T.H.E. Show 2019--Sunny Components, CH Precision, Stenheim, AudioQuest and Technics

My latest show report from T.H.E. Show 2019 is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one covers an impressive sounding room from Sunny Components. You can read it here.

Heard About the New Technics SL1200?

Have I heard about the new Technics SL-1200 yet?

Why yes, I have. I just returned from the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where I was representing two of my brands (Opera and Unison Research). My room on the 29th floor of the Venetian was right across the hall from the Technics room. I noticed that on set-up day, so once the show began I immediately headed over to get the scoop.

I'm not going to go into much detail here, because I plan on writing an entire article on the new limited edition Technics SL-1200GAE turntable that was debuted to the world just a few steps from where I sat for four days. But I did sit and listen, and here are my initial impressions:

1. I was disappointed to see that the new 1200 looks just like the old one from a distance. But the insides are all new. This is a radically different turntable from the classic 1200, with lots of new engineering ideas inside. The new 1200, as a result, is a LOT heavier than the old one.

2. Yes, it's going to cost $4000. I scooped the price when I went into the room and asked how much. The Japanese gentleman from Technics replied, "We think $4000, but we're wondering if that's too much." Within an hour, the press at the show started reporting the MSRP as $4000. The audio world collectively groaned, although turntable guru Michael Trei said that a more basic model would eventually debut at about half the price.

3. I sat down and listened to it in an all-Technics system. (Technics has been introducing some very intriguing high-end audio gear over the last year or so.) To put it succinctly, the new 1200 sounds like a $4000 'table. It possessed none of that dark, closed-in sound of the older model. It sounds wonderful in every way. I heartily approve.

I'll get into more detail in a future Vinyl Anachronist column for Perfect Sound Forever.

A 1200 for $1200?

I just noticed that Amazon is selling new Technics SL1200s for...get this..."starting at $999." They even have a refurbished one, whatever that means, for sale for $1300. Checking another online source, I found that they were selling 1200s for--you guessed it--$1200.

The prices of these 'tables went up once Panasonic announced they were discontinuing the 1200 a couple of years ago. Before that, they had a retail price of $500. I couldn't recommend this 'table at THAT price, much less the new "collectible" price. I'd always try to steer people toward something like the venerable Rega Planar 2, which cost $495 back then. While I obviously drew the ire of the 1200 Army when I made that recommendation, most knowledgeable audiophiles were quick to agree that the Rega had a much airier and energetic presentation and just sounded more musical. But the Technics fans are vocal and sometimes downright nasty, and they have a million reasons to buy a direct-drive 1200 over a belt-drive anything--and very few of those reasons have anything to do with sound quality.

But for around $1200 you can buy a friggin' amazing turntable such as a Rega RP6 ($1295) or the new VPI Traveler ($1300). Why in the world would you buy a new Technics SL1200 for that much?

A Technics SL1200 that may actually sound great!

In the interest of fairness, I would like to show you some Technics SL1200 mods that may actually make it sound pretty wonderful. Sound Hi-Fi is a dealer in the UK that offers a variety of mods for the SL1200 that revolve mostly around an external power supply and a precision machine arm board that can accommodate tonarms from the likes of SME, Dynavector, Rega and an affordable line from Jelco.

I haven't heard these myself, but people whose ears I trust say the Sound Hi-fi mods are nothing short of spectacular, and will help skeptics like me appreciate the engineering behind the 1200. Their products include armplates, mats, isolation feet, external power supplies, record weights, strobe disable switches, platters, bearing mods and motor dynamics mods. Sound Hi-Fi also provides a wide selection of arms and cartridges. You can even buy a complete state-of-the-art TT, including a brand new SL-1200, called the Timestep EVO. It costs a somewhat daunting 3695 pounds.

If you order a la carte, the cost isn't quite as shocking. In fact, the guy behind the mods, Dave Cawley, is quite honest and upfront about the Technics; he says that these mods won't make the 1200 the best turntable in the world, but the final product offers a very intriguing choice at every price point. This seems to be echoed in a review Sound Hi-Fi received from TONEAudio, where Jeff Dorgay called his modded SL1200 (which was the one I used for two years) his new reference at the $2000 level. That's fairly surprising, since Jeff was no more in love with the 1200 than I was.

