Technics SL 1210 GR turntable

Very nice - is it the new top model or the new one below ?

 I have had a SL 1210 for 20 years and love its pitch stability and ease of use and bombproof construction.My Lp12 is better on sound but there both good decks

Tabby cat posted:

 

Very nice - is it the new top model or the new one below ?

 

 I have had a SL 1210 for 20 years and love its pitch stability and ease of use and bombproof construction.My Lp12 is better on sound but there both good decks

The 1200 GAE is the topmodel the GR is the new one below but at 1500 euro still not a budget TT My friend has a LP12 which sounds excellent and looks very nice, but don't like the fuss regarding maintenance (subchassis/and belt drive system) and difficulty setting up. 

The AT 540 ML which is on my AT LP5 tracks like a bloodhound with zero inner groove distortion. Never had a cart that sounds and tracks so well for only 260 euro. It will even do better on the 1210 GR. The 540 is only sensitive to capacitance. But no trouble on that is expected with the Technics.

They can be modded. Some have had big success with installing a rega arm, even an SME tone arm instead of the one fitted. Also having its power supplies taken out, with an uprated seperate power supply has been said to take it to another level completely.

TOBYJUG posted:

They can be modded. Some have had big success with installing a rega arm, even an SME tone arm instead of the one fitted. Also having its power supplies taken out, with an uprated seperate power supply has been said to take it to another level completely.

i like original, i never shall buy a modded one, it's good as it is. For example the original baseboard for a Thorens TD 160, which was designed in 1957, has proven to be best for SQ. There are numerous topics about modded and not one saying modded is always better for sound. I don't like Naim external PS for sound as well or cars which are pimped

Lovely bit of kit Robiwan. I have a lust-factor thing going for the GAE model. 

And that’s from a veteran LP12 owner. 

I can understand the faff-free appeal of the excellent direct drive Technics vinyl spinners. They are no slouch in terms of sound quality.  You’re probably aware of a video report on YouTube by Michael Fremer who considered the ‘G’ model worthy of being reviewed with a £6k Lyra Atlas cartridge.

Enjoy.

John.

Looks great enjoy.

The black one is very but very nice looking

enjoy it!

An interesting alternative to the LP12 and Rega offering one normally sees. I hadn't even heard ofthese until about four weeks ago when a mate of mine (I'll call him Mr X due to the huge number of turntables he's owned in the last two years)  bought one second-hand and then proceeded to add every modification available.

With a modifified power supply and Ortofon Blue on SME arm it did seem to play the black stuff reasonably well and It does appear to be bomb-proof and immune to surface placement. He's owned both Rega and Linn and is quite content with the performance, so they must be good?

Lovely looking deck.

Geko posted:

An interesting alternative to the LP12 and Rega offering one normally sees. I hadn't even heard ofthese until about four weeks ago when a mate of mine (I'll call him Mr X due to the huge number of turntables he's owned in the last two years)  bought one second-hand and then proceeded to add every modification available.

With a modifified power supply and Ortofon Blue on SME arm it did seem to play the black stuff reasonably well and It does appear to be bomb-proof and immune to surface placement. He's owned both Rega and Linn and is quite content with the performance, so they must be good?

they are good but there DJ appareance frightens the audiodebielen

Tidy, clear and distortion free sound, not warm, not cold with unshakeable grip. Not a TT if you like a warm and bloomy sound. It has a CD like accuracy. VTF is 2,00 grams, bias is 2 and VTA is parallel and azimuth is set with small level bubble on the headshell. I have a usb microscoop and try to set SRA/VTA to 92 degrees ans some final tuning with vtf and bias by ear.

I use a 50 cm flashbacksales very low capacity premiere cable between de SL1210 GR and Stageline N and the supplied earth cable. There is no humm/buzz just a small hiss at max. volume which is normal.  

You could try a Funk Firm Achromat SL1200 as an upgrade, try one from funk or your local dealer?

djh1697 posted:

You could try a Funk Firm Achromat SL1200 as an upgrade, try one from funk or your local dealer?

upgrades already???????

