Before I moved the TT to a wall shelf, it sat on an Auralex ISO-Tone platform with the Isonoe feet and suffered bad feedback.
Was the Auralex firm or squishy? I thought the Isonoes were supposed to be on a firm, flat surface...dunno if that made a difference or not. How close were the speakers to the turntable? What kind of flooring?
As @patient_ot pointed out, Isonoe's are most effective on a hard, flat surface. I believe the Auralex is a bit squishy since its made of foam.
I have an SL-1400. I've done the following: Kab headshell rewire with the plastic/rubber damping tube. I don't know how much the rewire did, but I think the tube helped. Not sure how to describe it, it's like there was a harmonic resonance there before that isn't now. But before hearing it without the tubing, I wouldn't have noticed it. There's a possibility this is a psychoacoustic thing (not confirmation bias as people say in this thread, it's actually more complicated than that). But there is slightly more mass in the forward part of the tonearm and it definitely tracks better. I did the 'clay mod' and added mass to the plinth as recommended on another thread here, can't tell a huge difference if there is any. Added an auxiliary counter weight so that the main counterweight is more forward. The arm definitely tracks better. A record that I have has a very very slight warp, and it would skip. It no longer skips. Replaced the feet with some 3D printed clones of the Isonoe feet that I reverse engineered. It certainly is better, not sure I would say a sound quality upgrade, but my dogs and my sub no longer cause skips. Have been planning to do a cast version of it in an aluminum alloy, as the plastic is clearly not the best material, but I did it just to see if I could, and also to see if they're worth buying, I'm on the fence, but the stock feet suck, so definitely need some better option. I want to do a viscous damper, but the guy at Kab says his is not compatible. Same with the external power supply. I am considering some options for converting it to be fully manual and changing the tonearm, but not 100% sure it's worth it on this table.
The top of the Auralex is soft, but it's not foam. The foam is on the bottom but yes, the top board is covered in a soft material. The small bearings on the Isonoe feet definitely pressed in a bit. Nevertheless, I've had the Isonoe feet on a hard wood cabinet and on the hard platform that comes with the Pro-Ject Wallmount it 1 shelf. The feedback issue was solved returning to the stock Technics feet while on the Pro-Ject shelf.
I experimented with doing that and posted about it on this forum. (Short version: it was not a positive thing for me.) You might want to take a look: A rarely mentioned SL-1200 tweak: the 10g aux. weight
After upgrading my cartridge and getting a fluid dampener, the next upgrade I would consider is a new tonearm. A decent tonearm costs more than the table itself (at least what I paid used for it). I absolutely love this table but I am not sure how much of an impact a new tonearm would make (assuming the same tonearm wires from KAB). Do you have any insight into this? I've never upgraded a tonearm. They look cool but should I just get a new table instead if it comes to that?
For the 1400? First you'd have to come to terms with the fact that you're going to have to lose the automatic return. The mechanism that makes that work will only work with that arm and bearing. So you'd have to remove that. I'm on the fence about doing this or too much else to mine. It sounds pretty good as is, and if I want to step up, I'm probably going to get a 1200mk2 and mod that or something higher end to begin with, I just don't have the money to spend on a truly high end setup right now. I also 1400 specifically to mod and learn about turntable maintenance and repair on a model that wasn't going to break the bank. The thing about the automatic return is that the gears in there can potentially cause mechanical rumbling and resonant feedback. They're cheap plastic, and it adds a lot of moving parts and other random pieces of metal into the case. But this is pretty much the only difference between the 1300 (fully auto), 1400 (semi-auto), and 1500 (full manual). So theoretically, removing that will increase sound quality anyways. But the other thing is, you'll need to get an arm plate for it, which I've yet to see. Most Technics arm plates that I've seen fit inside the original VTA adjustment helicoil. The 1300, 1400, and 1500 don't have this. However, a VTA adjustment coil from a 1200 might fit in a 1400. I had a long back and forth with an eBay seller about this, trying to determine if this would work when I was doing some maintenance and thought I had ruined my tonearm completely, or at least the bearings. Turns out I didn't, I just didn't have a piece screwed back in enough when I did the headshell rewire. That piece was part of the automatic return mechanism. Which brings me to my next point: There is one other pro to removing the auto-return mechanism: it makes maintenance a huge flipping pain in the ass. All the extra parts... the mechanism and tone plate or whatever it's called moves, around the tonearm wires, so there's a balancing act with keeping them loose enough for the arm to turn unimpeded, and tight enough so that the mechanism doesn't get tangled in them and well... yeah... But I'm on the fence because I'd need to find a different on/off switch and knob, likely off a 1500, and they're not super easy to find. Plus my wife sometimes uses it, and I've been known to fall asleep while listening. So, auto-return is pretty awesome for me. If I did get a new table (which I probably will at some point in the next year or