So the Sound Hi-Fi mods seem to be the one 1200 mod that makes sense. I'll reserve my final opinions until I actually hear one. I heard a fully-modded 1200 from KAB USA that tipped the scales at nearly $2000, and I'd still rather own a Rega P3-24.

And just to mess with Dan Muzquiz's head, here's an SL1200 with the new Funk Firm FXRII arm! I better he's never seen that before! For more information on the Sound Hi-Fi mods for the Technics SL1200, check out http://www.soundhifi.com/sl1200/index.htm.

The Dreaded Return of the Technics SL-1200

If you've read my columns in Perfect Sound Forever, AudioENZ and TONEAudio over the years, you probably know that I'm not a big fan of the Technics SL1200 turntable. But the flood gates really opened when I wrote a 2006 article for PSF that picked apart the best-selling turntable of all time and criticized direct-drive TTs in general. (You can read the original article at http://www.furious.com/perfect/vinyl53.html.)

Well, that prompted a legion of Technics owners and fans (which I later called the 1200 Army) to grab their pitchforks and take to the streets in protest. It seems like I spent the next three or four years defending myself before I realized that for every 1200 owner I offended, there were three or four engineers and honest-to-goodness audio industry guys telling me that I was right on the mark. So I stuck to my guns.

In fact, I did better than that. I bought a Technics SL1200 and spent the next two years trying every tweak offered by the 1200 Army. If they said the 1200 really shined with a certain cartridge, I tried that cartridge. I put everything from a $59 Shure to a $2500 Koetsu on the 1200. I heard a variety of tweaked 1200s from the likes of KAB USA and others. Someone told me that the arm of the 1200 was the weakest link, so I heard 1200s with tonearms from Rega and even SME. I heard that 1200s sounded their best with an outboard power supply, so I tried one of those. I tried damping troughs and rubber feet. I tried it all.

I reported my findings over the course of two years in all three of the aforementioned publications as well as audio discussion forums such as the Steve Hoffman Forum. My conclusions on the 1200 are as follows:

1. Replace the arm, armboard and power supply and the 1200 sounds decent. Not great, but decent.
2. A high-quality cartridges does wonders. I heard a Technics SL-1210 with a $1200 Ortofon cartridge at audio reviewer Danny Kaey's house, and it was at least as good as my old Rega P3 with Exact cartridge...at twice the price. I also found that the $199 Ortofon 2M Blue did a pretty good job of erasing some of the inherent darkness of the 1200 sound.
3. Throw a lot of money at a 1200, and you'll still hear a reduction in soundstage size and, specifically, soundstage depth. And it will always sound dark.
4. On the good side, the low bass quality is outstanding, as is pitch stability.
5. It's built like a tank and will last forever.

After I sold the 1200, I was done talking about it. I never wanted to talk about it again. But you know the Internet.

Just a couple of days ago, I received an invitation to check out an audio discussion forum in England where my original 2006 article was once again being dismembered by "engineering" types who attempted to impugn everything from my technical knowledge to my cocksmanship (apologies to Bill Holden in Network). Well, those of you who know me well also know that I don't shrink from a flame war, and I immediately started digging trenches.

But after going back and forth with the site administrator (a guy named Marco who was all sweet in our email exchanges yet insulting on the forum), I decided not to fall into that trap again. The responses to my emails (which Marco posted on the forum without permission) were filled with so much false bravado, misinformation and downright poor reading comprehension skills that I realized I don't have enough time in the day to deal with it all. So I declined Marco's invitation to join his forum and hash it out with the regulars.

For the record, if you have a 1200 then enjoy it. I will continue to believe that a good belt-drive design will always sound less dark and dull than the Technics. But who am I to say what accurate sound is? I love the lush, romantic and somewhat colored sound of both Koetsu cartridges and single-ended triode amps.

So the next time someone wants to discuss the 1200 with me, I will politely decline. I will suggest that you do your homework and read ALL of the articles I wrote about my journey with the 1200 and NOT just judge me from that five-year old article. (By the way, I still stand behind every word.)

Just listen to LPs in the 21st century, and you'll be aces with me.