New Technics SL 1200 GAE

Wow, what a bucket of cold water to the face this thread is turning out to be. I was considering selling my Well Tempered Amadeus to "upgrade" to the 1200G, but if it needs all these tweaks and extras to avoid sounding bright, standing pat might be the better move.

The WT Amadeus is a great table. I have both a standard Amadeus and a GTA. 

The SMPS has to be thrown out, no doubt about that. A linear power supply mod from http://www.time-step.com/ is the way to go.

I am also on the fence to get a direct drive TT. I was considering the SP10 mk2 and Yamaha GT-2000. SP10 was favourable simple because of its availability and serviceability. But then came the 1200G claiming to be equal or better than sp10 mk2. However I do not see any solid claims as yet to suggest that it is indeed better than the sp10. In the absence of such solid A-B testing I am thinking to stick to my original plans of getting the SP10 mk2. I have heard it and like it a lot. It can be upgraded with the krebs modifications which supposedly takes it closer to the sp10 mk3. Why not then ?

Pani, now much is the Krebs mod of Sp10mk2?

and why not the Victor TT-101 which must be superior to all of them?

dougolsen:

"Do you recommend running in manual until 700 hours is reached and will this help reduce the brightness I object too?" I do recommend running it in manual mode for the first 700 hours.  

"How do you know when you have reduced torque down to 20%?"   Count the number of turns lock to lock (be gentle, it is a small pot) and then turn it 1/5 the way up from the lowest setting.

While I definitely know that the unit can sound a bit out of sorts in auto mode until the bearing is run-in I am not so sure if the brightness you are referring to is the same thing I am referring to. I did note a tilting up of the sound of my system but ALL SMPS's have this affect on my system.

Simply put this is one of the best tables I have ever heard bar none, is my SP10 MK3 better, well yes but I have a $9K cart on a $7K arm feeding a $13K phono stage on a  $10K rack (in fairness the GAE is on a rack of equal cost), not to mention an Artisan Fidelity Modification to make it a NG (currently undergoing the upgrade to NGS) ~180 pound table. The real question is how does it compare? Very well indeed, in no way is my GAE/103R(or London Ref)/iPhono2 embarrassed by its big brother. My system so far ranks as follows (going in ascending order of goodness), digital (AMR DP-777SE, GAE+iPhono 2 with LPS, SP10 MK3 NG + AMR PH 77, Custome built (by Soren Wittrup) Tascam 42BR R2R).

All of them sound excellent and the GAE is very very good, it simply can be made to sound better. I still say its FAR better than most of the MDF rubber band driven junk out there being marketed for crazy money. 

I don't want to start a thing about the Krebs mod which many know I do not believe in or support. I will just say this, if you know of anyone who has had it performed some years ago, try to look at the interior of the unit where the linseed oil was applied and see what it looks and smells like now. All I am saying is look for yourself and if you are fine with this in your TT, then go for it.