so) I'll almost certainly keep this one for like my office or something. But I do have an Ortofon 2M Blue on it, and that was also more than I paid for the table. In fact, most aftermarket tonearms are way more expensive than any turntable that doesn't already come with those same tonearms. And most decent cartridges are going to cost more than an SL-1400 is going to to cost. That said, I have no idea how much of an upgrade a new tonearm would be. I am no expert, this is my first "real" turntable, by which I mean turntable that wasn't a cheap piece of plastic with plastic all the way through. If you listen to the Kab guy, after the damper and the tubing and the headshell rewire, the 1200mk2 tonearm will compete with any tonearm anywhere ever. He's a pretty nice guy and he will respond to emails and will help out and answer questions, etc. But I'm not sure how true that particular statement is, given that I've seen sooo many people talk about upgrading to an SME, Jelco, etc. (which incidentally, both brands are no longer selling tonearms separate from their turntables as of the last several months) and I've yet to see one that says that they wish they'd go back to their 1200mk2 tonearm, or regretted the upgrade. Then there are the prior posts in this thread... The 1400 tonearm doesn't use the same bearing system though. I'm fairly certain the arm tube itself is the same, but that's just a small piece of the puzzle with tonearms. Another thing to keep in mind if you're talking about the 1400, if you have the 1400 (not mk2), it's a servo controlled motor, not quartz locked, though the amount of difference that makes is debatable and some people prefer the servo controlled. There's a lot of people more experienced and well versed on me than this on the googlewebs. I also cannot say I would do the rewire again. It was kind of annoying to do and I don't think it actually made a big difference in sound. The tubing I believe made some of a difference, but wires? They're unshielded, untwisted, low voltage, low current wires. They're more flexible, that's for sure, and that's a good thing. But litz? I dunno, seems a bit far fetched that it would make a difference here. In fact I wouldn't have done it at all, but a local record store was going out of business, the owner had some extra, and cut me a bit of a deal on it, so why not?
My Isonoe feet from the UK today and are now on my SL-1200MK2. Before even unsealing the package, I was impressed by their weight vs. the stock Technics feet. Having recently been taught a lesson about affirmation bias, I'm hesitant to make any grandiose claims about their relative benefits, but I can feel confident saying that they aren't hurting anything.
Back around 2008 I bought at SL-1210MKII off eBay. It had been a dj machine which explained the killer price. It didn't come with an OEM box. After a few weeks of use I discovered that little cueing arm at the base to tone arm had been super glued in place after being snapped off. I repaired the damaged arm thanks to KAB. After the repair the TT functioned great but I always wondered how badly the arm had been abused by dj'ing. So about a year after the tone arm repairs I changed out the old arm for a Jelco 750 arm. I was going to send it to KAB but without the OEM box and having the experience of repairing the original arm it was just easier to change the arm myself.
Pretty easy. Youtube has multiple "How To" videos on disassembly and tone arm repairs for the 1200/1210. I watched a bunch before I made the repairs and again for a refresher when I did the arm. You will be amazed just how solid and well built they are.
I upgraded to the Funk Firm platter and bearing. Massive improvement. I have the Isonoe feet, but i'm thinking of upgrading to the IsoAcoustics Gaia III feet. Has anyone tried these?
That is awesome! Any YouTube videos in particular that you found helpful? What length of arm did you buy? How much did the arm upgrade itself help with performance improvement? That mod looks awesome. Also looks like the platter and bearing are fairly expensive. Mind me asking where you got yours?
@Dr: My 1210 arm project was years ago so please bear with me. I put on a Jelco Model:SA-750DB, it a 9”arm. The armboard I got off eBay don’t remember who but I remember where, Greece! The Video’s, well there were so many but I remember the Guy was in England. They only come apart one way and it is just a matter of finding which video you prefer. Here is link to a site in the UK that has a “Technics 1200” forum I have not visited the site in a few years but they are deep in 1200 mods. Analogue Art
OK, here's my take on what I think the Isonoe are bringing to the party (with full acknowledgement that it might be all in my mind). I am noticing two things. Bass is rounder/plumper and more forward, without being overpowering. PRaT is still very good, but it is less edgy and more, uh, bouncy... in other words, there is more of a delicate lilt to the rhythm and less slam. Of course, I could also be totally full of baloney. YMMV, etc. But this is what I think I am hearing.
I did not know that. Currently have a Denon DL 110 that I have loved but is creeping closer to 1000 hours. Currently planning on getting likely either an Audio Technica OC9 or an AT33PTG next pending on budget. I still don't feel like I have a good grasp on the concepts behind matching your tonearm and cartridge with regards to compliance.... Awesome. The question I'll have is do I instead save up for a new 1200G instead of buy a new tonearm for my MKII.....
That mod looks awesome. Also looks like the platter and bearing are fairly expensive. Mind me asking where you got yours?[/QUOTE] I bought them locally at a dealer.
