Technics SL-1200 goes out of production


I have various friends in the Japanese music business, and one of them (CEO of a dance-club in Tokyo) just received a notice from Panasonic KK, to the effect that the venerable SL-1200 is at long last going out of production.

The relevant contents of the correspondence from Panasonic loosely translate as follows:

***
We (Panasonic) launched the SL-1200 series of analog players in 1972, and have continued to sell them to the present. Based on DD (Direct-Drive) technology, the compactness and high performance of the SL-1200 series has won it many long-term adherents.

Despite this, unit sales have diminished year by year, also it has become more difficult to maintain the production system and continue procuring the required components. Simply put, sustaining production has become an ordeal.

With that in mind, we regretfully announce the end-of-life for the following products:

SL-1200 MK6 analog player
SH-EX1200 analog audio mixer
RP-DH1200 / RP-DJ1200 stereo headphones.

***
You can see a webpage of similar content here (but in Japanese)

http://blog-shibuya-club.diskunion.net/Entry/2157/

It's a sad day, but all good things eventually come to an end...

kind regards, jonathan carr
jcarr
Strange. I wonder why demand is decreasing. I keep reading about the vinyl comeback.
I didn't get from her that demand is increasing, but they keep production to a minimum and demand is often higher than production... Especially when one player comes in and buys their limited production out. She does say that models are still "current".. Panasonics price sheets have the 1200mk2, the 1200mk2pk, 1200mk5, 1210mk5 and 1210m5g as current models.
Hi jcarr I have Lyra Atlas SL I am using on a Thales statement tonearm. After a period of time I noticed the cantilever bent toward the center of the record and the first and last songs on an album side sounding like the singer was singing in water. I had to alter the atlas position in the tonearm head so the diamond tip aligned properly. A week or less later the cantilever appeared straight again. Forcing me to realign again. On the Lyra web page it lists compatible with linear arms. The tracking force was 1.80g. Is there an issue? Is it not compatible with the Thales statement? I adjusted the tracking force to 1.70g. Find hard to believe that would cause issue. Thanks for your insight pkoegz
@whatthe Looks like you posted to the wrong thread.
But isn't it amazing how the vinyl industry has changed from this thread's original story?
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