I have now owned my GAE for about 10 months and it has gotten plenty of play time. I generally play it more often than my Sp10 mk3 as I save the MC Anna's stylus life for hard-core listening sessions whereas it's far less expensive in the long run to listen to my 103R for non-critical sessions or background music and for less than pristine pressings :)
I have a habit of every 3-6 months reverting back to a former configuration to make sure what I thought I heard previously is in fact what I'm hearing now (I do this for my whole listening chain) I did this with the GAE regarding the "auto" vs "manual" mode. I went back to auto mode about 3 months ago. I was shocked at how much better it was. I have some original recordings of the deck in auto and manual mode during its break-in period and I can tell you without a doubt it sounded far better in manual mode when the unit was newly arrived.
So what changed? Obviously I can't definitively answer that, however, I can speculate. The bearing would have run in and it is possible that the electronic mechanism that this table has to quell vibrations is not working nearly as hard, perhaps translating to a more airy languid and relaxed sound, i.e. It no longer sounds like a good (but not exceptional dac) when in auto mode.
I went back and forth many times and sure enough, once run-in I am firmly on the "auto-mode" side of the fence now, but when the table was new? No way!!!
Based on what I could glean from Mr. Fremers review of this table, he had it in his possession for some time. Perhaps his unit was fully run-in when he attempted the comparison between manual and auto mode, I don't know but that would explain at least to me why he preferred auto-mode.
I can still hear a sizable delta between auto and manual mode it's just that the advantage now goes to auto-mode.
My my advice is run the thing in manual mode until you get about a 500 to a 1000 hours on the bearing and then start switching and comparing the playback modes. You may be surprised; I was literally SHOCKED and for a minute didn't believe my own ears.
Bearings in turntable are immensely important! I look at it like new rings on a piston seating themselves along the cylinder walls of an auto engine :)
I would like to hear from some owners who have some mileage, figuratively writing, on their SL-1200 G or GAE.
