Home > Consumer Reviews > TECHNICS SL-1200MK2 Turntable

Occasionally a piece of equipment comes along that is so well designed, well built and far ahead of the pack that it defines the state of the art and any major improvements are not only unnecessary but impossible. 30 some odd years ago Technics released the first SL1200 direct drive turntables and defined what phono turntables should be; affordable, reliable, excellent. In the 30 years since then there have only been minor revisions to the SL1200.

If you're like me and you have a vinyl fetish the 1200 MK2 is the turntable to buy, the extra heavy duty construction that made this deck so popular with DJs at clubs serves audiophiles just as well at home. The 1200MK2 is impossibly smooth; turn it on and watch as the platter gets up to speed in a single rotation, the platter speed is incredibly accurate, again, this sets the standard. Combined with a properly installed cartridge (I use a Shure Type 15 VMR) this turntable will give you years of pleasure from your record collection

I am a vinyl junkie.There; I've said it. And for years I was in search of the perfect turntable on which to indulge my passion. This turntable is analog nirvana. Clearly, this turntable was intended for both the professional and home markets. The direct drive motor keeps the platter precisely on speed thanks to the quartz-locked control, or varied with the pitch control slider. A green light lets you know when you're locked right on speed. In addition, the strobe on the outer rim of the platter helps you gauge where you are when you adjust the pitch. The S-shaped tonearm offers adjustments for tracking force, anti-skate, AND vertical tracking angle. The importance of VTA is often downplayed, but I can tell you it matters! When it's right, you'll know. I have no fewer than 16 cartridges on headshells that can be used on this turntable, and all sound excellent. But my strongest recommendation for the best cartridge to use with the 1200for home use is the Denon DL-160 high output moving coil.My records have never sounded better, and this cartridge, like the turntable, is a bargain. I've been using this combination for transferring some of my favorite LP's to CD so I can play them in my car. In many cases, the sound was so good it was hard to tell this was an analog transfer. This is definitely the finest turntable ever built, regardless of price. Even the snooty high end audiophiles should take a good look at this table if they want great sound at a bare-bones price (compared to most high end turntables that don't do anything this one does). There's something to be said as to why this turntable has been available for so long. I've had mine for nearly 20 years, and I'll never let go!

Hello Everyone,
There is a reason this turntable has sold thousands (millions?). The Technics is simply the best turntable you can get period for a grand or under. Yes it became popular as a DJ table, but it was originally designed as a professional level audiophile home turntable. You need only to spend a few hours with the 1200 to realize this. This is what I've been using it for and it has blown my socks off. I've been very impressed not only with its unparralled build quality, but especially with it's great sound quality as well as its perfectly accurate speed and pitch control.
This turntable is a legend for a reason. I've been an audiophile for 34 years, and I can tell you confidently that this is a superb turntable for home audiophile use. You can spend more money on more expensive "boutique turntables", but you're wasting your money unless you spend three to four times as much. Keep the coin and get some great LPs instead.
The Audio Technica 1200 is a good turntable (speaking from several months of ownership) but the Technics blows it out of the water on all fronts. The AT is mostly plastic and very loosely assembled and poorly manufactured in China. Mine started having issues after the first week. The Technics is still hand assembled in Japan, as it has been for the last thirty odd years, and is made of high grade METAL parts. This turntable will probably outlive me!!! I highly recommend this turntable, and I'm a jaded audiophile. They just don't build them like this anymore. Cheers to Technics for continuing to manufacture this turntable in Japan, to the highest quality standards and built from the highest quality components. This will be the last turntable I'll ever have to buy.

THis is the first new 1200 that I have purchased, but not the first I have owned. Funny thing is, this wasn't even for me. Was a gift to a great friend. Either way, the 1200s are great turntables. They are very versitile & can take the abuse of spinning, or just run on doing mundane vinyl playback.

Setup is a relatively easy process & you can keep it simple & have it work well forever, or tweek out over things to make minute changes to get the abosolute best possible sound.

Anyway, these things are reliable, tanks, will last forever, & though it seems pricey, will provide for you for years...probably until you sell it to someone else who can use it too!

The SL-1200MK2 turntable represents an amazing value for audiophiles that want to get back into the fun and charm of spinning vinyl. I paired mine with a Denon DL-160 cartridge. It sounds nice, really nice. Warm, many times better than many CDs.

The fact is, there are a lot of good turntables. When you consider how relatively small the market it, there is an amazing amount of offerings. The problem is, the industry likes to complicate matters. If you read enough audiophile blogs, getting the sound right is almost impossible.

I have never seen such a nice piece of equipment, not matter the price. The quality to everything on the Technics SL-1200MK2 is outstanding.

What you want in a turntable is what the SL-1200MK2 has. It's heavy duty, I almost dropped to my knees when the Fedex guy handed me the box. You want the platter to spin at a very accurate rate, and thanks to the silent DC motor and heft of the turntable, you can place the Technics right next to a subwoofer and the cartridge is still isolated from any rumble. Now, I wouldn't suggest doing it, but it just illustrates how well designed this piece of equipment is.

Simply put, for thirty years this turntable has spun records at a constant speed, period. The tonearm is fine, just match it with the best cartridge you can afford,follow the installation instructions carefully, then sit back and enjoy.

Just a DJ turntable? No way. It spins the record at incredible accurate speed. Thats any turntables main task, simple as that. Check the wow and flutter specs, they're excellent.

The other question is, are there better turntables? Sure, but who wants to pay thousands of dollars to listen to used records that you're picking up for 1-3 bucks a piece at a dusty record store? Pair the Technics with a decent Shure cartridge and you'll be satisfied. There's no better turntable at this price. Yes, you can spend $64,000 for a turntable (there was one at a just concluded Consumer Electronics Show, it had four tonearms and looked really cool) but that's just foolish. There are audiophiles, and then there are people who will never be happy with what they hear, not matter what they spend. And once they have spent lots of money, they have to justify the purchase.

I wish all makers of equipment offered this kind of value. Technics should be lauded for keeping this model in production.

My girlfriend and I are having lots of fun buying old records, then sitting and listening to music instead of hearing all the negaholic banter on television. A record player is a great, inexpensive way to have fun during this recession. You will get hours of fun with this turntable.