Turntable Reviews

...of few lines of audio reviewing more apt than the first line of this one. It's right up there with the first few from "Flesh And Blood: The Reichert 300B".

Visually they look very similar. Have anyone compared using the same cartridge? I'm sure SL-1200G is better, but I wonder by how much when using the same cartridge.

other than DJs, who uses the pitch fader?

So if Panasonic can do this, they can bring back the Isoloop series open reel machines.

I have heard it many times and always wanted one. However, there appear to be some teething quality control issues, particularly the G. A member of my Facebook group had to return his four times because of wobbly platters and led lights burning out. He finally downgraded to the GR. Not sure if moving production to Malaysia has anything to do with it, as the wobbly platter issue also used to afflict the Japanese-made ones. Still, I want one.

I’ve checked it and it says made in Malaysia on mine and on the photos at Technics website. Thanks for pointing that out.
Nevertheless, I have zero issues with its quality. Looks and performs like a high quality instrument.

to test for the effective mass of the tonearm, something Technics does not publish for some reason.
While the accessory headshells work well with taller low compliance cartridges, shorter high compliance carts need the lighter stock headshell for more ideal system resonance and to let the cartridge level out. The stock headshell has a specific distance from tonearm center axis to headshell mounting surface. With most accessory headshells that distance is greater which makes the cartridge sit higher. The VTA dial can run out of travel and the arm will not be low enough when shorter cartridges sit higher with accessory headshells.
Also knowing the effective mass would be helpful when calculating system resonance and some fear that the actual value is not low enough to allow certain desirable high compliance cartridges.

leaves the underside of the LP unsupported. I assume the resonance is supposed to drain through the (8) mini cones to the platter and chassis.
I hope the cones do not make contact with the LP grooves- no way I would let my LPs make contact with a few pointed cones no matter how blunt they may be.

Review of platter mats and comments about the effects of platter mats tell us more about the sins of the turntable used than it does about the mat itself.
Mats can be highly-coupling (e.g. no mat, very thin mats) or highly damping (e.g. Sorbothane, soft flat rubber mats, foam mats) or highly de-coupling (e.g. the standard Technics ribbed rubber mat, the Trans-Fi Reso Mat mentioned, both of which which make minimal contact with the record under-surface). There are also middle-ground mat types which try to find a place in between (felt mats, cork mats).
The effect each type of mat has on the sound depends on what the predominant turntable noise issues are for that particular test. I think it's fairly easy to understand that if a turntable bearing, platter or drive is generating noise, then an isolating platter mat will deliver an improvement. On the contrary, if a turntable bearing, platter and drive unit is deadly silent, then a highly-coupled mat will deliver improvements by allowing self-vibration within the record (generated by the stylus tracking) to evacuate quickly into a mass sink. In the middle-ground are various types of mat and turntable combinations which may be some of one and some of the other, hence may sound better with a middle-ground damping type mat.
The fact that the Technics under test sounded better with a highly-isolating mat tells us that Techics has not delivered a really audiophile silent platter/drive/plinth combitation in this deck.

And your hypothesis sounds logical Artie, but I currently have a Oracle Delphi TT paired with a SME Series IV tonearm. Table came with a felt mat. I then switched to a thicker “damping” mat that Mikey recommended half a dozen years ago. Now, I am using the Stein Perfect Interface, and it is light years ahead of the other mats but my thicker “damping” mat sounded better than the original thin felt mat.

I’ve been drooling over both the Technics 1200G and a vintage Gerarrd 301 for a couple years as replacements or maybe co-equals in my system with the Oracle. This review made me want the 301.

I scored “ 712” a while ago as cancelled order, brilliant turntable , no fuss, don’t have spend a grand a year keeping it updated. All adjustments are easy to do. Has worked effortlessly with my Lyra Argo and Charisma MC2 carts. Haven’t felt ( no pun intended ) the need for fancy mats or power cables. Did fit better interconnects