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RE: Technics 1200MK2 for home/audiophile use?

Posted by flood2 (A) on August 23, 2015 at 14:20:29

In Reply to: Technics 1200MK2 for home/audiophile use? posted by gregwaitsmusic@gmail.com on August 22, 2015 at 10:40:32:

Don't believe the nonsense you read about DD turntables being inferior to belt drive. The SL1200 is NOT one that suffers from that problem. Get the service manual and recalibrate the pitch control if required - you will need an oscilloscope to set the reference frequency for the motor controller, but it is straightforward to do.. Usually, record centering is responsible for modulation of the test tone (in combination with the lateral resonance of the cartridge). The only problem you maaAAAAy have is speed runaway if a particular power transistor used in the speed selector section has burnt out. They run hot and fail in such a way that the platter suddenly spins up to a high speed throwing the stylus out of the groove! You'll know if you have that problem! :) It's a straightforward fix though... Happened with my original deck.

As for the arm mass (12g), it is well matched to most cartridges on the market today. However, I strongly recommend getting the KAB fluid damper.
Many people have recommended the bearing being upgraded or replacing the arm. I wouldn't bother with the bearing unless it is well worn and hasn't been lubricated at regular intervals - the stock one is not measurably inferior unless damaged. In both cases, unless you have a proper tonearm centering gauage like the Feickert, you are almost certainly going to end up with errors in the arm alignment. The radical improvements reported are most likely due to geometry changes since there is considerable "slop" on both the arm mounting and bearing mounting. There are so many other sources of distortion that dominate LP playback.
Regards Anthony

"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats

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