A cut-n-paste from another thread:
TECHNICS SL-1200 MK5 SE
33 45 RPM MANUAL TURNTABLE
Looking for an audiophile quality turntable and doing price comparisons? STOP.... The turntable you are about to read about embodies technology that would take literally millions of dollars to create today. Further, the casting, machining and material science used in this deck are economically out of reach of today's audiophile turntable companies. It is called market economics, it's an important component when determining value, and I hope you will read on. Click here to read the tale of one customer's trek from 1200 through the audiophile jungle only to return to the 1200!
The KAB Special Edition version of the Technics SL-1200 MK5 is especially customized for home use. We replace the DJ mats with the Technics heavy super mat and we also re-install the dustcover hinges. A $42 value. We also install a Stanton Calibration Standard 681EEE MKIII Phono Cartridge. A $130 Value. Also available without a cartridge.
Technics developed the 1200 series 24 years ago to be the standard for broadcast and professional use. It's precision performance and unusual build quality enable it to easily compare to hi end 'tables costing 10 times as much. Let's start with the 3 layer body construction. It is very important to the neutral sonic character of the 1200. Click here for Technical drawing of body. Called a constrained layer design, the three disimilar materials, in intimate contact, form a solid base that is incapable of supporting resonance. You may not be taking your 1200 to the disco, but isn't it comforting to know that the engineers who designed it gave some thought to that environment. And if a turntable can perform in a 100+ dB sound field, you can be sure it will be spectacular in your living room.
The motor drive system is rock solid and incredibly accurate. It is an optimally damped, direct drive system using a 3 phase 12 pole motor with zero crossing drive for extremely quiet rotation, and a self validating frequency generator right on the platter. As the integral platter magnet rotates past the frequency generator coil, a distortionless sine wave is produced representing the exact movement of the platter. This ensures tightly controlled rotation reflected by the amazingly low wow and flutter spec of 0.01% . The spindle bearing , anchored to the cast aluminum base, is a massive 1/4" polished stainless steel shaft closely machined through a 1" long bronze bearing.
This servo drive system responds "just in time" to both static and dynamic stylus drag. It follows strong amplitudes so well that there are no audible changes in speed. The pitch of a loud crescendo stays constant as it fades away. The same cannot be said of most belt drive systems. This sort of sophisticated circuitry can be expensive to develop. Why, it can cost $100,000.00 or more to develop a single Application Specific Integrated Circuit like those found in the 1200. There are 2 LSI ASIC circuits and 1 MSI PLL in the Technics 1200 drive system.
And remember, the reason rumble is so low in the 1200 is precisely because of four things.
1. Rotation occurs at exact platter speed.
2. The power to the motor is infinitely controllable, and is very very low in normal use.
3. The power is applied at the most rigid part of the platter system: the spindle.
4. Unlike a belt drive system that tugs on the spindle bearing, direct drive systems have equal forces acting on the bearing resulting in longer life and much quieter bearing noise.
The platter is itself a non-resonant 5 Lb affair. Made from cast aluminum, precision machined, and damped with hard rubber on the bottom . Built in strobe display indicates exact speed at a glance. The top mat is 17 Oz. alone and is properly shaped to accept 45 rpm singles as well. 45's are thicker in the middle then on the groove surfaces and flat platter mats cannot support them properly.
This tonearm is one of the great examples of the Gimbal Bearing system, the rotational center of which is precisely defined at one point. Designed at the height of the first audiophile revolution in the late '70's. When the demands were 3/4 gram tracking forces and the requirement to trace groove modulations to 45 Khz (remember CD-4?) The 1200 tonearm is a low - medium mass arm with precision bearings , polished to a finish of ± 0.5 microns, featuring 0.007 gram friction. The arm base utilizes a uniquely machined brass ring featuring a 3-step, deep, hi speed thread machined into it. Just like a camera lens focus ring, this produces a high precision VTA adjustment. The threads are sealed with a damping grease to give a nice feel to the adjustment. Interconnect cable features a very flexible foamed polyethylene dielectric to minimize the passage of vibration up to the tonearm. Cables are a major pathway for vibration to enter the tonearm and color the sound. The Counterweight is calibrated in grams, properly decoupled and has a nice solid feel to it. Adjustments are quick and reliable. Ditto for Anti-Skate which uses the progressive spring tension method. Easy to adjust, even when the record is playing.
This should be your turntable if:
You are sensitive to pitch variation. Especially in long fades.
You need isolation from acoustic vibration
You crave the kind of rock solid stability that digital offers, but with the musicality of vinyl.
This really should be your last turntable!
