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

You don't have to lower the tonearm to lock it in on my Rega RP3, the cue lever stays up.

 

Yes but Regas have always been a bit odd. Not even a VTA adjuster, or a DD system.

 

I actually think a higher rest is a good idea so that you don't have to lower the arm as it saves a step (but the 1200 is a DJ table so not having to lower the arm lets you jump onto the record and cue right away by hand), but that's not the way most turntables work. But the point is, if you had to bend the arm upward to put it on the rest, would you consider that normal?

 

Precisely - this is a case of the cue being set slightly too high. Another thought - if the VTA reads 1mm out than Technics claim it should for a certain height of cartridge, that hardly amounts to a bent arm tube. It means it's either 1mm out only or Technics figures are slightly wrong. Also depends how the cartridge height was measured. Need some other owners to check validity of the owners manual. These things are often wrong and I doubt many people bother reading these details and just level cartridge by eye or with aid of level. I never rely on arm markings for precise VTF and use a stylus balance so why rely on the VTA marks?

 

The Rega cueing conforms to the norm I have encountered with other specialist arms and is adjustable. WTF is odd about being belt drive and not DD? VTA can be adjusted with spacers for Rega.

 

Chill, dude.

 

I think on this point back2vinyl has a valid gripe. I think there's a little too much play here. The achilles heel of the 1200 to me has always been the copper threads of the vta adjustement. I wonder if they're still copper threads? If they are, Technics didn't correct one of the worst problems of all with the 1200. Once those threads seize up it's a nightmare. But luckily you really don't need to fuss with the vta all the time.

I still say it's the same damn arm as before, just with magnesium instead of aluminum and some $2 ceramic bearings instead of metal ones.

 

Wrong is wrong, man. They're in UPSIDE DOWN. He came here for help, we're telling him what he's doing wrong.

 

What norm, not mine anyhow. You didn´t understand the rest obviously, no reason to explain then.

 

Your norm is obviously based on DJ Turntables !

 

Ah, but that may be why you aren't getting the same movement then, because you have the lock off. I tried that as a solution too, just leaving it off, then I kept having weird random issues with my counterweight / VTF being way off. Turns out the counterweight was brushing the lock button when I lifted the arm at the end of a side

 

Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day when I was accused of fishiness for having my cartridge screws installed "upside down"!

For info, if I installed the screws the other way around, the ends of the screws would be gouging twin spiral furrows in the playing surface of the record. So on balance, it seemed preferable to me to install them with the screws pointing upwards, even at risk of offending the sensitivities of SH forum members.

The AT33PTG/II is not an easy cartridge to install but without going into off-topic detail, if I was installing it permanently, I would nip the surplus ends off the screws. I might even turn them the other way up for neatness, though it would be a very low priority.

On the arm rest, the answer to this is that it's evidently a British/American thing. All the SME and Rega arms I've ever owned have returned the arm to the arm rest with the cue lever in the up position, but if you guys in the US/Canada are telling me that US decks - and, it would seem, Japanese ones - always have the cue lever down, then that's fine. I'm not in the least bit worried about the arm rest on the Technics - I do have a slight preference for the British method and being accustomed to British arms, I was slightly surprised by the Technics but now I know that's just how it's supposed to be, I'm perfectly happy with it as it is. I never meant to suggest it was a defect and I'm sorry now I even asked the question.

Thanks very much, Tonmeister and also Aftermath - those are very helpful answers and it seems that the movement on my tonearm assembly is not unusual, even if not everyone has it. So that's the other question put to rest and I'm just waiting for an answer from Technics on the arm tube.

RPM, sorry, I don't have the original headshell any more - it went back to Technics - so I can't shoot a video of that.

 

I like my Jelco arm on my Ariston. The arm goes into the tonearm rest with the cueing lever up or down.

