TECHNICS SL1200/1210. HYPE OR FACT?

[Gromit]

Yes, the 1200 somehow does everything right yet nothing... In stock form I'm bored after 10 mins without really knowing why. Which is not to say I won't have a go at it, just not for big money. I want to like it too. I put the Rega Carbon on the WT for dem purposes and listened to music all night...

This is a pretty good description imho - to me the bog-stock Tecchy sounds a tad lifeless (but has very good bass) and somewhat wayward. It doesn't string together horizontal musical phrases very well ie it doesn't have any real direction[/i ]to its presentation. It plays like a paragraph of writing where the commas, full stops and sentences have been removed.

It does however respond extremely well to tweaking, but how far one wants to take it - well that's up to the individual. The best I've had a 1210 sound at my place was with...

TimesStep HE psu (std psu removed)
Vantage Audio feet & bearing
Achromat*
Ortofon 2M Black in standard headshell (but with Sumiko wiring in the 'shell)
KAB damper*

*These bits I was never 100% sure if they were better, or just different. The VA feet though (at only 25 quid) were brilliant - I much preferred them to the Isonoes. The Achromat seems to cause an upper bass suck-out which makes the deck leaner, but slightly robs it of low-end clout...imho of course. Those with other cartridge/arm combinations may of course hear things very differently.

It is fun to hear what each small tweak achieves, and it does mean the owner can gradually build his/her TT up to something quite special. I wouldn't go crazy though if it was me. Turntables which have such a vast market of upgrades available don't really appeal to me now - I'd always be in the 'oh if I just get this particular bit it'll be brilliant' situation.

 

[Nigel]

I have a 1210 with the first Timestep power supply, Mike New bearing, Isonoes, modded Audio Origami RB300 and comfortably prefer it over my old lower spec LP12. I do miss my old Rega Planar 3 though. Rose tinted memories, I used it with an Analogue Experience power supply & eventually converted it to a CS Products Split Slab. Looking back, I always wanted an LP12 but the old Rega provided more overall listening enjoyment over the years.

 

[sonddek]

Yes, the 1200 somehow does everything right yet nothing... In stock form I'm bored after 10 mins without really knowing why.

Out of interest, Alex, what deck have you been using previously?

I found the stock 1200 boring, in an audiophile sense. Yet it had the strange quality of redirecting my attention to music. I started buying more records, for instance, and listening to albums on which I would not normally waste precious diamond. I discovered that I could enjoy metal and punk as music, which I had never really done with my previous deck. And Keith Jarrett. And Stravinsky. My opinion is that since the 1200 excels at accurate pitch rather than timbral fireworks it doesn't really appeal to the audiophile tendency to listen for impressive sounds.

The work of upgrading the deck revolves around improving timbre, dynamics, detail and instrument separation, rather than fixing any speed issues. Many other decks offer expensive upgrades which are supposed to improve speed stability and accuracy. It's probably always easier to sell timbral fireworks over solid reproduction of musical fundamentals like pitch. My guess is that some people who find this deck boring have got into the audiophile habit of auditioning by listening to timbre. When it underperforms in that arena they write it off, even though it is a very musical deck capable of delivering more truthful reproduction of musical expression than some more expensive decks.

In other words, if it's boring, you might try listening to music you think you don't like, and discovering some new music with it. That's when it got interesting for me. It then rebuilt my understanding of a lot of music that I was familiar with too.

IMO, of course.

 

[Alex S]

Hi Sonddek, Its not that boring, I'm over-egging it slightly. I can A/B the SL1200 with the Well Tempered Classic that I've happily lived with for a few years (before that a WT Record Player which ousted an LP12/Lingo/Aro/Linto). It was the pitch stability and even-handedness of the WT decks over the LP12 that lead to the change; for a belt drive, especially with the polyester thread, the WTs are pretty good in this regard. I used a P100 then a P75 for a bit but now really enjoy a Graham Slee Era Gold.

