Just how good is the Technics SL-1200?

Hi Bob - the Rega was the best of all the things I tried in my budget, which is certainly limited. Not saying it is a be-all end-all thing by any means. What I would really like to try sometime is an old Thorens 124. Every one of those I have ever heard sounds fantastic. Will probably be a few years more before I can afford to mess around with new stuff, though. I'll probably have to replace my cartridge on the Rega before that.

12-28-12: Hesson11
I, too, listen to a lot of live classical music, and I'm encouraged to hear that you apparently are very happy with your Rega-on-Rega setup (P5 and Exact 2). I've always wanted to try a similar approach, but I've never been sure how the Exact would perform with unamplified acoustic instruments. So if I ever get a few extra bucks, I'd love to give that kind of setup a try. All the best.

I've heard A Rega P7 with an Exact and it was excellent on acoustic instruments. The demo wasn't classical music, however; it was acoustic guitar, upright bass, and (I think) drums. It have a relaxed and musical sense about it and was timbre-correct to me.

and you can feel the differenceFor the past few years I have been a fan and owner of a KAB SL-1200 (fluid damper, cardas rewire). I felt that it performed very nicely with the rest of my system (2- Bryston 4bST monoblocks-B&W 802-CJ Pre/phono)Running a Ortofon 2M Black. I recently purchased a VPI Traveler and Ortofon 2M Blk and have about 30 hours on it. The most striking difference is the arms, The 1200 has a $100-arm while the VPI has a $600- arm. Just lifting the headshell onto a record will tell you the difference. The vpi will flesh out more information and let me hear things that the 1200 just cant. I still love my 1200 for all the reasons mentioned but the 2m Blk on on the Traveler is sweet to my ears and a tad more involved than my Technics.

I just got the chance to pick up a couple of 1200 mk 2's from a kid who thought he wanted to dj but didn't like it. I haven't seen them yet, but assuming they're clean & working properly we agreed on $200 for the pair. I'm gonna sell the dj carts that are included & sell one to a buddy's dad for $125, so ill basically end up with a near free one. I'm pretty excited as I've read lots of good & bad about the table. I'm currently using a Pioneer PL-514 so I'd say its a step up. I'm planning on using it alongside my Sota Sapphire once I get it spinning too.