Technics SL-1200 Armboard, SME 9″ Tonearms, Silver

Description

Why?

We got asked loads of times by people buying our Jelco collars if we’d also consider making armboards too.  Until Technics brought out the new SL-1200GAE, G and GR models, the answer to that question was always ‘no’ – but Technics coming back into the market is very significant and probably more so than any of the myriad other new turntable releases over the past few years.  So, we got designing, and now our new modular armboards are ready, in black or silver, and with centre plates to suit Jelco, SME, or uncut for customers to fit other arms.  Why just Jelco and SME for ready-cut boards?  It’s purely economics – CNC manufacture only becomes viable with quantity production and we feel that most of the replacement arm market for Technics turntables sits with Jelco and SME.  The Glanz and Timestep tonearms that we also sell are bespoke variants with Jelco mounting patterns and geometry.

What are the benefits of our new armboards?

• They look nice, designed to mimic the outer ring of the original Technics arm mount, even replicating its tiny and delightful outer edge ‘step’
• All fixings are from underneath, so no ugly bolts etc
• Being CNC machined, the assembly is dimensionally correct and stable – no odd angles here
• The assembly of outer ring and centre plate is strong and stiff, which does matter when you consider the tiny stylus movements required to play a record.  That means you will get the very best performance from your chosen tonearm and therefore the best sound reproduction
• SME and Jelco/Blank centre plates are set at optimum depth (SME plate 11mm below the top plate; Jelco & blank plates 13.5mm below the top plate) to ensure that the tonearm can be set low enough against the platter to achieve correct VTA with any cartridge, which is otherwise often a challenge because the Technics platter is set so low
• Straightforward to fit, for anyone capable of wielding a screwdriver and following basic instructions
• We can even supply them in a wide range of funky colours, on a special order basis

What’s Included?

Each pack includes the following:

• One Outer Ring
• Outer Ring Fixing bolts for either Mk2/Mk5, G/GAE or GR models
• One Centre Plate (SME, Jelco or Blank), with 4 x fixing bolts (normally pre-fitted by us)
• For GR/GR2 and SL-1300G, 3 x machined alloy spacer inserts
• One T10 Torx Key for SME 309/IV/V bed plate adjustments
• Instruction sheet

FAQ

1. Which Technics turntables can Ammonite Audio SL-1200 armboards be used with?    Our SL-1200 armboards are compatible with Technics SL-1200 variants, from Mk2 onwards, including the current Technics SL-1200GR, SL-1200G, SL-1200GAE, and SL-1300G models.  Our boards are not  compatible with the original SL-1200, SL-1400, SL-1600, SL-1700 and not the new SL-1500C nor SL-1200 Mk7.
2.   Can our armboard be used to mount an original Technics SL-1200 tonearm?  No.  Our board is designed to look like the original arm mount surround, but its structure is completely different and an original Technics tonearm will not fit.  People buy our armboards because they wish to fit better tonearms to the SL-1200.

Fitting

The most difficult part of fitting is the disassembly of the turntable, which involves removing the base to get access to the original arm mountings.  This is much simpler with the newer SL-1200 G/GAE and GR models compared to the Mk2/Mk5, but even for those it’s straightforward.  For anyone unwilling to take the bottom off their deck, we offer a fitting service and Timestep in Dartmouth do too.  Note that to fit any replacement arm to the older Mk2/Mk5 it is usually necessary to cut away part of the bottom rubber layer to make room for the new arm.  That is not necessary or the G, GAE and GR models.

The SL-1200GR requires three spacer inserts to be fitted between the armboard outer ring and the chassis top plate.  These inserts are included with the GR kit, and that’s why the price is a little higher than for the other models.

SME Bedplate Notes

The recessed design of our SL-1200 armboard means that there is plenty of space for a standard SME tonearm bedplate, but access the bedplate adjuster bolt heads is awkward if you try to use the standard SME tools, because SME assume that the arm base will be at the same height as the supporting board; and for that the SME hex wrench is fine, but with our sunken board it is not, as you can see from the photo of an SME 309 fitted to our armboard, shown above.  The recessed centre plate is a necessary design feature of our armboard for all other tonearms where the arm needs to go low enough to achieve correct VTA against the slimline, low-slung Technics platter – SME arms still benefit from that because the arm can always be set at its lowest possible height.  The bias knob of an SME 309/IV/V tonearm obscures some of the adjuster bolts, which on most turntables are normally accessible from the side; however you can simply rotate the arm temporarily out of the way so you have access to those bolts while setting the optimum position.

Following positive customer feedback, we now include a T10 Torx key with our SME boards, which can be used to set the fore/aft (HTA) position and arm height clamp bolts properly and relatively easily.

Technics Warranty Implications

If you have a new Technics turntable which is still under its original Technics manufacturer warranty, you must understand that fitting our armboards, or any other suppliers’ modifications for that matter, will mean your manufacturer warranty is void.  We obviously think that fitting a better tonearm to these decks is worthwhile, as do our customers, but if you are at all unsure about voiding the Technics warranty, you should wait until the turntable is out of warranty before fitting any internal modification.