Is it worth upgrading the new Technics SL-1200G and GR turntables?

Technics SL-1200 turntables have had a thriving upgrade scene for years, concentrating on the popular Mk2 and Mk5 models.  Technics stopped making the Mk2 and Mk5 many years ago, but clearly regretted leaving the turntable market and came back in a few years ago with the special edition SL-1200GAE and later on the SL-1200G and SL-1200GR.  Their return to the turntable market is a great commitment to the ‘vinyl revival’ and probably more significant than the hordes of ‘me too’ decks launched by a whole load of manufacturers in the last few years, some of which are admittedly very good but invariably very expensive.

The Technics SL-1200GAE, G and GR share nothing with the old Mk2 and Mk5 decks apart from the hinged lid.  Many people on audio forums cannot understand that Technics have made some new decks that look pretty much exactly like the old ones, but that they are in fact very different, and technically much, much better: musically better.  Period.  That’s due to a completely different motor design, which use flat-wound coils with dual magnetic rotors in the case of the G/GAE (and indeed the magnificent SP-10R) instead of the old arrangement of separate coils arranged around the magnetic rotor.  This alone is why Technics claim to have eliminated ‘cogging’ which affected the old SL-1200 models.  Incidentally, Technics seem to have, rather belatedly, adopted the flat wound coils direct drive motor topology that Trio/Kenwood and others used very successfully for decades.

This blog piece is mostly about the SL-1200GR, but what about the SL-1200G and SL-1200GAE?  In short, all of these decks share the same motor topology, but the SL-1200GR has a single layer of coils and one magnetic rotor, and the SL-1200G/GAE has two rotors, so more torque and an even smoother drive.  While the SL-1200GR has its magnetic rotor attached to the underside of the platter, the SL-1200G/GAE’s rotors are buried inside the chassis, well away from sensitive pickup cartridges. The SL-1200G/GAE also have a heavier multi-layer and dynamically balanced platter, which is very much a Good Thing with sensitive speed stability controlled motors.  The SL-1200G/GAE have a machined alloy top chassis and a heavy intermediate strengthening layer bolted to the inside – the GR has a simpler painted cast alloy top plate and no intermediate layer.  Straight out of the box, the SL-1200G/GAE have a cold drawn magnesium tonearm tube, and the GR makes do with a cheaper aluminium tube, with a sub-structure that’s very lightweight compared to previous generation SL-1200 tonearms.  Read all the reviews out there and you soon get the feeling that the stock tonearms on all these new SL-1200 models are nicely made, good to handle but in no way match the superb motor systems that all these decks have.  The only common complaint about these stock Technics arms is an inability to set the arm low enough for correct VTA – the VTA adjuster ring looks good and is easy to use, but it often does not go low enough when using alternative headshells.

Is it worth upgrading any of these new Technics decks, and particularly the cheaper SL-1200GR?  Yes, I think it is worthwhile, and unlike the old SL-1200 Mk2/Mk5 where huge sums of money can easily be sunk into a variety of technically tricky and irreversible modifications that are not reflected in the market value of the deck once modified, all of the useful upgrades to the SL-1200GAE/G and GR are completely reversible, do not involve any circuit modifications, do not require any soldering; and if you’re careful everything can be put back as standard without leaving any evidence of anyone having been inside.  Of course the manufacturer’s warranty is going to be voided, but upgrading is still worthwhile.  Very worthwhile if you can buy a used deck that’s out of warranty.   I am very happy to demonstrate a stock SL-1200GR to anyone wishing to visit the fine city of Norwich, and then take the deck through the various upgrade steps that I have found to be beneficial.

Please let me be clear – I am not saying that these new Technics direct drive decks are not any good straight out of the box, and that owners must perform various upgrades to make them good.  If you own one of these decks and you’re happy with it, then be happy!  There are no fundamental ‘rights’ nor ‘wrongs’ in the audio hobby – what’s good for you is good for you; what’s good for me is good for me, but we can like different things and all be happy!

