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

Remove, adjust, reinstall, repeat if necessary.

 

Bill, was there always that much azimuth play on the technics head shell before you started playing with that screw?

 

There's no other place to adjust azimuth that I know of...it is a little surprising that it's so visibly off...though I've seen MKIIs with the same tilt.

 

No, only once fully loosened.

 

If you increase the VTA via raising the arm a bit, it should lessen the amount of the left lean the cartridge has when on a record.

 

I don't know about that...I just tried that on mine ( a G model) and my headshell looks level whether it's at "0" or all the way up to "6". I don't know why that one looks off. I've seen that on a MKII my buddy owns, but I just figured his headhsell was to blame. At least adjusting the azimuth on the headhsell allows it to be corrected.

 

Here's mine, just for comparison purposes. This is a Technics M5G headshell, so azimuth cannot be adjusted on this one, but it still looks level.

 

A couple more pics, just because I think this thing looks cool.

 

In 2009, the retail price for the standard SL 1200 MK II (not the M5G) was around 450 Euros.
I think, the end of production was announced around 2010. Then, retail prices, after that anouncement, retail prices increased gradually, until up to around over 1000 Euros around 3 years after end of production, when dealers were selling their old stock.

The price to talk about, and to compare with, is the regular retail price of 450 Euros, before the device was discontinued.

Best regards.

 

For what point? Speculation? I paid 800 and they sold out quickly and even at that price and the supplier headaches not helping they still stopped production. Any price to use is the price people were willing to pay at the time. They certainly couldn't build them and sell them at 450 going forward and find it worthwhile to keep doing that from a business model. Sure though use 450 for your purposes.

 

Yes, 450 euros is only $532 today. Not even close to what this thing should sell for.

 

1200GR in the house!

 

@recstar24 looks great! Nice choice of record for a spin!

I'm spinning the new stereo Sgt. Pepper for the first time and it's sweet! I'd heard the CD but the vinyl sound fantastic!

 

Saw my first one at the local dealer today. I have a GAE which I love. New GR looks great and is also Japanese made. Most would have a hard time seeing the very minor appearence differences. I think you did very well! It's a great piece and built like a battleship.

 

I've got the 2014 mono remaster which I love and shall play tonight as well! Thanks for all of your help with my questions as well!

My first impression was just how beautiful the finish is on this thing. Super easy to setup and get my cart and tonearm relatively aligned and leveled.

 

How's your azimuth look? I take it you don't have that same issue @wgb113 showed up above, which is a good sign.

 

I'll try to take a pic later, but by my newb eyes, it looks pretty level, just did it by sight, used the included mounting tool in the box, inserted into arm tube and tightened down, and after balancing the arm, getting VTA set by eye, and setting VTF, was setup under 30 minutes.

This is my 2nd table, but truly my first table where I actually had to set it up as my previous table was a uturn orbit. Overall I have to give a lot of credit to technics/Panasonic as the setup process was pretty easy for a first timer. The ortofon 2m blue was really easy to align with the 52mm technics tool and got it straight and parallel on my first shot. VTA was super easy - in the manual, there is a chart that shows you by cartridge height what to set VTA to (ortofon 2m blue is 18mm high which technics says set VTA to 1) and it came out very level, again by eye.

So basically I followed all the directions and didn't over-futz with it and it seems everything turned out well I figured technics knows way more about this stuff than me

 

You have a beautiful table there recstar - congrats

 

@Davey look ok?

 

Yea, that looks great, glad you got one that didn't need realigning. Hopefully the one shown earlier is just a rare occurrence. Looks like you're in for some happy listening

 

Looks really good to me!

 

I agree. The ease of setup is really outstanding, as it's always been on the SL-1200. For one, try adjusting VTA without a marked dial...a real pain.

Not to be presumptuous, but I bet you noticed a substantial sonic improvement over the Orbit.

 

Hey!
Looks very nice!
What was the price?

Best regards

 

I've got it dialed it now but I am still stumped. I threw a level on the arm and, in addition to being level there were no gaps between it and the tonearm that would indicate that it's bent at all. I'm think that the collar that accepts the headshell is slightly off. I'm glad Technics built their new headshell with adjustable azimuth rather than having to bother with those two difficult-to-reach screws near the collar.

Last night I ended up spinning a couple sides - American Beauty (MoFi), Brothers In Arms (MoFi), and Graceland (recent reissue) and this is the level of improvement I was hoping for - very noticeable over my Debut Carbon/2M Blue/PhonoBox V. Gone is much of the siblance I had on albums like the latter, and the first two have never sounded so good.

On another note, I may end up ditching the Mooo Mat. There's a part where the hide goes in different directions and it runs straight across one side of the mat. I've tried to flatten in out using weight (of the turntable of course) but it's still there, making perfectly flat records act as if they were warped. Kinda bummed since it looks super-cool but oh well.

 

Yes. The production stop revealed, what prices people would pay for a genuine Technics. Prices extended up to 1000 Euros or even more, for new old stock.

But again, people are paying equal or more for inferior products, like the "audiophile" record players supposed to be a "lifestyle" item: No antiskating, belt drive, no speed switch, no nothing.

By comparision with the other products in the market then, the Technics was cheap back then.

Now today, the new Technics (a replica of the genuine Technics) is not cheap but in the ballpark, compared with the other products.
And, it looks super cool and great.

Best regards