I've got the original 1200, not the 1200 Mk II that the DJs use. This was the original table that was meant for the home market.

The arm is also different. I've currently got an Ortofon OM-10 Super on it, which is a very light weight cartridge. It seems this cartridge is too light for the arm, since the heaviest tracking force I can set is 2 grams, w/o putting a weight (like Blue Tack) on the headshell.

Any good suggestions for a cart for this table?

AT 440ml, I owned a Technics 1100a for a couple of decades and the audio technicas always shined.

Hi whell,
You have a PM.

Ron

Let me know which one you end up with. I have one that needs a cartridge, and I'm leaning toward a Shure M97xE or a V15 Type IV.

How is that arm different from the others in the series? I see the one on the vintagetechnics site, and I see some weird black block atop the pivot, so I can't see it.
I have no advice, but I'm watching this thread to hear. I have a 1500 and 1400 from that series, and like them a ton. But I don't know any better. And I'd like to hear an upgrade from this Shure/Realistic headshell with "generic" replacement stylus.

Ooh - I just saw the Mk2 versions of the 1400/1500, and I think I like the looks. I always loved the pitch dots on these (the 1500 has been around my family forever) but - those look nice. But don't the 1400 mkII's have the cueing problems?

On second thought, no, they're ugly compared to these.

also..the at 95e should suit a medium to heavy(ish) arm...budget ortofons seem to work in lowish mass arms...and i don't think the om10 was designed to track at 2 gms...possibly safer to track between 1.25 - 1.7 gm...with the optimum around the 1.5 gm mark until you settle on a cartridge with a lower compliance stylus assembly
http://www.ortofon.com/html/profile.asp?body_magnetic_technical_data.asp

The SL-1200MK2 was made for the audiophile market just take a look at the old brochure.

It just happen the turntable was so well built and had pitch control the it became The Standard for the Clubs and small radio station.

There is no remote start so it was not for broadcast at first.


Thank You

You have a wide latitude as far as which cartridge to use. If you're interested in Grado, I'm a Grado dealer.

If you need to add mass to the cartridge carrier, I recommend the speaker gasketing putty (available on a spiral roll) sold by AK sponsor-member Parts Express. It not only adds mass, it damps vibrations.

Fred Longworth
StereoTech Classic Audio Repair
http://www.repairaudio.com

You have a wide latitude as far as which cartridge to use. If you're interested in Grado, I'm a Grado dealer.

If you need to add mass to the cartridge carrier, I recommend the speaker gasketing putty (available on a spiral roll) sold by AK sponsor-member Parts Express. It not only adds mass, it damps vibrations.

Fred Longworth
StereoTech Classic Audio Repair
http://www.repairaudio.com

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

Yes, I'm using Blue Tack which is quite similar to putty, and has similar dampening characteristics. Grado was/is an interesting cartridge. I had a negative experience with a Grado Blue on a Thorens TT I had: the infamous "Grado dance". It might work out better with the Technics arm though.

Differences in the arms btw the 1200 and the MK II? I'm going by memory here, but I think the 1200's arm is a bit shorter, and the counterwight is increased/decreased by turning a rotary dial (monuted on the side of the "black block" that you see in the picture, rahter than rotating the counterwieght itself as you would on the 1200 MK II.

I use a Denon 110, Goldring 1042 and an AT440ML on my SL1300 and they all work very well. If I was going looking to buy one of the above cartridges that I felt gave the best bang for the buck, I would get the Denon 110. But I slightly prefer the Goldring. The AT440ML has been discontinued and is no longer available, but they have recently introduced the AT440MLa that folks who have tried it seem to like better than the regular ML version. The AT took a long time for it to break in and sound it's best (50 hours). I don't think you would be dissapointed with any of the above.

T Grado was/is an interesting cartridge. I had a negative experience with a Grado Blue on a Thorens TT I had: the infamous "Grado dance". It might work out better with the Technics arm though.


