Petition launched to reintroduce Technics turntables (Update: The SL-1200 is Back!)*

I got my 1200G today and I have a few things to share.

First, it is built like a tank and has a real custom made feel as opposed to the (slightly) more mass produced feel of my MK2. The platter is amazing and I don't know if it's the mass alone but it freewheels far better than the MK2. The brass top makes it a thing of beauty.

As discussed at length in this forum, setup with an Ortofon SH-4 headshell is problematic. Whereas with the MK2, I could bottom out the tonearm to attain a level arm, with the G I still need to go 3/16th inches lower! I'm using my MK2 thick mat right now but I'm still 1/16" high and with barely any free spindle left, a record clamp might not be an option. I'll make some shims at some point but 3/16" is a tall shim.

The biggest surprise -- and not a happy one, was that this tonearm has a wicked resonance. I was playing around with grounds with my gains at maximum and I found a ringing that I was able to isolate as tonearm resonance. With the needle down on a static record, just talking would set off a tone that I'd estimate between 500 and 1000 Hz (don't quote me on this frequency). I don't see how this hasn't come up before unless no one was doing testing with such extreme gain. It must color the midrange? I was able to eliminate this resonance by applying heat shrink to the tube. When KAB gets his fluid damping figured out for this arm that might help with this too.

One more curiosity is that with the G, grounding the TT to my phono stage makes no difference. This is a first for me since my other TTs needed the ground to quiet a 60 Hz hum. The G doesn't seem to produce this hum in the first place.

I will be listening over time to evaluate the sound of the G versus my KAB modified MK2, but so far it does not trounce it at all; it might be a slight improvement. I'm not good at critical listening so I'm not a very good judge. Nevertheless, the sound I'm getting is fantastic. The reason for my moving to the G was mostly the nagging feeling that I hadn't done all I could do on the front end to do justice to my downstream components. At least I've put that doubt to rest (for now). I'll consider KAB's fluid damping once it's available but I am also wondering if that doesn't somehow hurt the responsiveness of the tonearm.

TAFN

 

@AArchie Thanks for your comments! I have the 1200GR and I can definitely say my ground works perfectly, as in when its connected you get a noticeable reduction in hum/buzz then without (connected to a Hagerman Bugle 2). Can't say I've noticed a tonearm resonance like you have but that may simple be that my gain isn't high enough to bring out such things.

 

We talked about what looked like a couple resonances earlier in the thread, one around 250Hz, but didn't look too wicked in the plots ... Petition launched to reintroduce Technics turntables (Update: The SL-1200 is Back!)*

 

The arm does look more level with the Ortofon head shell when I drop the arm height ring to zero.

 

What I did wasn't nearly as sophisticated. I had the needle down and gain at maximum and I tapped around the TT and tonearm lightly. I also made noises like talking and clapping. What I got was a resonant ring that I'm pretty sure was higher than 250 Hz. That ring could also go into feedback with an increasing (runaway) volume. Putting heatshrink on the tube completely eliminated this -- likely by damping the arm. It's not surprising that an arm would show resonance somewhere in the audible range (KAB sell his tonearm inner rubber tubing just for this). I'm just surprised that no one else has experienced it with this arm. I do some "radical" sound tests with my equipment since I stress vibration isolation and it takes high volume to find it (lacking testing equipment). I'm not ruling out some arm/cart synergy either.

 

My ungrounded (or grounded) G sounds the same as my grounded MK2. Ungrounded, the MK2 had the typical 60 Hz hum on top of any other equipment hum/noise. When I listen for hum I have my gain way up so slight differences are apparent. Right now I can hear when the G's power switch is turned on. At normal listening levels this isn't apparent. I'm going to try shifting some cables to see if I can eliminate it anyway.

 

The rule I always follow is that your power amp should be the last thing you turn on and the first thing you turn off, thereby eliminating the chance of ruining the speakers by amplifying the "turn-on" signal from your sources or preamp.

 

Keep in mind, I'm hearing these things when testing. I generally have my amp volume very low or off when powering up or down. (Edit: To clarify, the G puts extra noise into my system when on. There is also a transient signal noise when the buttons are pushed.)

My purpose is to find anything that might be degrading my sound. I have a low noise computer fan behind my amp (I'm all tubes) and with max gain I can hear it "motorboating," likely due to RF interference picked up by my unshielded interconnects. At listening levels I can't hear it but at some point, all the little things add up.

