Technics 1200 Critic Fremer Praises the newer 1200G

@pryso

since the ealy 80s the SL1200mkII was adopted by professional deejays and became industry standard and still is the industry standard worldwide. ONLY bacause of this FACT this particular model has been sold in 3 000 000 copies like NO OTHER turntable in the world. Some manufacturers tried to jump in to release something similar, but nodoby cares about it, except kids who asked their moms to buy them a dj turntable and if they didn’t started with a Technics they always wanted Technics (and bought them when they could afford it later on). Other companies only tried to release something cheaper, but not better, and it fact the majority of the professionals never asked for anything better, really. Technics sold 3 000 0000 copies of SL1200mkII because of the DJs, Clubs, Radiostations in the 80s,90s and early 00s ... and even today people re-sell used Technics very well for $250-500 They are still in demand for professionals, because it’s a cult status product, the legend. Only DJs made this turntable legendary for millions, not an audiophiles or hi-fi enthusiasts. All DJ mixes, radioshows, video showcases recorded with those old Technics SL1200mkII. And every kid who would like to became an artist/dj was dreaming about a pair of SL1200mkII (when vinyl was main format). Technics was a sponsor of the DMC (Disco Mix Club) championships worldwide, Technics supplied turntables, mixers to those championships. Audiophiles has nothing to do (or very little) in popularisation of these legendary model, because they are not a celebrities, not an artists or opinion makers.

You can repead each time that it was not designed for DJs (and you’re absolutely right), but this is iconic DJ turntable and you can’t argue with it.

Don’t forget that any vinyl DJ needs a 2 turntables, not just one. The price does matter. Also the majority of todays new generation of DJs are on digital, they don’t even buy vinyl.

The SL1200 GAE, G or GR are designed for Audiophiles and they are the target audience for Technics. But they couldn’t ingnore the fact that they sold 3 000 000 copies of the predecessor with very similar look, when Technics desided to return to turntable manufacturing again.  As we can see almost every audiophile would like to buy this new Technics.

So now everybody happy!

@pryso audiophiles have this hatred for direct drive turntables that goes deep in their soul. Then add pitch control, strobe light and that its a japanese mass production table that takes them over the top. 

vinyl, in my opinion that "hatred" is misguided.

Those who have been in this hobby a long time such as myself will remember the advertisements from a certain belt-drive table manufacturer in Glasgow who criticized direct drive tables for cogging.  I'll admit I drank the kool-aid and abandoned interest in DD systems after that.  At least for many years.

But then I realized a few important points.  First, I'd never experienced cogging in any DD I owned or heard in friend's systems.  Second, recordings which contained long sustains such as with piano sounded more natural on DD tables than all but the most expensive belt-drive examples.  And third, few tables produced the energy and drive of the music like a decent DD example.

All this is not to suggest that decent sound can't be produced by a belt-drive system.  But I find advantages with DD which tip the scales for me.