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Rega RP10 or Technics SL1200G - which should I buy?

djftw said:
So I heard an RP10 tonight and I think at list price I really would have to listen to it and the 1200G side by side with the same cart...good thing for Mike Mr. Richer made it easier with £500 off :D
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Will they let you return the 1200G if you don't like it?
 
I hope you don't mind my digging this up again. I'm reviewing my options (currently GyroSE/SME IV and a sad looking OC9).
Some of the descriptions of the sound between the Gyro, and others , and the Technics is the fact that you can more easily unthread the strands within the music, if I've read that correctly.
One of my observations between my Gyro and the Linn Karik/Numerik CD is that whilst the Gyro sounds more like real musicians playing in a room together, there is often too big a sound. Like a bloom that warms but makes it harder to hear what is on the score.
if I had to listen to music and then write something down on manuscript, it's as if it would be easier via the CD.
It sound as if it would be easier via the Technics as well.
I sometimes listen to a piece of music and find that the music stays in my mind more easily from a CD, even if I've enjoyed the performance more via the turntable.
I guess I'm finding reasons to splurge on a new turntable. the Gyro will have to go in that case.
Oh, and much of my listening is to piano music. It does sound a bit wobbly at times through the Gyro.
 
I have the 1200G and it is absolutely rock solid in terms of control over music. Some have complained that it is not "analogue" enough (as in it is possibly too speed stable and closer to CD in that sense) but I find the way it plays music, especially classical/piano music, is an absolute joy.

I have owned a few turntables - a few Regas up to the RP6, a couple of Projects, a couple of LP12's and the Gyrodec SE - and the 1200G to my ears and aural proclivities is easily the best. I had the Gyrodec immediately before the 1200G and was blown away by the difference. You obviously need to hear one yourself but those are my thoughts.
 
The Technics is up and running and the Gyro SE is is a collection of boxes.

I played three sides last night. The first thing I notice is the presence of the musicians is not so great. The Gyro and the SME IV produced very natural timbres with a real sense of presence.
It was a treat to have the Gyro playing.

I played two records from sets that sounded so bad on the Gyro that I was thinking of putting them on Ebay.

I was once told , by a very well known British pianist, to avoid if at all possible playing a piano after Alfred Brendel has played on it. As if I'd ever have the chance. I had never before heard in Brendel recordings anything that would suggest piano murder. But the set of Schubert recording on Philips from the late 1960s and early 19070s sounds like just that. I played them on the Gyro and he's beating the life out of it. And the recording is very boomy. So bad that I bought the 1980s digital recordings to play on CD. They were never issued on vinyl and the later recordings sound better on CD than the earlier vinyl on the Gyro.

I played the vinyl on the Technics and whilst I'm still conscious that the piano is getting a thorough service the next day, it was more listenable. I could hear the Schubert. The sound of the piano is smaller but perhaps the sheer stability of the Technics prevents the problems from being exaggerated.

Similarly, I have been working through the Mozart piano concerto recordings with Ingrid Heabler and was thinking of selling those as well (except that the accompanying booklet is so good).
The recordings are very dull, life less and she plays with finesse but without character.
On the Technics, I can actually hear the Mozart within the mess.

The sound of the Technics is smaller, flatter in presentation and more distant. Perhaps I should have looked out for a second hand SME309 for the Gyro which would have made cartridge maintenance in the medium term easier. I'd like to find one for the Technics one day. I won't put the SME iv on the Technics. It took me 90 minutes to safely remove it from the Gyro just to get the cartridge off. I don't want to be doing that too often.

I prefer the Gyro. But for me the Technics will be easier to live with and I may end up listening to more vinyl on it.
I'll be looking for ways to tweak it to get best performance.
 
k90tour said:
The Technics is up and running and the Gyro SE is is a collection of boxes.

I played three sides last night. The first thing I notice is the presence of the musicians is not so great. The Gyro and the SME IV produced very natural timbres with a real sense of presence.
It was a treat to have the Gyro playing.

I played two records from sets that sounded so bad on the Gyro that I was thinking of putting them on Ebay.

