Just yesterday I upgraded my 1210GRs headshell with Oyaides carbon fibre. The improvement was quite noticeable. I wasn't aware of their platter mat, going to check that out.

What, nk power supply mod?

@@johntrott9513 Forgot to mention I added a Oyaide STB-MSX record stabilizer set to 350g (3 weights) and a Furutech Roxy power cable.

Derek, what cartridge(s) are you using? noticed that the audiophiliac seemed to have down graded his cartridges. I also am interested in this turntable, but mainly because I want play with different cartridges, unfortunately I have a transimpedance phono stage that limits me to low output cartridges. I'm wondering if this table is more suited for more high energy cartridges like high output moving irons.

@@BobCoalWater I'm using a Audio Technica AT33PTGII and an AT33EV into EAR834P Sig phono stage. The G is a wonderful TT for the price in my opinion and the arm is just fine. See the Technics video about how Michiko Ogawa sought out old boy employees to come back and make the arm. Spirit of Japan.

I like your disclaimer on the end haha. To be fair Johnny Walker Black is overwhelmingly a blend of Caol Ila whisky mixed with some cheaper stuff. Caol Ila is literally the best Distillery IMO in Islay overall. Double Black is just a higher ratio of Caol Ila in the blend. So you're not as basic as you say, just economical!

@@DNGR369 Johnnie Walker Black is pretty decent, IMO (just not the best).

The Accord is a good car ...just like the SL 1200 mark II. A good drive, does what it's supposed to do and very reliable. As far as the Scotch Whisky goes...I have some Irish blood in me . I discovered the two don't mix well. Anyway I be using my Technics SL-7 put the record on close"n"play. My Stanton L747S even has a brush...when I'm lazy! I just pulled a power cord in a dumpster years ago...and this little whale was at the other end . $105 for the Stanton. It puts a smile on my face 😊 every time I use it. It's kind of cute too sittingon top of my JVCDD-7 ( yeah I said it has good enough isolation)..the foot print is the size of an album jacket and has good enough isolation since it's as heavy as my SL-1200 mark II (another dumpster find ...needs a tone arm bearing...eventually I'll fix that) .

After being in storage for that long, the bearing would love 2-3 drops of glide bearing oil. After that, it'll be ready to roll.

1200ś have VTA

The MK2 is a better deck than the MK7! The G on the other hand is superb.

Yep hasn’t changed very much for over 42+ years

That was my first turntable. Have a sl-1210gr now.

these people wouldn't be able to tell the difference from yours - as long as it had the same cartridge , rubber mat ect and one was using headphones.. I would admit yours would suffer due to the lighter mass of your turntable in a 'playing' live environment . . This is hilarious when belt people think this is new because of an outrageous price tag.

You are a healthy and lucky man!

I've got one of those . It's very reliable I ditched my belt drives for it a while back. Now that I have my SL-7 fitted with a Stanton L747S I've been using the little close"n"play.

To Mrmoogle, I done exactly the same in Feb 21 , after years and years faffing and pratting around with a JA michell, I find myself playing records now so much more than I used to , every thing is so easy and predictable with the G , swapping cartridge and headshells in seconds, and playing records I thought I didn't like of which I now love .

I just bought my third 1200 and this is why. There are better sounding decks. The Technics, with some modification are good enough and nothing is more user friendly. I see what you said over and over again. Why would a guy with a ten thousand dollar turntable not use that? The Technics must be good enough to overcome the headaches of dealing with those very high end turntables. To me that says save my money and invest it in other areas. I'll be honest. I want to swap the arm and power supply on the MK2 I'm refurbishing but other than that I'm good. I'll only swap the arm if I can find one with the same removable stylus functionality though. Otherwise it defeats the point for my needs.

