Technics Direct Drive Appreciation Thread

[goatbreath]

I was really shocked at how good that cartridge is,although I love the M75 6s/all it's other guises..
The point 6 spherical 1.5 to 3 grams cream stylus assembly..

Both bring older records to life in different ways..
I would never have touched them 10 years ago while using a Goldring 1012 GX..
Although I always had a soft spot for AT95e's and Shure M75/91ed's
I just liked the sound of them..
I definitely steered clear of spherical styli though,they were the Devil... :lol:

I didn't pay peanuts fr the deck,but it definitely is a really good deck..
No record jumping etc either by the way..
I can walk around the room fine..

[lenjack]

The blu tac appears to be the secret ingredient. From your description, it sounds like you're spending several hours a day changing carts.

[goatbreath]

I was for a little while on changing the cartridges around...
Around 2 a day for a several day period though..
Listening to the same records a lot..
Now diversifying out a bit.
I know the cartridges relatively well,apart from the Nagaoka MP110 that is a new addition..
I've got a chart drew up for tracking weight,Anti Skate etc,so changeover is fast..
All quite a big operation at first tough.. :D

Yep! on Blu Tak,I use it for so many little things..
Loose fitting styli is another..
Holding a stylus assembly in place in a storage box..
Blu tacking speakers onto stands..
That's just the ones I can immediately think of.. :D

[lenjack]

Many uses around the house!

[zlartibartfast]

I have more appreciation for my SL1300 today than ever before. It was my first and still only table (though I expect to have one or two or five more). I've had it since 1974. I just installed it's 3rd cartridge.

When it started having problems with it's RCA cables (break in left channel somewhere) and it wouldn't hold a steady 33 1/3 RPM, I took it in for service. Later when I went to pick it up, the tech who helped me mentioned that it had "beat all our test LP's". The owner of the shop offered to buy it from me. I thought "yeah, right" and said thanks, no, I had it fixed so I could use it again.

So yes today I submit my endorsement for Technics Direct Drive turntables!

[lenjack]

My 1300 was my 2nd table after my AR XA. I'll be honest and tell you, I don't think it was a step up, but I really liked it, and appreciated it's automation. Let's call it a lateral step.

[vinyl master]

I know the cartridges relatively well,apart from the Nagaoka MP110 that is a new addition..
I've got a chart drew up for tracking weight,Anti Skate etc,so changeover is fast..
All quite a big operation at first tough.. :D

Yep! on Blu Tak,I use it for so many little things..
Loose fitting styli is another..
Holding a stylus assembly in place in a storage box..
Blu tacking speakers onto stands..
That's just the ones I can immediately think of.. :D

Those are actually really good ideas...A chart for all the tracking weights of one's various cartridges is a good reminder and I highly vouch for the Blu-Tack, as well... :D

[lbls1]

I have put my inherited 1200 MK3 back in service with my new system. I've always admired this unit for its precision and extreme high quality construction. Technics came back to the market in the right time, and I feel that they will set a new standard in turntables. a turntable in the Technics area of quality should have the quality attributes of the finest turntables on the market. I feel that Technics will bring improvement into this genre, and hopefully we (I would like to see) re-entry by some of the other vaulted turntable names from the golden period of the late 1970's

[truedeth]

I have a SL-J2 direct drive quartz timing turntable that I found at my thrift store job (I'm part of the problem) and it's an amazing little system.
In reading the information about the turntable, it was advertised as being as big as a record jacket and it 100% is!

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Technics 84/85 catalog SL-J2 in black

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It sounds great and controls like a CD player which is very strange. I never had a direct drive turntable before, always belt driven, and even a few months in I still am amazed at how fast the record screeches to an immediate stop when the tonearm reaches the end. Goes from spinning to stopped in a fraction of a second.

Design wise, I love the 80s look of silver and black, and the sloped curve of the lid. Inside it is also well done, with around 3-4 boards placed around the unit. Easy to maintain and disassemble. The lid is held together with plastic pop rivets so I can imagine those getting damaged if used too much.

I have it on my floor currently and it hasn't skipped or distorted the sound once! I have a cat and she has pawed at the record spinning under the lid and nothing happened!! Very impressed by that. It does have rubber feet with springs surrounding them.

IMG_20190206_221920.jpg

Record player on the floor

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The automatic track sensor is an amazing thing and usually works pretty well! It's not perfect since it's working on an analog medium and doesn't have track information available to it, but it does work. It feels alien to press a button a few times and then hit play and the needle moves to the right track on a record.

The needle is a p-mount system and I have a needle I found in the basement at work. It turns out to be a Marantz CT551 MM cartridge and it installed pretty easy.

All in all, I love this turntable and it has reopened the door to my love of music again. Brings me back to when I was a kid and pouring over my parent's record collection.

[lenjack]

The array of direct drive tables that Technics made is absolutely stunning. Go to the library above for a full listing.

[vinyl master]

I have a SL-J2 direct drive quartz timing turntable that I found at my thrift store job (I'm part of the problem) and it's an amazing little system.
In reading the information about the turntable, it was advertised as being as big as a record jacket and it 100% is!Screenshot_20190404-105217~2.png

It sounds great and controls like a CD player which is very strange. I never had a direct drive turntable before, always belt driven, and even a few months in I still am amazed at how fast the record screeches to an immediate stop when the tonearm reaches the end. Goes from spinning to stopped in a fraction of a second.

Design wise, I love the 80s look of silver and black, and the sloped curve of the lid. Inside it is also well done, with around 3-4 boards placed around the unit. Easy to maintain and disassemble. The lid is held together with plastic pop rivets so I can imagine those getting damaged if used too much.

I have it on my floor currently and it hasn't skipped or distorted the sound once! I have a cat and she has pawed at the record spinning under the lid and nothing happened!! Very impressed by that. It does have rubber feet with springs surrounding them.
IMG_20190206_221920.jpg

The automatic track sensor is an amazing thing and usually works pretty well! It's not perfect since it's working on an analog medium and doesn't have track information available to it, but it does work. It feels alien to press a button a few times and then hit play and the needle moves to the right track on a record.

The needle is a p-mount system and I have a needle I found in the basement at work. It turns out to be a Marantz CT551 MM cartridge and it installed pretty easy.

All in all, I love this turntable and it has reopened the door to my love of music again. Brings me back to when I was a kid and pouring over my parent's record collection.

Nice little J2, there, truedeth...Did you get a good deal on her? :-k Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll come across one of those Technics linears someday...I like their small footprint, too! =D>

[truedeth]

I got it for the money in my pocket. $7. It had a dried out and cracked in half rubber mat and a worn out needle for a cartridge that was not worth paying the money to get a replacement needle.

[Shattered]

I have the underappreciated SL-1800 Mk I. Got it a couple of summers ago when my ATLP60 started running fast.
Just need to relube the tonearm and maybe eventually replace the RCA cords, but otherwise, it's been perfect.
I think we need a Mk I appreciation thread. :p

[Nigel Gomez]

I've always wanted a Technics SL 1800 mk 2 to replace my trusty Technics SL 210 in my secondary system.

Well I didn't get the SL 1800 mk 2 but I got this instead.

I am now putting it through the paces.

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It needs a clean up and a better cartridge.It sounds lovely though.

[lenjack]

For those of us Technics fans, myself included, who don't quite recognize this quartz beauty, and can't make out the model number, would you kindly tell us? Thanks in advance. :?: :) 8) =P~