Quote:
Originally Posted by BobMcN
Dangerously misleading information here. Yes, tonearms can be easily changed if the pivot to spindle distance on each is the same. But if not then you could be talking about drilling/expanding a new hole. Tonearm setup is not trivial, nor is correct cartridge alignment, and needs to be done right to get the most out of your upgrade, otherwise you'll be wasting your money and could end up with worse sound.
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Fair points but the Technics SL1200 is actually better supported for tonearm upgrades these days than you may realise.
soundsupports offer SME and Rega geometry mounting plates precut and
Origin Live offer a mounting plate to fit their arms which also use the Rega pattern. Soundsupports will sell you a blank to cut yourself for more obscure tonearm patterns or probably do you a Linn pattern one, if you ask nicely, which would cover pretty much everything else including the Jelco mentioned above I think.
Fitting a new armboard and arm is pretty straightforward stuff for anyone who's not completely hamfisted, way easier than mounting a cartridge anyway....
Quote:
Originally Posted by VIrak
The stock Technics arm has very good bearings (7mg friction, e.g. the Jelco 750D has 20mg).
Rega does not publish bearing specs (or rumble, wow and flutter...), but I have done the «swing test» Linn recommends for checking the bearings in their tonearms, and the stock SL-1200Mk2 arm has about 6 times less friction than the RB300 and OL RB250 I tested...!
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There is nothing 'wrong' with the Technics arm for what it is but it's not in the same league as any of the other tonearms you've mentioned and I really can't understand why anyone would think it is.
It's a pretty average 1970's tonearm, mass produced to the usually superb Japanese standards of the era. Technics never sold it as a separate item and they sold the SL1200 without a tonearm, as I am sure you are aware, for people who wanted something more Hi-Fi like an SME. They clearly never intended it to be their last word in tonearms and to claim anything else for it all these years later seems a little anachronistic to me.
There are full historic reviews of Technics range of decks and tonearms from this era side by side with contemporary reviews of SME, and later ones of Rega tonearms which I posted here for comparison
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/tec...grades-366309/
These come from old Hi-Fi Choice Magazines and include full measurements made with an Accelerometer by Martin Colloms, later of Stereophile.
Here is the contemporary one of the Rega RB300 from 1983. Going by these independent measurements, as opposed to those published by the manufacturer, the bearing frictions are both pretty much the same (15mg/15mg vs. 15mg/10mg), with the Technics admittedly having the edge in a lower vertical friction measurements.
However surely it's more important to have the same vertical and horizontal friction, as otherwise torsional forces exerted on the arm in play will exert uneven pressures, leading in effect to the Technics arm having less horizontal than vertical give against the cartridge, resulting in audible colouration.
Interestingly this would seem to lend some credence to the KAB / DJ method, of getting the best out of this arm by using high compliance carts, like the Ortofon Concord OM40, with a silicon damping trough, as this reduces the moving mass, puts less energy back into the arm than a Moving Coil and puts less strain on the bearings.
Factor in the decidedly average ( even by mid '70s standards) vibrational analysis, the big humps at 75Hz and 250Hz, attributed to the loosely damped counterweight and averagely well toleranced headshell linkage, and you would have to come to the conclusion that the Technics arm is good enough, in stock form, for an average MM or low end MC, but that's really about it.
Compare this to the '80s designed Rega arms, or others which have come along since in this pricerange, like the Pro-Ject carbon, and the Technics starts to look pretty archaic, and measurably inferior by a fairly large margin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VIrak
The rigidity of the RB-series might be better, but that has to be weighed against the ease of swapping headshells and the superb VTA adjustment. Personally, I love to play around with cartridges, so headshells are a plus in my book.
I've heard the RB300 and my own RB250 (Origin Live-modded, w/ silver wire, OL counterweight, etc) on other turntables, and I wasn't so impressed that I rushed out and bought a Rega armboard. I guess I'll have to do it someday, though.
I've had an SME 3009/S2 and a Mayware F4 MkIII mounted on the Technics, and since they're very different designs (knife bearing and unipivot), they do give a different presentation. Is different better? Depends on the cartridge/arm synergy, doesn't it? E.g. the Mayware with an Ortofon OM40 was stunning, but the Technics arm is way too heavy for that particular cartridge.
Anyway, my point is, if you buy an SL-1200Mk2, make the most out of it before you start messing around with arms.
It might be a sideways move, or worse.
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I have also tried out many vintage tonearms on both my direct drive and belt drive turntables, including the SME 3009, SME III, Linn LVX/LVV, Logic Datum I/II and an Ortofon RMG212, compared to both a stock Rega RB250 and a fully modified Origin Live version.
I agree with you that with many of these you are getting differences in flavour, ie 'colouration' rather than in absolute quality. I would also agree that the Rega is not without issue, insofar as it can sound a little dull and grey in the midrange compared to better arms, a facet which the OL mods smooth over without entirely effacing.
However I concluded that for the money, the Rega arms are by far and away the best in their class, and represent the most cost effective way to upgrade a turntable purely in sonic terms, giving uniform improvement with the widest range of modern carts ( not surprising given Rega arms are something of a budget benchmark) and more importantly sounding neutral and controlled with the widest range of music.
So while I can see why many enthusiasts, with decks capable of mounting several arms for instance, might want to have an SME 3009 for that vintage rose-tinted sound on '50s FFRR records, for someone with just the one tonearm, on their main deck, the Rega would seem to be the most sensible and cost effective upgrade.