Interesting you would say that. I’m 53 now and 10 years ago I auditioned a Linn system with my then 76 yo father at BillyVee hifi in London. My father just had his first hearing aids. The linn speakers we listened to were the top of the line Klimax speakers, active drive with 10 (!) mono amps, 5 per speaker. The dealer had us listen to our own music on cd. Then he disconnected the super tweeters that have a range from 20kHz to 44kHz. As a trained electronics engineer and hifi enthusiast I was sure this wouldn’t make any difference. Boy was I wrong. I heard a clear difference but also my father. Turns out harmonics and many, many other variables play a role. Since then I have been chasing the perfect sound… Welcome to the world of audiophiles… Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱

The new line of 1200 decks are completely different than the Mk II and better sounding.

Technics used to charge $400 for a brand new SL-1200. Audiophiles didn't 'approve' of Technics tables until they started charging big money for them. You could lock these dudes in a room with a 1200G and a GR in a blind abx setup with rules in place that they're not allowed out until they pass a 10/10 blind test identification of the tables, only difference being the table. They'd all die in that room.

@@mrb2917 😆

That Audio Technics AT-120XUSB's stock is about to rise...

I've always found that a darkness is resonance. Anybody that went to night clubs in the 80s know what the 1200 is about. It's an addicting sound

Transparency?

my neighbors motor is shot, and its not an uncommon thing...

@@DG-ie5ip 😂🤣😂

that not a real issue ,that´s you wanted to be more sure than your hears can ,like if you doubt them, but they are yours and you shouldn´t doubt them ,i never got crazy over high-end hi-fi but happy some years ago i was thinking about the 2m ortofon black with golden letters and i did bought one for my sl-1000mkII and till i´m dead it´s enough the sp-10 is a sl-1000 but not assembled by technics you choose the options of building it perfect for you ,in terms of sound they are much above the SL-1200 but the SL-1200 was never intended to be a high-end audio turntable but professional one ,good sound and practical while working ,i´m doing the reverse i´m buying whatever i didn´t had in vinil but avoiding new records and searching for colections being sold , at the same time i own more than a thousand original cd´s but those are not older recordings tuned into digital, as an example one listens to AIR or the first Massive Atack cd and it sounds good if listening to portished cds also the cd version in good but the vocals can only sound better in vinil versions but they don´t sound bad in cd so why spend more money if what you have is good and either than good only bad, and some original recordings came with more noise than home recordings this meaning not all music is the same

you didn´t had to worry if correctelly used, a belt drive can last a lot of years but this new change it yourself for the speed i guess they become very fast out of tune due to the daily handling of the belt while mechanical change doesn´t afect sound but skin grease or skin natural protection will be added everyday when listening to records how much time does one of these keep the speed not having a stroboscope to watch it´s changes in speed and not correctable

@@RUfromthe40s It depends on the deck ; many do indeed rely on moving belts from one pulley to another , and indeed my Gyrodec with the standard power supply required this approach ; also my previous Hydraulic Reference Turntable used a little fork to nudge the belt one way or the other ( that turntable did have a strobe and was designed to run slightly fast , then slowed to speed by dipping a vane into the well of silicon fluid ) . However , since getting the QC power supply , speed change is effected by changing the oscillator frequency which changes the motor speed . I rarely find any need to tweak anything on my turntable and the music just keeps sounding good .

