Technics SL-1500C vs Technics SL-1200GR | Which turntable is the best for you?

this video is a comparison of the technics sl 1500c and the sl 1200 gr turntables [Music] if you were into the world of home audio in the late 1960s and early 1970s you probably remember when techniques caused a big stir in the turntable world with the introduction of the sp-10 turntable in 1970. the sp-10 was the world's first direct drive turntable it was a massive turntable that did not even come with a tone arm or even a base potential buyers had to fit in a custom-made base and add a tone arm techniques followed up the sp-10 two years later with the sl 1200 which went on to become one of the most popular turntable series in the world the sl 1200 appealed to both music lovers and djs who wanted a direct drive turntable with the feature set offered the sl 1200 mark ii was introduced in 1979 and soon became legendary from 1989 to 2010 there were small improvements made to the sl 1200 series as it went from mark two all the way up to mark six astonishingly almost four million of these turntables were sold in its 38-year reign funny enough just as the vinyl revolution was cranking up technics discontinued the sl 1200 in late 2010. the sl1200g was introduced in 2016 which had a very similar appearance to the last sl 1200 but with many performance enhancements in 2017 a less expensive version the sl 1200 gr came on the market followed by the sl 1500c in 2019. with the sl 1200 gr selling for 16.99 and sl 1500c for 11.99 we get a lot of questions from music lovers wondering which one is best for their needs since these two tables have a lot of similarities i'll look into each part of the turntable and break down the differences when i do these types of comparisons i like to start at the bottom of the turntable and work up so let's dive in i love the fact that both turntables have height adjustable isolation feet you can simply screw them in and out to get your new turntable perfectly level while both models have a similar construction technique the sl 1200 gr does offer some improvements over the sl1500c in the feet with the 1500c the isolation is done using a coiled spring inside the foot the spring is tuned to minimize resonant frequencies that might degrade performance the sl1200 gr takes things a step further using some tech found in a much more expensive sl 1200g a special silicon rubber compound is used along with a cylindrical tubes using microcell polymers these are almost identical to the ones in the sl1200g and are tuned for the different chassis weight of the sl 1200 gr many years ago technics developed a great chassis isolation system for their turntables today they use an advanced combination of an aluminum die cast chassis integrated with bmc for a two layer plinth on the 1200 gr and they use aluminum die cast and blend abs plastic with glass fibers on the 1500c both models are finished off with a top layer of high quality aluminum this combination allows them to create a rigid chassis that has great vibration resistance respective to each model both the sl1500c and the sl 1200 gr are made using this technique you do get a heavier duty version of it in the sl 1200 gr as its chassis weighs in at 25.3 pounds compared to the 21.2 pounds of the sl-1500c but make no mistake the sl-1500c still has a well-isolated chassis both models come in either the classic technic silver finish or black as an option as sl 1200 gr or sl 1500 ck the latter offers a black tone arm as well techniques developed the direct drive motor decades ago for their turntables which led to their popularity both old and new models use a direct drive motor design however it is interesting to get into the tech they now use to see how it compares to their old tech in the original direct drive motors direct drive motors in the past have been played with minute micro vibrations during rotation which many people refer to as cogging the new coreless direct drive system used by techniques eliminates cogging removing the iron core from the motor yielding near perfect rotational accuracy while preserving the quick stopping and starting direct drive turntables are famous for the main improvements in the new models compared to the original models is the motor control system the motor uses a generated sine wave signal to control its speed as microprocessor power has improved techniques is able to generate a sine wave that is much purer than in the past giving us even more consistent speed both the sl1200 gr and sl1500c share a similar platter design techniques uses a two-layer construction method on both models the main platter is die-cast aluminum with reinforced ribs added to the backside most of the masses along the perimeter of the platter to increase inertial mass and minimize vibrations the back side of the platter gets treated with a rubber damping material designed to reduce both platter resonances and external vibrations techniques has done lots of computer modeling to come up with a platter design that works in tandem with the massive chassis and motor drive system to keep harmful external vibrations to a minimum when you compare the two you'll find it's pretty similar to the difference in the chassis the platter on the sl 1200 gr is just beefier weighing about a pound more at 5.51 pounds versus 4.5 pounds on the sl 1500c this 20 improvement in mass does offer some audio improvements although the difference you hear is more of a combination of the isolation feet the beefier chassis and the platter combined as a unit speed control is an area where there are substantial differences but they may not mean anything to you as they really have nothing to do with the sound the sl 1500c has two buttons for either 33 or 45 and by pushing both of them together you get 78. when you move up to the sl 1200 gr you get an adjustable pitch fader which can vary the speed plus or minus 16 for dj effects and a nice strobe indicator that allows you to quickly get the speed back to 33 45 or 78 you might also appreciate the cool pop-up target light when queueing up your tracks in a dark environment if you ever plan to do a little dj action at your home you'll want the features found on the sl 1200 gr both the sl 1200 gr and the sl 1500c have essentially the same tone arm techniques has made the classic x-shaped arm with a detachable