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First TT decision -- Yamaha v. Technics

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dillingeresc

New Member
Hello all,

I've spent the past week+ feverishly researching the fundamentals of TT's, brands/models to look for etc while scouring my local CL, in hopes of landing a decent entry-level table. I've narrowed my selection down to two listings: a Yamaha P751 which appears to be in excellent shape, with an Empire 2000E/III cart that has seen only a few hours' use; or a Technics SL-D2 with a broken dust cover. I spoke with the (not original) owner of the Yamaha, and he works in a shop handling/restoring TT's daily, so I feel very confident that it'll be well cared for. I have not yet contacted the owner of the SL-D2. I can't make out the cartridge on it from the pictures in the listing; I'll assume for now that I'd be replacing it anyways.

The asking price on the Yamaha is $150, though he implied during our conversation that he's not concrete on that. The asking on the SL-D2 is $95. Another factor in the overall price is the distance: the SL-D2 is more than twice the drive (120 vs 60 miles). My question is, (assuming they both work properly), how do the two tables compare in practice? One bonus I'm aware of for the SL is that its headshell design can accommodate larger carts in the future, while the stock Yamaha HS struggles with wide carts such as the 2M Series. Otherwise, the two seem mostly identical on paper, with the Yamaha even beating the SL on wow/flutter, as well as S/N ratio.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. I have yet to check my local pawn shops, so that's my first priority. Here are the two listings, just in case anyone with a sharper eye than mine can pick up on any other details:
P751: http://delaware.craigslist.org/ele/5481714378.html
SL-D2: http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ele/5457159470.html
 
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The Yamaha is a nice table, but sometimes the arms develop a sticky spot in the sweep across the record. I would want to play a record side through once before buying it. To make sure it doesn't hang up and get a repeater skip anywhere. Otherwise, that is the one I would go with (due as much to the distance as anything else).
 
yammie wins
its closer, its better looking, talk the seller down a bit
the technics broken hinge problem means it needs work
but the fix is posted on this board i've done it
 
I'm not a big vinyl guy but I've got a P751 and feel it's a nice table. Mine came with a Signet TK5e cart (my headshell looks different than the one you posted so I believe that must have been changed as well) so I can't really comment on how it sounds compared to yours but operationally I can give a bit of insight.
I took mine apart to clean and grease all of the goings in in there and it's worked perfectly ever since. It's only annoyance is the lid doesn't stay up. I pull it off when I'm listening to it and put it back when I'm done. The weight of the transformer has also probably smushed down the R/R foot so you might need to shim it a few mm to get properly leveled. Other than that I've been happy with it.
I recently installed RCA outs to get rid of the super long, skinny wire but to my ears it doesn't sound a ton different. I'm running it with a refurbed Yamaha A-1020 using home made Mogami cables and Switchcraft RCAs.
 
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Thanks for the helpful responses. I'm going to take a look at and hopefully purchase the Yamaha this Monday afternoon. I'll be sure to test the range of motion on the tonearm as well as the automatic functions. I'm unsure whether or not I'll be able to actually hook the table up to a pre and speaker system to hear it playback, but is that something I should worry about if the transport mechanisms are all in shape? I haven't read or heard much of turntables having signal/output issues. Otherwise, an SL1500MkII recently popped up in the listings for $125 with no issues mentioned. On paper, it seems to be a similar story to the SL-D2. Is there any reason why I might want to take a look at that over the '51? I know the 1200-1800 series is pretty revered.
 
Built in cables/connectors can fail, but that is usually an easy fix when it happens. The SL1500MkII (IMHO) is not a similar story to the SL-D2. For starters, it is almost twice as heavy, plus the arm is superior. It is quite similar to the arms on the 1200s IIRC. Plus it is cheaper than the Yamaha. That is the one I would go for.
 
I'd agree with the SL-1500 then Yamaha then SL-D2 sentiment. However, any one of them would be pretty good. I've worked on all of them and they are not bottom feeders by any stretch.
 
I've had an SL-D2 for three or four years now. It's running like an old Toyota. That price is also right on the money. They top out at around $120 here around Philadelphia. So it should be similar down in DE/MD
 
Even though there is the cueing issue on the 1500MKii , I would buy it if everything else is ok . Nice sounding table .
 
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