Technics SL-1200GAE...

[Mille162]

Originally Posted by phishphan

My 2 cents... I have the 1200mk5 and I want to upgrade. I haven't even hooked it up since I moved, 9 months ago. There are far better options. Check out the needle doctor's website. They have a store here in Minneapolis. Great guys that know TTs inside and out.

Phishphan, did you ever upgrade?

I have a SL1210M5g, have done many upgrades, only thing left is to replace the platter (waiting for a now discontinued Mike New to pop-up). The M5G had an improved tonearm and wiring so I doubt I’ll upgrade that; when I reach that point I’ll probably just purchase a 2nd table and move this to my office system.

1st question is, what cartridge are you using? Essentially a turntable just spins the record; the cartridge is what makes the biggest difference in what you hear. Just a simple upgrade to a better cartridge could be a night and day difference.

Single biggest improvement on my table was the Mike New bearing, followed by removing the power supply to a remote unit. Put mine up against friends MT10 and he was blown away by how it sounded next to his (A/B with both C100 and C50). I attribute that mistly to the cartridge, however the 1200 has always been dismissed based on its price point and mass production...but it was that mass production (3million + units) that allowed Panasonic to use better materials and better machined parts that smaller shops would not have been anle to. There’s a reason it was the broadcast standard for so many stations and for so long! If they made only a few thousand per year you’d expect to see the price at $10,000+

Personally, I used to have an on-air show and the 1200 was my first table so I was willing to spend sone time and $ to upgrade one to higher standards despite another brand OTS system might have been faster/cheaper. I also feel the DD motor is more accurate for consistent speed playback vs. a motor with a rubber belt wrapped around a platter.

Start with the $ going to a cartridge upgrade (which can always be carried over to your next turntable if you change!).

My upgrades:
-Mike New Bearing
-Herbies Way Excellent II 4mm mat
-Timestep HE III PSU
-Ortofon Quintet Black S MC Cartridge (25ohms loaded)
-Ortofon LH4000 Headshell
-Ortofon LW800S Headshell Leads
-Isonoe Feet
-Transparent Audio RCA jack conversion
-Transparent Super MM2 RCA interconnects
-Transparent PRPL2 power cord

Just for looks:
-Mercedes-Benz 010 black paint w/metallic flakes
-LED light replacement
-Silver metallic lettering
-Anodized black aluminum buttons
-Hinged dustcover