New Technics SL 1200 GAE

For the record I am not lumping ALL belt drives in my comment about "MDF rubber band driven junk" I am referring to true "MDF rubber band driven junk" :)

Obviously their are some fabulous belt drive systems out there, I personally would like to own and play with some of the big Micro Seikis (SX-8000 II).

Audiofun, My Mk3 was Krebs modded by Bill Thalmann in Springfield, VA. I think it was a worthwhile upgrade, and I am not sure how the smell of linseed oil, assuming I were to remove my platter and sniff, is necessarily a detriment to the listening experience.  I can say I noticed no such odor when re-assembling my Mk3 after Bill worked on it, but I could imagine that such an odor might develop over time and use.  But so what?  On the same subject, I would think that the Krebs mod for the Mk2 would be even more effective than on the Mk3, since the Mk2, to my ears, has a slight gray-ish coloration (very slight, mind you) that some say may emanate from servo over-correction, which is "treated" by Krebs. Best of all, the Krebs mod to the Mk2 is cheaper.

Also, based on theory and my fairly extensive experience with a variety of DD turntables, my guess would be that the 1200GAE outperforms a stock Mk2.  I'm not so sure about Yamaha GT2000 or Victor TT101, but both of the latter probably would need mods to the plinth in order to compete with or out-do the 1200GAE.

lesm:

I believe you and I'm glad it was a mod you are pleased with. The greyness that most people speak of is mostly caused by the chassis of the mk2 and mk3. A great deal of this greyness can be removed by seating the motor unit in a plinth such as Albert Porters beautiful plinths. 

The best results are achieved by completely removing the motor unit (mk2 & 3) from their aluminum housing and fixing them directly to a plinth a-la Steve Dobbins or Artisan Fidelity.

I can attest that the GAE has no greyness to speak of, at least my ears don't perceive that trait.

I wonder how many of you experienced with Luxman PD-444 with its "magnet suspended loadfree spindle & crystal phase locked loop" made by Micro Seiki ? I use two of them and this is the turntable than need no modifications (imo), because the 24kg plinth is simply amazing and ready for two tonearms.

lewm:

sorry about incorrectly entering your moniker, my iPad likes to try to think for me :) plus I need my readers LOL!!!