The Technics SL-1200 GAE/G/GR general questions thread

I'd love it if someone produced some sort of "shroud" to drop over the edge of the platter and conceal the dots. And possibly something to cover the pitch slider too.

 

I wouldn't, icon looking TT.

 

I’ve posted this before (I think). It takes a lot of effort to properly record real platter wobble on camera. For this it took leveling the DSLR even with the platter, and then cropping in and adding in two reference lines in post. Those two lines are at the same height. The table is a GR.



Panasonic/Technics was unphased by this video and insisted everything is within spec. I doubt they barely watched the video. They are positive their QC process doesn’t let any out of spec platters go out the door.

My retailer was a bit frustrated with Technics on this because they thought a replacement platter would be suitable. They were happy to take it back the GR and offered me significant discounts on other turntables, but I kept it because at the end of the day I wanted the GR for a reason, and once I added a platter mat it was obvious the platter was inconsequential. Even more so when adding any piece of vinyl.

 

Oh, and I should mention, before I made this video, it was very frustrating to have Technics dismiss me to the retailer (paraphrasing) “he’s just looking at the strobe dots like everyone else does and he doesn’t understand the height isn’t changing” and me having to insist I wasn’t dumb and understood the difference and could show them real height wobble. So then I make this video and then they’re all “doesn’t matter anyways.”

Love my turntable, but like countless others over the decades, find Technics difficult, stubborn, and generally unappreciative.

 

thank you for sharing! I would say yours looks “worse” then @haomingy and my suspicions were correct in that technics would believe it’s all within spec. I’m glad you are still enjoying the table though, and you touch on that once you slap on a platter mat (which has its own non-linearities), and a vinyl record on top (which is one of the more irregular surfaces you can find out there), it kind of is all a wash in the end.

 

Well you wouldn't have to buy it then

I suppose I'm after an SP 10 on the cheap!

 

Maybe the Klingons could help you?

 

Runout

https://youtube.com/shorts/h-ntZ9eeuPg?feature=share

 

Who?

 

The lads with the "cloaking device".

 

Honestly, looking ONLY at the very top surface of the platter, it appears to be wobbling a mere 1-2 mm. ..The dots and the bottom edge of the platter seem to wobble a bit more but as so many have mentioned that is a mere cosmetic anomaly that has zero bearing on how the table will sound. As I've said before, milling (molding) all those dots is a torturous task for Technics that makes it nearly impossible to produce a cosmetically perfect platter.

Another question that needs to be asked is just how perfect would ANY OTHER comparably-priced table be in this respect? This is a turntable that costs just $1600 and spins at 33 1/3, it's not realistic to expect it to be built to the extremely tight aerospace tolerances of a $100k turbine impeller that spins at 25,000 rpm. ..But I get the impulse to obsess a bit over it. ..Once you know the wobble is there, it's hard not to fixate on it.

 

I reached out to Technics myself through Panasonic after months of being ignored. Bottom line after sharing videos and a few phone calls they said it was within the expected tolerances

 

the runout on mine
~ +/- 3/1000 ths
That is a pretty darn tight tolerance.

If you look at the plinth/platter point or the dots it looks like it is wobbling.
It is not.

 

Brand new owner of a SL-1210GR here...

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions/tips/recommendations when setting up and first use. This is my first turntable (and hopefully only - I wanted to buy once) so my experience is limited. As of right now, I have an Ortofon 2M Red mounted to a Technics headshell on loan from a family member to get me started.

 

Congrats, I recently did setup by the book (instruction manual) and found the results to be solid. In general, be mindful of the stylus (e.g., don't snag a sleeve on it or something) while doing setup. The Technics overhang gauge (i.e., white plastic thing) can be a bit hard to eyeball, so take your time there. Also making use of your phone's camera (e.g., IPhone magnifying app) can be helpful in getting better alignment. In the future you can use more equipment to refine your setup, but I think the instruction manual gets you to an acceptable level of performance.

 

This forum is a great resource. Pick a topic and start reading. You have to comb through some faff but there's good info in most of the threads.
I suggest reading the manual that came with the turntable. It explains comprehensive details for proper set-up. Then get a nicer cartridge.
Enjoy that new GR!

 

Welcome. What’s your budget like for the new cartridge?

 

That one is super tight! That may be the best I've ever seen. My SL-1210GAE measured 0.0075” or 0.19mm, which KAB and I both considered outstanding.

 

I did a few. I have 0 complaints.
Better than +/- 2/1000
https://youtube.com/shorts/gWQKFF3DW_Q?feature=share

the black part was looser
+/- 3 to 4/1000

but it looks like it wobbles
Obviously it doesn't
You can't eyeball 0.00x" lol

 

I spent some time this evening setting it up according to the manual and it wasn't too difficult. Everything works and it's such beautiful piece of gear.

One question I did have is regarding my phono preamp. I'm connected to a Carver C-1 which has a Phono Loading switch on the rear with 3 selections: 0pf, 180pf & 390pf. The manual states to find the total capacitance recommended for the cartridge (which on Ortofon's site says 150-300pf) and then subtract the capacitance of the tonearm wiring & signal cables. If the result is less than 100 then set the switch to 0pf, otherwise set it to the closest value.

I'm not sure where to find the values for the tonearm/cables, but I would assume I would either be at 180 or 0. Is there a recommendation or I suppose I can just test both to see which sound better.

Starting out I'd probably be up for spending $200-300. The AT-VM95ML or SL seem to be highly recommended around here from what I've seen. Also been seeing the VM540ML being mentioned fairly often as well. When I read up on the 2M Red, the consensus seems to be just upgrade to the 2M Blue right away.

 

The stock cable is ~ 90 pF, the tonearm ~40 pF, I measured them.

I might use the 0 setting, lower is typically better.
Is the R setting adjustable or 47 kOhm fixed?

 

I've got the AT Vm540ml, No complaints. I had the 2m Blue on my old table, a night and day difference to the red and tracks much better too.

 

2M Red is poor, a waste unless you have a poor deck
1200GR is a great deck and deserve a matching cartridge.

 

The 540 is a great option, you can upgrade it with RigiD later and get one of the best MM cartridges available, or purchase a proper MC phono stage and dive into MC madness

I, personally, went from 95E to 540ml and then to at33ptg/ii.

 

So unfortunately, like many people have reported, I have a very slight wobble on my new 1200GR. You can really only notice it at 78 which I am never going to use. I have played flat records at both 33 and 45 and it doesn't appear to affect the arm. I have also lowered the stylus guard and put the arm to the lowest possible point without it touching the platter and it doesn't seem like there's too much upward movement of the platter. However, the bottom of the platter has a noticeable wobble at 78...

I am pretty confident that this is not going to have any affect on playback and I honestly wouldn't have even thought to look if it wasn't for the reports of the wobble on this forum. But at the same time I feel like this is completely unacceptable for a $1700 turntable. I'm not sure I want to go through the hassle of asking Music Direct for an exchange when there's no guarantee that I will get a better one. The new one could even have a worse wobble. What should I do here? Just try and forget about it and enjoy the new turntable? This is supposed to be my forever table so it's a bit upsetting that it's not 100% perfect.