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The Official *Technics SL-1200* Owners Club

Okay. But the manual says, "Compare the height of your cartridge (H) with the following and set the arm height appropriately."

Then it gives a range of measurements for H in mm's from 17 to 23 with a corresponding number on the ATV dial. For example, 20mm corresponds to 3 on the dial.

I have to assume this just means measure how tall the cartridge is?
 
OK, I admit not knowing how to measure cartridge height. I do know that my 1200 came with a three gram weight that add enough to the height, that I couldn't get the VTA adjusted.

In fact, the bottom of the cartridge scraped the record if the edge was raised, as many records have raised edges.
 
It is weird to me that the owners manual just makes the assumption that we know what cart height is. There's no explanation.
 
I guess this might be an obvious way to help solve this: What do you SL1200 owners set your VTA dial too? And with what cartridge?

I'm currently going with 1.7 because that's the way it came set up and it doesn't appear to my eye to be unlevel.

However, the 1200 manual says to set it to 0. (I found out that the M44-7 has a height of 15.9 mm).
 
gmku said:
It is weird to me that the owners manual just makes the assumption that we know what cart height is. There's no explanation.
Click to expand...
Seriously though, all that chart is doing is giving you a starting point to getting the arm level. Place a record on the platter. Now place the arm somewhere on the record, preferably the middle. Now view the table from the side and simply adjust VTA until the arm looks level from end to end.

That's just a starting point though. The real trick is getting the right stylus rake angle. And, unfortunately, a level tonearm does not always lead to the correct rake angle. But, it should get you close. So, start there, then fine-tune by ear. Besides, some people like to run their carts tail-up or down depending on what sounds best to them.

Not to mention, VTA will change with every record you put on, so there's no point in obsessing too terribly much over it, imo. Also, that chart assumes you are using the rubber mat that came with the M3D originally. This particular mat is about 1/2 the thickness of the thick Technics mat that comes with the MK2.

EDIT: For what it's worth, my VTA is currently set at 2mm, but I'm also using the thick Technics mat, which I think is like 5mm. If I was using the thinner mat that came stock with the MK5 (and your M3D), I would need to lower the VTA, probably down to 0 or 1. I'm using the AT440MLa, which I believe is a 17mm cart. Or maybe 17.5, but either way 2 should be just about right. For a while I was running it with a VTA of 2.25, and I may go back to that at some point.
 
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I seem to be getting into this table. I'm considering ordering one of those drop-in hardwood cabinets that KAB sells? Has anyone else done this? They look pretty sharp.
 
I've been eyeing those too. Don't have the scratch right now, but I bet they are pretty nice. Wish he would post up some better pics.
 
I've read a lot about modifications to the SL 1200, both DIY and through KAB. A lot of it sounds interesting, and I'm tempted to try the tonearm damping just to see if I can do it.

At the same time, in all honesty, this rig sounds great right out of the box (or in my case, right off the shelf). I really don't any reason to mess with it.

But I think I am going to order a KAB record clamp and maybe one of those wood boxes.
 
gmku said:
I've read a lot about modifications to the SL 1200, both DIY and through KAB. A lot of it sounds interesting, and I'm tempted to try the tonearm damping just to see if I can do it.

At the same time, in all honesty, this rig sounds great right out of the box (or in my case, right off the shelf). I really don't any reason to mess with it.

But I think I am going to order a KAB record clamp and maybe one of those wood boxes.
Click to expand...

Trust me... tonearm damping and other vibration control mods will make a huge improvement to an SL-1200's performance, assuming the rest of your rig is revealing enough. A wood box is a waste of $$ IMO until you address the table's performance shortcomings.
 
Well, a box of plumber's tape shouldn't set me back too much. I'll give it a shot. I really don't hear the shortcomings though.
 
gmku said:
Well, a box of plumber's tape shouldn't set me back too much. I'll give it a shot. I really don't hear the shortcomings though.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't be the only one. The 1200 arm resonance is down around 8 Hz.

