Technics SL1210/rb300

Any members have any experience of this combo?
There's a firm on eBay selling arm mounting plates and literally 10's of 1210's for sale-what kind of replay level could one expect in terms of other decks-any ideas, worth a punt?
Heads up also theres a SP10/technics Obs base/acos arm also on sale on uk eBay for those flusher than me

 

Try searching on Audiocircle.com or World Designs Forum - plenty of opinion on this subject. Also, see Hifi World from the other month when a modified RB250 was transplanted onto a sl1200.

For the record, I have an SL1210 with Audio Origami re-wired (original s-shaped) arm and am very pleased with the results.

 

Check out the articles in Hi-Fi World of July/August this summer where they did this very same transformation. David Price, I think it was, the Yamaha NS1000 fan. Seemed very happy with the results especially in the bass, I seem to remember.

 

Thanks Chaps, I try to avoid reading the hifi rags but will investigate further.

 

Check out anything by Carlo Morsiani..he modded the Technics 1210.

Worth investigating.

 

Thanks again.
F

 

I use an SL12 with RB250, the mounting plate is Origin Live, the arm uses the Origin Live counterweight / structural mod , I used to use the origami one but prefer the O/L one by a large margin. I use the Funk achromat, which replaced the Isoplatmat and again is an improvement.Cart is Sumiko Blue Point 2, and in my opinion the modified deck is amazing value for money, sounds incredibly good. And the Hi Fi world article compared it to a £5k SME and said it was better in some respects. I wouldn't swap it, i'd just upgrade the arm and cart and phono stage further now.

 

Yep - Ive basically done this. Ive use the Origin Live armboards and the mechanically very similar to RB300, Michelle Tecnoarm (A). Ive now done both my 1210s making them absolutely outstanding DJ decks and great Hifi decks.
Next up is to add the isonoe feet, designed for Technics SLs

Really easy to do and very well worth-while.
Incidentally if you use them for Djing you'll be astonished by the improvement.
Feel free to PM or email me if you want more info

 

Arm

I HAVE JUST NOT LONG DISCOVERED IN MY CELLER ...
two turntables, a technics sl 1200 with an sme 3009 and the other a technics sl150mk2 also but this one i never used untill now with a audio technica atocf 10, moving coil and decided to try it against others ,, no bias here but i love the sound, as for the rega arm, personally i think it is a very dead sounding arm,
nando.

 

Cooky,

Proceed with confidence. Both the SL-1210 and SP10 are superb T/Ts, and are vastly underrated in general by the audiophile fraternity. Only 'badge loving' prestige seekers, some biased dealers, and the uninitiated, will tell you they're not as good as modern designs (when in fact the opposite is true). Incidentally, rewiring the stock arm is also an option as it is of better quality than some imagine.

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Paul

 

Thanks guys, circa '75 I paid £172 for an SL120 +SME 3009 mk2 just a (considerably indebted!)lad at the time, the 120 TT part is stored in my loft but the strobe light was knackered last time we powered it up.Maybe I'll make it my winter project.

 

Cooky,

Read this article (and the links contained therein). I'm sure you'll find it interesting:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/technics_sl1200_2_e.html

Then have a look here:

http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/index.htm

Click on "Record Players". Then on the Related Links on the right of the page, click on "Why your last 'table should be a KAB-modded 1200!"

You should get some thought provoking ideas

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Paul

 

never mind those old Technics disco decks.

Take some advice from What Hifi's awards issue & get yourself a proper 'audiophile' product.

TURNTABLES
BEST TURNTABLE under £200 : Pro-Ject Genie £124.99
BEST TURNTABLE £200 - £750 : Rega P3-24
BEST TURNTABLE £750 - £1500 : Roksan Radius 5
BEST TURNTABLE +£1500 : ClearAudio Performance
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Rega P3-24

 

i compaired my mates standard 1200 against my lp12, ekos, arkiv and lingo..
the out come..









the technics was about 10 times better and far more musical...
conclusion to this...
if you have an lp12..sell it..and buy a good deck
if you want a great sounding cheap deck that can compete with decks costing 10 times the price..buy a technics 1200.
regards rudi

 

Haha, now *that* is funny!

In the "+ £1500" category I'd add an SME and the LP12 to that list, too. Yes they're good turntables, but vastly overpriced for the performance on offer, especially when you consider what an SL-1210 or SP10 is capable of for a fraction of the price.

Isn't it amazing what some people will pay for the 'right' badge!

Dan,

I've carried out a similar test and came to the same conclusion. The Technics is a proverbial giant-killer. Mind you, some badge fetishists now using their 'prestige' T/T of choice used to think that the old Glaswegian 'cat litter tray' was the bee's knees

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Paul

 

paul. good to see you mate....
wtf is that pratt kenny and paul up to mate.....?
regards dan

 

the thing is the technics decks are so bloody good it makes you wonder why some of us udiophools bother with sme's ect...
i sold my lp12 2 weeks after compairing it with the 1200....
i might even buy one myself soon....

 

Thanks Paul, interesting reading and guess what? christmas is coming....

 

Some of us have seen the post before the edit, Graham. And some of us could even make the connection with t'other place now ...

 

No worries, cooky.

Watch out though for the badge snobs because they'll tell you the SL-1210 is just a 'DJ deck'. I enjoy taking the piss out of these people, though

Incidentally, there's not a *massive* difference in performance between the SL-1210, when appropriately modified, and the SP10. Much depends on how the SP10 is mounted and of course what arms and cartidges are being used on both decks. If you read the information in the TNT Audio link you'll see that both units share very similar genes.

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Paul