@@derekheeps8012 i do have 2 turntables driven by belts but it´s inside the turntable wooden box with mechanical change of speed no electronics or unprotected belt made of cheap synthectic rubber, this since 74 no flutuations on speed and i´m re-wiring it because original wires due to excessive use are getting old and sometimes one has to put in place the ground wire but either than this it delivers a clean sound with a large spectrum of frequencies ,even those one can´t hear or feel when loud, i´m not against turntables driven by belt but i saw a fluance and already close to 1.000€ that only made think of my 78 also pioneer lower reference that at the time were the cheapest(PL-514) but even being like i discribed ,the fluance looks a lot like it and for the worth ,cheaper material, and it´s very good they say, and there´s a diference between those who had records and stop having because when cds came out they just bought a compact system and throw away their old turntable and stereo receiver ,most of them never cleaned the dust of a record or changed the stylus since new on their old system some even had the records on top of a speaker out of the cover , no wonder the cd sounds better ,but in my personal case i worked for 35 years in a radio station was responsable by the electronic material bought for the station that i was one of the first to have the idea of a fm radio station started by young people ,today nothing related with the 80´s or 70´s ,it´s now still a station with only author programs that choose and play the music either in vinil or cd ,this to say that for several decades was also a dj and never stop using records and cds i only started to buy them in 93 allthough i had the first sony cd player semi-portable ,one could listen to it by using headphones and at home one atatched to it a sony part that was a transformer and two rca´s and it becomes a home cd player ,funny that the first md player that in the 90´s arrived to my friends store was also the same system both had a crystal liquid display, i never stoped listening to records and one thing i notice earlier was the guitar sound on cd´s, still bought a lot of early 90´s lp´s in record ,one could buy two records with the same money of one cd and was still using a system bought in 76 ,it cost a fortune at the time but this works perfect today ,had a thorens turntable ,i think it was the best but also in 79 bought the SL-1000mkII and several other from technics including the SL-1200mkII to work ,in 72 the old thorens professional line were substituted by the new SL-1200 from technics the mkI,now i´m using a SL-3310 from 76 full automatic direct drive that i don´t even understand how it works today in perfect condition without any repair along with the p'l-15D from pioneer and the SL-1000 from technics (i have diferent rooms with diferent systems) ,i don´t even understand what brands like pro-ject are doing .Today one see´s the kids changing cartridges and stylus as upgrades ,one used to buy a cheaper turntable and buy a new cartridge and stylus to make it sound perfect but not each year there´s no improving to do ,what i noticed it´s the bad quality of the phono stages in integrated amplifiers, but one could always improve it´s turntable but once not several times it doesn´t even makes sense, but not all are the same each brand delivers diferent turntables allthough some use the same turntable only personalise them a litle to be similar to other equipment from the brand , regards

@@RUfromthe40s You win the prize for longest sentence ever! Amazing!

@@nomorokay thanks ,not my first language, regards and a happy new year

Exactly! Thanks for watching

There was no bad design , the Series Iv and V had one piece arm tubes for rigidity and low mass , just as had been first done on the Series II fixed headshell . If a detachable headshell was a requirement , SME made the 309 which was a similar design to the Series IV and V but with the removable headshell . Of course it was a 'budget' version of the Series IV , but it did exist .

@@derekheeps8012 this was more an observation of user interface in general, the better it is the more likely someone will want to use it. Living with a product over time makes the small details count, using the product needs to be a pleasure. There’s a reason streaming is the number one way to listen to music, it suits more users needs.

'no soul as a machine' - you sound delusional. you are just not very bright. And I mean that literally.

Please elaborate.

the 1200G had the opposite affect on me. maybe its the cartridge?

SL1000R needs time to burn in.

Pahaha

Ordered one once I heard they were available trying to sell my 1200GAE now

SL series not 1200 that´s only a reference and not the best second their builders

I have my Technics SL1800 also bought new in 1977….

I settled on the Sony, flew beneath the radar. I have some great mid fi cartridges to rotate. It is rock sold, my seniorly ears could not hear any better.. I think a lot of audiophiles should have their hearing checked, It could be much to do about nothing.. if your hearing trims off between 10 - 15K you are likely BS yourself.

It would be great for them to make a 'non-dj' audiophile version of the 1200. No strobe or pitch slider and maybe without tonearm as standard. They'd be takers.

@@martinscase3904 thats a great idea

1200MKII is far beyond a DJ turntable. no one here would tell the difference with the same rubber mat and cartridge with a 1200MKII and these 'updates' .

Don't you know , that you can change your strobe light in your MK7 and GR or G ?

all depends on the motor. In the early days, a belt would get rid of the motor noise.

Did you consider upgrading to the SL-1200G? It is said to sound noticeably better than the 1200GR.

