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Technics SL-1200 series as an audiophile turntable?

wushuliu said:
Be honest, if you got the PL-120, how long would you give yourself before you moved up to the East Side. To that Deeluxe TT in the sky?:D:zoom:
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i fall directly into that category. bought a brand spankin new at-pl120 November 08. for what it is, its a great table. i enjoyed it. but every time i loaded up the web i always went researching 1200's. slowly it started torturing me. March 3rd 2009 i drove home with a brand spankin new SL-1200mk5 in the trunk. I finally have my dream table.

now i got someone buying my at-pl120, soon, hopefully.

the one real good thing about the at-pl120, its a GREAT starter table. built in pre-amp and such. but long term who knows how durable it is, its only been out for a couple years. not the technics, well its going to out live me, as long as i don't drop it out of a 5 story window, or fun it over with a truck. hell, run it over with a truck, new tone arm, your probably still working! haha

now that i have the technics, side by side the build quality is well laughable. i still will recommend the at-pl120 for a budget starter table though. but direct comparison is well no comparison really.

if i could go back to November 08, i would have saved up a little longer and waited until i could afford a Technics SL-1200 (any model, can't go wrong) and a preamp and just got it done with. instead I'm down money since its impossible to sell a used TT for what you paid for it when its one of this level.

man!! its just a great feeling to have the last table i will ever own. and one that looks sexy as hell and sounds AMAZING.
 
gumbercules said:
ah man, i hope they come back in stock. i have a feeling this may have been amazon's way of getting rid of their stock, never to return again. I have it on my wishlist, so hopefully it'll come back soon
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Amazon.com's reply to my asking them when the SL-1200 will be back in stock....

Unfortunately, we don't have any more stock of "TECHNICS SL-1200MK2 Turntable" right now, and we're not sure when we'll be able to get this item. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused with this regards.
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soundboy said:
Amazon.com's reply to my asking them when the SL-1200 will be back in stock....
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Thanks for looking into that. I was going to email them as well, so you saved me a step. Hell, maybe i'll do it anyway and they'll restock them if they see there's a demand.

they don't have the mk5 either, Old Tech, only marketplace sellers
 
The attractive price, and high demand of this table, along with vinyl's popularity at the moment, has had them flying off the shelves.

I'm sure once technics ramps up production, there will be more on the shelves.



Don't discount buying used if the price is right- even if a bit battered. If the spindle has seen abuse, brand new replacement spindles are around $33, if the arm is knackered, whole arms and arm bearing setups are around $55, and if the slider is bunk, sliders are around $55.

I horse traded for one, and maybe a second bonus SL-1200, for an unused CD player. I can rebuild these two, fully, for under $300.
 
thedelihaus said:
The attractive price, and high demand of this table, along with vinyl's popularity at the moment, has had them flying off the shelves.

I'm sure once technics ramps up production, there will be more on the shelves.



Don't discount buying used if the price is right- even if a bit battered. If the spindle has seen abuse, brand new replacement spindles are around $33, if the arm is knackered, whole arms and arm bearing setups are around $55, and if the slider is bunk, sliders are around $55.

I horse traded for one, and maybe a second bonus SL-1200, for an unused CD player. I can rebuild these two, fully, for under $300.
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i looked on CL in my area for some a while ago, and the sellers wanted $300-$400 for what looked like pretty battered, heavy DJ-use 1200s. I'd love to find one used in awesome condition, i just don't think it's gonna happen here.
 
gumbercules said:
i looked on CL in my area for some a while ago, and the sellers wanted $300-$400 for what looked like pretty battered, heavy DJ-use 1200s. I'd love to find one used in awesome condition, i just don't think it's gonna happen here.
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Where's your location?
 
edit: found some dude that's selling one here. I'm confident it's gonna be in pretty poor condition, because he's only asking $100. I'll check it out this weekend. Is there anything i need to look for, and are there any questions i should ask to make sure i'm getting something worth buying?
 
If not, I'm sure something can be figured out. I'll shoot you a PM once they are working as I come in contact with 'em on a regular basis but will discuss off-line in a pm with you.

Good luck- bring a record you are familiar with. If there's any damage that's not severe and you're handy, you can see if you can eek out a price break with him and could replace parts if need be.
 
thedelihaus said:
If not, I'm sure something can be figured out. I'll shoot you a PM once they are working as I come in contact with 'em on a regular basis but will discuss off-line in a pm with you.

Good luck- bring a record you are familiar with. If there's any damage that's not severe and you're handy, you can see if you can eek out a price break with him and could replace parts if need be.
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That's kind of what i was thinking too. If it's in good enough condition, but needs a little work, it might be worth it to haggle him down to 50 bucks or something. I'm not sure how handy I actually am, but I'm always willing to learn and I've got a friend that's pretty good with repairing electronics, etc.

Good call on the record, I'll bring something i've heard a billion times.
 
I don't want to brag, but I will!! Got mine in a pawnshop for $250. Talked the owner down from $300. It's in excellent shape and did not have a DJ cart on it. A small scratch on the cover is all the damage, everything else was pristine. All shiny and clean. I was thrilled with my purchase and when I hooked it up it worked perfectly :banana:

Earlier in the day I went to 7 or 8 other pawnshops and saw a few SL1200's for the same price and they looked like they were pounded into the ground. They had stickers, pasted-on logos, had been repainted purple, missing dust covers, no headshell, broken cords, etc.

I decided to go the pawnshop route because I finally got fed up with trying to find one locally at a yardsale, goodwill, Craigslist, newspaper classifieds, etc. And I would never have one shipped through ebay! Too many horror stories!

I thought: well, maybe I'll find a great TT, or maybe I won't. But if I do I'm going to snatch it up immediately and be done with it! I'm tired of waiting for years for the right deal. And I mean "YEARS"! I wanted something to last for my remaining years and it didn't need to be 'audiophile', just 'excellent'. I'm completely satisfied and glad I made the effort.

Anyway, check out your local pawnshops. Don't settle for a 'decent' table, keep going until you've visited all the shops within driving distance. Look for that one in the rear of the shop that 'winks' at you. You'll know it when you see it.
 
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gumbercules said:
That's kind of what i was thinking too. If it's in good enough condition, but needs a little work, it might be worth it to haggle him down to 50 bucks or something. I'm not sure how handy I actually am, but I'm always willing to learn and I've got a friend that's pretty good with repairing electronics, etc.

Good call on the record, I'll bring something i've heard a billion times.
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I used to live in Abq. If you need help getting your gear up and running, then Video-Audio services is the best tech in town there...:yes:
 
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