The SL-110/Sl-1100 and SP owners club.
- Thread starter 68custom
- Start date
The strobe on these is super neat.
frankmarsi
Active Member
5-20-18
All on vacation?
All on vacation?
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I just picked one of these up locally. Pics as I get it cleaned up. Complete with the exception of the top sticker for the strobe.
I am still loving my SL-1100a with the FR-24 tonearm mounted on it. It sounds as good or better than any turntable that I have (VPI HW19, Luxman PD-441, Technics SL-MA1, Mitsubishi LT-30 and Thorens TD-318). I am going to thin the herd and get rid of everything except one belt drive (VPI), one direct drive (SL-1100a), and 2 idlers (Elac Miracord 770h) and a Garrard 401 that is currently a project that I have. I think that my SL-1100a sounds better than the Luxman PD-441. I might be biased by the fact that I love the looks of the Sl-1100a, but there is no denying that an SL-1100a produces very high quality music.
I am very eager to hear what the Garrard 401 sounds like, as I love the sound of idler drives, but right now the SL-1100a is my favorite table. I will be mounting an FR-54 on the Garrard until I can find another FR-24. The FR-24's are getting very difficult to find at a reasonable price. The FR-24 is a bit more flexible on the headshell/cartridge weights that it can handle, and to my ears has a bit more dynamic sound than the FR-54. I may go for a 2 tonearm plinth for the Garrard 401 if it meets my expectations in the skeletal plinth that it is currently housed in.
Truth be told though...I could be very happy with just having the SL-1100a, but I have been lusting after a Garrard 301 or 401 for a good amount of time. This will be the acid test. The SL-1100a is a truly remarkable table.
I am very eager to hear what the Garrard 401 sounds like, as I love the sound of idler drives, but right now the SL-1100a is my favorite table. I will be mounting an FR-54 on the Garrard until I can find another FR-24. The FR-24's are getting very difficult to find at a reasonable price. The FR-24 is a bit more flexible on the headshell/cartridge weights that it can handle, and to my ears has a bit more dynamic sound than the FR-54. I may go for a 2 tonearm plinth for the Garrard 401 if it meets my expectations in the skeletal plinth that it is currently housed in.
Truth be told though...I could be very happy with just having the SL-1100a, but I have been lusting after a Garrard 301 or 401 for a good amount of time. This will be the acid test. The SL-1100a is a truly remarkable table.
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TechNiks18
New Member
Hello everybody,
Just discovered the SL-110 and SL-1100 owners club, so I’m new to this forum. I’d like to share my experience with this turntable.
I have had a Technics SL-110 since 1986, when my favorite hifi-shop (at that time) had a second-hand one for sale, equipped with an SME 3009 III arm. I was especially keen on the arm because of a couple of reasons:
- I had read a lot of praise in German hifi-magazines regarding the SME 3009 III
- It had a plethora of adjustments to optimize performance (or to mess around, which I liked)
- It looked completely different from other tonearms, not quite unlike the turret and gun of a tank
- I had a Technics SL1600 Mk2 with a Dynavector Karat 23RS cartridge which I felt didn’t perform at the level it was supposed to (= what the German hifi-magazines wrote about the cartridge).
One of the salesmen from the shop told me he had owned an SL-110 himself (I don’t remember with which arm). He had replaced the armboard with a custom made, solid brass one and had extensively damped the chassis and the platter with Dynamat-like stuff. He had replaced the SL-110 with a Micro Seiki BL91 (IIRC), which in hindsight was wasted money because the Micro Seiki performed at the same level as his modified Technics. So I confidently bought the SL110 complete with arm, strobe light and dustcover.
Once home and with everything up and running the SL-110/SME 3009 III/Karat 23RS indeed improved on the sound of the SL1600 Mk2/Karat 23RS by quite some margin, which I attributed mainly to the (supposedly better) SME arm. There was one problem however: hum from the mains transformer entered the cartridge, so I started modifying the SL-110 like the salesman had done. I damped the entire chassis, the platter and the original wooden armboard with Dynamat-like stuff and took the mains voltage selector and transformer out of the chassis to put it into a separate box. Since then a thick multicore cable connects the SL-110 with its mains section. I also removed the L-formed piece of metal with the 4 cinch connectors and replaced the original rubber mat with a Record Interface Mat (a sort of copy of the Goldmund Relief Mat). And yes, the sound got even better: a blacker background, more detail and more control. The music also sounded more relaxed than before.
Some 5 years ago I began experimenting with other arms, which is very easy to do because of the simple armboard. A Rega RB250 and Origin Live Illustrious Mk2 were mounted on an MDF armboard and finally came a Dynavector DV505 on a solid wengé armboard. And the sound got better again than with the SME arm.
In an effort to rank my SL-110/DV505 setup I compared it with two other turntables (both also in my possession):
- a Pink Triangle PT Export with SME IV arm
- a PTP4-Lenco L75 with the Dynavector DV505 arm taken from the SL-110
Quite to my surprise (since these turntables have rather opposing designs), the PT Export/SME IV combo sounds very much like my SL-110/DV505 setup! The PTP4-Lenco L75/DV505 combo on the other hand sounds a little different, with a tauter and leaner bass region which more resembles the sound of my CD player. While some will regard this as a good thing, others might find it bad.
I have attached pictures of two different setups of my SL-110. Hope you like them.
Just discovered the SL-110 and SL-1100 owners club, so I’m new to this forum. I’d like to share my experience with this turntable.
