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Which Technics to get?

mltl said:
How truly important is VTA adjustment? This is part of the equation I never really thought about.
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It's very important if you decide to ever use any advanced stylus profiles. The VTA adjustment on the SL-1600mkII is very convenient. You can of course adjust VTA manually by adding spacers on the headshell or adding material to the platter mat. I think it is far more elegant (and user-friendly) to be able to make fine adjustments "on-the-fly" so to speak rather than having to dismantle headshells. I don't use platter mats to adjust for proper cartridge alignment. I select platter mats for other reasons and adjust the VTA to work with my selected mat. (YMMV)
 
Of the three, I would choose the SL-1600MkII blindfolded, but would try to bring the price down a bit. What cartridge does it come with?
 
Sandstrom said:
Maybe consider wall mount? get a small shelf and tie the supports directly into the studs. The Technics might be a little better than the Phlips with footfall but if the spot is prone to vibration you may still have issues...
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I highly recommend this approach for mounting regardless of the table.
 
I have considered a wall mount but I don't think its possible where I live at the moment. The 1600 comes w/ a pos dj cartridge, which I probably wouldn't even want. I have a fairly new at95e and an ADC XLM w/out the stylus that I would utilize for it. Apparently, the "low" price is because of the stylus situation. I think he has a grado green for extra, but i was going to pass on that.

Just acquired a digital multimeter to test the XLM so hopefully a stylus will be on the way soon if its working.
 
Just got off the phone with the seller. He replaced the IC chip because the tonearm would automatically move to the center of the platter on "play". Said it fixed the issue. Tonearm belt replaced as well. Was firm on $375 as the asking price. Is that price too high w/out a cartridge? I'm beginning to think the $200 sl-1500 is the more reasonable buy for me right now..
 
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A few images of the SL 1600 mk2.. Condition seems nice. Any thoughts based on these pictures etc? The aesthetic condition is better than the sl 1500 and on close to being on par with the sl 23
 

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I have had an SL-1500 for many years now. Just rewired the tonearm and replaced phono cables. It sounds awesome. Good luck on whatever you do.
 
Wait a minute. It looks like something may be amiss here. I could be wrong, but it looks to me like the tonearm was changed. This turntable has electric cueing operated from the front panel. The photos show a cueing lever on the tonearm itself like an SL-1200mkII. It's not bid deal necessarily, but it is not original. It also looks like the platter mat is not sitting properly on the platter. Have you verified proper operation of the tonearm. I mean, does it automatically set the stylus on the record when you press start and return to it's rest when the record is finished? I would cycle through it a few times to make sure. Also figure out why that platter mat is not sitting flat on the platter. Not sure I like this now.
 
Nevermind. I just checked some photos on Google. Apparently, these do have two ways of operating the cueing. But find out why the mat is not sitting right on the platter. Otherwise, looks good from what I can see.
 
I think he's asking too much for the 1600. In just the limited photos he's provided, I see a lot of scratches in the finish and it doesn't have the original head-shell.

The platter mat is sitting on top of the sensors that tell the tone-arm what size the record is, that's why it doesn't sit flat. I would not trust anyone who would photograph the turntable that way, seems like sloppy handling of it.

What is the condition of the dust-cover?
 
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He said he polished the dust cover but there are the typical scratches that come with age. I emailed him about the price and he did say he'd go down to $320. Have not asked about the platter and mat..hopefully he just didn't push it down. He sent this in an email:
"The unit has diodes that recognize if a record is on the platter and 45 or 33.3 or not. If no record and table is actuated the tone arm comes up and goes down and shuts off the cycle. Sign that TT is normal."

I'm glad you pointed out the mat not sitting right. That hadn't occurred to me. Apparently only one channel in the original headshell is working, thus the stanton.

I included a few more photos that I was too lazy to add before.

Thanks again for all of your insights
 

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You will want an original head-shell. As far as I know, they are lighter than the replacements which is a good thing if you want to use a high compliance cartridge. They usually go for $50.00 or more on ebay. Plus, the originals look better.
 
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320 is still too much in my opinion, but if you like 1600's auto feature, then go for it. It seems to me the tonearm and VTA adjustment is similar to 1200mk2.
To give you an idea of the used market, I just got a sl1200mk2 for $250 from craigslist, it does need some work though. I got my sl1500 for 120 including a shure V15 typeIII body not long ago, but it also needed recabling and contact cleaning. Anyway, i think both are good deals.
 
I you check the sold listings on the auction site, you may be surprised. These automatics are selling for higher than the manuals.
 
This is a tough call.

A 1600Mk2 in good operational condition is an excellent deck, but there's a lot that can go wrong, and apparently already has. I've got a parts unit sitting in the shop that's deader than a doornail. Just up and died on the customer one day. Probably a dead solder joint (or a few) but it's going to be a bear finding it. The circuits on that model are insane.

A 1500 has much, much less to go wrong. It's a manual deck! And as has been said here already, build quality was better on the earlier models.

So it's really a question of convenience (the 1600 Mk2) vs reliability (the 1500). In terms of sound quality, the 1600Mk2 gets the edge, but it's not a huge delta. they're both fine performers.
 
mltl said:
Apparently only one channel in the original headshell is working, thus the stanton.
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If it's just a cartridge lead that is causing the channel to be out, you can get a new set of leads for $10.00. If that's all it is, then ask him to include the original head-shell. Make sure it looks just like the one that I posted a photo of.

There are cheap replacement headshells but as I mentioned before, they can be heavier and in some cases, fit too tightly in the tone-arm. I also have some that won't allow the cartridge to be aligned without looking crooked in the head-shell.
 
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