Technics new SL-1200MK7 and SL-1500C*

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by punkmusick, Jan 3, 2019.

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  1. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brazil
    I opened this thread so we can share our expectations for the new Technics SL-1200 that will be announced next Monday:



    We were having a side discussion about it at the GAE/G/GR thread, but it started to show up in other threads too, so I thought a dedicated thread would be good.

    GAE/G/GR were made as audiophile hifi gear, but clues suggest this one going to be marketed for professional DJs.

    Technics Will Release New SL-1200 DJ Turntable At CES 2019 - DJ TechTools

    If Technics can make it at a competitive price, Pioneer and other brands will have problems.

    What do you think? What do you expect? Are you excited?
     
  2. Sterling1

    Sterling1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    The new TT certainly appears to be directed to DJs. I am not a DJ and I don't play DJ, except at parties I host, where I use an iPhone and JBL Charge 3 to deliver a playlist of beach music to my guests So, not spinning records of dance music, and already being equipped with an SL-1210GR that satisfies my audiophile side, I don't have any interest at all in the new Technics offering; but, I applaud them nevertheless for what seems to be very savvy marketing.
     
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  3. classicrocker

    classicrocker Life is good!

    Location:
    Worcester, MA, USA
    My question is how will they reduce the price of the current GR models so this new DJ unit will compete with the Pioneer and Audio Technica clones? Can they still hand make them in Jaspan and be cost competitive?
     
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  4. JackG

    JackG Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    Cool news. I've been running my KAB 1200MkII for over 10 years now, though, so if I were to go to another 1200 it'd be to the GR.
     
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  5. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brazil
    I think this is the point. I have both a GR and a Pioneer PLX-1000 and by comparing them we can see the differences between hand made in Japan and mass production in China.

    However, the PLX-1000 is still a very good turntable that I believe can only be sold for only $699 because of the China lower costs of production.

    The new "7th" SL-1200 would probably be more expensive, maybe at $1,000 or something, I suppose. I don't think Panasonic would made these new turntables anywhere except their own Japanese factory.
     
  6. classicrocker

    classicrocker Life is good!

    Location:
    Worcester, MA, USA
    It will be interesting then how they will cut costs and still Mfg in Japan as the cheapest discounted retail I have seen claimed for GR has been around $1400 US.
     
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  7. RPM

    RPM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Easter Island
    (a link to the very beginning, for historical purposes :) The Technics SL-1200 GAE/G/GR general questions thread )

    Absolutely excited. Loving the classic red light. It may be marketed as a DJ tt but it doesn't mean it's only for DJs, unless they incorporate some very DJ specific feature, which I doubt. I expect it to be some sort of light version of the GR, so all the audiophile characteristics would be there, nothing below MK5.
    Hats off for their commercial strategy, they spun us really well since 2010.;)
     
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  8. Cyclone Ranger

    Cyclone Ranger New old stock

    Location:
    Best Coast USA
    Am hoping they can hit the 'magic price point' of $999 USD for the Mk7.

    They won't be able to keep them in stock if they do. :agree:

    And on the audiophile side, this would make for some tough competition for existing favorites in the $1K TT space, such as the Rega Planar 3, and the MoFi StudioDeck (recently price-raised $200 to $1199... possibly bad timing on that now :().
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2019
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  9. gumsrave

    gumsrave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tokyo
    Side note: there has been a lot of emphasis on black and red in the teasers. Since the 1000R and 1200G/GAE are silver only, and since many of the modern DJ turntables I’ve seen are black (reloops, DENON, Pioneer), I wonder if this new model will be black only.

    It might be a good way to visually differentiate it from the new “audiophile” TTs (apart from the black GR).
     
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  10. Aftermath

    Aftermath Senior Member

    I'm looking forward to seeing the details just for curiosity's sake. From what I can discern from the teaser photos, it looks quite similar to the SL1200 GR, except for the headshell storage hole and red lights.
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2019
  11. Mmmark

    Mmmark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Speaking for myself, I wouldn't think twice (if buying new) about paying $1,000 for a Technics made in Japan over $700 for a Pioneer made in China. I am not knocking Pioneer, as I think they are doing a fantastic job offering a great product at a great price, but by the time you are between $700 and $1000, I think a legacy product made in Japan is worth intrinsically more. All this is assuming the specs are good - Technics wouldn't be the first brand to cash in on brand/model recognition to offer overpriced/underperforming 'updates'. Doesn't seem like their MO though...
    Incidentally, I just bought an old SL 1800 MKII to upgrade my PLX 500. You seem like you know quite a bit about these TT's, what are your thoughts? The Technics was fully overhauled and it has a KAB damper and a few other minor mods already installed.
     
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  12. classicrocker

    classicrocker Life is good!

    Location:
    Worcester, MA, USA
    It will be interesting to see what the price will be. If is it around $1K I suspect they will have to make cost saving changes to get to that price point unless they have sold enough GR's at this point to pay for the tooling and engineering costs which may allow them to lower the price without sacrificing quality.