Robiwan 

A great thread on Technics upgrades if you ever feel the need  to know just what you can do is on the hifi wigwam site in the owners club section there is at least 20 pages with great enthusiast advice.

Pleased its bringing  you much pleasure and you have got the VTA and tracking force spot on.

Cheers Ian

Ian, No need for upgrades. with some tuning of vtf and vta i'll be very happy.

The Wam owners club thread is more for the 1200 -1210.

Also the motor on your 1210 GR is supposed to be a big upgrade over the original 1210.And the arm is more refined.

Wasn't suggesting upgrading at all - you have only got it and very happy.....more vinyl !

My 1210 still has the stock arm and a Linn K9 and 25 years later still sounding fine.Little things I love about it is you can increase the arm height as its playing - increase the pitch great for all my house 12" singles and the start up time is so fast.Apart from 1 bulb change its been trouble free.A audio classic.

Robiwan posted:

 

Where's the other one ?   

TOBYJUG posted:

Robiwan posted:

 

Where's the other one ?   

Robiwan posted:

Ian, No need for upgrades. with some tuning of vtf and vta i'll be very happy.

Robiwan, as you say, this is a very good turntable. However, I experienced even better performance when I replaced the stock headshell with a Jelco headshell. You can also adjust azimuth with this shell. I have HS20 but some prefer HS25. (same shell, different finger lifts)

M37 posted:

Robiwan posted:

Ian, No need for upgrades. with some tuning of vtf and vta i'll be very happy.

Robiwan, as you say, this is a very good turntable. However, I experienced even better performance when I replaced the stock headshell with a Jelco headshell. You can also adjust azimuth with this shell. I have HS20 but some prefer HS25. (same shell, different finger lifts)

adjusting azimuth with technics headshell is also possible but only small. I check this with a very small level bubble on the headshell. Next week my dealer comes along to finetune the Technics by ear, and he has very good ones. He also positions my Allaes optimal in my room. 

Aside from the azimuth issue, upgrading the headshell on the new Technics decks is very worthwhile, in my experience.  I snagged an SL-1200GAE when released, and have since bought several Ortofon LH-9000 (magnesium with carbon fiber,16.8 grams) headshells for use with various cartridges.   In all cases there was substantial improvement.  The extra weight is easily compensated for by using the additional counterweights.  On the other hand, changing the mat was not beneficial, at least with the two options I tried.

aht posted:

Aside from the azimuth issue, upgrading the headshell on the new Technics decks is very worthwhile, in my experience.  I snagged an SL-1200GAE when released, and have since bought several Ortofon LH-9000 (magnesium with carbon fiber,16.8 grams) headshells for use with various cartridges.   In all cases there was substantial improvement.  The extra weight is easily compensated for by using the additional counterweights.  On the other hand, changing the mat was not beneficial, at least with the two options I tried.

Is the headshell part of the effective tonearm weight or not? If so more weight is less good. 

I am not an expert on tonearm compatibility issues, but generally my impression is that low mass is good for high compliance MM cartridges, but not so good for heavier, lower compliance MCs. Hefty Japanese arms such as the FR models and the Dynavector are legendary, and in my experience the heavy Koetsu stone body cartridges don't work well with many of the popular British and American medium mass arms.  And aside from mass, an upgraded headshell is just more rigid and a more secure fit to the cartridge body.

Anyway, the proof is in the pudding, and the sonic improvements described above are, to me, unambiguous, not just with MCs,  but also with a light, plastic-body Ortofon MM.  I suggest you take a look at the recent video on the Analog Planet website where Michael Fremer interviews a Technics engineer about the upcoming superdeck replacement for the revered SP-10 of the 1970s.  Near the end of the video there are closeups of a 1200G playing at the audio show, and the arm is paired with the high-end Audio Technica ART-1000 cartridge mounted in a massive headshell, much bigger and heavier than my Ortofon.  This seems to a tacit admission by Technics that the stock 1200 headshell is less than ideal.