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Technics SL-1200 series as an audiophile turntable?

Has anyone compared the 1200 Mk2 to the higher end Rega's or Music Halls?

I always liked the look of the Music Hall 7.1 but I love my Technics so much I don't think I could live with one "unless" it was "significantly" better.
 
HypnoToad said:
Has anyone compared the 1200 Mk2 to the higher end Rega's or Music Halls?

I always liked the look of the Music Hall 7.1 but I love my Technics so much I don't think I could live with one "unless" it was "significantly" better.
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FWIW, I bought my SL-1200M5G after not liking an MMF 5.1. Everything else held the same, I just found the MMF lax and lazy sounding. Everything I listened to wanted to put me to sleep!
 
neway said:
FWIW, I bought my SL-1200M5G after not liking an MMF 5.1. Everything else held the same, I just found the MMF lax and lazy sounding. Everything I listened to wanted to put me to sleep!
Click to expand...

I know of a 1210M5G but not a 1200M5G. Did I miss something?
 
gumbercules said:
Mine shipped today!!
Click to expand...

Congrats
here is the drool site of things to think about.
http://kabusa.com/m1200.htm
definitely consider getting some SFW 010 Spindle Oil because the factory puts a very little oil before shipping (I mean very little)! :yikes:

oil.jpg
 
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You can also order the spindle oil and other accessories for your 1200 direct from the Panasonic Parts web site.
 
I've read through much of this thread, and in general agree with much that has been said.

I agree that for the money spent, one will be very hard pressed to come away with a better table. There's so much going for it, like reliability, vitually no upkeep-maintainence needed, and basically nothing is needed to produce rock stable speed control. Virtually all Arm Adjustments that ever will be needed, are right there, with perhaps the exception of Azimuth Adjustment, and even this can be accomplished if needed, with aftermarket Headshells (Sumiko-etc)

About the debate about the Arm..... Well of course, one cannot expect a $6000.00 Shroder Arm for $65, this we know. I think the thing that we may all overlook, is that many of the new breed of Cartridges, particularly the state of the art MC Cartridges are so darn good, yet they are also very delicate, and very "needy", and finnicky, with regards to getting proper set-up, and compatibility between Cartridge, and Tonearm.

I am a firm believer that the Technics can benefit from much better Cartridges than say the likes of the Shure M-97XE, and others in this price-quality territory, but there has to be a point, where the Technics Arm will not be at all a desireable match for a multi-thousand dollar Cartridge of some form (note that I say "of some form").

There will of course be other factors-qualities, other than just Bearing Quality alone, and there's a whole host of obstacles an Arm has to contend with. Even some $2K-$6K Pivotal Arms (Such as Graham, Morch, Dynavector, Rega, etc) have difficulties properly handling-taming some of the very best MC's available today.

Wiring as some note, damping, resonance management (with the arm itself, and its interaction with the Table), overall quality of build just to name a few.

And as all will no doubt agree, the ability to achieve proper set-up is paramount with any Tonearm, be it Pivotal, or Linear.

As a good example, a $5,000 Cartridge, mounted on a $6000 Tonearm just isn't going to be performing up to its abilities, if the Cartridge isn't properly aligned.
That's why there can be so much variance, and so many different outcomes with equipment such as this, as it is highly "tweakable" by the end user.

Good knowledge, and critical attention to set-up goes a long way to help extract the good qualities, and lessen the bad ones of any Analog System. Mark
 
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so, obviously i'm pretty new at this. you guys all talk about tweaking etc. i may or may not consider doing some upgrades, but i'm gonna keep this thing stock for the foreseeable future. that being said, is there anything i'm going to need to adjust right out of the box, or is it pretty put together and setup the way it should be from the get go?
 
Could someone tell me the difference between the SL-1210M5G and SL-1210MK5G? I can't find a comparison anywhere.

thanks.
 
gumbercules said:
so, obviously i'm pretty new at this. you guys all talk about tweaking etc. i may or may not consider doing some upgrades, but i'm gonna keep this thing stock for the foreseeable future. that being said, is there anything i'm going to need to adjust right out of the box, or is it pretty put together and setup the way it should be from the get go?
Click to expand...
no it is not ready out of the box.
just follow the instructions its pretty simple.
You can use the supplied alignment gauge with good results of for fun you can also try this arc protractor I was very happy with the results with it.
 

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markd51 said:
I've read through much of this thread, and in general agree with much that has been said.

I agree that for the money spent, one will be very hard pressed to come away with a better table. There's so much going for it, like reliability, vitually no upkeep-maintainence needed, and basically nothing is needed to produce rock stable speed control. Virtually all Arm Adjustments that ever will be needed, are right there, with perhaps the exception of Azimuth Adjustment, and even this can be accomplished if needed, with aftermarket Headshells (Sumiko-etc)

About the debate about the Arm..... Well of course, one cannot expect a $6000.00 Shroder Arm for $65, this we know. I think the thing that we may all overlook, is that many of the new breed of Cartridges, particularly the state of the art MC Cartridges are so darn good, yet they are also very delicate, and very "needy", and finnicky, with regards to getting proper set-up, and compatibility between Cartridge, and Tonearm.

I am a firm believer that the Technics can benefit from much better Cartridges than say the likes of the Shure M-97XE, and others in this price-quality territory, but there has to be a point, where the Technics Arm will not be at all a desireable match for a multi-thousand dollar Cartridge of some form (note that I say "of some form").

There will of course be other factors-qualities, other than just Bearing Quality alone, and there's a whole host of obstacles an Arm has to contend with. Even some $2K-$6K Pivotal Arms (Such as Graham, Morch, Dynavector, Rega, etc) have difficulties properly handling-taming some of the very best MC's available today.

Wiring as some note, damping, resonance management (with the arm itself, and its interaction with the Table), overall quality of build just to name a few.

And as all will no doubt agree, the ability to achieve proper set-up is paramount with any Tonearm, be it Pivotal, or Linear.

As a good example, a $5,000 Cartridge, mounted on a $6000 Tonearm just isn't going to be performing up to its abilities, if the Cartridge isn't properly aligned.
That's why there can be so much variance, and so many different outcomes with equipment such as this, as it is highly "tweakable" by the end user.

Good knowledge, and critical attention to set-up goes a long way to help extract the good qualities, and lessen the bad ones of any Analog System. Mark
Click to expand...

Good post.
 
Autobot said:
It is,
also see the item description on that page below the pic there they have it correct.
Click to expand...

Your right, I missed that, thanks.

I see you also own the same TT.

Think I will pick one up now. Now I have to decide on what cartridge to match it with.
 
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