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

I agree, again, that it looks "tacked on"--in other words, it looks out of place and is not aesthetically pleasing. I laud those who want to replace the Technics arm with something else that sounds better to them, but I haven't seen anything so far that looks like it could have come from the factory. No judgments about the sound quality. I'm talking looks only.

 

Bolts on the topside of the armboard with captive nuts is a functional thing. The first time you take the entire underside of the table apart to replace the arm, you don't really want to do it again.

 

There's some really nice looking armboards out there though, like this ebony wood one from Magna Audio:

 

I'm sure the sound quality on the upgraded deck is excellent. Looks wise the original is functional, but nothing to write home about, IMO.

Here's a close-up, plasticky, and not exactly a clean finish:-




Here's an SME309 on a 1200:-




Tacked on?

I'm sure, no doubt, there are some hatchet jobs out there, on any old deck, but the likes of the above, or those by Inspire from the UK clearly demonstrate that these alternative arms can be implemented neatly. I surely prefer one of these to the original, or indeed, a fair few other decks out there with far clumsier arrangements.

 

Sorry to interrupt the discussion, but I wonder if you guys could enlighten me. I have never even heard the 1200 in a home setting but have always liked its aesthetics. I have also never had an arm with a removable headshell. So I have the following questions:

• Does the 1200 arm allow VTA adjustments? How about azimuth?

• What is the scale on the perimeter of the base for?

• One of the above pictures shows an SME M2-9R installed on the 1200. It appears the headshell on this tonearm has round cartridge mounting holes, which suggests the stylus overhang has to be set up by adjusting the entire tonearm. Doesn't it defeat the purpose of a removable headshell? I thought the point was to be able to swap different cartridges on the fly without redoing the arm setup?

• It was alluded earlier that there are some audiophile objections to the curved arm design. What are the perceived disadvantages?

Thanks.

 

The looks of the tacked on aftermarket armboards isn't as big of a deal when it's an SL1200 that was gotten for under $500 and an arm that was gotten for a good deal. However, when the turntable is $4000 and the arm is over $2000 and you plan on putting on a $2000 cart then the looks do make a difference. Having the tonearm and the tonearm mounting look tacked on will be a turn-off for many people willing to spend that much on a turntable.

Maybe Technics has thought ahead when designing the new SL1200G and made more room below the circular armboard mount so that the armboard could be more recessed for arms that require that and the armboards will have enough room to recess the screw heads and make things look like all the parts belong. Maybe. Maybe Technics will even have stock armboards made for fitting different arms. Maybe.

 

THAT looks pretty nice!

 

The top pic of the factory arm mounting looks clean. In fact, with the VTA adjustment ring, it's rather handsome and gives purpose to why the arm is mounted in a circular cutout. On the other hand, the bottom pic of the SME mounting looks tacked on (i.e., out of place, not designed to be there, unfinished, an afterthought, however you want to put it) and doesn't look like it could have come mounted from the factory that way. That's all. No judgement about sound, or value judgment whether it's something a person should or should not do to their SL-1200.

 

I agree.

 

Yes, they do great stuff. And, that looks factory.

The major qualm seems to be that the lip (edge) of many aftermarket arm boards does not come up (as this one does) to the level of the plinth. I just can't seem to bring myself to care that much.

Since the pot has already been stirred, I often use a 1200MK2 with an Origin Live arm board and a Trans-Fi T3 Pro Terminator. With the sound I'm getting, I could not care any less about how "factory" it looks. That's just me, though. I put a Mike New bearing in; so, the spindle isn't all shiny, either.

 

Interesting combination.

 

That was diplomatic.

Bringing this all back around, considering the drive system is supposed to be even better, I'm really interested to hear how this arm would sound on the SL-1200G(AE).

 

The aesthetics of the new SL1200G and aftermarket tonearms is all academic for me. I can't responsibly afford a $4000 turntable, and adding an aftermarket arm to the SL1200G just makes it even more out of reach. So this isn't a turntable that is going to be able to happen for me, whether I like the looks of it or not.