Not to lose sight of the fact that I think the G is a fantastic TT. But like anything, there might be ways of making it better.

 

I made 3/16 inch thick shims out of hard maple for my SH-4 headshells so I am now using the thin mat that comes with the G and all is well in the VTA world. I also rerouted my TT cables and moved my SUT. I moved everything away from the TT power cord and electrical outlets. I think I completely eliminated any TT electrical interference as well as the "motorboating" that I mentioned above as coming from a fan. It never hurts to try things. I'm going to order a Michell record clamp and call it good. I'll get the "Rega" clamp that is designed for short spindles since I only have about 5/32 inch of spindle showing with a 180 gm lp. As mentioned before, the GAE/G spindles are a little on the short side.

I still can't get over how well this platter spins. It almost seems frictionless. The tonearm bearings seem especially fine as well.

 

Finally had the time to setup this morning. Bit of gymnastics on my part pulling out the P5 and associated cabling; shelves firmly screwed into a stone alcove so had to dismantle a few shelves too. Compared to the P5, the GR is HEAVY! Don't have the steadiest of hands, so fitting the cart was a bit of a fiddle. Anyway all sorted, tracking weight spot on, deck looks amazing. Was getting some buzzing from rh speaker - reseating the earth lead at phono amp seemed to sort that.
Okay - music. Ran through all four sides of London Grammar. Beautiful - inky black silences.....bass that punches you in the gut. First pressing of Scritti Politti Cupid & Psyche - my goto test - wow. Whatever is lower than bass. That.
It's not a million miles away from the P5, just different. Need to double check alignment; rushed that a bit in eagerness to play some LPs, so might eke out a little more in due course. Very happy - especially at the price!

 

That is a must with my set up which uses a buffer stage that emanates some nasty buzzing (due to earthing arrangement) if powered up first. Sounds like the new TT may be double insulated. Surprised there is not suppression on the on switch.

 

I've had noise in my phono stage for years that I thought I had to live with -- just the price you pay for a great tube stage, so I thought. Because of getting a new TT I rearranged cables based on what I thought was interference due to the G's power supply and huge motor. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! My noise got cut in half, or more, and I don't have any discernable effect from the G now. I don't know how the G is grounded but using the ground makes no difference -- no "ground hum" either way. The G was never a problem, rather it helped me solve an old issue with my layout.

 

@Chris Treece congrats and good to hear! For alighnment are you using the supplied 52mm gauge? That's what I'm using but have been happy with the sound not to bother with a different alignment.

 

The white plastic thing? Thought that was just for checking overhang? Used a printed alignment protractor.

 

That gage does it all. I line up the stylus over the arrow and flush with the end of the gage (52mm). Of course, there are other alignment schemes you can use.

 

I have a question about the cueing light. On my 1200G it's about an inch in front of the needle and pretty much worthless since it throws the light well in front of the needle. I packed my MK2 away and I can't remember its cueing light location but I never used it anyway. Does anyone use their cueing light on whichever model? Did Technics move it?

 

It’s that way on my GR as well, but becomes more useful as the arc traces the inner grooves. I can’t say whether it was relocated compared to prior models.

 

I’ll add that it appears the light, though the manual refers to it as a stylus light, is really more for cueing in lowlight environments. For audiophile home use, I don’t think it serves much purpose unless you need to keep the lights low after the family goes to bed.

 

I see what you mean about the arc. I guess I rarely cue beyond the beginning so I didn't see the point of the light. I just keep mine retracted.

 

That's bizarre - same thing occurred to me last night while getting to know my GR. Couldn't work out what the light was actually for in that position! You'd think after so many years and incarnations of the SL12xx they'd have ironed out that anomaly.....

 

The manual does indicate it's supposed to illuminate the stylus, but I always figured it was to illuminate the record...it lets me see where the gaps between tracks are in low light.

 

Doesn't that light spin, so you can aim it at the stylus?

 

mine doesn't

 

It should be right on the stylus and beam across the record to reveal dust (which it does amazingly well). Could be the position you are looking at it at? My picture to the left shows it ahead only due to the position of the shot.

 

Mine is about an inch in front of the stylus at the start but as the needle arcs across the record the light eventually hits the stylus. I've never found a practical use of this light. Maybe if it were pitch black ...?