Technics

My very first 'real' hifi was a full Technics system with Jamo - it cost me about £1200 in the mid eighties so wasn't entry level.

Sure it had excellent build quality, was loud and really impressive but sadly it just didn't play music.  I ditched it within 12 months for a Linn Axis, Arcam Alpha+ & Mordaunt-Short MS25Tis.  I'd already lost interest by 6 months but I tried swapping the Jamo speakers for the 25Tis but the rot had set in...

Everybody thought I was nuts for getting rid of that lovely Technics system.

A brother in law had these two A5 and A6 mk2 combo - with matching cd, graphic, SL1200 and speakers in the early nineties.  Rightly remember it all sounding awesome.

Interesting that in the old days they were about technology and measurements like THD being very important....the brand was then dropped by Panasonic. The new Technics brand is run by a Japanese lady concert pianist who has shifted the emphasis on to how their products sound. Not pe donally heard their new stuff, but the turntable certainly seem to get good reviews. I had one of their tuners, CD player and amp........then heard Naim, and moved on.

Can't add much to the thread as haven't heard the amps - but have had a SL 1210 Record Deck for the last 25 years and its one of those products which just gets on with the job and its build and pitch stability are first class.My Linn LP12 does need care and seems fragile in comparison but does shade it on sound...both products are Audio legends

I used an SU-A900mk2 for a short while in the 90’s. A brave effort but it just didn’t have anything memorable about it.

G

Sold plenty of Technics gear in the 70s - especially the turntable, though primarily on looks and tech-appeal. But the amp was an easy sell by reputation (and by association the Panasonic lifestyle stuff). 

But if you were short of stock, Sansui amps and especially tuners were demonstrably better at the same price point, and if you’re luck was in upselling to a Luxman.

I have a soft spot for Technics. The turntables were de rigeur during my school days and college radio used a pair of Sl150 mk2s with syntec arms. I’ve had some technics amps - still have the su8080 and matching tuner, and also love the st-8077. I’ve always wondered about the big statement amp set they made in the late 70s. 

I adore the SL7, better than the 10 in many ways. And the RS-M75 and 85 looked so cool even if they didn’t sound as good as a Nak. The RS-M9900 was one I never got to try...

You could say, I’m a fan. Ah... nostalgia!

Tabby cat posted:

Can't add much to the thread as haven't heard the amps - but have had a SL 1210 Record Deck for the last 25 years and its one of those products which just gets on with the job and its build and pitch stability are first class.My Linn LP12 does need care and seems fragile in comparison but does shade it on sound...both products are Audio legends

I tend to remember Technics more for their direct-drive turntables than their amps.  When I was able to afford my first 'separates' system, the trend seemed to be for Sansui amps.     

Gazza posted:

Interesting that in the old days they were about technology and measurements like THD being very important....

That thinking still massively dominates the Japanese domestic market.

Unless you go in for valve amps, in which case that lical market segment just has disdain for anything made in the past 40 years.

Richard Dane posted:

I’ve always wondered about the big statement amp set they made in the late 70s.

Black Tulip? Probably not because you would have said.

I think it was the SE-A1, seen here with the equally mind-boggling SU-A2 pre-amp:

The pre-amp is very different to something like the Naim NAC12:

Richard Dane posted:

I have a soft spot for Technics. . And the RS-M75 and 85 looked so cool even if they didn’t sound as good as a Nak. The RS-M9900 was one I never got to try...

You could say, I’m a fan. Ah... nostalgia!

Hi Richard

When I was in my first year at Uni (1982-3), and lived in halls, my next door neighbour had a great system with a NAD amp, Mission speakers, a Micro Sekei DD turntable and an amazing Technics cassette deck. The tape deck had dbx NR as well as Dolby B and was extraordinarily good. Any idea what that might have been?

Kevin, it was quite possibly this one?  The Technics RS-M270X

It was a development from the earlier RS-M65 (which in turn derived from the RS-M85 and RS-M75), keeping the direct drive system but modernising the looks, adding some colour to the FL meters, and of course adding DBX, both for use as a tape noise reduction system and also as a decoder for DBX LPs.  A slight shame was the move from a beautifully chamfered glass cassette well cover to one now made of plastic.  However, it was a handsome looking series with a nice slimline aesthetic. Technics at its peak for me.