So, based on my own experiences, what upgrades would we recommend for the Technics SL-1200GR (also directly applicable to the GAE and G)?  More or less in increasing order of cost, here we go:

1. Use a screened mains power cable.  This is because these decks use an internal Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS) and even with filtering pretty much all of these to some extent chuck out HF noise and RFI back along the mains cable and then into all your other system components, resulting in a degradation of your system’s musical performance.  There’s nothing wrong with the SMPS as far as powering the deck is concerned, but a lot wrong with its effect on other components.  I should stress that a replacement power cable need not be an expensive ‘audiophile’ cable, just a good quality copper cable that conforms to any relevant standard for wiring of mains components, with an overall screen connected at the mains plug earth .  You don’t need fancy plugs either, so the total cost here is something like £10, which should deliver a more organic, stress-free musical performance from your system.  Even more so if you can plug the deck into a separate mains power outlet from the rest of the system.
2. Use a Better Interconnect Cable.  Do different cables make any difference?  Yes, they do, but sometimes it’s only ‘different’ and not necessarily ‘better’ and price is not necessarily a great indicator of sound quality.  But, the stock cables that Technics supply with the turntables are best seen as freebies, specified and built to the lowest cost.  These cables can very easily be bettered.  Often, it is said on forums that Technics’ engineers know best and they have specified the best cables: no, they specified what will work, in the simplest sense, at the lowest cost, for maximum profit.  You don’t have to spend a great deal of money on a replacement cable to get a much more open, vibrant, detailed and immersive sound, and we do recommend RCA-RCA tonearm cables from Zavfino 1877Phono which offer unusually fine sound quality starting at very reasonable prices.  Whichever cable you choose, to avoid hum problems it should be fully screened (screen connected at both ends, not ‘floating’) and with a separate ground wire.
3. Replace the rubber mat.  Every time I try the stock rubber mat with my GR, the sound gets sort of ‘rubbery’ and ‘overdamped’.  I know that many people like the stock mat, and that’s fine.  The only third party mat that I have used and which always works wonders, is the Funk Firm Achromat (the Technics SL-1200 version) and even better the APM Achromat which has a glass bottom layer.  The Achromat works even better if stuck down to the metal platter with a very thin smear of Vaseline, which ensures you can easily remove the Achromat if you wish.  The Achromat brings increased focus and natural detail to the sound – everything just sounds more ‘real’.  We don’t sell the Achromat but you can buy it here in the UK.   Our customers are also reporting very worthwhile improvements from the Zavfino 1877Phono EHX Leather Mat, which is just 1mm thick so does not upset VTA settings, and costs only £57.  For a further and worthwhile improvement in this area, add a good record weight like the Zavfino 1877Phono Lycan 270 which is heavy enough to damp the record, but not to place any undesirable pressure on the main bearing – people often assume that a weight has to be really heavy to do good, but that is not the case.  Both the SL-1200GR and G/GAE have much more robust bearings compared to the old SL-1200 Mk2 etc, so they will tolerate some extra mass from record weights, within reasonable limits of course.
4. Isolate the Turntable.   This applies to any turntable but it’s definitely worth isolating it from vibrations arising from footfalls etc, but also things that you may not actually feel such as passing traffic, people walking past the house etc.  Turntables are very sensitive vibration measuring devices – if they were not then they would not play records very well, so it’s worth stopping all of this stuff from passing up through the structure of the house and into the deck.  If your house has suspended floors, then try to get the deck off a table/rack sitting on the floor and onto a solid wall shelf.  The stock feet aren’t bad for isolation, but placing the whole deck on a separate isolation platform really does yield benefits – expect a lowering of noise and a more natural sound with lower noise and increased musical precision.
5. Replace the tonearm.  This is an easier decision with the SL-1200GR since the stock arm is actually rather poor by any standard (the magnesium arm of the GAE and G is better, but according to our customers still not great).  No, you don’t have to replace the tonearm if you are happy with it – most people are perfectly happy with their SL-1200G/GAE/GR in totally standard form, and there’s nothing wrong with that; however our customers confirm that changing the tonearm can really transform their listening experience for the better.  Anyone who has replaced the arm on the old SL-1200 Mk2/M5 will remember having to cut away part of the rubber base – don’t fret because nothing like that is needed with the SL-120G/GAE/GR models.  In the case of the SL-1200GR, removing the old arm simply involves removing a number of small screws holding the black bottom part of the chassis, lifting that part away, then removing three screws holding in the old tonearm and one earth lead, and the entire arm structure can be lifted away from the top plate.  You’ll then need a suitable replacement armboard to suit your tonearm of choice and we offer our own Ammonite Audio Modular Machined Alloy armboards which are compatible with any SL-1200 model from Mk2 onwards, except the new Mk7.  Note that the SL-1200GR has a different pattern of armboard mounting bolts and spacers are required to lift the armboard too, so the SL-1200GR version of our armboard takes those requirements into account.   Having got this far, it’s worth saying that even the SL-1200GR has such an outstanding motor unit that it will do justice to some very serious tonearms, and we have used the Glanz MH-900S , Groovemaster III-JS , various SME tonearms (the M2-9R is our pick of the SME arms), and the sadly now departed Jelco TK-850S.  All these arms have performed wonderfully and it’s worth saying that we have customers who have mounted the Jelco TK-850S on the SL-1200G, using our alloy armboard, and report a significant improvement on the stock magnesium arm.  One big, and practical, benefit of swapping out the stock tonearm for an alternative is the ability to set the arm much lower, so that means VTA is much easier to set correctly without having to use headshells spacers/shims.  Our Ammonite Audio Modular Machined Armboards are designed with a centre plate that’s sunk by up to 13mm from the deck’s top plate, which is more than enough for even the tallest cartridges.
6. Replace the Internal PSU.  While the stock SMPS is good for powering the deck, and a screened power cable limits its effect on other system components, removing the SMPS entirely and substituting a good linear PSU does make quite a positive difference.  We can recommend the Precision Sound Lab linear PSU conversion kit, which places the DC regulator circuitry inside the turntable chassis.  Sadly, the Timestep SL-1200 PSU is no longer available.  Changing the SMPS for a linear one does not affect operation of the deck at all, so you still use the on/off switch as normal.  What can you expect in terms of sound quality/reproduction with a good linear PSU?  In our experience a bolder, more expressive sound character with greater tonal colour and just more musical involvement.  It’s not a subtle change – you will definitely hear an all round improvement.

