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Technics SL-10

S

Setting Son

Karma, ne?
My current project is a lovely condition SL-10. Lovely condition under the grime, anyway. First job was an initial service of the linear tracking arm/mechanism. It's working very smooth and quiet after a de-grease / re-grease. I've read that it's also worthwhile replacing the caps on the control pcb so that'll be done soon too (no doubt they are out of spec after 30 years).

The cartridge in use at the moment is a Shure V15 LT; a T4P version of the V15. I may try to track down one of the elusive Technics cartridges as originally supplied with the SL-10.

How does it sound so far? Very good indeed. Far better that it has any right to in fact, considering it is devil spawned for so many audiophile reasons - I like it all the more for that!

Some photos of the arm 'guts' (control pcb removed) prior to servicing here.
 
I'm using an EPS310mc in an adaptor on a normal arm at the moment, a very fine cartridge. My SL10's arm is misbehaving & ideally needs to be dismantled & re-built before I can listen to it. The motor unit appears to be that from a 1210 or very similar.
 
I purchased an SL-10 earlier this year, and was very surprised at how good it sounded, especially after the tonearm guide was cleaned and re-lubricated with some PTFE stuff. I managed to get an ultra-rare Technics P205Mk3 and a NOS stylus stylus for it too and this combo just sings! With the usual care one would expect of any decent turntable (i.e. a service, decent support, decent phono stage - One MUST bypass the so-so built-in one!) this sounds better than many other decks costing quite abit more.

When servicing the deck I was amazed at the build quality - even the tonearm itself is aluminium (looks like plastic at a casual glance until you actually take a closer look). Unfortunately the cheaper 'plastic fantastic' decks that followed from Technics damaged the reputation of the SL-10 and SL-15 and many audiophiles wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Their loss. The SL-10 also came out in the era when anything other than an LP12 just wasn't fit for spinning vinyl. A pity.

Properly set up and with a decent cartridge it slayed my Rega P3, and speed stability was far superior to that of my Garrard 301 and 401. No (unless it's cut into the LP itself) end of side distortion either due to the linear tracking which I am partuicularly sensitive to.

I'd like to investigate an external 12V PSU for my deck at some point as I feel there's more performance still to be squeezed out of these decks.

Have fun :)

- John
 
PS - servicing the arm is a simple job for a man of your calibre! If you decide to move on the cartridge, please let me know - I may have to buy another tt with one fitted to get one.

Some of the operational (erratic) issues are due to dirty switches - they are 30 years old after all. I removed the pcb, sprayed lots of contact cleaner on the switches, left it 15 minutes then operated each one a few dozen times before cleaning off the excess. No issues at all now.

I used a PTFE based lube on the arm rod supposing a dry finish wouldn't gather dust etc.

I agree about the build quality, its really impressive, the weight of the thing being the first indication. Dismantling and re-assembling it is a pleasure due to the superb fit and finish (a dozen screws to fix the arm mech/clamp cover!).

I don't think it would have stood much of a chance when it was released with the dogma that abounded at the time. A shame as it sounds very good indeed; stability, lack of end of side nasties and incredible bottom end.

It's all Joel's fault - is he still using his two?

Lee
 
Hi,

Well just in case you aren't aware, there is one on Ebay at the moment, but the chap is clearly aware of the cartridge value. It didn't meet its reserve price first time round (it was at £165) and it was at £126 when I looked at it earlier after he had re-listed it. I was keeping my eye on it, thinking I could do what I did previously, buy an SL10 at the right price just for the EPS310MC but as I say it looks as though it'll not be too cheap.:(

As it happens I'm also using the original SL10 cartridge in an Alphason arm and totally agree with Guy on this, it's an absolute cracker. I'm currently using a NOS AT312HEP high output MC in my SL10 and this is also rather cool:cool:

Cheers....Dave
 
Hey, Dave,

I tracked that one on eBay too - they've been going between 100 - 200 lately. The reserve on that one must be at the higher end.

Is there a secret SL-10 admirers club hidden within pfm?

Gonna have to get me a EPS310MC, methinks.

Lee
 
Why do you think the mm cartridge would be better? I heard one the other week at Andrew (FlatP's) TT gathering. It didn't seem particularly outstanding. (to me anyway)
 
It was higher up the pecking order, according to Technics, despite being MM (and why would that guarantee it sounds worse than an MC anyways...). Many consider it to be one of the finest cartridges Technics ever made and from what I have heard I wouldn't be quick to disagree.

As with all things Hi-Fi it's very subjective, but my particular example had a brand NOS stylus fitted a few months back and it sounds sublime and tracks just about anything.

Still each to his/her own - I get tons of enjoyment from it that I never quite got from my Garrard 301 & Denon 103R... :)
 
It would seem that they share the same tip & cantilever so I suppose it depends how effective each's generator is. I generally prefer moving coil cartridges & in the case of the EPS310 I've been running it via step up transformers rather than the SL-10's mc stage.

I've gathered together a few interesting 'classic' cartridges recently & intend to upload needledrops of all of them soon & see what people think.
 
Setting Son said:
Is there a secret SL-10 admirers club hidden within pfm?
Click to expand...

Yep. Pretty good deck. Picked mine up a year or two ago in pretty good nick with a lightly used EPS310 on board and another new in box. I posted a couple of needle drops a while ago. Don't recall which thread buy I'm sure a little searching would turn them up.

Stuart.
 
Setting Son said:
It's all Joel's fault - is he still using his two?
Click to expand...
Yes :)

valveheaduk said:
As well as the EPS310MC look out for the even better EPC-P205Mk3 or 4:
Click to expand...
Are you sure about that ;-) Anyway, they're all good (with the P100Cmk4 just a little more good IMO).
However, finding replacement styli for the P100Cmk4 and 310MC is proving to be not a lot of fun :-(
Someone said that VdH likes Technics carts. Anyone have any experience? I suppose the other way would be to try and persuade JICO to have a look at the carts.
 
Dr. vdH once told me- many many years ago- that he was impressed by one of their offerings, but I cannot remember any more about the conversation. It would be worth asking him whether he can assist you.
 
I had a SL-10 for years. I bought it when I was moving around quite a bit, and setting up a turntable was a pain. I never really got on with it, so became an early CD adopter! I sold it last year; it had started to stick half-way through a side, so I suppose it needed the de-grease / re-grease mentioned earlier.
Contrary to an earlier poster, it was a Rega Planar 3 that brought my LP collection back to life, beating the SL-10 hands down.
It just goes to show, HiFi is a very subjective thing!
 
Well, no, it isn't really. I guess that's why I hardly bother with places like this anymore.
 
So people can point and laugh, this thread needs some pron.

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Joel, interesting that these are selling for more in Japan than in the UK.
 
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