advertisement


Advice on modifying Technics 1210 record deck

Adam PF EVENTS

New Member
Hello

This is my first post so be gentle, I am hoping to gain some advice from some of the Pink Fish members.

I am in the process of preparing to ripp my vinyl collection.

I have modified a Technics 1200 for this purpose and I am currently unhappy with the sound it produces.

Details of record deck: Technics 1200 in Good condistion, Rega RB101 arm, Goldring Elektra cartridge, origin arm board, felt mat, Neutrik professional phono connectors on rega arm cable.

The cartridge has been aligned using a Rega protractor.

Details of rest of system: B+W 685 speakers, Rega Brio3 amplifier, Peachtree audio DACIT, Mini Mac, home made Cables using Vandam cable and Neutrik connectors, home make Oak record deck plinth and hifi stand

The sound this deck produces with a new 180g record is clean and clear, all of the frequency range is present in the correct quanities, but it is lacking in resolution and detail. The involving analog sound I know vinyl can produce is lacking, the sound is sterile and boring.

Can anyone advise me on the best course of action to get a better sound from this set up.

Have I made a fatal error in using a cheap arm and cartridge? Could it be my cartridge alignment or turntable set up? Or phono pre amp?

Any advice would be greatly appreiated.

Kind regards

Adam

.
 
Hi, I'm treading a similar path with a 1200. A Sound Damped Steel mat helped quite a bit (it cost quite a bit too). A Dynavector 20X2H cart pretty much transformed it. I'm hoping that the Kabusa PSU and regulator that are sitting here can help too, when installed. My conclusion so far is that these decks are as you describe stock but even in stock form can handle much better carts.
 
Hello

Thanks for your comments, do you have a surgestion for a MM cartridge that might reap some improvements. I don't think I can stretch to a MC amplifier at the moment.

Kind regards

Adam
 
If it were me! l would have kept the stock arm on and invested in a better cartridge. I have had a Rega arm on a 1200 & another before & it didn't excite me. That cart is also a budget cart so you should expect to much from it.
 
Just put a Nima on a mates 1210 with good results.
Lots more detail and boogy factor.

The Dynavector mentioned at the beginning is also HOMC
 
The sound this deck produces with a new 180g record is clean and clear, all of the frequency range is present in the correct quanities, but it is lacking in resolution and detail. The involving analog sound I know vinyl can produce is lacking, the sound is sterile and boring.

Can anyone advise me on the best course of action to get a better sound from this set up.

Have I made a fatal error in using a cheap arm and cartridge? Could it be my cartridge alignment or turntable set up? Or phono pre amp?

Any advice would be greatly appreiated.

Kind regards

Adam

.

Yes, that's skanky cartridge syndrome.
Before you start playing around with the TT, install a cartridge better able to read the grooves. Denon DL110 is about £150 and does everything well with no weak areas.
For similar money the AT440mla brings CD like cleanness and clarity but is a little bright into normal loading. Bags of detail and resolution though.

Once you have the TT/arm/cart delivering something fundamentally to your taste, then try a few Technics tweaks.
Different feet can influence things depending on how the deck is sited, and different mats will let you fine tune the sound so I'd start (and stop) with those.
 
HI Adam:

I own a Techie 1210, which is also used for transcription purposes. Robert is pretty much on target with his suggestions, get rid of that cartridge and vinyl life should get a little better.

My techie is pretty much stock standard and I have chosen to retain the original Technics arm on my deck. I ended up using an
Ortofon M2 Bronze and it gets pretty good results. A nice musical sound with plenty of detail, rock steady and secure pitch, plenty if bottom end impact and the fine line stylus of the M2 Bronze tracks like a blood hound.

Also: if you really like sound of the 2M but want to take it a little further, you can upgrade the 2M Bronze to a 2M Black simply by swapping the stylus (the Black uses a better shibata stylus) as the stylus are inter-changeable.

There is also allot of users that are using the AudoTechnica AT440mla. This cartridge has a reputation for bringing a little “Zing” and excitement to the presentation that many users seem to like.

Also don’t be afraid to use the original Technics arm (hopefully you have put it aside and you still have it safely packed away). The Technics arm is actually very well made and quite capable of carrying expensive cartridges. The original Technics arm is better than the RB101 and is easily comparable to the more expensive RB300 and in some areas improves on the RB300 (and I’m a big fan of the RB250 & RB300 as a budget arm). The RB101 is Rega’s entry-level arm and is really not that good.

