Saalor
Active Member
I am having trouble identifying specs on my vintage sl-1200 clone. I inherited it from my brother in law who was a DJ in the late 80s or early 90s. It has no brand name on it. Made in Taiwan, 15w, detachable RCAs and ground wire. Pics below.
It looks very much like Gemini XL-400 or XL-dd50. Even more like a Sound Lab DL-P2 (which shares the same model number, but every image I have seen on those also say "Sound Lab" and are slightly different in features).
So this leads me to think this is a Hanpin OEM model generic. So let the Hanpin flames begin....don't worry you won't hurt my feelings....but I would appreciate comments on the quality of this table (or Hanpin equivalent) based on facts or at least first hand listening. Also I have an Ortofon 2mRed on it.....comments on the cartridge suitability?
Here is a quote from Dr. John at CheapTubeAudio.blogspot.com on the subject in general:
Taiwanese "Super OEM" Hanpin While researching, I read this "...As vinyl began to wane as a mainstream format, Chinese (editor: Taiwan) company Hanpin produced the ‘Super OEM’ turntable, the most well-known model of which is the Stanton STR8-150, but which has been adapted and re-badged by numerous companies. What the Super OEM had in it’s favor, besides good build quality, was that it was the first deck to take advantage of the expiration of the Technics motor patent. So, finally, there was a Technics ‘clone’ on the market with truly similar performance.
The beauty of the Hanpin design is that, working from a solid base with that motor, manufacturers are free to then innovate around that. So bell & whistle features like line-level output, reverse play, pitch correction, and digital pitch readouts have all appeared on Super OEM decks," end quote
Which sounds pretty good...and I enjoy the table...but I am wondering about the specs and how they compare to sl-1200. Please don't bother with the "Technics 1200 all the way" stuff, I realize SL-1200 is the gold standard but I am looking for some objective facts. 1200s are going for $1,000 around here which is beyond my budget. And as I said, I can find hardly ANY info on these decks (everyone slams the new clone DJ decks but what about the vintage ones)???
It looks very much like Gemini XL-400 or XL-dd50. Even more like a Sound Lab DL-P2 (which shares the same model number, but every image I have seen on those also say "Sound Lab" and are slightly different in features).
So this leads me to think this is a Hanpin OEM model generic. So let the Hanpin flames begin....don't worry you won't hurt my feelings....but I would appreciate comments on the quality of this table (or Hanpin equivalent) based on facts or at least first hand listening. Also I have an Ortofon 2mRed on it.....comments on the cartridge suitability?
Here is a quote from Dr. John at CheapTubeAudio.blogspot.com on the subject in general:
Taiwanese "Super OEM" Hanpin While researching, I read this "...As vinyl began to wane as a mainstream format, Chinese (editor: Taiwan) company Hanpin produced the ‘Super OEM’ turntable, the most well-known model of which is the Stanton STR8-150, but which has been adapted and re-badged by numerous companies. What the Super OEM had in it’s favor, besides good build quality, was that it was the first deck to take advantage of the expiration of the Technics motor patent. So, finally, there was a Technics ‘clone’ on the market with truly similar performance.
The beauty of the Hanpin design is that, working from a solid base with that motor, manufacturers are free to then innovate around that. So bell & whistle features like line-level output, reverse play, pitch correction, and digital pitch readouts have all appeared on Super OEM decks," end quote
Which sounds pretty good...and I enjoy the table...but I am wondering about the specs and how they compare to sl-1200. Please don't bother with the "Technics 1200 all the way" stuff, I realize SL-1200 is the gold standard but I am looking for some objective facts. 1200s are going for $1,000 around here which is beyond my budget. And as I said, I can find hardly ANY info on these decks (everyone slams the new clone DJ decks but what about the vintage ones)???