technics sl 1200 gae

@nkonor Hey, while "bang for the buck" is indeed my driving factor in audio now, i have modern tonearms at the same price as your TriPlanar (the Reed 3p "12 Cocobolo which is my reference) and paid for expensive modern cartridge too (Zyx Airy III, Zyx Premium 4D etc), so where am i whinning and what do you think am i loosing by trying top vintage cartridges or top vintage turntables? I only share my experience and i’m pretty sure it will help some people (especially those people who are relatively new to high-end) to make the right choice using "bang for the buck" factor and not to be effected by strange philosophy that more expensive is always better! I was effected by this philosophy myself when i started looking for high-end, but prior to this interest in high-end I’ve been using Technics 1200 series for nearly 20 years as a hi-fi.

To get a 2nd job is pretty good idea, i’m up for it

@atmasphere

The arm tower allows adjustment of the VTA on the fly. The concept has been copied by VPI, Durand and others so it must work :)

I like this concept on my Reed, but smooth and precision VTA on the fly available with many nice vintage tonearms like Victor UA-7045/7082, Sony PUA-7, Lustre GST-801, Technics EPA series just to name a few which i like a lot.

I designed an arm board that allows you to mount longer arms, and while the dust cover can’t be used, longer arms like the Reed can.

Everyone can get a ruler to measure pivot to spindle mounting distange and realize how limited is the SL1200 series compared to the SP-10 series which i prefer.

You can always say that everyone can use a custom arm pod near the SL1200 turntable with tonearm of any size (even "16 inch long), but this is not for the people who cares about aesthetics and desing of the equipment.

If your TriPlanar is not covered by the dust cover of the Technics then fluid damper collect dust everyday. I knew it because i’ve been using fluid dampers with my Technics for a long time, this is very bad idea without dust cover (imo).

Honestly i don’t like the idea of having open fluid damper, but it’s just me. I’m pretty sure TriPlanar is a great arm and i was considering one myself along with Kuzma 4 Point, but ended up with Reed 3p "12 Cocobolo with no regret (the most beautiful arm ever in my opinion, and fully adjustable like no other tonearms that i know, even azimuth of the fly).

I must admit that your TriPlanar looks nice on your custom armboard on the SL1200GAE

Honestly i don't like the idea of having open fluid damper, but it's just me.

I don't use it and have removed it on my arm at home. We don't use it at the shop either but its still on the arm.

chakster,

I am happy that you have Both modern (expensive) and tons of vintage. 
You recently chastised one member for not helping the poor and down trodden.  So, you help budding audiophiles ? Is this your contribution ? Until recent health issues, I volunteered at the VA hospital. Being a Combat Veteran, This is where my heart goes out to. You can continue to help budding audiophiles from your keyboard. Who do you Help, with your time and effort,  that Really Needs Help ?

@nkonor

Well, i don’t have a "tons of vintage" as you might think, i only have selected top quality vintage cartridges and i already traded my few expensive modern carts for my belowed vintage carts long time ago when i discovered the quality of the more expensive carts is not as good as the quality of the selected vintage ones. Also i could not live with $5 cartridges for practical reason, but i bought them, tried them to remember what they can do in my system with my records. At that time i was influenced by reviewers, dealers and the common opinion in high-end world. But personal experiecne is much more important, so i changed my mind. I only have two turntables in use in my main system (Luxman PD-444). And the cost of both turntables for me was less than your single new Technics GAE. Band for the buck in action.

You recently chastised one member for not helping the poor and down trodden.

No, My original post about luxury life of the very rich audiophiles was deleted by moderator because of one word, so i’m not sure did you get the message before it was deleted. It was not addressed to one member, it was addressed to luxury life that someone described as normal, but it’s not normal, it’s luxury. In the circle of friends no one can afford $15k cartridge or $30k tonearm and $200k turntable and so on. I’m definitely from another world, i don’t think it’s normal to spend that much on audio. This is an attribute of the luxury life described by one of the member. I only hope that charity is a part of that life too.

You can continue to help budding audiophiles from your keyboard. Who do you Help, with your time and effort, that Really Needs Help ?

In the modern world people of my age searching for information online. Contributors of this forum helped me a lot to expand my knowledge in theory first and then in practice. Basically the famous MM thread with tons of information from the members that no longer active on audiogon and some members that still active too. I want to pay back with my contribution. I see all this as the audiophile’s diary.

We have no probem to find reviews of the modern high-end equipment, but unfortunately we can’t find reviews of the vintage equipment, especially in comparison to the modenr equipment. And yes, bang for the buck is very important factor when normal people looking for an equipment that highly competitive to the overpriced stuff. What is overpriced for me may not be overpriced for people living their luxury life. But even relatively cheap vintage audio gear is overpriced for some people, many people spend more on records than on equipment.