Hope this helps:

LPSpinner
 
You gotta love it when people take a turntable that was developed by the most talented engineers with the most extensive R&D program in analog playback history and stick a load of tweaky hi-fi crap on it :)

Put the original arm back on and buy a Denon DL-110.
 
It is a very valid question. What is the expectation? what is the SL1200 being compared against? And what is the budget available to try to make some improvements.

Sounds to me that putting the RB101 on the deck was a retrograde step. Generally accepted wisdom is that the most cost-effective thing to do to the SL1200 is re-wire the stock arm, and use the excellent KABUSA fluid damper.

Many people have put on Rega 250/300 with various mods, and reported good results, however many people say Rega arms do not work well on SL1200. I cannot validate this on my personal experience.
 
You gotta love it when people take a turntable that was developed by the most talented engineers with the most extensive R&D program in analog playback history and stick a load of tweaky hi-fi crap on it :)

Put the original arm back on and buy a Denon DL-110.

I thought bit was just another mess produced piece of price point crap made for DJ's. Its hardly an sp10 mk3.
 
I thought bit was just another mess produced piece of price point crap made for DJ's. Its hardly an sp10 mk3.

Originally made for HiFi in the 70s, and more expensive than an LP 12 at the time (correct me if I'm wrong). For me, in my limited experience of the Linn, the Technics does the essential better.
 
Thank you everyone for your input,

This project started when the original technics arm was returned from a job bent and fairly ruined (I work in the live events business, the deck was sent back from a job with out the lid, and the deck being up side down in a flight case during transit, the arm was trashed)

The RB101 had been hanging around in the warehouse for a while so I thought I would give it ago.

My next course of action will be to try out a proper cartridge, and then have a think about repairing the original arm or trying a better Rega product.

Have a good friday!

Kind regards

Adam
 
Hi I have just finished modifying my techie and have a mint complete tonearm. The process I went through was added KAB fluid damper to stock tonearm. That brought a big change. Then added a mike new bearing and baseplate. That pushed the deck to another level. I the added a Paul hynes PSU and removed the internal stock PSU. The final part of the puzzle I added a mike new copper arm board and replaced stock tone arm with a jelco sa750d and denon dl103r. The deck for me now out performs my fairly heavily upgraded LP12, so much so that the linn is now boxed up and stored. Just my 2 pence worth. Oh and by the way huge amounts of I do on modding techies on the the art of sound forum. All the best ��
 
Originally made for HiFi in the 70s, and more expensive than an LP 12 at the time (correct me if I'm wrong). For me, in my limited experience of the Linn, the Technics does the essential better.

Yes the Technics SL1200 was originally released as a domestic HiFi deck and aimed at the more serious user. The SL1200 was later adopted by the DJ community because of the decks rugged construction and consistent performance.

As for any cost comparison, here in Australia the Linn LP12 fitted with either a Grace or SME Series III tone arm was roughly twice the price of the Technics at the time of its introduction. However at the end of production, the SL1200/1210 was even cheaper still. Since both had to be imported into the country the local distributers mark-up becomes a big part of the price structure. Due to its specialist appeal and limited quantities, English kit becomes very expensive down under. The SL1200 / 1210 Deck was coming into Australia in mass production quantities, the economies of scale means that the Technics became a very attractive price without seriously compromising the build quality of the product.

Just prior to the end of production announcement, I purchased my brand new SL1210 over the counter as a single package from a DJ equipment outlet for around 900 Dollars Australian, this was the recommended retail price at that time. Alternatively: my LP12 / Ittok cost me considerably more, and this was all second hand. I also had the inconvenience of having to collect and assemble the various parts and upgrades over a period of time waiting till the parts became available.

If you want me say which is better, sorry I like them both and neither will be sold off any time soon. Both decks do things very differently and any comparison is like comparing apples and oranges.
I want the option to enjoy both.

LPSPinner.
 
+1 for a new cartridge.

I also have a Rega-Origin-Modded 1210 with a Goldring 2300 cartridge. It considerably trumps my Rega Apollo-R in the groove department.
 


advertisement


Back
Top