Technics SL-1210 MK5 or MK2 - an audiophile table

I bought the SL 1200 because this table has such a following on the internet; its considered a classic, still made some 30 years later and was originally an audiophile table. I wanted a relatively good turntable and found so much positive information on the SL 1200/10. I thus decided to buy it and so far very very happy with it.

I will not go over the details given by Technic or related by the sellers in the information section. But I can tell you it is NOT an automatic turntable or semi-automatic: you lift the arm yourself to play a record and take it off at the end when done playing. This is the price you pay for a better turntable...You also have to buy your own phono cartridge and needle. No a $50 cartridge may not do it justice in my opinion.

I use a turntable mostly to play my own records and not as a DJ use.

For a DJ this turntable is in great demand and very popular. It comes with a rubber mat and a slip mat. The feet are made to absord shocks and the underside and sides of the table coated with a rubbery substance. It does not include a cartridge and you will have to buy from a number of DJ cartridges offered. This was originally made as an audiophile turntable and later became very popular with the DJ crowd if you read different sources about the history of the turntable.

As for the sound, ''as is'', I find that for playing to a dancing crowd, the sound would be excellent since the speed is dead on and the table is very well made.
For a DJ use, a company called kabusa.com offers more modifications with a better rubber matt and better isolating feet to protect againts vibrations. The KAB company is wholly dedicated to the SL 1200/10 and its web site offer a numbers of modifications and very interesting and usefull information.

For an audiophile or one that will buy this turntable to play in his home like me, I have installed a relatively good phono cartridge;a Grado red for about $110. As is, with no further modification, I found the sound quite good. I felt that the precise speed and the overall quality of construction and the sheer 26 pounds of the turntable made for a very good turtable.

However, since I previously owned an expensive ($8,000.+) audiophile turntable(Oracle)and the famous SME V tone arm, I was looking to hear things like a more precise image of the sound and more detail and air around the voices and the notes.The basic non modified Technics will not provide a more detailed and open sound and good soudstage but does perform otherwise exceptionnally well and many will simply be very satisfied with the stock turntable. However, many people love this turntable and do provide ways to make it sound better....

I found that the kabusa.com company also offered other modifications for the SL 1200/1210 such as a regulated power supply. This modification I have yet to install but will do wonders to the sound, based on reviews and experiences done on other turtables by audiophiles. This is a very popular modification done on turntables.

The very first thing I did was to put pointy feet on the turntable, using metal cones instead of the stock feet. This is a common modification done to speakers, amplifiers, receivers, etc and will clean up the sound considerably. With the pointed feet , the sound was cleaner and more precise. Again, many companies offer such simple devices.

Their are differing opinions and many options and variences on the type of turntable mat to use. I changed the rubber matt for an acrylic matt because it opens up the sound and make its more detailed.I made one of 9mm from 2 X 4.5mm from the hardware store.

I also put some sort of sound absorbing material on the tone arm and couter weight. This took away the vibration of the arm and made the sound more open and stable and a seemingly better image. The kabusa.com people also offer something for the tone arm. Others sites talk about sound dots, or a tone arm wrap substance.

If you browse the internet, you will find that expensive high end companies, like ''Origin Live '', offer modifications for the the SL 1200 by offering a custom arm board to hold one of their arms. Yes, some people have put other tone arms on the SL 1220/10 since its considered such a good turntable and so popular.

Their are many web sites that talk about the Technic SL1200/10 MK 2 or 5 or similar models. One is a site called Audiogon.com. All they do is excahnge ideas on sound equipment and ideas. Their is a very interesting review about this turntable in the review/analog section. I thus discovered that this turntable has a serious following and that Its considered a solid worthy buy.

Yes, you can DJ with it - but its also as good or better than other so called audiophile turntables costing much much more.

I my opinion, you cannot go wrong with the SL1200/10 turntable. Its loved and desired all over & you can
re-sell it in no time flat since its so good and in such demand.

But its sounds so nice and is a high quality turntable; I also like the fact that its not too expensive & I can upgrade it at reasonable cost and enjoy the music from day one.

This review was extensively modified June 4 2006 as some wanted more info and detail. (I will later edit the spelling and grammar later as its getting late & have to work tomorrow.)