 

Yes. The stock arm allows for VTA adjustment. The headshell mounting has enough "wiggle room" for the headshell to cock ever so slightly to the left or right. This affords some (but not a major) amount of azimuth correction. However, many aftermarket headshells themselves can be azimuth adjusted.

The scale is for VTA height. Turning the collar rises or lowers the tonearm assembly and rather smoothly at that (if careful, it is possible to do it while a record is playing). This remains one of the best VTA adjusters, certainly, I have ever seen/used.

I'm thinking the SME headshells assume a certain cart/stylus overhang. I do not use fixed hole headshells for the reason you mentioned. If you move the tonearm you will be throwing off the spindle to pivot distance and everything else; not a good way to do things in my book.

Stiffness affecting cart/stylus behavior, damping, resonances, etc. To me, this seems to be a matter of execution rather than an inherent flaw in an "S" or "J" arm. Internal arm tube damping, while somewhat changing the effective mass of the arm, has otherwise been proven beneficial for the Technics stock 1200MK2 arm as well as upgraded wiring. Other manufactures may use different materials or less joins from collar to end; so, laying the error at whether the arm is curved or not doesn't really address the root of any particular issue, IMHO.

 

Suddenly, it's desireable because the same audiophiles are now in their late 50s and facing death and want a piece of the youth culture buying a Technics. I admire what Technics did with a pretty cheap drive system (some magnets and a circuit board), but I've never thought the 1200 was particularly good looking. Side by side with that new Pioneer, I think the Pioneer is better looking. I actually think the 1200 looks plain jane in real life, and it's little wonder to me why they blinged it up with shiner aluminum before slapping on an outrageous price tag. I sure wouldn't mount a $12k tonearm on one unless I had money to waste and was bored and wanted a novelty 1200 to post pictures of on the web. I think if people do some research, they might rediscover our own host's opinion of the SL-1200 in a thread where he stated his opinion that it's a mediocre-sounding table. The best thing about the 1200, to me, is it's like a Honda. They keep working. Not so expensive or particularly mind-blowing, but well built and dependable.

 

That is some funny ****! If nothing else, your posts are entertaining. Kudos.

 

Very clear explanation, thank you.

 

Sure, just a different opinion. But "afterthought", "unfinished", etc....? That's excessive and likewise Ham's assessment. I'm happy to disagree compared to the original plastic mounting. Especially when you look at some current designs out there, this is positively tidy!

 

If we look at the mechanics for an arm, e.g. in Stevenson´s paper Pick Up Arm Design II, we can see it will be a bit easier for a straight arm to behave as an arm should. However as with most things, in reality this doesn´t mean much, as it´s nearly all about the implementation of a specific arm. So we cannot say a straight arm is better than a curved. Some curved arm can be much better than some straight, and vice versa. And then we haven´t talked about how much arm damping, and damping the arm can achieve regarding SQ.

 

There's actually a few advantage to the S-shape too. They're better balanced on the vertical bearings than a straight tonearm, so they tend to run a lot more stable in vertical plane. The S-shape also helps to control unwanted tonearm resonances in the upper frequencies. There's also the very simple headshell azimuth adjustments that can be done with a spirit level.

And if you notice, megabuck audiophile tables have s-shaped arms (often 12 inch) mounted all the time.

 

Hmm, I like it. It looks like it all belongs together.

 

Yes, the Dynavector arm has a nice, clean mounting on that SL-1200. I've always thought that arm itself looks pretty kooky, though!

 

You can modify your SL-1200 s-shaped arm to have a straight arm tube if you don't want to replace the entire tonearm:

http://www.turntabletech.com/pickup.htm

 

That's a "DJ" style straight tonearm. Not appropriate for hi-fi use. Impossible to track even close to correct and will destroy records. I can't find the link right now but there's an article out there in the ether somewhere that explains why.

I remember the early 80s when the "S" shaped tonearms went out of fashion. Some people kept using them including Technics on the 1200 (though their main line of consumer turntables, even very high end ones, all went to either straight tonearm or linear tracking). I think both designs have advnatages and disadvantages but neither is clearly better.