Advantages of Upgrading Technics SL1200 MKII to something vintage?

I did the arm wrapped with shrink tubing and I'm pretty sure I didn't hear a difference. It's really hard to do an operation that takes you a couple hours and then do a comparison. Everyone says to rewire it, but until you've done a tonearm rewiring, you don't know what brain surgery is like. I did it to one table and swore I'd never try THAT again. It ain't easy and if you want to pay someone to do it, that's not going to be cheap. There's that KAB fluid damper, too. I thought about it, but read several reviews where they said the affect was minimal. Certainly not a jaw-dropper. In my opinion, if you don't want to spend a lot but want to hear a big difference ... for all the money you could drop on tweaks,... you're probably better off upgrading your cartridge to a good one. My next move on my technics is an Ortofon. I had the OM20 and it brings a lot of detail out of recordings. Unfortunately I sold mine with a table before I could try it on my technics. Now I want to try an Ortofon Red, I could use a little more high end ala Ortofon on my "dark" technics. If you're serious about dropping bread on your table, the I would recommend the Ortofon Blue to you. It will still probably be less than a rewire and a damper and I'm sure you'lll get the bigger bang for your buck from that change.

 

I agree with mikeburns. The presentation of the AT440MLa and M97xE are very different, and most likely MikeJedi just finds the exciting AT sound more to his liking than the laid-back Shure sound, but the two are in a similar performance class.

 

Everyone's ears are different, but it made a huge difference when I did it. It was most noticeable in the treble, which had previously sounded veiled due to the unwanted arm tube resonances smearing everything.

I found this improvement to be very dependent on the cartridge being used. High-compliance cartridges benefit very highly from this mod, but medium- and low-compliance carts not so much.

My very high-compliance Grado went from being a dull, sluggish turd to becoming my #1 after I installed the KAB fluid dampener.

 

Good observation to know about!

 

Yes. Keep the Technics and consider the above. Do it in steps like I did and suddenly you got a class act on front of you.

 

If you want a Thorens, the absolute best guy is Juerg Schopper in Switzwerland.
http://www.schopper.ch/index.php?page=welcome
speaks english, has bought the entire inventory of Thorens spare parts from the last owner in Germany and from the previous one in Switzerland
A fantastic guy, I dealt with him and had so much fun that I drove down to his shop and spent a fgantastic afternoon checking out his stuff. Amazing
He does not believe in modifying turntables too much (the stone plinths, etc... are not his trip)
Talk to him, he will walk you through a lot

 

I recently purchased a stock used 1988 vintage SL-1200 and installed a newly rebuilt Linn Klyde MC cartridge on it and I think it outperforms my Linn LP12/Ekos/Lingo/Troika/Khan/GS subchassis. Crazy as I paid $130 for the Technics and never expected it to be so good. I'm pretty determined to keep it stock as I'm reluctant to go down the same road as I did with the Linn.

 

Great record there too! Love me some Can.

Funny a good friend of mine is interested in a used LP12 and I keep recommending him a 1200 instead. Good to hear from someone who has had both. The 1200s are such good performers for the price and the speed stability is to die for. For me pitch instability is such a major deal breaker I could probably never go to a cheaper belt drive. To get a belt drive with the 1200s speed stability would cost a pile of cash too no doubt.

Im still saving for my tonearm upgrade (The Wand - designbuildlisten) on my 1200 incidentally. Car troubles blew my savings for it out the door. Will hopefully have it in the next month or so, excited!

 

Funny thing is I would have never considered purchasing a SL-1200 for the going price but this deal was too good to be true. Now that I popped a very good cartridge on it that I could feed through the same preamp as my LP12 I now realize how good a turntable it is. Wild!

 

Agree...from what I have read they were designed in Japan in the 70s. They knew what they were doing and could afford a good bit of $ for R&D.

 

What baffles me is the plethora of modifications advocated for this what sounds to me well designed turntable. Is this an "Audiophool" phenomena?

 

AGreed.. love my SL1200MK5.. I think for me to get a lot better performance i would have to go the ultra high end , I think I will be sticking with my 1200 for a long long while , I have had it since 07 and felt no need to upgrade !

 

That's an odd question coming from someone who also owns an LP12.

jeff

 

It's a good deck as it is, but the thing is that it deserves a better arm and it deserves to have an external PSU. These are the two things that really makes it shine.

 

Touché,

Having both with similar cartridges and playing through the same system and seeing how the stock SL-1200 performs in comparison, it's clear that all the money spent on the LP12 was audiophoolery in the end. I can't help but think it's not the same case with those who proceed in the same way with the SL-1200.

I'd be happy to swap needle drops with someone with an "upgraded from stock" SL-1200.

 

Not if you ask me. I do the side by side comparison daily... literally.

 

I suppose that would be helpful if you could setup each deck so that the only variable between the two is the most recent incremental upgrade.

 

I realize it's not always feasible; but, as such I have not had to rely on memory of how the same deck sounded previously. I'm only half way, I'd say, through the upgrades on the one table. Nevertheless, the differences have not been subtle. For one, I really believe the wiring in the stock arm would be well served by Cardas wire and new ICs. When I eventually do this upgrade, I still have other 1200s that are stock to which I can compare. I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a noticeable improvement. I believe the cartridge you're using on the stock arm would be well served by a wiring upgrade; not to be confused with saying that as is the sonics are not good or easily livable.

 

I replaced a burned out stylus illumination bulb and while I was at it replaced the stock arm cable with an old Ekos arm cable I had. I also replaced the stock cartridge tags with Linn tags I normally use with the Klyde. I didn't notice any difference. Maybe I should have made before/after recordings.

 

Maybe I should do the same (make comparative recordings). I have no experience with the Ekos arm cable; so, shall remain quiet on that subject.

 

56goldtop if you do make some comparative recordings I would be very interested in hearing them... Was thinking of doing just this when I upgrade my 1210 arm, but I dont have a terrific soundcard so the differences in fidelity might not be apparent.

There really needs to be more of these comparisons in the hifi world and makers of expensive tonearms should ensure they have some comparisons to guide people in what to expect (and yes I know each system will be different due to resolution and setup etc).

 

I love the Technics deck. I nearly bought one myself (in the days when it was just known as a DJ deck) but I bought my friends Gyrodec instead.

 

I suppose the million dollar question now is how much better an upgraded tonearm on a 1200 really is over the stock one and at which point the law of diminishing returns and steep bills kicks in?

 

Or even to go the KAB route. Or upgrade the power supply (which I personally doubt has a huge impact on the 1200 given its stock PS is not all that bad).

 

I believe John Ellison over at the Audio Asylum did a study on the power supply for the 1200 vs kAB ps upgrade. I dont have link avail right now but believe he indicated it was not worth an upgrade. John is highly regarded over, a retired Mechanical engineer...i believe he indicated the tonearm damper and strobe disabler were worthwhile ....along with cardas rewire...