@@nomorokay Yes I considered it but having heard it I didn’t believe the small increase in sound quality was worth the large increase in price and having the ease of cartridge swapping does not hold up against a much better turntable so now I am a bit lost as to why Steve would change from an SME turntable to the technics.

I thought most of the clubs had moved onto Pioneer now

I thought most of the clubs had moved onto Pioneer a few years ago

I bought an SL-1210GR when my Dual 701 gave out two years ago. The AudioTechnica is nice, but I honestly haven't been able to make it sound as good as the Dual did with a Grado basic cartridge yet. But truly both of them have amazingly good motors.

The Dual 701 is a masterpiece of DD system.

yawn

SME is not the best ,there is more to choose and better but i use it to, having several turntables around 6 and all sound perfect ,can you tell the diferencies from the SL-3310 from the SL-1210g ,i never could although i have both and the best from technics a non professional one in a reference above and don´t forget that in the 90´s the SL-1200 was garbage for the audiophiles that are not what they are called but to identify snobs that think that having money make their hears better than others

@@RUfromthe40s it only proves the snobs with money have not much logic behind their thought process.

@@RUfromthe40s No doubt. It’s just interesting to see a seasoned listener with experience in hearing and owning equipment of substantial cost and sonic qualities remove a critical piece in favor of a less expensive one. Steve did an admirable job of explaining why. It’s often been stated that as we age, our taste/preference change. The SME is regarded by none too few Audiophiles as a pinnacle to their system. It’s a strive till you arrive item, and while there certainly are far more expensive options the SME has its place. I personally don’t care what it cost as long as it adds to the overall synergy of the total system and makes my toes tap and puts a smile on my face.

Congratulations. I wish many hours of fun with this great device. You should have made a purchase for life. If Technics should not have made a production error. Unfortunately they also occur there. As a proud owner of a 1200G I can give you but one thing, the 1200GR is from my point of view a good compromise compared to the 1200G. My absolute favorite was the SL-1000R. I think that is non plus ultra in terms of direct drive. Very nice that our good old friend Steve Guttenberg has finally found the way home to the direct driven ones.

Unscrew the headshell, replace with new headshell, tighten, adjust counterbalance, adjust antiskate, adjust VTA dial, done. Just like any other turntable. :)

👍 What tools do you use / prefer for making the adjustments after installing a different headshell?

@@That_Handle I looked up the manual for the sl1200g. The vta adjustment is the only difference from the arm I have now. Do you have a 1200g? Curious to know your experiences.

@@paulrenault7991 Don't want to overburden this subthread here yet wanted to mention I have no experiences with it as of yet.

Once you have the cartridge aligned properly on a head shell. Just swap the head shell and adjust as said above. Easy peasy

You're also comparing apples to oranges here, though. What are you using as your personal benchmark for DD sound? There's a massive difference between the $150 Technics you saw at Wall to Wall Sound and Video in the 80s to a high end DD. The motor isn't coupled, per se, in the majority of the high end DD tables. In the case of Denon and Nak (and Sony, by licensing), they use the platter as part of the stator assembly. The "coupling" is less direct than a belt. It's magnetism. Regarding auto pickup/return/placement , how do you think they trigger on higher end tables? It's not a rod/lever assembly like a cheap record changer. It's an optical sensor that has a trigger, breaking a beam of light in my examples. My TT isn't that sensitive that light impacts playing. Same lift assembly picks up the tonearm, just automatic. My most automated table (the Sony and Denon have similar features) don't have digital sound. At all. Snag one, toss a decent MC cartridge on it, and find out.

@@andrewb4584 Granted that I would not expect Steve's $4,000 DD turntable to sound like a $150 DD turntable from the '70s or '80s. However, if I were given the choice between the $4,000 Technics and a belt drive turntable at around the same price, I would still prefer the belt drive table as having a more organic and musical sound, which is why we even bother with analog in the first place. Secondarily, I find belt drive turntables themselves to be more aesthetically appealing in comparison to the somewhat appliance-like direct drive turntables. My preference may be purely subjective but judging from the number of upvotes, there are many who feel the same way. To each his own. It is fine if you prefer direct drive, as long as I continue to have a choice.

