Something to watch out for here is something called the Veblen Effect. That's the idea that something more expensive has more value. In high end audio that often isn't the case.
When Technics set out to do the SL1200G they apparently did a from-the-ground-up redesign. A customer of ours wanted to send one to us to see what we could do with it so I took it apart and did an inspection. This is one of those places where an enourmous R&D budget (Technics is Panasonic after all...) really pays off. The machine has little in common with their older SL1200s except appearance. For example, its one of the most speed-stable turntables made at any price.
Get a Sutherland Timeline and you'll see what I mean. You can play an LP all day with that machine and the dots will stay firmly in place on the wall. Most machines made for high end audio can't do that.
In addition the new SL1200 uses 5 different methods of vibration/damping control. It has a rigid and non-resonant plinth- which is what you want for the platter bearing and the tonearm mount to prevent vibration from creating colorations.
Its weaknesses are the tonearm (which is vastly improved over the stock arm of years ago) and the platter pad. But its easy enough to mount a different arm on the 'table, and we've done it a number of times, using the Triplanar, which is a state of the art arm.
But the Technics is priced by a formula rather than what the market will bear and so is less expensive than machines that it outperforms in nearly every way. That's what I mean about the Veblen Effect.
When Technics set out to do the SL1200G they apparently did a from-the-ground-up redesign. A customer of ours wanted to send one to us to see what we could do with it so I took it apart and did an inspection. This is one of those places where an enourmous R&D budget (Technics is Panasonic after all...) really pays off. The machine has little in common with their older SL1200s except appearance. For example, its one of the most speed-stable turntables made at any price.
Get a Sutherland Timeline and you'll see what I mean. You can play an LP all day with that machine and the dots will stay firmly in place on the wall. Most machines made for high end audio can't do that.
In addition the new SL1200 uses 5 different methods of vibration/damping control. It has a rigid and non-resonant plinth- which is what you want for the platter bearing and the tonearm mount to prevent vibration from creating colorations.
Its weaknesses are the tonearm (which is vastly improved over the stock arm of years ago) and the platter pad. But its easy enough to mount a different arm on the 'table, and we've done it a number of times, using the Triplanar, which is a state of the art arm.
But the Technics is priced by a formula rather than what the market will bear and so is less expensive than machines that it outperforms in nearly every way. That's what I mean about the Veblen Effect.