ghosthouse,
I guess you and I are in the same boat except that your turntable is even older than mine.
However, it seems to me that, as time passed by, "barrier to entry" has gotten to be much higher than it should. The word remained the same, but the meaning evolved into full dedication to equipment and the price of equipment required to join the club seems quite high. Deep inside, I have a feeling that an overall "audiophile" as a person is someone who spends lots of money on equipment. Of course, "lots" is in the wallet of the observer. Maybe, time too. Eventually, to justify it all, smaller and smaller things start mattering. Cogging, color on top of capacitor, etc. Do not get me wrong, all of them may technically matter at some point, but I am willing to live with those imperfections. Does dismissing them as insufficiently important to me make me less of an audiophile?
In the end, I believe that SL 1200 does not qualify for an "audiophile" piece because of its, at this time in history, relatively humble origins and possibly technology (I am far from being capable and qualified to judge about that). Add millions produced which brought "coolness" factor further down and add the fact that they really ended up being so enthusiastically embraced by DJs who simply would not be allowed to have a clue about what "real fine music system" is. I think that all of those together sealed SL 1200's "audiophile" fate before anyone would even listen to them again. Wait, did I just come up with my own answer to the original thread question?
Sure, Thorens from 1950s, or whatever year they were, must be "audiophile". Maybe, some day I will give it a listen and hear for myself.
I guess you and I are in the same boat except that your turntable is even older than mine.
However, it seems to me that, as time passed by, "barrier to entry" has gotten to be much higher than it should. The word remained the same, but the meaning evolved into full dedication to equipment and the price of equipment required to join the club seems quite high. Deep inside, I have a feeling that an overall "audiophile" as a person is someone who spends lots of money on equipment. Of course, "lots" is in the wallet of the observer. Maybe, time too. Eventually, to justify it all, smaller and smaller things start mattering. Cogging, color on top of capacitor, etc. Do not get me wrong, all of them may technically matter at some point, but I am willing to live with those imperfections. Does dismissing them as insufficiently important to me make me less of an audiophile?
In the end, I believe that SL 1200 does not qualify for an "audiophile" piece because of its, at this time in history, relatively humble origins and possibly technology (I am far from being capable and qualified to judge about that). Add millions produced which brought "coolness" factor further down and add the fact that they really ended up being so enthusiastically embraced by DJs who simply would not be allowed to have a clue about what "real fine music system" is. I think that all of those together sealed SL 1200's "audiophile" fate before anyone would even listen to them again. Wait, did I just come up with my own answer to the original thread question?
Sure, Thorens from 1950s, or whatever year they were, must be "audiophile". Maybe, some day I will give it a listen and hear for myself.