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Why Isnt Techincs 1200 Considered Audiophile?

Technics is known for its rock solid build quality low wow flutter, low noise rock steady speed, great torque and powerful motor so why isnt it given the accolades as a musical turntable?
vinny55

Showing 5 responses by bdp24

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bdp24
9,412 posts
 
Jeff at Audiomods is a professional machinist, hardly what I would call DIY. I would guess he could get his hands on some Boron Titanium if he so desired. I actually like products made one at a time by an artisan like Jeff. Roger Modjeski of Music Reference personally makes each of his amplifiers one at a time on a workbench, yet is still able to sell them for less than many assembly line products offered by larger high end companies. It’s a matter of good design and engineering (an amp exhibiting marginal stability costs just as much to manufacture as one that is unconditionally stable), and knowing where to spend the money to reap the greatest sonic benefit. Roger installs transformers of his own design in his amps, not ones he buys off the shelf like most amp makers. If you pay him extra, he'll even personally hand-wind the transformers he puts in the amp he makes you.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 
@glubson, Jeff drills holes in his Audiomods arm tube as part of his efforts to remove the resonances inherent in the stock Rega tube. He also removes the black paint, and adds three internal stiffening discs. He then wires the arm with the customers choice of pure silver or Cardas copper, and installs the great KLE Innovations RCA plugs. He machines all the other parts (of his own design, far better than the stock Rega’s) out of aircraft-quality aluminum and stainless steel. Two models available, both bargain priced (495 and 645 British with copper wire, about 50 more with silver).
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 
Who "thinks the Audiomods is better than (the) new Technics tonearms that comes (if it's multiple Technics tonearms, it should be "come") with GAE"? Not me---I said no such thing. Geez, false quotes are becoming really rampant on AudiogoN, aren't they?
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 
@chakster, I have to agree with you on the looks of the Audomods. All those holes drilled into the arm tube (admittedly for a good reason, and apparently providing a substantial benefit) is quite unsightly, especially in the matte finish-version. Pretty ugly. The polished version looks much better. But if you can see past that, the arm is really well engineered and built. A great value in a pickup arm, for those who value value ;-). Another kinda ugly, but high value arm, is the TransFi Terminator, also hand-built by a Brit. They are really good at record players, aren't they?
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 

Poor Jeff at Audiomods. He does everything he can to prevent his unique arm from being incorrectly, mistakenly described as a "tweaked Rega", yet some continue to do so. Why? That is akin to describing a custom-designed, hand-built automobile, onto which the builder has installed, say, BMW wheels, as a "tweaked BMW".

Jeff personally designed, and himself hand-machines, every single piece of his arm, with two exception: KLE Innovations RCA plugs (fantastic!), and the arm tube, which he sources from Rega. The Rega 303 arm tube (which receives drastic re-engineering and machining from Jeff) is the only, repeat ONLY Rega part used on the Audiomods arms (two models available). Does having the Rega arm tube make the Audiomods a "tweaked Rega"? Only if you ignore the fact that Jeff machines the arm’s unique bearing assembly (with ceramic ball bearings), yoke, variable-mass/constrained layer-damped counterweight, anti-skate, turntable mount that provides arm height and VTA/SRA adjustment (with optional micrometer available), internal arm tube stiffening and very-high quality silver or copper wiring, arm rest---all of his own design, and far different from Rega’s. All this info and more are available for viewing on the Audiomods website, so there is no excuse for the arm to continue to be mischaracterized as a "tweaked Rega". With the sole exception of the arm tube, and that single part alone, the Regas and the Audiomods couldn’t be more different.

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