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RE: NYT on the SL-1200 saga

Posted by Curious (D) on January 2, 2017 at 20:12:08

In Reply to: NYT on the SL-1200 saga posted by Steelhead Mike on January 2, 2017 at 05:23:27:

I don't think this article could possibly miss the mark more if it tried. I mean, it's completely wrong in virtually every sense of the word.

While the new 1200 looks like the old one to some extent, and the pitch control is still present, that's where the similarities end. Every other aspect of the table is different. The platter is digitally controlled to the point that it spins with the precision of any digital disc player. Want to hear "Kind of Blue" at the correct pitch with no drift? The new 1200 nails it. The arm is made from different materials and rests upon a much better and more expensive bearing. VTA on the fly is still available, but gone is the toy like fit and finish of the old arm. The platter is a multi layer affair that doesn't ring, but isn't over damped either. And the motor is magnificent, and certainly more quiet and more accurate than any other direct drive table I can think of and, not to brag, but I've owned most of them at this point. Without Panasonic's economies of scale, there isn't a turntable manufacturer I can think of that wouldn't have to charge twice the $4G's the SL-1200GAE and G sell for.

The thing about the new SL-1200GAE or G is that it offers almost no upgrade path. You can't really tweak it. You can tweak around it so to speak. I put a very nice Ortofon Wooden headshell with the 2M Black on it, and I'm using very nice Audioquest Leopard interconnects between it and the Integrated amp it's connected to. And a record weight. But no outboard speed controllers, outer rings, multiple arms etc. She sits atop a 3" slab of maple. And headshells do cost less than arm wands, so multiple carts is pretty simple to accommodate and very affordable too. Out of the box and rocking in about 45 minutes, give or take. What's wrong with that? After all, if it's really all about the music and the gear is just a vehicle to that end...

For the record, there were 1200 of the GAE's made. Japan got 600, Europe got 400 and America got 200. The serial numbers were released wildly out of numeric sequence so a collector could potentially get the first or the 1200th one regardless of geographic location. At its price point in my showroom, it competes well in terms of performance with the VPI Prime, although the two tables undoubtedly appeal to two different clients. The platter and the arm of the Prime are at an advantage to some extent over the new 1200. And VPI offers a deeper upgrade path. High precision playback as regards both the benefit of perfect pitch and extremely accurate bass reproduction is the Technics calling card, as is convenience and flexibility. Both tables manage to be reasonably impervious to acoustic feedback and inky black backgrounds are assured with each. You do have to throw another grand at the Prime for a speed controller, but boy does the Prime really benefit from that. Still, that is a grand less to spend on a cartridge/headshell or toward a finer phono preamp or SUT.

Yeah...I used to wonder why they didn't make the plinth somewhat different. More simple, less buttons but keep that undeniable Technics look. But then I got one and set it up on the showroom floor and put it through its paces. And I found myself so impressed with it that I didn't really care about any of that anymore. But, for shits and giggles, I bought a regular old 1200 and I put one of those on the floor for people to take apart and really open it up and compare it to the new one. And what everyone who has done that has said is that there really is no comparison. And the people who didn't do that? Well, they write articles for the New York Times.
"Hope is a good thing. Maybe, the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."

Edits: 01/02/17

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