...I've had many people tell me that the secret in bringing the 1200 up to the performance standards of decent belt-drive 'tables is using something like a Rega RB300 or an old SME....
i am not even sure what this means. what is a *decent* belt drive deck & how much does it cost? i think my oracle delphi is a decent deck, but it has been upgraded to mkv specs, has an origin-live dc motor kit powered by a hewlett packard lab power supply, is fitted w/an origin-live silver taper tonearm... as i shop used & carefully, it's cost to me was not anywhere near its retail cost, but it certainly cost me a mite more than $1k... 
re: the technics deck, even a stock sl1200 will outperform any presently manufactured belt-driven turntable at twice its price, imo.
re: the rega arms, as origin-live (rega arm modders) states that a modded rb250 will outperform even a modded rb900, i would think that is the way to go if you are wanting to swap a stock technics arm w/o dumping a lot of money into it. o-l also makes an armboard for the technics for just such a retrofit. as i said in another life on this thread, i would still choose a modded vintage empire if it were *my* $1k. but, you cannot top a kabusa sl1200 for $1k when buying new, imo...
ymmv,
doug s.
For the last year or so, I've thrown myself into a big controversy about the SL1200 and its merits. I've dissed them for years, based upon the fact that in my early audiophile days I heard several SL1200s and they never appealed to me sound-wise. I've written several articles on the subject over the last year, and for the first time in nine years writing about this stuff, I've pissed off a lot of people. My basic argument has always been that a mass-produced direct-drive 'table simply does not sound as good as a decent belt-drive 'table. I use the word "decent," because I'm not in love with the sound of the lesser Music Halls or Pro-Jects, either. So using the word "decent" was always my roundabout way of saying "at least a Rega P2 or P3."
I offered a challenge for someone to bring their SL1200 over to my house and compare it to a Rega P2, which my wife uses in a second system. No one took me up on this challenge, but lots of people complained, saying that I would be too biased to give the 1200 a fair shake. I even offered to do the comparison in front of a lot of people, so that if everyone disagreed with me, it would become at the very least a matter of my preferences, and not any absolute last word sort of thing.
Well, after more than a year, I finally had someone bring one over. It was a stock 1200, a mk.2, with a Stanton Groovemaster cartridge. It was so spur-of-the-moment, so I wasn't able to get the P2 over to compare. The owner, an acquaintance of mine named Frank, isn't a hard-core 1200 fan by any means, but it's what he uses, and he likes it. I think he was more interested in hearing my rig, which is a Michell Orbe SE with an SME V arm and a Koetsu Rosewood Standard cartridge.
I honestly was hoping to be surprised by the 1200. It would be far more interesting for me to write that I was wrong about the SL1200, that it really is good after all. Honestly, that's the article I wanted to write, not one where I say "I was right all along...it sucks." Suffice it to say that I'm not going to make my opinions about this SL1200 known...right away. I want to hear three other SL1200s first, ones that I've been told sound as good as any other 'table in its price range. I want to hear one modified by KAB. I want to hear one with a different arm, since some have told me the 1200's weakness is the arm. And I want to hear one with an excellent cartridge, because others have told me that there's nothing wrong with the arm.
After I hear these three versions, then I will be more than happy to report my findings, and close this chapter for good.
