capable of and hopefully maintain your interest in it.

Most inportantly - have fun!

[cuddles]

A free tip - try listening with the turntable lid removed. The sound from the speakers can get picked up as vibration by the lid which can then feed the vibration back into the turntable. Also try to keep the turntable away from the speakers if at all possible.

Absolutely correct ~ try gently tapping the lid when the turntable is switched on. Sounds like a clap of thunder

[Gmanuk101]

Absolutely correct ~ try gently tapping the lid when the turntable is switched on. Sounds like a clap of thunder

sometimes I like the delicate sound of thunder

[Gmanuk101]

http://www.hifigear.co.uk/ortofon-2m-series-styli.html

Ortofon 2M Red for £63!

[Gmanuk101]

Still, for around 100 quid you can turn the performance of your deck round in a big way - that'll get you an Achromat and a set of Vantage Audio feet. The next biggy (and the one which for me makes the biggest difference) is the power supply but the small mods mentioned above should give you an initial inkling of what the deck's capable of and hopefully maintain your interest in it.

Most inportantly - have fun!

what MM thickness is best in the Achromat? I've seen 5mm and 3mm

[MartinT]

what MM thickness is best in the Achromat? I've seen 5mm and 3mm

I have the 5mm, which is excellent. However, if you're buying for the stock platter remember to buy the stepped version.