I have had a Technics SL-110 since 1986, when my favorite hifi-shop (at that time) had a second-hand one for sale, equipped with an SME 3009 III arm. I was especially keen on the arm because of a couple of reasons:
- I had read a lot of praise in German hifi-magazines regarding the SME 3009 III
- It had a plethora of adjustments to optimize performance (or to mess around, which I liked)
- It looked completely different from other tonearms, not quite unlike the turret and gun of a tank
- I had a Technics SL1600 Mk2 with a Dynavector Karat 23RS cartridge which I felt didn’t perform at the level it was supposed to (= what the German hifi-magazines wrote about the cartridge).
One of the salesmen from the shop told me he had owned an SL-110 himself (I don’t remember with which arm). He had replaced the armboard with a custom made, solid brass one and had extensively damped the chassis and the platter with Dynamat-like stuff. He had replaced the SL-110 with a Micro Seiki BL91 (IIRC), which in hindsight was wasted money because the Micro Seiki performed at the same level as his modified Technics. So I confidently bought the SL110 complete with arm, strobe light and dustcover.
Once home and with everything up and running the SL-110/SME 3009 III/Karat 23RS indeed improved on the sound of the SL1600 Mk2/Karat 23RS by quite some margin, which I attributed mainly to the (supposedly better) SME arm. There was one problem however: hum from the mains transformer entered the cartridge, so I started modifying the SL-110 like the salesman had done. I damped the entire chassis, the platter and the original wooden armboard with Dynamat-like stuff and took the mains voltage selector and transformer out of the chassis to put it into a separate box. Since then a thick multicore cable connects the SL-110 with its mains section. I also removed the L-formed piece of metal with the 4 cinch connectors and replaced the original rubber mat with a Record Interface Mat (a sort of copy of the Goldmund Relief Mat). And yes, the sound got even better: a blacker background, more detail and more control. The music also sounded more relaxed than before.
Some 5 years ago I began experimenting with other arms, which is very easy to do because of the simple armboard. A Rega RB250 and Origin Live Illustrious Mk2 were mounted on an MDF armboard and finally came a Dynavector DV505 on a solid wengé armboard. And the sound got better again than with the SME arm.
In an effort to rank my SL-110/DV505 setup I compared it with two other turntables (both also in my possession):
- a Pink Triangle PT Export with SME IV arm
- a PTP4-Lenco L75 with the Dynavector DV505 arm taken from the SL-110
Quite to my surprise (since these turntables have rather opposing designs), the PT Export/SME IV combo sounds very much like my SL-110/DV505 setup! The PTP4-Lenco L75/DV505 combo on the other hand sounds a little different, with a tauter and leaner bass region which more resembles the sound of my CD player. While some will regard this as a good thing, others might find it bad.
I have attached pictures of two different setups of my SL-110. Hope you like them.
Stanton681EEES
Addicted Member
Wow an SP12 those are extremely rare which I guess you already know that. When did you purchase it.I have a rare Technics SP 12 , imported from Japan.Its in a box since 2.5 years. Does anyone have the plinth template?
Regards
Sachin
frankmarsi
Active Member
7-19-18
If anyone is interested in the rare SL-1100 wood-base, there is one for sale so, get on the auction site if interested.
Personally I prefer those cute yet stable looking feet since I first saw them on the new models of this table back in the early 1970's.
However, I also like the little wood base as it obviously changes the whole look but, that's the rub. The SL-120mk1 and SL-1100 were very different looking back then and if one takes note a number of
recent high-end tables have been using this design of 'feet' or similar in the last several years long after Technics made it popular. Marantz, and a number of others manufacturers followed suit in the early '70s after they saw the Technics was selling rather briskly.
The other reason for me enjoying the original look more than the wooden base for sale is the price of this auction of $112.and so, I feel that's nuts for 4 pieces of wood and a few screws. I venture a guess it will sell between $125. to $150. and that's
just plain crazy when one can take measurements and construct their own if wanted and make it in any color finish. My second system uses two SL-1100's so, why make one look different, and it certainly doesn't add any increase in sound quality.
I will say one thing though, this is the first time I've seen one for sale since they came out over 46 years when they first were produced.
FM
If anyone is interested in the rare SL-1100 wood-base, there is one for sale so, get on the auction site if interested.
Personally I prefer those cute yet stable looking feet since I first saw them on the new models of this table back in the early 1970's.
However, I also like the little wood base as it obviously changes the whole look but, that's the rub. The SL-120mk1 and SL-1100 were very different looking back then and if one takes note a number of
recent high-end tables have been using this design of 'feet' or similar in the last several years long after Technics made it popular. Marantz, and a number of others manufacturers followed suit in the early '70s after they saw the Technics was selling rather briskly.
The other reason for me enjoying the original look more than the wooden base for sale is the price of this auction of $112.and so, I feel that's nuts for 4 pieces of wood and a few screws. I venture a guess it will sell between $125. to $150. and that's
just plain crazy when one can take measurements and construct their own if wanted and make it in any color finish. My second system uses two SL-1100's so, why make one look different, and it certainly doesn't add any increase in sound quality.
I will say one thing though, this is the first time I've seen one for sale since they came out over 46 years when they first were produced.
FM
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Stanton681EEES
Addicted Member
Here is the link. To the completed auction.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...Technics+SH-11B1&LH_Complete=1&LH_TitleDesc=0
frankmarsi
Active Member
I wonder if anyone here was the winner of the wooden base?
I had one built. Very straight forward and can be done pretty cheaply with some nice varieties of wood. Just measure the sl100a and drop it in. Rest it on some deadening material if you want. I think that it really adds to the looks of the machine. I also got a few black acrylic armboards that are available from , i think , Accustand in Great Britain and was able to mount the tonearm of my choice. Excellent.
Looks great! What kind of paint did you use?This one was pretty beat up and needed a lot of attention, now looking and sounding very nice.
