Modded or stock Technics SL1200G


I have been using my modded 1200G for one year now. I am still delighted with my choice to buy and mod this TT. I had Ralph (atmasphere) build an armboard and install it, Tri Mai built and installed the  Triplanar Classic SE tonearm, I added the Oracle Hard Acrylic mat and a HRS 315 gram record weight. Brian Walsh of ttsetup mounted the Lyra Kleos cartridge for me.

Having only used Lyra cartridges since 1988, it came as no surprise to run it for 80+ hours for it to open up. Even though "Mickeys" review stated 50-100 hours for break-in of the TT, It did surprise me that around 85-90 hrs for the whole rig open up and settled down.

Has anyone been unhappy with the purchase of their Technics SL1200G ? I would guess that many have used it stock but wonder if others have done any mods to improve SQ and what mods did they do ?

Platter mats, record weights or clamps, re-wiring the stock tonearm or installing a different tonearm. Power cord was hard but I got that too.


nkonor
jbrrp I also use a funk firm mat I had to get the 3mm one because the 5mm one I had was too tall for the Triplanar, not alot of room to lower the arm on this table. I had to get a board from Greece and drill it myself because no one in the US wanted to make one without sending the whole table to them which I thought was kind of weird
A thicker mat works in the Triplanar's favor as far as VTA goes; this sounds a little weird.

The problem in mounting an armboard to the Technics is that to be the most effective, the armboard must be of the same material (aluminum) as the plinth, so as to not vibrate differently from the rest of the plinth. In this way it imparts less coloration. I've seen a number of armboards sold on ebay, but none of them were built with any of the vibration issues really sorted. So we built our own. Since Triplanar is about a 15 minute drive, we've usually had Tri over to do some supervision of the mounting to make sure the arm was placed optimally.
@jtsnead 

I agree with Ralph's observation that your constraint on thicker mats seems puzzling.  I have the thickest mat I could put on without hiding the spindle, because I figured more acrylic would offer a better sink for the needle vibration energy, and it had the bonus of bringing my U12 into better VTA adjustment range.  Thinner would have limited my ability to drop VTA at all below neutral, and I have had cartridges that need that.
Your right I had it backwards I needed the taller mat to get the arm higher so I could adjust vta better, its been a while since I listened to the 1200 with the TP. When I moved the arm to a SME 10 the arm sounded better to me it could of been a placebo effect but it seemed quieter less hashy if you know what I mean it which i attributed to the power supply built into the 1200 or just a better integration with the SME. I had a delrin board made for the TP buy a friend that makes hi end turntables.