As a DJ at a local radio station I've had nothing but wonderful experiences working with the SLK1200MKII's....as far as turntable operation is concerned they are the best. If you are looking for sound quality as opposed to functionality you're better off looking at other things, since most of the MKII's high price tag goes to giving it the fastest spin-up rate of any turntable out there, but of course how many audiophiles go around scratching and spinning, etc. But it's built like a rock unlike many other tables out there.

Robust, strong and accurate.

Protective cover is best removed when in use and placed back afterwards.

In the past 10 years I've been to ceveral disco's, but the Technics 1200 is always relaiable.
One club has it's technics for over 10 years!! now and the still work perfectly! And remember, in clubs the most DJ's drink while working so they have to endure a lot!

READ THE SPEC!

'Dead zone' on pitch controll
Price damn it!

Fantastic! I've heard people talking about vestax giving technics a run for thier money there are 2 drawbacks at least i can think of 1) sonically the technics' are streets ahead 2) the vestax's look like dog turd! Vestax are the same price and even the 1979 1200s are going to outlast vestax by probably about 80 years!

What's this about higher picth controll being better 8% is more accurate than 10 or 12 (or 50).

Don't bother buying anything else!

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Couldn't think of a product that can be described as similar!

Easy to adjust, start, stop and play.

the top can get scratched if not properly protected.

I've used the SL-1200 for several years when I worked in radio spinning tunes for a top-40 station near Clemson, SC. while putting myself through college. I really liked the quick start-up and dead-on accurate sycn. light.

The tone arm isn't probably the "greatest" but with a good cartridge I've had no complaints. I still like the sound of vinyl over that of a CD... the latter is just to sharp/harsh for my taste, but YMMV.

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professional DJ equipment, mostly.

Build, ease of use, reliable, sound

Non detachable cable

A salesman at a high end store told me in very quiet voice that he has 2 of these with diff. cart., and he did not wish to fool with more exotic tables.....so I bought one and have been very well pleased (he didn't even sell them there).
I use a Shure V15, and have been happy with the sound and the ease of use. Perhaps one day I will unsolder the cable and try a Kimber, but for now there is no need. I haunt the thrift stores and have especially good luck finding classical gems. Have also been pleased with the sound of alblums I have had since the early 60s, I am surprised they still sound so good, considering the tables and cart. of those years.

would somebody please put up a useful review of technics comapared to another battle dj turntable instead of just stating that its been the industry standard for years, other tables dont compare to it, and no one should buy any other type of turntable. specifics please!

Precision, style, quality

Not yet

Precision. It does what it says and it does it well. My first manual turntable. I just love it. Used AT350 cartrige from The Good Guys, not good enough. I thought it was the amp, or theajustment of the cartridge, etc. But as soon as I got my Grado Red onto it, wow... Actually, the AT and Grado are in the same price range. AT got better details in the mid-lower range but short on high frequency part, and sounds a bit muzzled. Grado got better over all range. It brings out everything, in a not so refined way I must say :) But all in all, Red+1200M3D work great for me. Will see what the DP-4F+AT will do. Used to play my LPs on and old Sony and an old linear Kenwood. No comparison there, guess price does make difference here. Even though I am not a DJ and the full manual does become a hassle sometimes, say, I am not around for a while... But hey, the handling

of the arm and all that do bring the sweet sensation you'll never get handling those digital plastic medias. And yes, I do concur on the fact that LP sounds better than CD - CD just doesn't have the warmth. Not even close. But you won't experience it with a bad turntable and cartridge. Went to a local audiophile store with all the exotic turntables with exotic prices there. I am not really impressed after hearing my 1200+Grado. They might be a notch better, but you are talking $10,000 to get where they are. Just want to put my two cents worth here for my fellow LP enthusiasts. Thanks to Technics people. Great job well done. All the praises about this 1200MK are well justified. Go LP :)

As far as the price, I think I could get it much less from the net. But this is the first serious turntable and I wanted to get it right. And I am not short changed at all. But I am getting my Dennon DP-47F from the net :) Yahoo! shopping is great. And Garage-A-Record.com is great to get your turntable related stuff. Got my Grado cartridge from them, very fast and polite. The packaging isn't the bes. But they charge very little for shipping. After all, it's the stuff inside that counts. Hope this info can be useful for some of you out there. Garage-a-record doesn't have a pro looking website, but they are great under the hood. Love to spread good words for them.

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Very well made, great sound and awesome very fun to use.

none.

I would never use any other turntables other than technics.

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gemini and some steel belt drive ones hahahaha.

durabillity, build strength, versatility, feedback buffering, instant start/stop

I have had a pair of these babies for 13yrs. i have DJed for that long and have played in Europe, Asia and all over Australia and i have never seen any other make of turntable in any venues i have ever played. I have seen these things thrashed and trashed and they still do what they were meant to...you can press play and let it run for months on end without missing a beat...they weigh 13kgs so they have loads of buffering for feedback.
If you want a turntable that will outlast you and sound great this is the one

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nothing comes close

The SL1600 mkII is built like a tank! Steady as a rock and ready for anything...

Can't think of any

Here it is.
I look for bargains when I can find them. this is one of those bargains. I got the thing for twelve buck, and found the needle was bad, and a foot was missing. Big Deal. I would have paid a LOT more than that for one in worse condition. I plugged my Stanton cartridge in and it was ready to go. I have a bunch of vinyl, but hadn't found a decent turntable cheap for a long while. I also can't get half the stuffI have on vinyl on CD, so my unit is hooked up to my computer, and with SoundForge, I can rip, clean, and burn to my hearts content... I see some dynamic range enhancement in my future, (dbx 3bx of a variety) and I will have some good gear for ripping to near CD quality AND range.
My SL1600 mkII is about as heavy a table as I've seen, has an analog quartz lock set up, and all the bells and whistles anyone needs. The retail on the thing in it's heyday was 400 bucks, so I figure I'll have a good strong runner for the next 20-30 years.
I just wonder how hard it'd be to find a second matching one?

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Technics sl 1200's Gemini and numark knockoffs
Sansui Direct drive w/sensor (programmable)
(used to sell PA and DJ gear)