Des anyone have any experience/opinions om the Technics SL 1500C?
I owned one for a while. Not bad for what it is. More flimsy than you would expect and the built in phono is just OK. If I was doing it again I’d go for a decent used 1210.
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I rather like them. Is it built like an old 1200mk2? No but it’s more robust than most other things at the price. Get the rubber mat and 2M Red off it and, as Mike notes, bypass the phono stage and it can sound pretty decent.
I have a brand new SL-1300G arrive about 20 minutes ago. Looking forward to having a tinker with that.
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The 1300G is the one that interests me. But some reports that it’s not even as solid feeling as the 1200GR2
Having spent time with the GR2 (and rated it highly), having now unpacked the 1300, I can attest to this being bollocks.
It’s built like a 1200G but, without the extra gubbins all over it.
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A succinct review.
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Do you mean it’s bollocks or the bollocks ?
This…
…is bollocks.
Far too early to make a call on sound but it’s sounding halfway decent from the off.
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I’ve seen enough reviews that show it’s definitely not built like a G. The top plate is thinner, the whole deck is several kilos lighter, has less mass, and is missing the magnesium arm.
It sits in a confusing space that I don’t quite understand. It’s like the chassis and arm of a 1200GR strapped to a G platter
I do love the visuals though, and prefer the clean simple look. I’d think about switching out my GR2 for one, but I suspect given similar mass and identical arm, it’s not likely to be worth the change from a sound perspective.
Based on the release notes (which I could swat mice with) and the presentation I ‘enjoyed’ at Munich, it’s an exercise in stripping off things from the G which were there because they’d always been done that way. The top plate is as rigid with less metal because it’s braced differently underneath and has fewer perforations. It’s got a G bearing and platter but a tweaked version of the GR power supply (although thankfully, the mains socket is placed by someone with eyes). The arm is a backward step (although it works well enough) but it doesn’t feel like a GR2 and the fit and finish is excellent.
It does however have the same functionally useless headshell that the GR2 comes with which needs to go in the bin.
What’s your objection to the headshell? I found mine very adequate with the Hana Umami
The sloped front section is fucking horrible. If you have a cart that aligns at the most apparent part of the slope, it’s a pig to sort and I’ve had better results from relatively inexpensive (sub £100) Ortofons and Audio Technicas.
Oh I had zero issue with the slope, so may be down to cart matching I guess.
I think the cheaper Technics h/shells have captive cart leads & are quite flimsy compared to their more upmarket offerings.
They look like this
Bought a couple fer a mate with 1210s a few years back.
This is the Audio Technica mg10
Far more solid
These are the top of the range LH / 0CC range available in three different weights.
Sorry for mixing up mfrs, but I have bought some lower rung Technics h/shells for a mate & they were a bit meh compared to more mid market Jelco & Sumiko or ATs IME.
How the hell do you mount top screwing carts into them?
I have zero issue with the standard headshells. They fit all the carts I’ve used, are easy to install and adjust, and feel perfectly adequate in construction.
What about that little thing, sound quality ?
Think there are threaded & none threaded variants.
Given that a head shell has zero influence on how the stylus / cantilever / magnet / coils move, and no effect on the wire in the arm, I can’t see any non foo reason a head shell would sound like anything.
Its job is to hold a cartridge in the right place, which it can do, its job isn’t to sound like anything.
Headshells changing the sound of turntables is right up there with replacing fuses in components.
I understand mass / mounting ease / aesthetic reasons for headshells, but not sonic.
We will have to disagree there. I assume that you haven’t tried different headshells on any arms you have used ?