 

I'm pretty sure the manual does -not- tell you to do that, you just didn't understand what it said. You lower the cueing lever to get the arm to sit in the arm rest. That's how most turntables work, or at least it's how every single turntable I've used in my lifetime works (Rotel, Dual, Technics, Denon).

I just tried giving a push on my tonearm over the arm rest, with the cue lever up. I think if you did that, and then force-locked it into the arm rest and left it there for a period of time, you could damage something. It seems like the kind of damage you might inflict is exactly what you've been describing in those pictures with the bubble levels, etc!

 

It's not wrong if that's all you have.

jeff

 

I admit I put my screws in upside down. With my Audio-Technica cart it's just easier to install that way. Whenever I put the screws right-side up I always ended up scratching the headshell because the screwdriver would slip...

...but now it's probably going to drive me crazy so I'll probably redo them "right side" up

 

Why don't you speak to member lymbo? He had the cart up and running on a Technics. His table is the top photo. I think I see a spacer in there. Once again, I think you need a spacer for the thinner Technics headshell vs beefier fixed headshell like the one below. Maybe your gap issues have to do with the fact that cart won't work without a spacer on that headshell. The sign that the screws would hit the record is indicative of the fact that something is wrong.

Best cartridge you've never heard of: the Audio-Technica AT33PTG/II »

 

I beg to differ, bonjo - it definitely says you put the tonearm in the arm rest and THEN lower the cue lever. Anyway, if that's the problem, and you just tried it, your arm is bent now as well!

I'm just kidding - many thanks for your helpful suggestions.

 

Done and done. Screws are now in right side up, looks great, easy peasy!

 

Those pics illustrate the problem beautifully - you can only put your screws in the "right" way up if they're EXACTLY the correct length, and I didn't have any that were exactly the correct length. The other problem is, if you look where the nut is, the space isn't wide enough for a conventional nut so you can only use the special Audio-Technica cylindrical nut.

I think they create these hurdles deliberately to prevent vinyl becoming too popular.

 

Buy a set of these. Will find bolts of correct length and easier than slotted heads.

SRM/TECH PRO CARTRIDGE MOUNTING KIT »

 

I meant to ask - in what sense do you feel that those SME arms aren't an ideal fit? You're right to say Sound Hi-Fi never tried it with the stock arm - I asked them and that's what they said.

 

Nice, but I doubt the nuts would fit in the space available to be honest. It's probably easier just to trim the long screws that AT give you.

 

I see, but for the new one you said:

 

The cartridge screws: Nuts up or down - either works, but nuts down is more common. There may be good reasons to install nuts up - ease of installation, the nuts scraping the body of the cartridge etc... MANY times I've seen nuts up. It is fine.

The armrest requiring cue lever down:

Technics SL-1200 GAE - YES. The lifter prevents it from resting on the armrest hook otherwise. There is no problem not lowering the cue lever down when the tonarm is in (or more precisely above) the armrest. You only need to lower the cue lever if you intend to LOCK the arm in the armrest.

Rega RP1, RP6 - NO. The armrest is higher than the lifter in the up position. No need to lower the cue lever.

ProJect Xtension 9 - NO. The arm slides off the lifter into the magnetic armrest. No need to lower the cue lever.

So either way is possible depending on the turntable design. If someone's experience is limited to ProJect and Regas, for example, you can't blame them for not lowering the lifter to lock the arm. It simply would not occur to them. It didn't to me until I noticed the gap between the arm and the armrest on the GAE.

On the (not) parallel arm: I have already posted a picture of my arm earlier and it is not parallel to the headshell either, so I think it is unlikely back2vinyl's arm is broken. Either it is by design, or there is a manufacturing flaw. At a minimum, there is a problem with the instructions for VTA adjustment in the manual. It states that you should adjust the VTA ring to make the arm parallel to the platter. This clearly is not correct or even possible. When the headshell is level, the arm goes up and down. I will try to take some pictures of my GAE arm today. I am starting to get a not too good feeling about this.