My TD1000 arrived today and I have installed it on my 1200G. Nice. Very nice indeed. Not huge but subtle difference. Blends in perfectly as well with the arm. It took a while to realise that in order to align it properly horizontally one has to look underneath it. That gives a good idea how horizontal it is.
I would imagine different cartridges require different amounts of fluid. I have a TR1200 on my mk2 and I had to spend quite awhile adding and subtracting fluid to get it where I thought it sounded best.
I love mine, but I really couldn’t a-b compare with it or without it. I can say that for every old LP I have that have “trouble spots,” the damper helps all my carts glide through them without skipping. There may be POP, but no skip. Especially helpful foe my V15 Type III and it’s VTF of 1.0...
Looks like it is part of the base turntable! Mine is the 1210GR, so I purchased black. A perfect match.
Nice pictures. So what if you need to take the platter off, does it have to be removed, or can you juggle it and clear the trough?
Jup needs to be removed, I once forgot and thought like: “huh? The platter is only going up for a centimeter? Ah yes, the trough is in the way...” The paddle can be left as is though.
I think I would prefer to remove the paddle, too, though, lest any of the fluid drip from it... that stuff is a real pain to clean up...
The pics above, while beautiful, still don't do justice to how quality machined the thingy is, KAB didn't skimp that's for sure. And its a pretty heavy dense piece of metal to boot! I've been very impressed and cannot deny it absolutely looks fantastic.
Maybe I’m ahead of myself, but feel very behind just having ordered my first turntable, a 1210GR in my 50s... Picked out a Nagaoka MP-200, looking hard at the Puffin DSP as a phono stage... and was very interested in the Little Fwend Disco. Doesn’t seem like the TD-1000 and auto tone arm lifters are compatible, given little space available. Anyone find a solution? Guess I’ll have to wait until the TT and cartridge actually arrives next month to know if I actually need a tone arm damper
My opinion is that the 1210GR (good choice, by the way) doesn't need a damper. It's a great table as it is. I do have to say that when I installed a TD-1000 damper on my 1500C (which does have an auto-lift!), I was instantly impressed by the difference. Tighter bass, more space between instruments, everything just sounded more distinct. And not trying to pull meaning out of every little mod or add-on, the damper did make an obvious improvement to the sound quality, immediately. I've also noticed that since installing the damper the stylus is less likely to be affected by blemishes in the vinyl. I have a new album that skips at the beginning of a song and with the damper installed there's no hiccup at all. Pretty awesome. I think the TD-1000 is an excellent addition to the already solid Technics decks. If you really want an auto-lift, you might want to take another look at the SL1500C? I've been singing the praises of my 1500 since New Year's. I love it. Happy listening!
Looks awesome! Just ordered a black one for my SL-1210GAE. However, I could’ve sworn Kevin told me the paddles were silver even on the black model, but yours is definitely black...did it come that way?
Any of you with the 1200G or GR, etc dabbled with rewiring the tonearm with KAB's 'air litz' wire? Anybody done a 'rewire' upgrade like for old Technics but for the new line?
Hi Snorker, I have the same 2012GAE and wonder if you have the fluid damper installed and what is your impression? thanks Jeff
I do. This is actually my second one. I had a silver one on my previous SL-1200G that I sold with the turntable to another forum member after I got the SL-1210GAE. The fluid damper is essential, for me. I have some vintage Stanton and Pickering cartridges that are fairly high compliance and don’t perform that well without the fluid damper. They’ll still work, but any little speck of dust on the record would make it skip without the damper. The damper essentially allows you to use any cartridge. It also allows even badly warped records to play through.
For what it's worth, I have the fluid damper on my 1200 MK II and it made immediate improvement in essentially every category possible. More focused, well balanced/rounded, and just overall better sound. When I eventually upgrade to a new Technics, I am 100% getting the damper with it.
Yea, I have the optional damper on my Micro Seiki arm and it really helps to stabilize the motion, gives very precise cueing and really kills the effects of tonearm resonance, wouldn't want to be without it. It's kind of strange that Technics has chosen not to provide internal damping on any of their new series of arms, even on the SL-1000R, they've had it in the past on some of their more expensive arms, like the EPA-100 series, and those often wound up on the SP-10 tables. That was adjustable magnetic damping, but similar in operation to fluid damping. Many of the high end arms today are using either fluid or magnetic damping.
Would be nice but thank God for Kevin at KAB for having all the mods available. I would be interested it anybody with a new Technics model has done the "air Litz" tonearm and RCA rewire that he offers. I did it on my own used MKII table but not sure if I would trust myself doing it on a brand new higher end Technics model.
The KAB damper is very easy to install. Just take your time and follow the instructions. I found it helpful when I was filling the trough w/ silicone to draw the plunger back out of the syringe a tad each time I waited for the silicone to level out. That prevented a string of the very thick fluid from draping over the side of the trough.