Free SL-1200GR Tweaks

One totally free of charge tweak which seems to benefit the SL-1200GR is to run its automatic motor adjustment feature.  This is described in the GR Service Manual, from Page 34 onwards – you need to enable Service Mode then run the automatic calibration, which is very easy indeed.  The service manual states that this calibration feature is run with just the stock rubber mat on the platter, but we have found that it seems to optimise the drive for different mats, weights etc, which have different masses – to our ears, the SL-1200GR has a more fluid, articulate and musical sound character after automatic adjustment.  A similar auto calibration feature must exist in the SL-1200G, but its service manual does not seem to be available online.

Next, do play around with the motor torque settings – very easy but do read the operating instructions that come with the deck.  The SL-1200GR has three torque settings (the G has a much wider range of torque adjustment), and each does lend the deck a different musical character.  We prefer the lowest torque settings, which just seems to sound more ‘natural’ and ‘at ease’ compared with the other settings.  You should experiment for yourself, since this is all totally free.  Stick to whichever setting sounds best to you.

SL-1200GR or SL-1200G?

We are quite often asked whether we would recommend the SL-1200GR over the SL-1200G or GAE.  The SL-1200G is a better sounding turntable straight out of the box, because it’s much more solidly built with a stronger and smoother drive system with a heavier and dynamically balanced platter; and the magnesium tonearm is decent, if not the last word in musical performance.  The SL-1200GR is significantly hampered by its cheap tonearm but if upgraded with something like a 9″ Groovemaster III-JS tonearm and a linear PSU it will, in our view, be better sounding and more musical than the stock SL-1200G.  But, for someone prepared to spend the extra money on the SL-1200G and then perform the very same mods, the SL-1200G will in truth be a much better bet all round.  So, not an exact answer to the question, but hopefully helpful!

What about the new SL-1200GR2?

Technics have just announced an improved version of the SL-1200GR.  This new model is slightly more expensive and features a ‘newly developed ΔΣ-Drive (Delta Sigma Drive) which thoroughly suppresses any minute vibrations generated from the motor’, as well as a ‘low noise switching PSU’.  We have no experience of this new GR2 model as yet, so we can’t comment on its performance relative to the old GR (or the G), nor whether our recommended upgrades still apply to the GR2.

Summary

In summary, any of the new Technics SL-1200G/GAE/GR models are superb in having direct drive motor systems that are as accurate as you’re going to see without forking out for the new Technics SP-10R, and they provide an outstanding platform for really good tonearms and cartridges that really sing.  Forget that the SL-1200GR is a fairly inexpensive deck – when fitted with a tonearm like the Groovemaster III it will play music like you won’t believe, and some of the other modifications that I’ve outlined above will simply build things up further.  You can spend many times the cost of an upgraded SL-1200GR on other turntables and not get the same musical satisfaction.  Do the same upgrades on the SL-1200G and you’ll have something very special indeed.