Logical upgrades to a DD turntable.

What is the most obvious tweak / upgrade for this type of turntable before spending substantial money on a better cartridge?

Sorry, the others must have been so eager to post they missed this one entirely.

There’s a couple really cheap yet effective tweaks / upgrades that will improve this table a lot. I have a very old SL1700, hasn’t been used in years but I tried all this and know it works.

Dirt cheap yet super-effective: put the table on a sand box. Doesn’t have to be huge. More is better but an inch or two of good packed sand is fine. Mix it with a little mineral oil so it packs down and stays put with no dust. Used since like forever because it works- and is cheap and easy to do.

For only a little more money but even bigger improvement: springs. Every size is there on eBay but it takes a lot of searching to figure it out while Nobsound springs are adjustable to a wide load range and only $30 which is why I recommend them. Yes Townshend are a lot better, but they cost more than your current rig. True, they will elevate the performance of your current rig to where you can’t believe. But still: money.

Next after these two is fO.q tape, thick or thin your choice, either way about $60 for enough to make a serious improvement in your system. Tone arm, platter, plinth- try small pieces, see how it sounds, slowly gradually add. Also works great on speaker baskets, and inside components on circuit boards, etc.

From here on, either you get into more expensive tweaks like Synergistic PHT and ECT. Now you are looking at around the $200 range where you could get decent phono leads. If you do go phono leads do NOT get anything that goes to RCA and makes you have to buy an interconnect. DO get phono leads that run continuous from cartridge to phono stage.

Something to keep in mind. All the other stuff, sand box, springs, PHT, maybe even the tape, if you ever do decide to sell and upgrade tables these tweaks can all be kept and used, again and again, forever. Phono leads, not so much. No one gonna buy a table without them, nor give you what you paid for them in resale, nor are you going to want to use them in your next table. Phono leads will almost certainly improve the sound. They will also absolutely certainly be a total write-off one day.

Might still be worth it. But go into it eyes open.

It’s all in the details!! Nice catch and yes, eager . . .

I have a Technics SL1200 MK2 that came with the KAB RCA mod.  Not having heard it before the mod, I can't say it's better or worse, but it does provide the flexibility of using better interconnects.

The most impactful and relatively affordable (at the time, they've since increased in price) upgrade was replacing the old worn out feet with some from MNPCTECH.  There are others available.

I have also added the KAB fluid damper and put some fo.Q tape on the tonearm.  Neither had much effect to my ears, but it tracks well, has good bass, and doesn't "ring".  I use very little fluid in the damper, just enough to get the bottom of the paddle in it.  

There are a lot of other little tweaks you can do, external power supplies, disabling the strobe light, tonearm re-wires, and more.

People mistakenly write them off as "DJ turntables".  They are very solid and tend not to have issues with woofer pumping from vibrations when played very loud, which is one of the reasons many DJs adopted them, along with their steady speed and pitch control, and being built like tanks.  

The KAB website is a good resource and there's a lot of good information on Vinyl Engine.

DIY tonearm fluid damper. Free, just takes a little time to implement.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/bas/0809/

KAB is nothing special, fluid damper is ONLY for very high compliance cartridge. His cables are not the best and you can get better from Cardas or Discovery for very low cost.

But I will say it again: nothing will give you such a huge improvement as a cartridge, your Shure M44-7 is a DJ cartridge with Bonded Conical tip, replace it with Hi-Fi cartridge.

Do not start from the cables, it’s wrong start.

Fluid damper only collect dust, I have replaced them and don’t use them anymore. Got my pair of SL1210 mkII since 1995 and upgraded with Cardas tonearm wires, Zu Audio Mission Phono RCA cable, Isonoe feet ...

One of the best mat for this turntable is SAEC SS-300.

SL1210 mkII are not in the main system, but I taste nearly all my vintage and new MM cartridges on this turntables with headphones first. Some killer cartridges for this tonearm and turntable: SONY XL-50 (Boron Pipe cantilever), Victor X1II series (Titanium or Berylliym cantilever), Pickering XSV/4000 and Stanton 881s mkII (Stereohedron tip) ... just to name a few for reasonable cost NOS.