My opinion....
I tend to agree with @chakster in that it would seem a good idea to repair the SL1200 (and maybe the phono stage) and mount a good cart. Maybe a Jelco SA-750 of a new Jelco 850 arm could be a significant upgrade, everything else being equal.
I also agree with his assessment of (IMO, all) Rega tables, but disagree with chak’s generalization related to belt drive tables. Off-center holes and the process from mastering to final pressing is the cause of pitch instability. Actual speed stability is fine in just about every non-toy modern turntable. (As I have opined in other threads,) What seems more important is drive voltage in AC synchronous motors. Dropping the voltage (such as using a cheap Variostat) significantly reduces any noise making its way down the drive belt(s) from the jerky A/C drive motors. This method just won’t fix the problems with Rega tables, though.
Just my opinion. YMMV, YRMV.
I tend to agree with @chakster in that it would seem a good idea to repair the SL1200 (and maybe the phono stage) and mount a good cart. Maybe a Jelco SA-750 of a new Jelco 850 arm could be a significant upgrade, everything else being equal.
I also agree with his assessment of (IMO, all) Rega tables, but disagree with chak’s generalization related to belt drive tables. Off-center holes and the process from mastering to final pressing is the cause of pitch instability. Actual speed stability is fine in just about every non-toy modern turntable. (As I have opined in other threads,) What seems more important is drive voltage in AC synchronous motors. Dropping the voltage (such as using a cheap Variostat) significantly reduces any noise making its way down the drive belt(s) from the jerky A/C drive motors. This method just won’t fix the problems with Rega tables, though.
Just my opinion. YMMV, YRMV.