Technics 1200MKII or1210M5G? M5G worth it?

I have found the posts in this thread to be very interesting. Thanks. For me, the decision was simple. The additional cost of the M5G is less than the MKII plus arm rewire. The general concensus is that the M5G wire is "almost" as good as the Cardas and for me, that will be good enough. I understand those wanting to get the last bit of performance not being satisfied with the M5G wiring and opting for the Cardas.

One thing that seems to remain constant is that a lot of folks really seem to enjoy ther 12x0 tables. That is a good sign.

and don't forget to buy the cardas headshell leads. Those make a big improvement too.

LED Cue Light Is very GOOD in blue because you automatically see all the white lint and dust on the album surface so using a carbon fiber brush you can make sure to get it all off.. Think of a Black light in a college dorm room and seeing all the fuzz on somebodys black shirt it works very well honestly..

And yes for 50 bucks more on an ebay or even new in many cases at a guitar center etc... The M5G is the superior table in my opinion, the finish is much nicer in the paint on the black, and the wire is far better sounding and equal already to the Cardas or better honestly, I have tried both in the past. Again the price differential is so small, the gloss finish on the M5G is a little better for cleaning the table, and the cue light, along with wiring is the better buy in my opinion, and yes it has pitch control but has a switch that just shuts it off and auto sets it to zero anyway...

This is my 2 cents if your buying from scratch on a technics table unless you find one for about 200 bucks used with none of the extras go for it, but for the prices I am seeing between 400 and 575 for any of them including the Grandmaster M5G get the top one if you can. Also they are coming out with a new M6 version or something, but it will be 100% DJ toys with probably only the gold color tone arm or something from what I hear.

Best upgrade champion still on the technics is however the KAB fluid damper.

John, I just bought an M5G from Kevin with the fluid damper. I first played a few records without the fluid (which sounded amazing by itself) then I added the fluid and wow! The bass was very clear, better than my old deck (a vintage Sansui) using the same cart. (original Shure V15 III). I listen to a lot of electronic music and the bass was very tight and not as muddy as it use to be. I put on NIN "Pretty Hate Machine" and it has never sounded so good, and it is not what I would call a high quality pressing, but it is a recording that I own on both formats and very familiar with. I am still putting it through the tests but so far it has passed with flying colors.

I originally thought about doing the tonearm re-wire but decided to give the Technics wiring a chance. I will probably have this done at some point but I doubt I will see the improvement I have seen with the fluid damper. If money is not an issue then just go ahead and get the works and be done with it.