What is Technics thinking?

51 albums later I still cannot shake the bright overall tone in my system.

Not wanting to rewire the tone arm on a brand new table, I called Charles at Cryogenics Int'l to discuss treating the entire turntable. He said he had never Cryo'd an entire turntable. Humm! Myself having commissioned over 1000 pieces the past 10 years felt strangely optimistic. The only issue's I experienced with Charles nitrogen vapor process was glue failures & paint peeling on improperly prepped surfaces, no electronics failures to speak off. (PM me or call Charles directly if you have specific questions on Cryogenics)

Well my entire SL1200GAE took the Cryo plunge last weekend, and a few wrinkles aside, the process was a total sonic success.  After a 2 hours run-in the sound was not only relaxed but had and entirely different musical presentation. Way beyond my expectations, something entirely new is emanating in my room. 

My SL1200GAE is having it's coming out party with friends and family. (Read-scrutinizing-audiophiles) The rubber hits the road tonite my friends!

I hear where you're coming from. After reading the story behind the retooling and considering the SL has become the de-facto Icon for a record player even during the demise of the LP I can understand the manufactures dilemma.

I'm thinking they were considering how they would maintain their current customer base (scratchers) and their ability to mount the players into existing systems road cases. I'm sure they'll be available at every Guitarted Center next to the Neumann microphones in the glass case.

My 1976 SL is on its second long term loan to another friend who has rediscovered the superiority of his LP collection. Since I temporarily relocated his bookshelf speakers unveiling his first experience with sound staging they've been in place for the past seven months. 

Compared to my Well Tempered I do miss the ergonomics and quick startup and the platter torque when dusting a side. The damn thing has a certain pace in its presentation that I don't get with the Well Tempered. Unfortunately, that old arm is a POS.

Friday evening began at Zur Kate for a fine german meal accompanied with un-amplified accordion music. This firmly set the foundation for the late night festivities.

Back in my main listening room the natives were clearly agog, fingering their brutal test LP’s that will surely bring the new Technics GAE to its knee’s. Stupidly I also agreed to a phono amp ’cable’ evaluation. Test LP’s combined with ’cable’ comparisons proved to be a recipe for audiophile neurosis.

What was I thinking ... hey boys ... this is my rodeo!

Grabbing the bull by the horns we regrouped back at my wet bar, the only damage being restricted to my Scotch collection. With everyone’s ego unfettered, we returned to my Technics 1610Mk2/Ortofon Vienna left on auto-repeat playing a virgin re-issue of Kind of Blue. Having previously reset my system back to normal all agreed the music sounded fantastic. After listening to both sides I quickly moved the Vienna & KOB LP over to the GAE. Once again I played both sides, total silence ensued ... no words necessary! I peeled backed the plastic from another virgin LP, the 2013 Mono reissue of Kind of Blue, silent nods agreed. Handshakes, tears, and stares of disbelief ensued after side one. Yes the mono version kills the stereo one, the GAE having laid it all bare.

Sticking with other Modal Jazz recordings, the consensus being the GAE clearly places you like a fly on the wall inside the recording studio.

Switching back to my 1610Mk2 changed perspectives, now we were just some blokes sitting in room listening to great music. A part of me was crushed by that revelation, as was some of the other players. The herd thinned at this point, perhaps realizing that your current analog rig now amounts to no more than a relic of the 20th century is a tough pill to swallow. (Days later some have rationalized that what they heard didn’t actually happen, perhaps I drugged them and unfairly used my Vulcan mind meld)

Those that remained went on to an all night listening session to the GAE. More virgin’s (vinyl) hit the floor Friday night then my high school prom 36 years ago. I personally opened 7 brand new LP’s, I hear the count was over 20 by the end of listening session. I threw in the towel at 3:30 am, others kept spinning records till the sun came up. I woke up for a glass of water at 7 am, ecstatic to find the ruby cantilever still intact on the Vienna.


I like other’s have yet to fully recover from the experience.

Hi Bill,  excellent post,  would have liked to have been there 🤑

I sat down last night fully intending to evaluate the sound of the GAE with my Kondo IO & Technics 205Mk4 cartridges. Instead the wife started spinning her brand new albums, Michael Jackson, Depeshe Mode, Pharrell Williams, Kate Bush. I snuck in my remaining sealed LP's, some Black Keys, Hendrix, Willie Nelson, Pattie Smith, Nirvana Unplugged.

BTW these LP's were all purchased at Fry's Electronics superstore, they have at least a couple thousand for sale. The last time both of us thumbed through LP's together was the mid 90's, we weren't even married then. We frequented Tower Records in Hollywood because they had the best LP selections and we both hated everything to do with CD's. We still do, perhaps thats the secret to our long marriage ... we both hate the same things. We transitioned to computer audio in 2005, never having to touch those wretched plastic disc's again. These days we enjoy Hi-Res music downloads via a modded cryo'd Sony HAP-Z1ES.  For background music & TV we bought a Naim Mu-So and stream Tidal Flac files. Tidal offers a seamless endless supply of high quality music on demand, check it out. Of coarse the Mu-So's main board is cryo'd and I added a mini headphone jack directly off the bass speakers to feed a REL sub.  This rig plays day & night, we could easily live happily ever after with just the Mu-So/REL/Tidal combo.

Getting back to the GAE, I really don't know what else to say. It presents recorded LP music under a brand new light that you have to experience for yourself. I'm almost afraid what the Kondo IO will dig out of those groove's. While the GAE's 'hot sound' may match your system straight out of the box, I still highly recommend everyone Cryo this device. Without a doubt this was biggest transformation I've experienced with Cryo treatment. (PM me for details)

The GAE has taken center stage around our place and eliminated any thought of playing Hi-Res digital files. I see nothing but Vinyl purchases in our future. Maybe we'll just move our bed into the Stereo Room.