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Technics SL-D2 vs SL-Q300

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As I've lost my Dual bid on eBay in the last second, guess I'll rely on my local market, it's more safe too.
SL-D2 it's not quartz regulated and semi-automatic, SL-Q300 come with P-tonearm, it's automatic.
So, SL-D2 vs SL-Q300, what would you choose?


Thank you.
 
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I had a SL-D2; at least you have more cartridge options available to you with it vs a P-mount (I had one of those before too)
 
I'll vote for the SL-D2, also. Even without quartz lock, the speed is dead on, and it has the s-shaped tonearm to handle a wider variety of carts. I regret selling mine.

With either table, upgrade the stock RCA's with better cables, and you'll hear a noticeable improvement in sound quality.

Rob
 
P-mount is easy to set up, quartz speed doesn't need to be adjusted. If all you want is a TT then the Q300 is less fuss and should be at least 'satisfactory'. If you want flexibility, the D2's the way to go. The 'compromise' choice would be an SL-Q2, which is both quartz and half-inch mount - and has an aluminum plinth.

I have a D2 somewhere: perfectly good TT but butt ugly, IMHO.
 
In this comparison, condition being equal, the SL-D2 wins out. If the turntable was a SL-Q3, the Q3 would win out by a hair. The P-mount only option is limiting. The SL-D2 is excellent enough that I once owned one. I would gladly own one again if the opportunity posed itself as a backup.
 
The Q300 is OK, but was produced in the period when Technics as forced to decrease the quality of their products.
 
Azimuth said:
The Q300 is OK, but was produced in the period when Technics as forced to decrease the quality of their products.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree and disagree strongly with your statement. There is nothing low quality about the Q300. I have the SL-QD3 which was the model produced right after the Q300 and it has performed well for 25 years.

I will admit none of these tables will win awards nor compete with tables costing much more. But their specifications are such that they are perfectly capable of producing good sounds and much enjoyment for their owners.

Now to give my opinion to the OPs original question, which one SL-D2 or SL-Q300.

My answer is it depends. To me, it would depend on the condition of the tables, and the price. I would be happy with either one. The advantages of the SL-Q300 is simple setup, if you like or can tolerate P-mount cartridges. You don't have to worry with alignment, VTF, VTA or anti-skating. The table has quartz direct-drive and has slightly better wow/flutter and rumble specs than the SL-D2, but only slightly. It is fully automatic, which is an advantage if you like fully automatic tables. It's a disadvantage if you don't.

The SL-D2 uses a standard headshell and is semi-automatic. It gives the owner more options for cartridges and also more options on setup. You can play with VTF, anti-skating and alignment. That can be a plus for those who like to fine-tune their table to match their favorite cartridge. Of course, it is a disadvantage if you are not handy at setting up a table.

As far as sound quality goes, if you have equal cartridges on both, there should not be much difference in the performance. They both are good tables.
 
I have no antipathy to the Q300. But there was a period in the early 80's where turntables across the board had to be produced for less due to the fluctuation of the yen. The same issue affected all other electonic equipment. Some of these changes were quite acceptable, but people in general prefer the 70's products. There was no skimping on materials and money was less a concern-the receiver wars were part of this. The 80's tables were lighter and various shortcuts had to be taken. The P-mount cartridges made set up easy, but today you have fewer choices when it comes to quality cartridges.
 
While it is true you have fewer choices on cartridges, it doesn't mean you have no choices. If you like the P-Mount table, remember you can get Grado, A-T, Ortofon, Stanton and several other brands in the P-Mount cartridge now. Enough choice to certainly give you a good listening experience. If this model doesn't have the Grado hum issue (Check the database on this forum), that could be an excellent choice. If you're looking to keep it more reasonable, you can always go with the Audio-Technica 92 ECD cartridge that is talked about on here all the time. It gets excellent reviews and you can easily find it for less than $30 US on e-bay and in other places. For a cartridge, shipping won't be prohibitive to Europe if you can't find it there and the VAT won't soak you too bad on an item that costs that little.

If the price, condition, etc. makes the p-mount table work for you, don't feel like you'll not be able to find a great cartridge. That just isn't so.

Richard
 
wordherder62, that's exactly what I thought. Not so many choices as an S-mount, but enough to assure a pleasant listening experience. Plus that the price it's good, no alignment issues and have the advantage of quartz regulator over the SL-D2.
I'll wait today and tomorrow to finish two bids on eBay for Dual 455 and 626 and if I'm not gonna win (ehh, the snipers) I'll buy the Q300.
Thank you.
 
reverse: The Q300 for 60 Euro wouldn't be a bad deal. Still somewhat overpriced compared to what I'd expect on ebay.de, but some 20 to 25 Euro more for a much more local deal would still seem pretty ok to me. I'd rate the Q300 as a least on level with a CS455, btw - whereas the CS626 would be better, but then you'd have the problem with the proprietary Dual ULM mount, which limits your cartridge choices much more than T4P/P-Mount (especially as the suitable halfinch adaptor kits have become rare and pretty expensive these days...). Whereas buying a good T4P/P-Mount cartridge doesn't really harm, as halfinch adaptors are easily available and pretty inexpensive (and new T4P/P-mount carts often come with an adaptor, anyway) and so there's a good chance you could continue to use the cartridge, even if you'd go for another table with an arm/headshell for standard halfinch mount some time in the future...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: Not to mention that the Q300 might already come with a decent cartridge, so you might just need a good new needle...
 
I've lost CS-455 for just 5 bucks on a sniper... :tears:

Well, this is the Technics:
20235963-1-500_500.jpg


The seller don't know pretty much about turntables, so he couldn't tell me what's the cartridge, he just wrote "Matsushita Electric" ...
Definitely I will need a new cartridge.

I guess AT92E it just fit for this TT, ain't that true? Thank you.
 
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reverse said:
The seller don't know pretty much about turntables, so he couldn't tell me what's the cartridge, he just wrote "Matsushita Electric" ...
Definitely I will need a new cartridge.

I guess AT92E it just fit for this TT, ain't that true? Thank you.
Click to expand...
Believe me, you did fine--I'm sure you'll like it. The cartridge is by Technics. There may be replacement styli for it, but you certainly can't go wrong with the AT92E.
 
That's true, but I never listened on a genuine Technics cartridge, and the needle seems to be more expensive than the AudioTechnica cartridge.
I've just contacted the owner, the TT will be shipped soon. Right on the moment he will send the TT to teh curier I'll have to decide, as I'm gonna buy the cartridge or teh needle form USA and it will at least a week till will have it here. I'm not aware of any European based needles/cartridge online shop. Maybe some chances on Europeans eBay's.
 
TC-750LC (it's the TC-750 with output level knob) it's a decent phono preamp for SL-Q300 with AT92E ?

Thank you
 
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