yet another KAB mod question

I bought the SL 1210 M5G to get the factory tonearm rewire. I was on a limited budget, so it was less up-front money to haggle an M5G at the local Guitar Center for $500 even. I have not compared it to the KAB Cardas upgrade, but I haven't felt compelled to change out the M5G wiring either, and I have premium (mostly Kimber and AQ) interconnects throughout my systems. I think if it wasn't up to snuff, I'd notice. You get a slight improvement by separating the R & L leads, and a little more quietness by twisting them together.

While we talk about where to put the money in upgrades, let's not forget you have to put this sucker on an isolation platform. So far, the recommendation is to replace the feet with compatibly threaded brass cones, set this on a thick wooden platform, and isolate the platform from the rack shelf with Mapleshade Isoblocks or Vibrapods.

At the cheap end, you can get 1.25"x1.5" Dayton Speaker threaded brass cones from Parts Express for $20/set of 4, set the coned turntable on a butcher block cutting board from Ikea for $25, and set all this on Vibrapods or Isoblocks for $24/set of 4.

At the higher end of the spectrum, use Mapleshade Threaded Heavyfeet ($160/set of 4) on his 4" maple platform ($250) set on his Isoblocks ($24/set of 4).

I have direct experience with different mats, the platforming as described, Sumiko headshell and azimuth alignment, and fluid damper. They're all worthwhile.

Based on posts here, Zaikesman in particular, the KAB outboard power supply should probably be the starting point. He got the fluid damper first and the outboard PSU later. He felt that the PSU had the most profound effect.

For a crash course in SL1200 performance and various A-goners upgrades, read the SL1200 thread in the Analog Reviews section.

Oh, yeah: I also highly recommend that any SL12x0 owner pony up the $4.95 and squirt a few drops of oil into the bearing. I noticed a significant improvement in quietness, smoothness, and speed consistency after I did that with a nearly new (7-mo-old) SL1210. You can't be sure that all shippers and handlers observed "This Side Up" throughout the shipping, storing, and schlepping stages. It's probably a good idea to dose it with fresh oil when you set it up in your home.

One of the coolest KAB offerings is the drop in cabinet. Makes the table look serious.

All of this certainly sounds tempting, just to have a Table to monkey with 9Gos I wish I had some mad money to play with!)

As for the threaded Spindle, and Clamp? What's the thread size, does anybody know? One could perhaps go ala VPI, thus alleviating those nasty warped vintage (and not so vintage) records in your collection.

I had a machinist friend make a massive Alu Clamp for my VPI (Using the BDR Coaster), for very low $$$, and of course as we all know, you don't want to place a heavy clamp on these DD Tables, just one that does it's job, lessening warpage, and perhaps better coupling LP to Platter is all that's maybe needed?

I figure like this, for the average user, get mods that would be difficult to iplement by the end user done by KAB. Then one can add the simpler mods by themselves at a later date, and eventually have them all!

I agree, the "drop in" Wood Cabinet looks sweet for these, and would be an eventual consideration had I gone the Technics route. Maybe I'll eventually dump my spare mint vintage Denon DP-2550, and join the crowd? I've got two NOS AT Cartridges, and a Vintage Shure Type III, with Jico SAS just begging for play time. Mark

Another question for all you Technics experts: are there any cartridges you would NOT recommend for use with the SL1200 tonearm? For example, I have a Benz L2, a Denon 103R, and a Koetsu Black. Will I get good performance from each of those on a KAB SL1200?

On the one hand, I can't exactly say because I've only tried 3 carts on my Technics and they all worked well. On the other hand, I now have the KAB fluid damper and have played around with the compliance/effective mass equation to see what theoretically will work.

First, the fluid damper lowers the resonant hump of cartridge/arm interaction considerably.

Secondly, with the removable headshell, headshell weights, and the additional counterbalance weight, you can play with the Technics tonearm's effective mass to get a better match with a given cartridge's weight and compliance.

For example, I went from a Shure M97xe (6g, compliance of 30) to a Denon DL-160 (4g, compliance around 10-15). But I put it on a Sumiko headshell, which weighs 3.5g more than the stock headshell. It's an excellent match, and the fluid damper seems to help.

I would love to try out an Ortofon Contrapunkt, but that would have to drop into my lap from the sky right now. With the Sumiko shell and fluid damper, I bet it would sound great.