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Technics SL 1200/KAB [message #12067]

Sat, 09 April 2005 11:49

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

I spent some time on their site and found it to be interesting. They do some mods to the SL 1200 mk 2 that look promising. The two I noticed is
They build a new power supply mounted outboard thus eliminating emi effects as well as regulating the 34v DC with a better toroidal transformer and provide more filtration with bigger caps.
The second is they have a little circuit board that takes the strobelight out of the circuit after 15 seconds.
Another mod is they provide a little trough filled with silicon and a small paddle attached to the arm that rides in the silicon bath. Helping smooth modulation of the tonearm due to record warps etc.
I am not a DD guy but I sure would like to hear what this modified table sounds like. It ain't cheap but it is reasonable if the level of performance is increased over the already good stock unit.

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Re: Technics SL 1200/KAB [message #12068 is a reply to message #12067]

Sat, 09 April 2005 13:19

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Oh, I really like that. You know me, I really liked the old Technics direct drive units. Maybe it's personal nostalgia on my part, but those were some of my favorites. The new expensive belt drives are sure great looking and have excellent build quality, but I still really like the Technics turntables from the 70's. Great performance for the price. So I'm eager to check out these mods for Technics tables.

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Re: Technics SL 1200/KAB [message #12069 is a reply to message #12068]

Sat, 09 April 2005 14:21

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

I have no personal allegiance to any mechanical thing except as far as they do the best job at what they are designed for. The Technics tables are the result of massive amounts of R&D as well as tooling and materials quality. I have confessed on these pages to using an SL 3300 on a daily basis, I am now disassembling the table to see if some of those mods will work on mine.
Also I see that Denon has released a new table that looks real nice. It is of course DD but it is also designed to work with the Denon cartridges which are an all time favorite. List is at the 500$ mark but to anyone looking for a reasonable alternative to all those belt-drives at that price point I think you get more for your money playing with the big boys like Technics and Denon; they just have the resources that the small guys don't. While that may not be crucial with amps, it is with the very tight bearing tolerances and hardened alloys required of turntables. The machining and materials are where the money goes.
Needledoctor has the Denon if anyone wants a look.

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