@@armanddimeo6575 Nobody is restricting choice. Some folks like Class A amps, some like digital. Or tubes v solid state. Or digital vs analog. This hobby is a big tent, we can all have great systems with different ways to get there. I'm just saying most impressions of DD tables are formed by comparing a cheap turntable to a high end belt drive. I had no sonic issues with my Delphi. It was just too fiddly to be worth the effort. Much like a lot of stuff in HiFi. For me, more hype than substance.

There is no direct coupling. A common misconception of Technics DD by rubber-band fans. The platter has the magnet ring and the motor generates a magnetic field. The only thing touching the platter is the spindle which is separate from the motor entirely and just on an oil bearing. The spindle DOES NOT TURN THE PLATTER. Magnetism does the work without any physical contact.

"Also, there are issues associated with directly coupling a platter to a motor without the isolation that the belt provides." Whatever you prefer is your personal choice and I have no qualms about it. And I actually owned and liked ALL three drive systems: belt-drive, idler-drive, and direct-drive. But the above issue about DD motor direct coupling to the platter is a non-issue but it was repeated ad nauseam by bel-drive enthusiast and many of them are Linnies, especially in the early British press. People always forget the DD motor runs at 33rpm, which is 1/2 hertz, it is the same speed with ANY platter in ANY turntable. The DD motor itself is the stator and the platter is the rotor, just like any belt-drive table that has a platter and bearing, they all run at 33rpm, except the belt-drive motor runs at much higher speed from 300rpm all the way to 1800rpm with some idler turntables. Think about it, 1800rpm is 30Hz which is why rumble filter was invented in the first place! If there's DD noise it would be bearing noise which happens to every turntable regardless of drive system. Many belt-drive tables have the motor mounted onto the plinth so not only they have bearing noise but also high speed motor noise to deal with so the belt becomes a necessity NOT because it's inherently superior to DD. All I'm saying is that belt-drive system is NOT superior in terms of noise. I would argue it's the opposite! Just think of all things being equal that a DD table and a BD table using the same platter and same plinth and same bearing. The BD table has the extra motor with higher speed while the DD table is magnetically driven. Yes, there would less confusion if DD was coined "magnetic drive" at its inception. I've done many experiments and comparisons, noise was never an issue with DD system, provided it has decent bearing. When it comes to the sound and I do agree that many (not all!) early DD tables have a mechanical sound due to the fact that rotating a platter at slow speed SMOOTHLY is a very difficult technical task due to over aggressive servo system and cogging or "analog jitters" if you will. But much of that was overcome later with better electronics and coreless motor and many Japanese brands switched over by the late 70s. (Curiously, one of the earliest and smoothest sounding DD tables that employs coreless motor is made by a German brand, Dual, a forgotten DD innovator!) Coreless motor DD tables have a smoothness to the sound. I call the sound full of fluidity. Liquid unlike the dry matter-of-factness of many bad tables with cored motor. The curious thing is that being one of the three giants of turntable manufacturing (Sony, JVC, and Technics are the only 3 capable of making DD tables from scratch without outside help), Technics was the only one that never switched to coreless motor... until now. I believe mainly because the success of SL-1200 (and SP-10Mk2 and SP-10Mk3 or SP-02 same motor in many record cutting lathes) was so established that Technic didn't want to kill a cash cow. But after they discontinued SL-1200, their return represented a clean slate and they finally came out with a turntable with coreless motor. Hurray! When DD done right not only it's quiet and speed stable, it has a smoothness and dynamic slam due to typically higher torque that not only it can rock out but can be refined and musical. Add to the ease of use and low maintenance with no belt change, you have a music making machine anyone can enjoy. What's not to like?