It's a 2 header, but a very good one, and they can sound excellent. Funnily enough I have one myself, and it's handy when i want to play one of a handful of DBX discs still in my collection.

Hi Richard

No it wasn't that one but after a bit of googling (other search engines are available) I'm pretty sure it was this - the RS-M275X. Do you remember it?

Yes, that was the replacement for the 270X.  I do remember it well.  When you turned the NR selector to DBX it would light up the red part of the peak FL meter scale - the implication being that with DBX you could record well into the red!

Richard Dane posted:

I think it was the SE-A1, seen here with the equally mind-boggling SU-A2 pre-amp:

The pre-amp is very different to something like the Naim NAC12:

Ardbeg10y posted:

When I started my journey in Hifi about 3 years ago, I entered by accident the shop of a Naim Audio dealer and I asked if he had something like Technics. He kindly explained why Technics and Naim are more or less the absolute opposites of each other. Naim: keep things as simple as possible and use high quality components, and Technics: use all kind of technical inventions to maximize sound / quality.

 

Yes, and these are from the same era. I think it is exactly what my dealer meant. It makes me wonder how they sonically differ since I'm quite hooked on simple naim amps these days.

I remember replacing a blown up Armstrong 521 with one of these SU - V2 integrated.................. seemed quite an upgrade at the time.

dave marshall posted:

 

I remember replacing a blown up Armstrong 521 with one of these SU - V2 integrated.................. seemed quite an upgrade at the time.

Those Armstrongs were pretty fragile. A mate of mine had one and it needing repairing within weeks of unpacking it. He then heard my A&R A60 and quickly moved the Armstrong on and got a A60. 

Guinnless posted:

My very first 'real' hifi was a full Technics system with Jamo - it cost me about £1200 in the mid eighties so wasn't entry level.

Sure it had excellent build quality, was loud and really impressive but sadly it just didn't play music.  I ditched it within 12 months for a Linn Axis, Arcam Alpha+ & Mordaunt-Short MS25Tis.  I'd already lost interest by 6 months but I tried swapping the Jamo speakers for the 25Tis but the rot had set in...

Everybody thought I was nuts for getting rid of that lovely Technics system.

Just seen this topic and I am intrigued by the comment " it just didn't play music". What did it play then?

Just an expression. It was probably missing PRaT (Pace, Rhythm & Timing) to use Naim terminology.  It was boring and all I wanted to do was turn it off.

These are some of my favourites and most treasured Technics pieces;

The Technics SH-50P1 Stylus Pressure Gauge:

(Image courtesy of the zstereo website - well worth a read)

And the Technics SB-F1 speakers with tripod stands:

My first amp was a technics integrated and it served me well for many years. I love the look of the   Big dial UV power Amps.

I grew up in a Pioneer hifi family:  PL-12D turntable, 1970s Pioneer receiver & tape deck. Their PL-12D turntable was handed down to me - just replaced it this weekend with a new Technics SL-1210GR (with Audio Technica VM540ML cart).  Next step is a new phono stage then new amp

These are the Technics beauties I was proud to own in the 80's when more esoteric (and more expensive) brands were out of my reach.The cd is a SL - P277, the cassette deck is a RS- B355 and the amp is a SU-V40 VC Class AA and they were topped off with a pair of Mission 770 stand mounts.

The cassette deck is still in fine fettle but is now retired to the loft.The cd player is now in the possession of my father who uses it with headphones as it has a built in amp and is still spinning

Technics a great brand which I classed as hi fi  until I bought my first Linn unit    

Reading this thread brings back memories. When I first started work in the early 1970's I used to visit the long since defunct Beaver Radio in Liverpool just to look at the tuner displays on the Trio and Pioneer receivers - such pretty greens and blues! Never actually bought one though - my first system was a Garrard SP25 IV with Sansui AU101 feeding Wharfedale Linton XP's.