Why Isnt Techincs 1200 Considered Audiophile?

@chakster, I have to agree with you on the looks of the Audomods. All those holes drilled into the arm tube (admittedly for a good reason, and apparently providing a substantial benefit) is quite unsightly, especially in the matte finish-version. Pretty ugly. The polished version looks much better. But if you can see past that, the arm is really well engineered and built. A great value in a pickup arm, for those who value value ;-). Another kinda ugly, but high value arm, is the TransFi Terminator, also hand-built by a Brit. They are really good at record players, aren't they?

@bdp24  when it comes to Technics i'm fine with my EPA-100mkII Boron Titanium with Rubby Ball bearings with the lowest friction, VTA on the fly etc. I think it's hard to beat by any new tonearm at $5k range (i've never tried more expensive new arms than my Reed 3p "12). Anyway a shoort version of Reed tonearm could fit in the SL1200GAE, but the EPA-100mkII can't fit. 

I think the best vintage tonearm for inexpensive old SL1200/1210mkII is Victor UA-7045 which is normally under $750 in perfect condition or even lower.    

The SL1200G is a pretty audiophile turntable.

Although it looks like the older version, its a complete from-the-ground-up new design.

We've mounted both the regular and 12" Triplanar tonearms on the new SL1200s with excellent results.

This is one of the most speed-stable machines in production. It is also well damped (including the platter) against mechanical vibration. So it is an excellent platform. I feel that the arm and platter pad are its weak points, but the arm is a whole lot better than its predecessor being made of better materials with better tolerances.

@clearthink technics wasnt made for djing

@vinny55 even with Studio 54 budged, the belt drive Thorens turntables were in the dj booth in NYC in the 70s disco era, some of the first djs used belt drive Technics SL-23 first, before they became "real djs" and soon realized what they need to develope their skills, SL-1200 mk1 was expensive back in the days, the mk2 became industry standard in the 80s.

Direct Drive SP-10 was made in Japan in 1969 and broadcast turntable for radio DJs was SP-10mkII, but club djing was born later on in the 70’s disco era and not with a Technics.