Since I sold 3000 LPs I'm not left with much music I don't like - But I've run all genres through the Technics and I think Gromit's 'lacks punctuation' sums it up very well (this with the Isonoe feet it came with, an SDS mat that I bought on a whim but like a lot, and a Rega Carbon - I'm buying a DV20x and hoping it'll sit happily on the stock arm with the Sumiko headshell I also bought and like, all sat on a thick slate slab).

I've not given up on the Technics, far from it, but may well move it on later for a WT Versalex, thus I don't want it to cost Paul Hynes/Mike New money and want to return it to stock quickly. As such, I've bought the KAB PSU (s/h) and the regulator, will fit those and call it quits for a bit.

I know how tedious it can be having hi-fi geeks invade your privacy but it would be helpful to hear the SL1200 fully upgraded, especially near other good off-the-shelf decks....

 

[Mignun]

Best thing I ever did with an SL-1200 Mk2 was to remove the thick rubber/plastic base and mount the deck in a big CLD plinth. I had always preferred the sound of Mk2 versions of the SL-1700 and Sl-1800 to the SL-1200 Mk2 and came to the conclusion that it was probably down to the difference in the bases. The stock base of the SL-1200 Mk2 seemed to be the biggest culprit for that sense of deadness to the sound. Even the SL-1200 Mk1 is a livelier sounding deck.

Likewise the SL-150 Mk2 is another that I prefer over the SL-1200 Mk2. I have an ongoing project with an SL-1500 Mk2 that had cueing issues (like they all do!) where I'm turning it into a "super" SL-150 Mk2 with a CLD base. Should be interesting...

 

[sonddek]

I know how tedious it can be having hi-fi geeks invade your privacy but it would be helpful to hear the SL1200 fully upgraded, especially near other good off-the-shelf decks....

You're very welcome to pay me a visit. PM sent.

 

[sonddek]

Best thing I ever did with an SL-1200 Mk2 was to remove the thick rubber/plastic base and mount the deck in a big CLD plinth. I had always preferred the sound of Mk2 versions of the SL-1700 and Sl-1800 to the SL-1200 Mk2 and came to the conclusion that it was probably down to the difference in the bases. The stock base of the SL-1200 Mk2 seemed to be the biggest culprit for that sense of deadness to the sound. Even the SL-1200 Mk1 is a livelier sounding deck.

Likewise the SL-150 Mk2 is another that I prefer over the SL-1200 Mk2. I have an ongoing project with an SL-1500 Mk2 that had cueing issues (like they all do!) where I'm turning it into a "super" SL-150 Mk2 with a CLD base. Should be interesting...

Very interesting. I have advocated simply undoing all the bolts so that the guts just sit in the rubber base, and that's how I use my deck. I think you may well be right about the deadness. It is a big highly elastic mass firmly attached to the chassis. Not many other decks can boast that feature!

 

[Mignun]

Yes, I recall a conversation some years back that I had with one of Technics' '70s sales guys. He admitted that the base seemed a good idea but probably did the deck no sonic favours - it was too much. But by then it was starting to be taken up by semi-pros and DJs and the base's robustness was proving to be an advantage. It wasn't all bad though - when they used a similar compound for the SL-7 base it seems they managed to get the balance just about right.

Some time I must try cutting a new top plate for my Loricraft plinth and try the naked SL-1200 Mk2 in that. I have a feeling it might work really well.

 

[sonddek]

Some time I must try cutting a new top plate for my Loricraft plinth and try the naked SL-1200 Mk2 in that. I have a feeling it might work really well.

Yes, the thought had occurred to me before, but your comments might galvanise me into building a nice solid ply plinth for my 1200.

This raises another interesting question, which is whether to remove not only the rubber, but also the composite mass layer.

And it also raises a further question: what to do with my Sondek. Answer: build a nice plinth for it which does not involve the standard suspension, which, IMO is the source of the Sondek's main weakness.