Technics 1200 G a Forever Turntable?

I have a 1200 GAE.  It is likely my forever table, and it is certainly worthy of fitting that bill for me.  Previously I had a Roksan and an Origin Live, which were belt driven lovely tables, but persnickety.  The Technics is rock solid. 

I do wish Technics tweaked the aesthetics a bit as it does look like the classic 1200s from yesteryears.  

Setup, stability, sonics, ruggedness of this unit are all superb.  

If I were looking again I'd likely still be looking at Luxman and Technics. There's something valuable about their precision, no nonsense designs.  I think it's really difficult to fault these newer Technics designs.  They really do not do anything wrong, and they sound wonderful.  

While I’m sure one can buy an even better tt, I think you’d have to spend a whole lot more money to do so.  I run a 1200G that Ralph modified to fit a 12” Triplanar arm, and it is great sounding to my ears. I have never heard such pure, steady tonality from piano notes or organ pipes before from LP’s, which is a testament to it’s speed stability.  And it plays very even-handedly across the frequency spectrum.  It reveals plenty of information in a “whole” musical manner.  For the money, it’s a great tt.

You will want to try better options for the platter mat, however. The supplied rubber one sucks, IME.  I also prefer using a center weight and peripheral ring to seat the vinyl securely against the mat surface, so the cartridge induced vibrations can dissipate well.

@jbrrp1 
Not to hijack the thread, but what mat did you settle on. I am currently using the Funk Firm Achromat.

ericsch How are you liking that Achromat? i have heard good things in regards to the Achromat.  How does it differentiate from the stock rubber mat? Are you using the stock headshell and what cartridge are you using? I ordered my 1200G, going with Van Den Hul DDT2 Special, with a VAN Den Hul Grail.

I first tried a Herbie’s Way Excellent II mat, but felt that it colored the sound too much.  So I tried a ~5mm acrylic mat that was sold by a fellow with a special recipe (no longer available, because the resin compounder no longer makes it, apparently), and I liked this a lot better.  I then tried it on top the Herbie’s mat, and that sounded the best to me, and that is what I have been riding with ever since. I am not convinced that an ordinary acrylic mat wouldn’t do the same service, but I haven’t investigated that.