One thing I haven't figured out is why tonearm manufacturers do try a tuning fork approach to damping resonance. There used to be a demo in Sears stores of a dishwasher motor with an attached rod to cancel vibration. It made a dramatic difference, and cost almost nothing, except for the cost of devising it.
 
gmku said:
Well, a box of plumber's tape shouldn't set me back too much. I'll give it a shot. I really don't hear the shortcomings though.
Click to expand...

the thing is any components shortcomings are often only revealed when hearing something that improves upon it. I have heard an unmodded 1200 (plenty of them as a matter of fact) and I have heard a rewwired tonearm (mine) fluid damper is a great idea also. I have also got the strobe disabler, just cause I could, not sure if that one makes an audible difference though.

I never knew how "bad" my old rig sounded till I upgraded, now if I were to go back to it (and I did it once juts to see) and the older system had LOTS of previously unheard shortcomings. Even now that I an getting "used to" how my current set up sounds, evertime I put on an LP or CD that I havent heard since the new rig, I think "wow, that does sound better all over again.
 
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This arm has been modified (by me) with shrink wrap on the arm tube (à la Audioquest), cotton batting in the tube (à la KAB, SME, etc), foam inserted in the end stub plug, KAB end stub tone arm end stub resonance cap (resonance tested at tone arm end stub/weight area by an old hifi magazine I've currently forgotten the name of), rewire with Isokinetik Litz wire, upgraded Technics M5G RCA cables (much nicer than the stock Technics cables), KAB turret board plate replacing the printed circuit board, and liquid tape/rubber insulated exposed wiring under the bottom plate.

Doing this yourself is not expensive.
 
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Cool. But I'm not convinced mods to mine are needed. At the same time, I just did order some things from KAB, including the thick mat, a new dustcover (mine is in rough shape), and spindle oil.

May try wrapping the arm in pipe tape just to see.

I'm home this afternoon messing with VTA. Interestingly enough a setting at 1.7 seems the sweet spot. I'm not sure why. The manual recommends 0 for this cart. Could it be that I'm using the slip mat (a thick mat is on order from KAB)? Regardless, taking it to zero seems to bottom out the treble. Going past 2 flattens the bass. Around 1.5 to 2 things sort of come alive.

The arm has an ever-so-slightly downward angle. It's subtle though. Just a hair up from parallel.
 
gmku said:
Cool. But I'm not convinced mods to mine are needed. At the same time, I just did order some things from KAB, including the thick mat, a new dustcover (mine is in rough shape), and spindle oil.

May try wrapping the arm in pipe tape just to see.

I'm home this afternoon messing with VTA. Interestingly enough a setting at 1.7 seems the sweet spot. I'm not sure why. The manual recommends 0 for this cart. Could it be that I'm using the slip mat (a thick mat is on order from KAB)? Regardless, taking it to zero seems to bottom out the treble. Going past 2 flattens the bass. Around 1.5 to 2 things sort of come alive.

The arm has an ever-so-slightly downward angle. It's subtle though. Just a hair up from parallel.
Click to expand...
That chart assumes you are using the particular mat that came with the turntable. MKIIs came with the thick rubber mat (i think it's about 5mm). The M3D, MK5 and I think even the M5G, all came with the thin rubber mat (about 2 or 3 mm). So, if you're using a thicker mat than what originally came with your 1200, you'll need to raise your arm higher than what it says in the cart. Same is true in reverse.

So, that would be my guess as to why the number are off.
 
synclavier82 said:
That chart assumes you are using the particular mat that came with the turntable. MKIIs came with the thick rubber mat (i think it's about 5mm). The M3D, MK5 and I think even the M5G, all came with the thin rubber mat (about 2 or 3 mm). So, if you're using a thicker mat than what originally came with your 1200, you'll need to raise your arm higher than what it says in the cart. Same is true in reverse.

So, that would be my guess as to why the number are off.
Click to expand...

I see. Isn't the felt mat a thinner mat, too? Probably why.

And I got the KAB record clamp. My first.
 
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