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Reviewed By nickmtl(AudioPhile) From Montreal Review Date 01/07/2003 Overall Rating  5 of 5 Value Rating 5 of 5 Rate this review? Price Paid: $0.00 from Audioshop Summary I have listened to and owned some very expensive pieces of hifi. I appreciate and can distinguish high quality sound and the notion of diminishing return applies greatly to high end audio. There are better sounding turntables out there but at a much higher price. Similarly priced high end turntables just give you a different sound, NOT necessarily better. I put an Ortofon OM-30 cartridge on my Technics and it sounds great. It's an upbeat sound that is not quite as neutral as my Thorens was but then I can say that my Thorens sometimes sounded dull. The ease of use and set up of this Technics plus its very high build quality, make it a great value for audiophiles and an even greater value for DJs. I find that most audiophiles spend too much time and money (as I once did) on the equipment and forget about the pleasure that music's supposed to bring. Until I can afford a Linn LP12 that will sound slightly better than my Technics, I'll just enjoy the music as I did as a teenager.Strength Made in Japan which contributes to its quality feel and build. These turntables are known to last forever. Great value for the money.Weakness None for the price.Would you like to Comment? Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Reviewed By cornelis(AudioPhile) From Holland Review Date 10/31/2002 Overall Rating 5 of 5 Value Rating 5 of 5 Rate this review? Price Paid: $400.00 from 2nd Hand Summary And of course we have people like Sanlyn who believe that these turntable's belong to DJ's with Disco LP's at home. We'll, try to play Aretha Franklin's "Get It Right" album (1983) on a Thorens T series or Technics SL1200MKIII and you'll be amazed. With the same Ortofon 30e MM Cartridge and Luxman's LV-121 pre-amp Phono connected to an Onkyo Integra A-9711 and monitored with the 120LBs heavy Philips FB825 speakers (were only available in the EMEA and their about 120cm high) you'll notice the diff'rence. And you don't have to have "high end ears" to discover. This Technics "babe" is as good that it will split the Thorens. No doubt, that Aretha is screaming louder on a Technics than any other direct drive type. With almost 1.1 grams and no Anti-Skating the phase is almost 0.0. Handy is the contra weight for balance the cartridge (placing it on the arm), and align the horizontal "azimuth" with an variable turning head. (little screw-driver delivered with the Ortofon). And I guess there are always reasons to find why this Technics type isn't that good. Maybe it's between the "ears"...Strength Diecast sturdy chassis. Excellent looks, counts for the limited edition in GOLD.Weakness Nothing to compare in it's class.Would you like to Comment? Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Reviewed By Sanlyn(AudioPhile) From Long Island, NY Review Date 10/16/2002 Overall Rating  2 of 5 Value Rating 2 of 5 Visitors rate this review 1.00 of 5, 6 votes Rate this review? Price Paid: $300.00 from Harvey's NYC Summary Don't know what all the '4' and '5' ratings are for this product, except that it's made like a tank, you can buy off-brand parts for it that fit, and it won't explode in the typical DJ environment or the usual home with nothing but disco LP's. Other than that, the sound is pretty awful. On a good stereo you can clearly hear an echoing "bong" on heavy bass from the highly resonance platter, along with a sharp 200Hz phony bass bump followed by a very sharp low bass cutoff from the high-mass aluminum tonearm (yes, aluminum, along with a noisy aluminum headshell!). The bass cutoff is a godsend for Dj speakers and amps, which would explode if anything lower than 60Hz entered the audio stream. According to my test records, the low-end cutoff begins at about 100Hz, falling rapidly below 50Hz, which is unsuitable for home audio. No problem with any phono pickup, the arm is so massive with such a high arm resonance that it simply slices into vinyl thru warps, wideband bass, and everything else, literally cutting its way through grooves instead of playing them. All cartridges in this arm have a dry, rather hard sound; suited best for cheaper, low-compliance pickups with high-mass stylus. Since most DJ equipment lacks a clear treble, you need a better-quality audio setup to hear the ringing in the lower mids and high end. This is not an audiophile turntable; it's a DJ machine, period. Even at that, and though it's sturdy as a mountain, the audio that this 'table produces is dreadful in a living room. I set up 2 grams tracking pressure with a Shure V15-VMR to try to track the cannons on Telarc's "1812"; the arm stayed on the record at cannon shot 16, but it jumped the groove and slid into the record's center, ruining it with a huge gash across the vinyl, along with bending my $145 stylus. That was it for me; I got rid of it at a garage sale.Strength Won't die. Very smooth, reliable. Cheap replacement parts everywhere.Weakness Truly terrible audio, but perfect for the extreme limitations of DJ equipment.Would you like to Comment? Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Reviewed By brettv(AudioPhile) Review Date 09/29/2002 Overall Rating 5 of 5 Value Rating  4 of 5 Rate this review? Price Paid: $0.00 Summary I have used a pair of tese in my club for 7 years. The outer appearance of them has deteriorated dramatically over the years but mechanically they still work exactly the same as when I bought them. The metal near the target light has actually corroded away from the sweat of many a dj picking up the tone arm!Strength reliable and solid. Unbeatable. If you have your pitch right you wont lose the beat anytime soon. In other words very, very accurate.Weakness The price,maybe,for a bedroom dj. Can get a bit dodgy around "zero" pitch, you can get used to this though.Would you like to Comment? Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Reviewed By nbraeman(Audio Enthusiast) From bournemouth uk Review Date 05/26/2002 Overall Rating 4 of 5 Value Rating  3 of 5 Rate this review? Price Paid: $350.00 from Dealer Summary Good reliable workhorse. These haven't become the industry standard for nothing. There are many immitations but most of them fail to come up to scratch. In particular, if you are considering another turntable for DJ work try speeding it up with your finger and see if it slows down again immediately. This might not seem important but trying to mix with a turntable that doesn't is very annoying.Strength Reliable, stable, high torque means good start times. Very resistant to feedbackWeakness The turntable light WILL fail. This is very difficult to replace. Speed control will last about three to four years of heavy use before it fails.Would you like to Comment? Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
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4.44 of 5
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