Tim, great info. Can you direct me to where you got the external PSU? I have the GAR as well. I love this turntable !!!! Thanks

1210's have always been the black models

in reality you wouldn't know the difference from a stock 1200MKII from 1978 and these machines. this scene is so myopic. hilarious comedy with your pretentious leanings .

@@jerrysnead2842 these people are not very bright.

Don't worry about it your gr is a really good choice, I have a G model and it sounds good but to really capitalise on better sound I would have to get better amp , speakers and associated cables of which I cannot afford.

I change headshells a lot on my modified 1200MKII - that I use strictly for analog to digital transfer - every day I swap for various reasons - depending on the vinyl / styrene / size, type of pressing / ect - to get best sound from what the client is handing me..and to me that means simply flat frequency response - - I align the headshell every time I pop a different one on.. it is a real concern if one doesn't do that.. I invented a little bubble level just for that proceedure. - these people wouldn' t know the difference from a 1978 1200MKII and this $6000 unit.. unless the $6000 unit has some flaws.

the king is the 1200MKII. that search ended in the late 70s . that's all this design is based on. y'all would never know the difference.

@@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777 you'd be surprised, I once had a Technics SL 1300MKII and compared it to the Technics sp 15. the SP was better, not a big difference but noticeable. you need to understand the equipment you hook a turntable into, can make a difference in the way they sound. I'd be interested to know what you compared the G and the old MKII with. if you are running it on what most DJ's use for MKII's no wonder you can't hear the difference.

@@kwd-kwd Oh maybe my comment wasn't' clear enough.. I forget now what I said...but I agree - SP are known to be better but 'barely' like , negligible to most people (but made to be best in the 'industry' of course for broadcast duty) - that's why I modd my 1200s to be similar to the SP of course not everything can be changed - The 1200's I mod is for my transcription business.. yes stock 1200s are great but not excellent for sound. I recently got 2 Audio Technica 1240s for actual DJ work - to run with Serato and wow the phono stage is NOISY ! I think it's the USB interface inside the turntable which I hope to disable . The AT is a Hanpin turntable (Chinese).. has amazing bells and whistles.. is substantial for real time mixing - but it's 'loosey-goose' compared to a Golden era Technics. I may have been a bit glib in my response.. again can't remember the vibe..thanks for your comment.

I said noise but hum is more accurate. Something that’s common with turntables. The ortofon red that comes with it is subpar.

I said noise but hum is more accurate. Something that’s common with turntables. The ortofon red that comes with it is subpar.

I said noise but hum is more accurate. Something that’s common with turntables. The ortofon red that comes with it is subpar.

I said noise but hum is more accurate. Something that’s common with turntables. The ortofon red that comes with it is subpar.

I said noise but hum is more accurate. Something that’s common with turntables. The ortofon red that comes with it is subpar.

Difference is that going from a P3 to GR is a lateral shift. Going from a 15 to a G is a pretty big step down.

@@johnsvariety Right, understood. The point was that Darko prefers the ease of use of the GR to a table that he thinks sounds better (P3).

@@homerjones3291 I guess my point was that it’s a relatively easy decision if sound quality is similar and convenience is greater.

You can’t look at this in the context of absolute sound reproduction alone, especially for a turntable. If you ever want to use an Ortofon SPU, or change cartridges easily, you need an arm with a removable headshell. These arms are compromised across the board because the contacts are not great, azymuth changes every time you swap, arm rigidity is not as high, etc etc etc. So once you have decided to go with a removable shell arm, even on an SME 15, you’re at a lower level compared to an SME V arm. Once you made that choice, the switch from the SME 15 spinner to the 1200G isn’t all that clear cut, I think.

@@miguelbarrio I hear what you’re saying… but I still don’t know why Steve couldn’t have gone with an SME 3009 arm on the SME 15. Sure the arm would be compromised compared to the V… but you’d still retain all the benefits of the SME turntable plus a removable headshell. Or am I missing something?

Thanks Patrick! Nice to hear from you.