Technics SL-1200 Mk. 6 coming soon...

TheChairGuy · « **on:** 29 Sep 2008, 12:37 am »

http://www.musicgadgets.net/2007/12/09/technics-sl-1200-mk6-limited-edition-turntable/

Insofar as we as audiophools are concerned....it builds upon the different, higher spec OFC wiring of the M5G's tonearm and adds some additional body damping to the venerable machine.

As KAB's upgrade to the motor costs only $250 and you can add it to the existing M5G...that might be a better path to reducing motor vibrations for similar or better money spent. Don't know what the new deck will cost, but I'm sure inflation has hit Matsushita ad they will be pricing much of the line higher in the future. They almost have to at this point - Matsushita ain't no charity

Just a guess...neat to have continued innovation from Technics, tho

John

TONEPUB · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Sep 2008, 02:09 am »

I'm in!

ixlr8 · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Sep 2008, 10:29 am »

The date on the article is Dec 07, so it should be available now. Has anybody asked Kevin (KAB) about this? Is this maybe the 'Special Edition' he has posted on his web page that is 'sold out'?

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Sep 2008, 12:43 pm »

Quote from: ixlr8 on 29 Sep 2008, 10:29 am

The date on the article is Dec 07, so it should be available now. Has anybody asked Kevin (KAB) about this? Is this maybe the 'Special Edition' he has posted on his web page that is 'sold out'?

It's already out in Japan and I read somewhere planned intro is December 2008 in the US.

dmckean · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Sep 2008, 07:58 pm »

It's available at this place for $700.

http://www.djdeals.com/technicsSL1200MK6.htm

ixlr8 · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Oct 2008, 11:43 pm »

It will be interesting to see what the MK6 is really all about. I emailed Kevin, at KAB, and he gave me the impression that the biggest difference between the Mk6 and the M5GSE was the blue LED and the exterior... the rest was the same. His impression from what he has learned is that the two decks (MK6/M5GSE) are sonically the same. I am thinking a MK2 w/wiring upgrade/tonearm fluid damper/external PS is in my future.

nimbus240 · « **Reply #6 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 05:43 am »

Whilst on the venerable subject of Technics direct drives I am a former electromechanical
engineer, so doing radical things to turntables is not exactly scary. I have taken a new SL-1200Mk2
and removed the transformer to a separate box with only two 30V wires going to the unit. This must make a big improvement to the overall background noise as the transformer in this unit is not exactly firmly secured and mechanically insulated. I am also now considering fitting a discreet diode bridge and cap to the Transformer box and taking the 30V DC current to the turntable. This then totally illiminates all AC from the unit as well as any electromechanical hum from the transformer. For all those who are fitting "Illustrious" arms to this unit as I am doing with a Redondo Bronze MC; then you must surely do this mod, or else IMHO you are kidding yourselves about improvements in sound stage and the rest!!

2bigears · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 12:46 pm »

now that sounds like a good mod on the deck that just won't go away....wonder if Kevin would be interested in setting up a mod kit like that,i would buy one for sure....

lcrim · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 12:53 pm »

KAB offers a separate PS and has for a number of years. The controls and LED's on the TT continue to function however. John recently did this on his with some phone help from Kevin.
I can't commrnt on the extent of improvement as mine was purchased with it already in place.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 03:36 pm »

The improvement was quite good with the outboard speed box....the deck indeed plays quieter (low level details like on Dark Side of the Moon are neat to finally hear) and it seems to play a bit stronger (I suspect this means there is only less ripple current now and a higher degree of speed accuracy)

Eliminating the transformer from the deck itself, and it's noise, vibration and resultant EMI, is always a good thing for sonics.

Just tell Kevin you don't solder and he'll set you up with splicing blocks to wire it all in. The diagram he has for the installation isn't exactly perfectly descriptive, so it took me about 40 minutes to figure it out hard thinking. I didn't call him (it was past workday hours in NJ at the time), but I eventually reasoned it thru (ape-like, as I normally do

)

Nonetheless, in about an hour the outboard speed box was up and running in my system..no soldering required.
http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/

btw, it's pretty small...no bigger than many MC transformers/head units..so finding room for it is pretty easy in most systems

John

2bigears · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 04:37 pm »

the ps mod sounds easy enough, as long as your drinkin' good beer as you do it.it's the conversion to DC power that blows me away.would this DC power be a better way to spin the deck????

Wayner · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 04:50 pm »

The turntable motor is a 12 volt DC motor. The circuits for doing this are already there. He's talking about moving the transformer and the bridge rectifier (the DC making circuit) off of the table and putting it in a seperate box.

Wayner

jonners · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 07:42 pm »

The AC supplied by the mains transformer in the tt becomes about 35V DC after rectification. That is then dropped to 21V DC by a regulator circuit which supplies the ICs that drive the motor, etc. I decided to try taking things a step further than the KAB mod, and just a few days ago I modded my SL1210 by making a regulated 21V DC supply and connecting it in such a way that it bypasses the tt's own regulator completely.

