There's at least four SL-100C users talking about it just on the last page or two, not sure where you are looking, but it would obviously be more popular on this board if available in the US.
Really? Switching off the auto-lift changes the feel of the cue lever? I've never turned mine off. I like it too much. Y'all are nuts! The auto-lift is a blessing. If I get called away to deal with a kid (or who know's what else) I don't have to worry about my stylus grinding away in a runout groove if I can't get back right away. Auto-lift is indispensable in my house. Also, many thanks to the KAB damper. I can "flick" my cue lever and walk away while the stylus enjoys a feathery descent to the grooves. Not to mention the impressive sonic impact. Tidy!
Exactly. It works 99% of the time without premature lift. KAB damper improves tonearm handling, cueing action and sound quality.
This would be nice. Correct me if I'm wrong- shouldn't a properly functioning cue lever do this anyway? Aren't they designed to have a controlled descent onto the platter?
It did make the descent more precise when off. And yes, the KAB damper is the icing on the cake. I have the luxury of not being called away from the table when playing records.
I think it depends on the viscosity of the damping fluid used in the arm lift mech. The thicker the fluid, the slower the descent. Too thin of a fluid and and it'll just drop as gravity see's fit. I imagine the damping fluid varies by turntable manufacturer and the inherit cueing/ arm lifter design.
Do you have a minute to elaborate on this? What do you mean by "more precise"? Smoother action? More even actuation throughout the cue lever range of motion?
The light sure helps to make them look nice! It has a macro mode, too, but I didn't even use it as I'd've had to get much closer to the stylus. That would have made it more difficult to get a good angle and keep the phone still... It sure takes much sharper images than my last phone, but that was to be expected with optical image stabilization. Looks like there is some noise reduction and artificial sharpening going on, too. I see some weird artefacts in the last image.. It's a mid range phone, so I guess more expensive models may do even better?
Descent is more precise in the horizontal plane. Engaged it would skew a bit on its way down. Speed of descent slowed down just a tad when disengaged. KAB damper has slowed it down even more. Good listening session last night. The lack of noise from the deck, the rock-solid speed, and good tracking from the arm are just amazing at this price point.
Wow, good observations. Now that you've described that action I can confirm that on mine, while the cartridge is descending, it does ever so slightly head back towards the edge of the LP. I've come to appreciate this action as useful when cueing to a specific track- i.e., if I overshoot the beginning of a song I can use the cue lever to lift and lower the cart again, w/o touching the tonearm by hand at all, and it'll skip back just a few seconds of track time on its' own. I never would have thought this was related to the auto-lift. Thanks for sharing. The next time I'm accessing the back of the 1500 I'll have to try switching off the auto-lift just to see if that does make a difference "in the horizontal plane" as you aptly noted. Cheers.
Try setting the antiskating to 0, down the tonearm and check. Then do the same with max antiskating. Why? Think about what the antiskating is for After that, forget about the horizontal "movement" when you use the lift (the lift didn't power off the antiskating).
There is no drift on the descent after cueing with auto-lift disengaged, regardless if antiskate is zero or set to max. Did not check with auto-lift on, I don't even want to engage it again.
Now I ended up with one of these by accident. I tried to buy one without a logo from China and received one with a Technics print. It's heavier than the AT-HS1 (which is nearly 2g heavier than a Technics). I got a used older Technics headshell as well and it's about 0.2g lighter than the current one. This still allows me to swap between the VM95ML and VM95C without having to adjust the tracking force. All of these are a little different in height compared with the current Technics. I'd have to raise the tonearm height to get them parallel with the record. For the chinese fake headshell and the HS-1 I'd have to max it out. Not sure about the older Technics yet, but I think it's not that bad.. for the conical stylus it will be alright.
I was wrong! The height of the older Technics is alright. Making up for the slight weight eliminated any apparent difference in angle/required tonearm height.
Yeah yeah, it's actually due to the anti-skate force pulling the arm back towards the outer edge, not the auto-lift. Palm to face. That's what I get for trying to be agreeable.
Actually I misread what you said- I thought you were saying the needle 'skipped back' a few secs on its own lol...
I know this thread is about the SL-100c but it seems relevant to report that the SL-1500c in silver and black is back in stock at Music Direct and elsewhere. Get 'em while you can! Technics - SL-1500C Direct Drive Turntable Technics SL-1500C Silver
