What is Technics thinking?


Lots has been said, both pro and con, about the new Technics turntable.  Description here -

http://www.sl1200gae.info/about

Some are excited about the potential, given the upgrades since their last production table/arm, the venerable SL-12XX series.  Others see it simply as an excuse to raise the price significantly of the 1200s.

In my view they shot themselves in the foot.  They copied the model number of their best selling table (I can only imagine in the hope the familiarity will carry over) and also ended up with a very similar appearance.  Given the information on all the upgrades over their prior model, the similarities make it appear like something less than what it might be.

Technics had a room at THE Show Newport and that was my first chance to see a SL-1200GAE.  The fit and finish appeared to be very good but it did look like a "polished up" SL-12XX.  I ask the Technics rep why they didn't do more to distinguish this as a new model, given their efforts with engineer upgrades.  He said he could understand my question but then really didn't offer a reasonable explanation.  After describing all the components which had been redesigned/upgraded from the prior model he offered a demo.  However the room was crowded and the remainder of the system was completely unfamiliar, so no fair impression could be made.

I believe it should have had a more unique model designation and more might have been done to the physical package so it didn't look so much like the prior model.

pryso
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Hi lewm, I have talked to Bill Allen on the phone,  yes, he did cryogenic the entire 1200 gae turntable,  however,  you need to know,  he uses 100% mined silver cable's,  to me,  could have been bad for stock gae, Bill claims the cryogenic treatment pleased his sound impression's to what he uses for his system,  👀🎶🎺🎻
pryso, I agree. Your post got me thinking about what may have driven this design.
For me a glaring motive was maintaining the iconic look that even a line image of it is now easily recognizable as a turntable by people who may have never seen a turntable in person. 

Would a weekend scratcher pitch $8K for a pair of decks when the Pioneer version are the hot ticket at their local GC, definitely not. On the other hand there are plenty of concert level pro DJs who wouldn't blink at the status improvement like a set of twenty-two inch rims.

I can't imagine what they were thinking when improving that damn arm. Its 2016 and that VTA adjustment still can't be safely done on the fly and its S shape prevents an on the fly azimuth adjustment. WTF? 
"its S shape prevents an on the fly azimuth adjustment. WTF?"

With most arms azimuth is set at the headshell, few rotate the arm tube itself.  So why does it matter if S shape, J, or straight with offset headshell?

Actually I can't think of ANY arm that allows azimuth "on the fly", fortunately some do allow for VTA. 

Anti-skate, VTA, and azimuth, adjustments can be made on the fly with my Well Tempered Classic with fork towered arm. As the quality of my phono section and cartridge improved these vernier adjustments became much more important in dialing in the decks presentation during play. 

While the SL does allow limited azimuth adjustment, spinning the P-mount head shell is a time consuming hit or miss affair. Guess I'm spoiled.