Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable

Maybe they DID learn something from this..., posted on January 7, 2017 at 16:05:33
musetap Audiophile Posts: 31879 Location: San Francisco Joined: July 8, 2003 Contributor Since: January 28, 2004	aa "Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure

RE: Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable, posted on January 7, 2017 at 16:10:26
slider Audiophile Posts: 298 Joined: September 13, 2010	They talk about getting it down to about half the price of the G model in this video from Fremer at CES ...

RE: Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable, posted on January 7, 2017 at 16:20:16
bjh Audiophile Posts: 18614 Location: Ontario Joined: November 22, 2003	At the end, Fremer ... Five years ago this would have been a dream, impossible to see. Guess shouldn't trust an online vid but those speakers also sound nice.

RE: Another article from the same site yesterday says $2k, posted on January 7, 2017 at 18:04:11
painter27 Audiophile Posts: 5057 Location: wi. Joined: January 7, 2003	I never thought of it as a DJ table until the the DJ/scratching thing happened. before that I thought it was just another Japanese mass market DD tt. Plays music just fine but just doesn't live up to the audiophile cred. ( snarky smiley face )

Raising the price to $2K alone makes it 'audiophile' LOL, posted on January 7, 2017 at 19:57:27
3+4=5	Plenty of cheaper stuff has big ticket price increase and sells just for 'audiophile' flash. Raising the price alone is often the first step to 'audiophile' street cred.

RE: Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable, posted on January 7, 2017 at 23:09:09
flood2 Audiophile Posts: 2558 Joined: January 11, 2011	I'm slightly confused now... The GAE was the limited edition version.... then I thought there was a plain G version.. Is this GR the G or is it different again? Regards Anthony "Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats

RE: Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable, posted on January 8, 2017 at 09:42:51

John Elison
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Contributor
Since: January 29, 2004

I think it's different. It seems to be a cheaper version of the SL-1200G. Its platter is less massive and the whole turntable is less massive. In fact, the SL-1200GR weighs even less than my SL-1200 Mk2, which weighs 12.5-kg compared to 11.2-kg for the SL-1200GR. The SL-1200G supposedly weighs 18-kg, the same as the SL-1200GAE. The platter on the SL-1200GR weighs 2.5-kg compared to 2.0-kg for my SL-1200 Mk2 platter and mat.

Best regards,
John Elison

Technics SL-1200GR Specifications

RE: Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable, posted on January 8, 2017 at 10:17:27
bjh Audiophile Posts: 18614 Location: Ontario Joined: November 22, 2003	With the heavier 5.5 lbs platter but less heavy than SL-1200 Mk2 overall I'm guessing the difference has something to do with the rubber base. I think they are onto something. $2000 for a modern and improved DD seems like peanuts compared to what it takes hi-end players to do same. Even the SL-1200GAE/G seems a relative bargain.

RE: Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable, posted on January 9, 2017 at 02:53:04
flood2 Audiophile Posts: 2558 Joined: January 11, 2011	Ah! Thanks John!! Regards Anthony "Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats

RE: Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable, posted on January 9, 2017 at 02:55:22
flood2 Audiophile Posts: 2558 Joined: January 11, 2011	For a first time buyer it would be a contender for sure. However, I can't see myself upgrading to it. If the arm base will fit the Mk2, then that MIGHT be worth playing with, but boy the price increase is a bit stiff! Regards Anthony "Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats

Don't completely discount the value of the coreless motor, posted on January 9, 2017 at 06:59:51
Lew Audiophile Posts: 10912 Location: Bethesda, Maryland Joined: December 11, 2000	nt

Here's the way I heard it...., posted on January 9, 2017 at 15:54:19

MannyE
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Posts: 2088
Location: Miami Beach
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The special edition GAE was actually a prize for the bold early adopters and is actually a higher version than the regular G which is the "main" version. So the 4K GAE was really something worth a little more than the G but you got a bargain.

Now you have the GR which is rumored to be priced at 1500 pounds (as per the British "What HIFI" website which is just a little less than half the cost of a G. Presumably this is the one the hip hop DJs will be using.

RE: Here's the way I heard it...., posted on January 9, 2017 at 17:12:47

flood2
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Joined: January 11, 2011

"Presumably this is the one the hip hop DJs will be using."

I actually wonder if this is still the target audience and if the 1500quid would price themselves out of contention? Do broadcasters still use vinyl? I could imagine specialty shows by a new generation of broadcasters like John Peel...but even CDs are dying out and I thought radio would be based around digital files. I've no idea - I'm just thinking out loud.

Regards Anthony

"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats

RE: Here's the way I heard it...., posted on January 9, 2017 at 19:31:45

MannyE
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I don't think you're giving them enough credit (literally! lol). You're also forgetting the astronomical rates charged by some DJs that can easily afford those prices. Although as early as 2002 even scratch Djs were going away from actual vinyl to special "scratch discs" that were used to manipulate the music on a computer...so even if they can afford it, who knows if they will still need it? AND with the huge number of used SL1200 Mk1-2-3-4 and 5 still kicking around on the used market at an average price of 300 bucks...the inner city kids will be kept in "ones and twos" for a long time to come. Not to mention the various SL1200 clones available new for $200....