Since I'm heading well off-topic here, I'll say no more other than that this change has definitely lifted the performance of the deck.

JimJ · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 07:58 pm »

Quote from: jonners on 22 Oct 2008, 07:42 pm

The AC supplied by the mains transformer in the tt becomes about 35V DC after rectification. That is then dropped to 21V DC by a regulator circuit which supplies the ICs that drive the motor, etc. I decided to try taking things a step further than the KAB mod, and just a few days ago I modded my SL1210 by making a regulated 21V DC supply and connecting it in such a way that it bypasses the tt's own regulator completely.

Since I'm heading well off-topic here, I'll say no more other than that this change has definitely lifted the performance of the deck.

Please continue in a new thread if you want, and post pics

Sounds interesting...

jonners · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 Oct 2008, 08:32 pm »

I have already posted a few more details about this here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1237

I may add a few more details and possibly pics there soon.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #15 on:** 23 Oct 2008, 01:27 am »

jonners,

My KAB outboard power supply needed about 100 hours of settle in time to find it's right course...hang in there

While the tweek is absolutely recommended, I think setting the deck up on 4 brass feet and a 3.5" maple block underneath was a better investment in sound, myself. It takes the overdamped/dead sound of the Technics and simply changes it to 'exciting'.

Buying a submat (Isoplatmat, rubber, EAR Isodamp or sorbothane) and a Herbies top mat probably a bit better, too.

The outboard power supply is nice, but was a 'nuanced' difference. The other two above were knockouts, for me

They cost a bit less, too aa

(note: my SL-1200 has an Origin Live Illustrious Mk. III tonearm in place of the stock one)

John

jonners · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 Oct 2008, 11:30 am »

John,

Thanks for your encouraging remarks. I've just bought some wooden cone feet and I'll be looking for a nice thick block.

I would say that my mod made more than a 'nuanced' difference, and if you're into diy it's very cheap.

I have now posted some more info and pics on the thread in the other forum that I provided a link to in my previous post.

Happy listening!

John

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #17 on:** 23 Oct 2008, 02:26 pm »

By 'nuanced' (probably the wrong term for what I meant) was that the sound was already very good with the prior aforementioned mods....when I added the outboard speed control (and strobe disabler, btw) I got more of the same: just quieter and, seemingly, more stable to these ears.

I've read that the KAB product can be improved upon (the Technics SP-10 Mk. II outboard is better and more advanced), so it may be that you designed a more capable box tahn even KAB offers. Or, I had already ramped up the deck to pretty high levels of sonics and the speed control box (and strobe disabler) we're more nuanced to me than anything else.

It absolutely does as advertised, I got the requisite chills from the first album 'Dark Side of the Moon', that I tried after installation.

Even if I paid list price for everything on my deck....it costs maybe $4500 (with maple platform underneath). For the $2300 or so I paid for everything (including $1800 for tonearm - ha), a mere pittance in hi-end turntable parlance, I'm absolutely thrilled with it.

I'm out of ways to improve it further from here - tho I'm thinking of a home brew silicone damping pot as this seems to be a very effective rumble trap and smooth out matching between and cartridge and tonearm -but, I'm thrilled where it's at

John

lcrim · « **Reply #18 on:** 23 Oct 2008, 05:04 pm »

For the record, according to Kevin, the MK6 is not available in the US and there are no plans at present to import it. This is from his distributors. The changes in the MK6 from the M5G are blue LED's and an improved speed control, similar to that in the MKII. The MK6 is available in Japan presently and in Europe in 2009. Many people have confused information garnered from a Google translated Japanese web site regarding the MK6 in that features already part of the package, such as three layer damping construction, are being seen as new and unique to the MK6.
The motor in the 12xx series is 21 VDC. The KAB outboard PS provides 33VDC to the onboard regulator, which is of quite high quality. It is debatable whether adding your own regulator outboard would be a significant improvement given that the TT's onboard wiring would then require some reworking.
The stock feet are part of the designed inbuilt damping system and should you change them out for a vibration transfer system w/ cones into wood that wood had better rest on something even more capable of damping vibration.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #19 on:** 23 Oct 2008, 05:31 pm »

Quote from: lcrim on 23 Oct 2008, 05:04 pm

The stock feet are part of the designed inbuilt damping system and should you change them out for a vibration transfer system w/ cones into wood that wood had better rest on something even more capable of damping vibration.

Good point here Larry has made

Whatever feet you replace the stock ones with, they need to go in the same spot as the stock feet were. It's abundantly clear that when I put the brass toes outside of the circular area(s) where the stock feet were, things sounded worse.

The brass toes, precisely located where the stock feet were once, pointed down straight into a thick damping board/block or the like (in my case, 3.5" maple butcher end-gain block) was a substantial upgrade to sonics.

I think there has been considerable discussion of this on Audiogon forums, but precious little, if no, talk of it here. I found this out independently of anyone else...and later found that others experiences the same.

John