    Materials are a fixed cost to some extent but the labor to make them can be reduced considerably by outsourcing the Mfg outside of Japan. If you believe the WhatHiFi article all GR's are individually hand built at the Panasonic factory in Japan by highly trained workers and they only make 25 a day.

    The making of: Technics SL-1000R

    This manufacturing process adds considerable expense to the turntable and I wonder if they can actually Mfg. the new DJ 1200 model this way and sell it for under $1K without sourcing considerably cheaper and possibly less robust components.
     
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  13. RPM

    RPM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Easter Island
    The Technics is incomparably better.
     
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  14. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brazil
    When I first bought the PLX-1000 one thing that I liked was that it was NOT a Technics. I have had enough of Technics fan boys by then to be honest. GR was not available yet and between a used MKII and a brand new PLX-1000 I chose the latter. I thought it was cool to go a different direction and not buy a Technics but a Pioneer. I still think it is, I love the brand. Later came the GR and I couldn't help but buying one that was available in Brazil. It was the first and last I saw for sale in Brazil since then. I had an iPhone, than an LG and I'm back to iPhone, I'm that kind of guy you know?

    I think this new Technics will be of great quality. No doubt about it.

    I have no experience with other Technics except my GR and I have only an average knowledge.

    The PLX-500 seems like a cheap and fragile turntable unlike the PLX-1000 which is great.
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2019
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  15. Mmmark

    Mmmark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Uh-oh....I've always been leery of claims of supremacy that can't be based on objective comparison :)
     
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  16. classicrocker

    classicrocker Life is good!

    Location:
    Worcester, MA, USA
    Based on what I read your 1800MKII is basically a consumer version of the DJ 1200 with a double isolated spring loaded plinth. I believe it has the same motor and tonearm?

    I have a 1700MKII which is a semiautomatic version in that it does tonearm return at the end of the LP. The only real difference between your 1800 and my 1700 is your TT is manual and the 1700 has electronic belt driven cueing.

    If your 1800 has been fully serviced with the control pots cleaned etc., and the tonearm bearings are not damaged, you will be very happy with that unit as it is built like a tank. I still use my 1700 in a bedroom system and it sounds great.

    here is great resource for Technics

    Vintage Technics turntables
     
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  17. Mmmark

    Mmmark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Yes. The entire 1200-1800 (MkII) range have the same motor, tonearm, wiring, etc...the difference is in the plinth/dampening. The 1200 features a high mass plinth and fixed platter while the rest of them feature a lighter plinth with a spring platter and motor. Two different approaches to isolation, neither of which appears to necessarily be superior to the other. However, the sprung platter is unsuitable for DJ'ing, unlike the 1200. I believe that the 1200 also has a lighter platter, which would be another advantage if you are DJ'ing.
    And the guy I bought the 1800 MK II from overhauled the entire thing, so it does indeed seem to run like a top. I would have been curious to do a little side-by-side comparison with my PLX 500 before I sell it, but right now the Technics has a Excel cartridge and the Pioneer an Ortofon.
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2019
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  18. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brazil
    As long as I know, they created the best turntable they could for the $4,000 market and later downgraded it the more they could without losing sound quality to make the $1,700 GR.

    They have two alternatives: to downgrade the GR even more to create the 7th, or to build up a new project based on the older MKII.

    They would probably safrifice a bit of sound quality, that tiny bit that would possibly only be important to audiophiles but not to DJS. But they would still need to maintain a coreless motor in my opinion. Panasonic put some emphasis on the fact that the new SL-1200GAE motor was coreless eliminating cogging effects. They did the same when they made the single rotor GR motor. I think that by doing this they can't go back now, this new "7th" SL-1200 needs a coreless motor too.
     
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  19. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Are they going to completely re-tool this table, or is it going to be trickle down from the more expensive models.? My guess is trickle down.
     
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  20. Stan94

    Stan94 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris, France
    I want one.
    Period.
     
  21. gumsrave

    gumsrave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tokyo
    I agree. It makes sense for them to use the new tools, parts and processes, developed initially for the G, to build a range of TT models that are designed to target different parts of the market.
     
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  22. allied333

    allied333 Audiophile

    Location:
    nowhere
    I think Technics would want to compete with the Pioneer PLX-1000 price.
     
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  23. luckybaer

    luckybaer Thinks The Devil actually beat Johnny

    Location:
    Missouri
    They can opt to cut costs by going with:
    • A more pedestrian motor
    • Less-refined motor control
    • Lower spec platter
    • Lower spec tonearm
    • Cheaper materials in the body
    • No headshell included
    • Optional dustcover (no hinges)
    • 33 1/3 and 45 rpm only - no 78 rpm
    • Cheaper mat
    I wouldn't be surprised if the motor has more torque, resulting in faster start-up times. Also, perhaps they include custom lighting configurations, etc. If there's anything they can do ergonomically for DJ's running dual decks, they'll probably do that, too.

    I'm excited to see what they actually come up with!
     
  24. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brazil
    Besides more torque, modern DJ decks also have broader pitch adjustments. The GR is "only" 16%, the PLX-1000 goes up to 50%.
     
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  25. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    I have a GR and I want this for the bedroom lol
     
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