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Technics 1200 Sent for KAB Mods - w/Audio Samples

Hi All -
Like many Audio-goners, I've been curious about the KAB technics 1200 mods. I've just sent the 'table to KAB for a rewire but recorded three samples of the un-KAB-modded table for future comparison. You can download them from Rapidshare if you are curious! (you get one download every 30 minutes for free, or just change computers and download from there if you can't wait).

I made 3 selections that I am very familiar with. I'm already a little sick of them since I had to record them, edit the recordings, and bounce them to AIFF (44.1Khz, 16-Bit). Using these as a baseline, I hope to be able to readily identify the changes any upgrades will bring.

Current system consists of: Technics SL1210MK2, Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, and the phonostage of an old NAD 7100 receiver. This was fed to my Pro-Tools MBOX and recorded at 48KHZ, 24 Bits. These have been bounced to AIFF files so that they can be burned onto a standard CD for comaprison.

The tracks are:
Paul McCartney, "Too Many People" from the original US Apple pressing of RAM:
http://rapidshare.com/files/120396900/TooMany1200NoMods.aiff.html

Miles Davis, "Seven Steps To Heaven" from a 90s Columbia standard-issue "Seven Steps..." LP.
http://rapidshare.com/files/120381110/7Steps1200nomods.aiff.html

Holst, "Venus" from The Planets conducted by Adrian Boult, Angel 1967 LP.
http://rapidshare.com/files/120368827/Venus1200NoMods.aiff.html

Now, the name "No Mods" is a slight misnomer, as the table has brass cones instead of the original feet. Despite this "mod", the stock 'table sounds kind of ordinary.

Note that I used "real world" used records for this instead of audiophile pressings - this was done on purpose. I am interested in upgrading my turntable in order to enjoy my current record collection, which includes all-analog British vinyl Beatles as well as some other great-sounding goodies, but also some not-so-well-cared-for finds.

I hope others will find this useful and fun!

Take care,

-Joel
128x128joelv
heyitsmedusty's avatar
heyitsmedusty
227 posts
 
I'm excited about hearing the results!
joelv's avatar
joelv OP
103 posts
 
Here are two "fresh from KAB" audio samples using my SL1210 with the Cardas Tonearm Rewire mod. This is after about 2 hours use only.

http://rapidshare.com/files/126702193/TooManyPeopleCardas.aiff.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/126688160/7StepsToHeavenCardas.aiff.html

(I have had several failed attempts to upload Venus but I'll try again in a bit.)

My initial impression as written early this morning (way more "air" etc...) was based on listening through my newer integrated amp (NAD 304) - When I switched back to the same phono stage as last time (NAD 7100), the sound was still airier, but only slightly.

So far, these setups sound very, very similar to me. I am using 18 year old AQ Ruby (1m) interconnect... no idea what the capacitance is (no meter and no word from Audioquest yet) so I may not even be loading the cart properly.

Perhaps some of you have more resolving systems than mine and can hear greater differences? I'll be interested to hear your impressions.

Have fun!

-Joel
joelv's avatar
joelv OP
103 posts
 
http://rapidshare.com/files/126713680/VenusCardas.aiff.html

And here's the third track.

I should have the fluid damper in a couple of weeks so we can compare that as well.
neway317
28 posts
 
Joel:

Too bad I didn't catch this thread earlier! Great to hear that someone else is giving the SL12x0 another try at an audiophile level. I actually just bought an SL1210 M5G used from Craigslist and replaced my MMF5 with it and the speed control as well as bass was a drastic improvement. There was something that was just lax and lazy in the way the MMF5 sounded that just bothered me. The reason that I held out for the M5G was because the M5G was supposed to have slightly better tonearm wire than the stock MK2 as well as a better stock interconnect. But gosh they're hard to find secondhand! Currently i'm running a dynavector cartridge inside it with just a stanton headshell. Something cheap I picked up at Guitar Center.

On a side note also, since I bought 2 turntable ( I bought it from a DJ) I lent one out to a friend of mine who is using it with a Dynaco PAS3 pre and 2- MC275 on McIntosh Speakers, and he's kicking me because he likes it much more than his 2700 dollar Pro-ject space deck. Haha! He's still running the DJ needles on it but he's going to mount his own cartridge on it this weekend hopefully.

But with regards to modding my M5G, I think the first thing I will look into is having the fluid damper installed just because from reading the posts and what not, this seems to be like the single greatest improvement that can be made from all the mods that KAB offers. But again, I will need to touch base with Kevin on this just to make sure.

Thanks again for the post and I look forward to hearing about the results on the damper soon!
joelv's avatar
joelv OP
103 posts
 
I got the KAB Fluid Tonearm Damper yesterday, didn't sleep much last night :)

The fluid damper does everything I had hoped for - namely to help my cartridge track sibilants better, deeper bass, everything.

For me, the fluid damper made the biggest and most obvious change in the system, though I have to be up front: I also swapped out the cables to proper, low-capacitance (the $22 mogami "Blues" that Kevin sells) cables before testing the damper, so I may have made two significant upgrades at once.

In any case I am so happy with my setup right now. Cymbals no longer spit, they shimmer. Bass lines dig deep but don't ring/resonate/overwhelm so much, they just... ROCK! Hard to track vocals sound *right*, with none of the irritating edge from mistracking.

Strangely, I'm more drawn into the music even with mediocre recordings - and I was excited listening to my three stand-by testing tracks which I assure you I was quite bored by in the recent past. It is this ability to keep my interest, to stir the passion that has made me so immediately happy.

I am once again having trouble uploading to rapidshare, but I'll get the needle-drops posted shortly. Viva KAB usa!

-Joel
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