Technics SL-1200
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Technics-sl1210.jpg
Technics SL1210
The Technics SL-1200 is a series of turntables manufactured by Matsushita under the brand name of Technics. As of 2004, the Technics SL-1200 MK2 is the industry standard turntable for DJ'ing and scratching, MK2 stands for Mark 2, and is an improvement of the Technics SL-1200 first made in October 1972. The MK2 was released in 1978 had several improvements including the motor and casing. Since 1972, more than 3 million units have been sold.
Features
The features that set this turntable apart are:
- A magnetic (no wear), direct drive (low slip) mechanism
- High torque (1.5kg/cm), which means the platter will spin at the desired speed almost immediately (0.7 second)
- Very low wow and flutter (0.01%), which means that the platter will stay within 1/100th of 1% of the desired speed
- Heavy base (12kg), dramatically reducing the likelihood of feedback or stylus jumping
- Variable pitch control, allowing the rotational speed to be adjusted from -8% to +8% (for the purpose of beatmatching)
- High reliability: many examples of SL-1200's lasting well over 15 years of heavy use and withstanding physical shock without functional impairment
Models
- The original SL-1200 was marketed as a hi-fi turntable.
- The SL-1200Mk2 improved the motor, shock resistance, added a ground wire, and changed the rotary pitch control to a slider style. This is now considered the baseline model, and is the oldest still in production(others in production are the Mk5 and M5G).
- The SL-1210Mk2 is matte black instead of the traditional silver, and supports other voltages for export.
- The SL-1200 MK3, released in 1989, removed the click at the 0% pitch on the fader control, and the power switch has been altered so that it less likely to be accidentally turned off, otherwise it is the same as the MK2 model.
- The SL-1200 M3D (1997) adds a quartz lock button which resets pitch to 0 immediately.
- The SL-1200 MK4 (1997) has no quartz lock but does have a 78 rpm option (other models only have 33rpm and 45rpm), and all the hardware is plated with platinum.
- The SL-1200 MK5 has an easily accessible brake adjustment control underneath the platter, otherwise it is the same as previous models.
- The SL-1200 MK5G was launched in Japan on 1 November 2002 (together with the MK5) and is a special 30th anniversary edition of the SL-1200. The difference from the MK5 model is the ability to switch between +/-8% and +/-16% ranges for pitch adjustment.
- Finally there are the limited edition gold finishings of the SL-1200 LTD (1998) and SL-1200 GLD (2004) models, the latter also having a blue instead of the usual white target light. These turntables are based on the Mk2 model.
External links
- History of the SL1200 turntable (http://www.sl-1200.com/history_e/index.html)
- Panasonic (Technics) product page for SL-1200MK2 (http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=F&storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=61563&catGroupId=11203&modelNo=SL-1200MK2&surfModel=SL-1200MK2)
- Frequently asked questions on Hyperreal on the Technics SL-1200Mk2/SL-1210Mk2 Turntables (http://music.hyperreal.org/dj/sl1200.html)