So maybe it's just a way to penetrate the lower end of the high end and compete against Music Hall and Pro-Ject and Orbit, etc.

Vinyl is gone from professional radio broadcasting. Unless there are some college stations or a hipster station in Brooklyn still using them, they are gone.

RE: Here's the way I heard it...., posted on January 9, 2017 at 22:37:32

flood2
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I think you're right - Technics are trying to establish their position for high performance turntables based on solid engineering. If they pitched the price too low then people wouldn't take them seriously enough and assume they were gunning for the Clones.
The interview I saw in HFNRR had the designer saying that they had "eliminated cogging" and suggested that the original design was prone to cogging under some situations. This must surely be a Charm Offensive to win over any Belt Drive Zealots...er no offense to any Zealots out there... ;)
Regards Anthony

"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats

Not just "Hipsters", posted on January 9, 2017 at 22:58:35

belyin
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Our New Orleans community station WWOZ still has three sl-1200's that are regularly usec by the volunteer d.j.'s-not because they are "hipsters" but because they have large and deep record collections in the specialized areas the station features: jazz, trad. jazz, blues, r'and b', "rare groove," cajun, Brazilian, and other musics.

WWOZ stream

RE: Not just "Hipsters", posted on January 10, 2017 at 12:17:00
MannyE Audiophile Posts: 2088 Location: Miami Beach Joined: March 4, 2001	Well yeah.. or that... the point is... one out of a million...

RE: Here's the way I heard it...., posted on January 10, 2017 at 12:25:43

MannyE
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Posts: 2088
Location: Miami Beach
Joined: March 4, 2001

The way I see it if you watch the marketing video done by the lady that's running Technics, who in my opinion unless they are lying like lying liars is a true analog hifi enthusiast, the effort to remake the SL1200 meant finding the 80something engineers that still lived (because they had completely forgotten the art of turntable engineering) and re-learning how to do it, train a new team and then finally put the product together.

All the while she was probably (now this is my own thinking) fighting against the more "modern" Panasonic brass who hoped she would fail spectacularly.

IF the video reflects the true passion they put into the product and isn't just a Japanese-style marketing snow job, then the team inside Panasonic that created the new SL is, IMO, just as passionate and worthy as the VPI team of my audio dollars.

RE: Here's the way I heard it...., posted on January 10, 2017 at 17:51:38

flood2
Audiophile

Posts: 2558
Joined: January 11, 2011

If anything, the new deck could only get better; with the availability of new devices and fresh thinking, I think it would have been an exciting project for the new engineers. It is quite likely that the younger engineers had never even used a turntable before and would have been very curious to see the final outcome. As long as the input requirements were clearly defined, any good engineer should be able to achieve the solution (with reference to the original design notes and documentation.) At my work place, some of the new grads have become so used to downloads they were surprised to see me still buying CDs (which to them was more "obsolete" than vinyl which still at least held some novelty value for them!)

Regards Anthony

"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats

RE: Here's the way I heard it...., posted on January 11, 2017 at 06:54:32

SpotcheckBilly12345

+1 on Manny E's comments, and quite possibly more worthy than VPI

If Technics planning for new entries in the audiophile field comes to fruition count me a big fan!

Seriously considering a new SL1200

Cheers,
SB

RE: Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable, posted on January 18, 2017 at 20:38:48

gordguide
Audiophile

Posts: 302
Joined: January 20, 2002

Not sure what drugs these people are on, but apparently it's affected their common sense and their math skills.

" ...
According to Gizmodo, the Technics SL-1200GR will go on sale in June for $2300 CAD, which they anticipate will equate to a $2000 retail tag in the States.
..."

$2300 CAD is about $1700 USD. Plus, various market forces generally mean Canada market prices are about 10% higher than US market prices ... which means maybe as low as $US 1500.00 south of the 49th parallel.

But wait ... there's more. Math-degenerating Drug use, that is:

" ...
If that figure is correct, UK customers can expect to pay between �1400 and �1500 ..."

Not in a million years. Direct currency exchange goes like this:

$2300 CAD is about 1400 British Pounds Sterling. Plus there is the near 20% Value Added Tax, which is part of the retail price in the UK (as compared to being added on, like a Sales Tax). So that's 120% of 1400 Pounds, or about 1700 Pounds retail.

First they stopped teaching people how to add and subtract. Now they apparently have stopped teaching people how to use a calculator.

Anyway, going off the Canadian Market price is hardly the most reliable way of pricing products; I would feel much better if there was a US Market retail price somewhere. There will be, of course ...

Vinyl Asylum

Technics unveils new "standard" edition SL-1200GR turntable

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