You wont to remember that Grado's are an unshielded cart. I have one on a sansui direct drive table and theres no hum, but took it with me to my friends house to have him give it a listen (he was interested in getting one because I liked mine so much) on his mkII and there was quite a bit of hum. Just might wont to keep that in mind wouldnt wont you to get a cart that hums!

You wont to remember that Grado's are an unshielded cart. I have one on a sansui direct drive table and theres no hum, but took it with me to my friends house to have him give it a listen (he was interested in getting one because I liked mine so much) on his mkII and there was quite a bit of hum. Just might wont to keep that in mind wouldnt wont you to get a cart that hums!

Hmmm. Now that you mention this, I think I've heard this before.

Fred: any feedback from clients with direct drive tables that they've had problems with teh Grado carts?

You could look in this thread (http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46091&highlight=grado+database)

stanton 881s is my choice for my markII,

Well I thouht Ide add that I got my at440mla in the maill today and is A good cart sounds better than my grado black right out of the box! Cant wait to get some hours on her(heard that they realy open up past 50hrs). So I would recomend it as the best choice for a sub 100$ cart.

Just something to keep in mind: The typical pivoted Technics arm isn't the lightest (especially that headshell) and it isn't damped. So unless you're going to install an arm damper, I'd recommend one of the Shure cartridges with the socalled Dynamic Stabilizer, preferably the V15 V or one of the variants. The last iteration, the V15VxMR (http://www.shure.com/phono/v15vxmr.html) , is unfortunately out of production and consequently very expensive, but there are "sleeper" versions: the original V15 V with the HyperElliptical stylus, the later VST III (a cost-reduced version of the V) and the III's clone, the V15-RS, sold by Radio Shack. The M97xE lacks the beryllium cantilever and line-contact stylus, the very things that put the V over the top, so I'd rate it a decent fallback cartridge but not much more.

The Shure cartridges aren't too stiff or overcompliant, so they or any other decent cartridge with about the same compliance would be a good fit for the Technics arm.

Here's what the arm looks like on an original SL-1200 (not MkII, etc.)

Ooh - I just saw the Mk2 versions of the 1400/1500, and I think I like the looks. I always loved the pitch dots on these (the 1500 has been around my family forever) but - those look nice. But don't the 1400 mkII's have the cueing problems?
You're right about the Mk2 versions of the 1400 and 1500 having hard-to-repair cueing problems. The Mk2 1600/1700 have cueing problems too, but are easily repaired with a household rubber band. The 1800 Mk2 has a manual cue lever, so no problems there-- if they weren't so stinkin' hard to find, I'd've gotten one of those, but I settled for the 1700 Mk2 to replace my family 1500 (still running fine after 30 years with a squirt of contact cleaner on the power switch and speed pots).

On second thought, no, they're ugly compared to these.
Which ones are ugly?

I've got a SL-1600MKii. I started with a Grado black (no hum, by the way), went to a Stanton 681EEE, and ended up with a Shure V15VxMR. As pointed out, the Shure is out of production and now costs an arm and a leg, so I'd recommend the Stanton (including the better 881s) as a good match for your Technics.

I used my SL1200 (1st edition) for many years it took a very substantial upgrade to better it. The Shure V series mated beautifully with the tone arm.

Over the years I made two small mods. I added two 1/2" strips of Dynamat at the "esses" in the tone arm to add a bit of mass ( for a Micro Accustics 2002e cart) and dampen resonance and I isolated the motor from the platter. A circle cut to the size of the motor top of small bubble wrap works well there, adding "darkness" to the presentation. Make sure you adjust the VTA if you try this.

Rick

Nitro - thanks for the pics. Completely different pivot/suspension from the appearance. That's what I saw in the pics that I couldn't figure out. My 1400 and 1500 look more like the Mk2 but without the VTA adjustment ring. That is a nifty little feature - I wonder if replacing the arm assembly (mentioned in the audiogon review) includes that portion of it?

Wualta - with the ugly comment I was just backtracking from my praise of the mk2 line outside the 1200. Always nice to avoid causing an e-bay buying frenzy.

I couldn't say if the MkII has adjustable VTA, but the first SL-1200 does.