I was once told , by a very well known British pianist, to avoid if at all possible playing a piano after Alfred Brendel has played on it. As if I'd ever have the chance. I had never before heard in Brendel recordings anything that would suggest piano murder. But the set of Schubert recording on Philips from the late 1960s and early 19070s sounds like just that. I played them on the Gyro and he's beating the life out of it. And the recording is very boomy. So bad that I bought the 1980s digital recordings to play on CD. They were never issued on vinyl and the later recordings sound better on CD than the earlier vinyl on the Gyro.

I played the vinyl on the Technics and whilst I'm still conscious that the piano is getting a thorough service the next day, it was more listenable. I could hear the Schubert. The sound of the piano is smaller but perhaps the sheer stability of the Technics prevents the problems from being exaggerated.

Similarly, I have been working through the Mozart piano concerto recordings with Ingrid Heabler and was thinking of selling those as well (except that the accompanying booklet is so good).
The recordings are very dull, life less and she plays with finesse but without character.
On the Technics, I can actually hear the Mozart within the mess.

The sound of the Technics is smaller, flatter in presentation and more distant. Perhaps I should have looked out for a second hand SME309 for the Gyro which would have made cartridge maintenance in the medium term easier. I'd like to find one for the Technics one day. I won't put the SME iv on the Technics. It took me 90 minutes to safely remove it from the Gyro just to get the cartridge off. I don't want to be doing that too often.

I prefer the Gyro. But for me the Technics will be easier to live with and I may end up listening to more vinyl on it.
I'll be looking for ways to tweak it to get best performance.
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Thanks, really helpful, as someone with a Gyro who's been curious about the Technics.
 
You should try the SME on the Technics. Give Dave Cawley at Sound Hi-Fi a ring for the adapter.
 
k90tour said:
The Technics is up and running and the Gyro SE is is a collection of boxes.

I played three sides last night. The first thing I notice is the presence of the musicians is not so great. The Gyro and the SME IV produced very natural timbres with a real sense of presence.
It was a treat to have the Gyro playing.

I played two records from sets that sounded so bad on the Gyro that I was thinking of putting them on Ebay.

I was once told , by a very well known British pianist, to avoid if at all possible playing a piano after Alfred Brendel has played on it. As if I'd ever have the chance. I had never before heard in Brendel recordings anything that would suggest piano murder. But the set of Schubert recording on Philips from the late 1960s and early 19070s sounds like just that. I played them on the Gyro and he's beating the life out of it. And the recording is very boomy. So bad that I bought the 1980s digital recordings to play on CD. They were never issued on vinyl and the later recordings sound better on CD than the earlier vinyl on the Gyro.

I played the vinyl on the Technics and whilst I'm still conscious that the piano is getting a thorough service the next day, it was more listenable. I could hear the Schubert. The sound of the piano is smaller but perhaps the sheer stability of the Technics prevents the problems from being exaggerated.

Similarly, I have been working through the Mozart piano concerto recordings with Ingrid Heabler and was thinking of selling those as well (except that the accompanying booklet is so good).
The recordings are very dull, life less and she plays with finesse but without character.
On the Technics, I can actually hear the Mozart within the mess.

The sound of the Technics is smaller, flatter in presentation and more distant. Perhaps I should have looked out for a second hand SME309 for the Gyro which would have made cartridge maintenance in the medium term easier. I'd like to find one for the Technics one day. I won't put the SME iv on the Technics. It took me 90 minutes to safely remove it from the Gyro just to get the cartridge off. I don't want to be doing that too often.

I prefer the Gyro. But for me the Technics will be easier to live with and I may end up listening to more vinyl on it.
I'll be looking for ways to tweak it to get best performance.
Click to expand...


The Technics will improve with use, I noticed greater fluidity and space with mine once it had some use.

If you are interested in a new arm I can highly recommend the Jelco TK850/950 arms they look and sound very good on the Technics.
 
Thank you chart and early for those two recommendations. I'd only fit a SME309 now I think. The detachable head shell is a big deal.
 
k90tour said:
Thank you chart and early for those two recommendations. I'd only fit a SME309 now I think. The detachable head shell is a big deal.
Click to expand...

Be careful with SME 309 ( or IV, V's) the arm rest fouls the top plate so you may not be able to get the arm low enough for shallow carts.
 
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