headshell famous and that tradition continues with these two models the tone arm pipe itself is made of a lightweight super rigid aluminum i've always been impressed with the tone arm bearings on technics tables and i must say this arm has great bearings in its gimbal design these high precision bearings allow the arm to track your records really well where you'll find the difference between the two models is in how you adjust the vta or vertical tracking angle vta is a source of debate among vinyl enthusiasts and basically refers to changing the height of the rear of the tone arm which then changes the angle your stylus sits in the wrecker groove ideally you usually want the top of your head shell to be parallel to your record surface i love the fact both models have adjustable vta which means you can fit a variety of cartridge on the tone arm the sl1200gr has a really great system where you can actually adjust the vta on the fly while the record is playing that's pretty cool the sl 1500c is like most turntables with adjustable vta you must do when you're not playing a record i should also note that both models come with an accessory weight you can add to the rear of the arm for heavier phono cartridges the sl1500c does have one feature in that when the record ends the arm will automatically lift up off the record surface this feature can also be defeated for the purist who wants minimal interference in the path but is super convenient and desirable for a lot of people you'll find rca jacks on the rear of both models that accommodate a detachable tone arm cable the cable included with the sl 1200 gr is nicer and better made and it's actually the same one you get with the more expensive sl 1200g you also get gold plated connection terminals with better internal shielding on the sl 1200 gr i still suggest you consider upgrading either one to better cables though the reason many people will choose the sl1500c is it is ready to go right out of the box the toner comes with the ortofon 2m red moving magnet phono cartridge pre-mounted for those of you who do not have a phono preamp built into your amp or have a separate one the sl1500c has one built-in that's optimized for the ordephon 2m series there are two sets of jacks on the rear one that bypasses the phono preamp and another that uses it if you purchase the sl 1200 gr you'll need to provide your own phono cartridge which adds to the expense but also opens up a world of choices ordephone even makes a series of cartridges made for the technics s-shaped arms that come pre-mounted on some cool looking head shells that offer better performance than the stock technics headshell if you do start out with the 1500c you can still upgrade to any variety of phono cartridges just like you can with the sl 1200 gr for even more details on the differences on these two great turntables check out our full written review at audioadvice.com the link is below the audio comparison was a ton of fun to do and quite simple as well with the two tables sharing essentially the same head shell i just used the order font 2m red that comes with the sl1500c and swapped it over the sl 1200 gr interestingly enough at the same time i was testing a new teknis integrated amp the su su-r-1000 the ant was driving a pair of jbl 4367 studio monitors connected up with transparent music wave plus speaker cables i also cleaned every test record on the audio desk vinyl cleaner pro since these technics tables reminded me of the golden days of rock and roll and i'm from that time i used some vintage vinyl for most of my testing the first cut was holly holly from neil diamond's hot august night on mobile fidelity pressing the big thing that jumped out there is there's a guitar part that's centered in the sound stage right behind neil diamond in the mix with the sl 1200 gr i could hear each individual guitar string much better over the sl1500c next up i used 100 a gram pressing of jonard training's first album joan armatrading i used the first cut down to zero here it was really clear that sl 1200 gr had a better flow to the music preserving a much better sense of timing on a good system this cut will also extend outside the speakers and sound very open the sl 1200 gr gave me that wider sound stage with much more effortless sound last up was southern cross from crosby stills and nash daylight again here i once again heard better rhythm and pacing with that bigger sound but i also felt the deep bass was better defined on the sl 1200 gr these comparisons tell me the sl 1200 gr is capable of supporting a very good phono cartridge i would highly recommend it you get one you look into a great cartridge with all the adjustments the toner offers you'll have a wide range of choices and remember if you purchase your turntable and cartridge from audio advice we'll mount it and align it for you here at no additional charge if you want a beautifully solid turntable you can just plug right in and start enjoying vinyl the sl1500c is a great choice it's built like a tank and does provide auto lift at the end of the record which a lot of people will appreciate the sound and feature set it offers up for around 1200 bucks is pretty hard to beat however if you want better performance the sl 1200 gr does have a lot of things that just flat out make it a better turntable sure by the time you put a good phono cartridge on it you might be pushing 2 000 or more but you'll own a classic look you've seen in nightclubs for generations with a build quality that should last you for decades if you have any more questions please feel free to reach out to us via phone chat email or visit one of our stores if you 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Channel: Audio Advice

Views: 112,184

Keywords: audio advice, dolby atmos, turntables, technics, technic sl-1500, technics sl-1200gr, technics turntable, turntable, technics sl-1500c, vinyl, technics sl-1200, technics review, best turntables 2021, best turntables, technics sl 1500 c, technics 1500c, technics sl-1200g, record player, technics turntable review, technics 1500c turntable, technics 1500c review, technics record player, dj, 1200, ortofon, turntable review, vinyl records, audio, direct drive, best turntable

Id: fShMR2AV1UA

Length: 12min 33sec (753 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 19 2021