Why you’re probably going to buy the £1300 Technics SL-1200GR

The Technics SL-1200GR has been announced, and at £1300 is about as affordable as it will get. I can hear credit cards hitting screens already.

Panasonic Technics SL-1200GR turntable (1)

Why you're probably going to buy the £1300 Technics SL-1200GR

Here we are again one year later, and at CES 2017 Panasonic has finally got around to releasing the 1200 for the rest of us. The new SL-1200GR is the “standard” model in the current range, and is going to retail for around £1300.

Now, despite promising myself that I’d probably never write another story about Technics turntables for fear of being accused of shameless clickbaitery, I found myself banging many words into my keyboard again. But this is a new 1200, and the £1300 price isn’t in the realms of batshitmentalness for some, so it’s definitely worth a few words. In my first drafts, I rambled on about the outrageous price for a DJ turntable, the comparative lack of features, and how Panasonic has actually said in this NY Times piece that none of the new 1200s are for DJs.

But then the epiphany hit me — it really doesn’t matter. Panasonic, by their own admission didn’t release a new DJ turntable, and here I was writing all about how they didn’t again. But frankly they never did anyway.

Why it doesn’t matter

The best turntable is an entirely subjective statement. I don’t use Technics because I want more features than they offer. But there’s 3 million of them out there for a reason, and I suspect that a huge part of that is simply because they are Technics.

So logic and reason really doesn’t matter at this point. I have no doubt that they will be better than the old ones, especially having fixed some of the key issues such as hardwired cables. But owning a Technics is so much more than caring about new features. It’s about the experience, confidence, and sheer cool factor of owning a pair.

Here something interesting — the irony of using a top end MacBook Pro to spend all day to type words and do a bit of Photoshop when a cheap PC laptop could do the same thing didn’t escape me. Sometimes, it’s not just about fulfilling a function and is all about how it feels to do something, so who am I to tell anyone that they shouldn’t use a £1300 turntable to do a £400 turntable job? Use whatever makes you feel good. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.

There is however a point at which they price themselves out of even the richest DJ’s pockets. But at £1300 each, that’s doable, especially when a single CDJ-2000NXS2 is close to £2k. And the SL-1200GR is unlikely to be old hat in five years either. And there’s still part of me that wonders if these would have been a more palatable £999 in a pre-Brexit world.

Panasonic Technics SL-1200GR turntable (1)

Go for it

If you want a pair, I say go buy them and have fun with your gleaming shiny. Your DJ friends will be greener than the jolly green giant, and you’ll feel like a rock star. Regardless of a logical balanced buying decision or in-depth review from us,  you know that that you’re buying them anyway, because they’re the new more affordable Technics that you’ve been waiting for.

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Mark Settle
Mark Settle

The old Editor of DJWORX - you can now find Mark at WORXLAB

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89 Comments

  2. The legend of the 1200 will never die, but hopefully people will realize that their more current turntables have more features, are probably just as dependable (since we can’t actually tell if these are going to be as sturdy as the originals having just been released), and will possibly stop being so shocked. Business is business. I wasn’t going to ever go out and buy another pair even at $500 and at that pricepoint the entry point for DJing is too high vs buying a controller. They were never going to make that much money off of new DJs or even old ones who have their 1200’s that have lasted them decades on end.

    We saw the PLX-1000 ape the 1200 completely and said “overpriced.” Little did we know…

    • I think what happened is that we saw what Pioneer consider fit for purpose for club environments, and realised we need better. I have no doubt that Technics can produce something twice as good as the PLX-1000 for twice the price. It really isn’t difficult.

      Though, if someone asks me for advice on what TT to buy these days, I recommend picking up some old Stanton or Vestax.

      • Epsilon had a pack with two turntable’s and a dif 1s clone thats currently selling for 500 ish bucks in the us (for whatever reason)…

        They’re butt ugly, but there’s not a better deal in all of djing

        • Look around for live dj sets on the likes of Boiler Room (they themselves prefer Technics, but I’ve seen Pioneers there at least once).
          It’s not hard to find recordings of them getting feedback – I think I saw that on Sven Väth’s own “vinyl stage” at whatever festival, of all places, you’d think he has strict requirements for vinyl – but also noticeable tonearm rattle.
          Granted those both happen to Technics sometimes, but those rattling PLX’s were only months old.

    • the OEM turntables are not the same quality as the Techs, i had 2 of them and on both decks the tonearms started to feel lose after just 1 day of use. Also i noticed the motors acted strange sometimes pressing stop. They had sudden back forth movements.
      Also the PLX1000 has more feedback noise than Technics.

      Not to mention the Wow Flutter and SN ratio on some clones.

  3. I would be interested in a pair but only after a thorough on the road test and review – particularly in the areas of resonance, flutter, isolation and feedback.

  4. I will be buying a used vestax controller one or qfo before a get one of the new technics. Maybe if they had new 1210’s I would feel compelled to replace mine.

  7. Thinking about my djs friends… I know more dudes with their pairs in the basement than in use. Some of my turntable friends have superOEMs, denon 3700, portables or Rave with 1210 mk2 Technics (and even those look to other models for new features)
    Controllers and other setups (like live looping performers who claim they aren’t djs) are all around.

    Back in the days we had one option for djing and few for live producing or bring our own instrumentals (grooveboxes/samplers and lately rc20 and cdx) but today most of this could be doable with an iOS device for a fraction of any of the old setups.

  9. I have a total hared of blue LEDs. If I purchased one, the fist thing I’d do after the warranty expired is swap it back to the red strobe. That’s just me though, the are people which used to mod their old 1200 to have a blue lamp and strobe which is still beyond me…

  10. You know what the reason techs have their rep is because of simplicity and build quality simple works when is the last time anyone used a reverse button or need to have a display on the tt ? I have owned Numark decks before and they had major probs with motors that’s what let others down is shite build quality they just jump on features major torque is another thing but that’s debatable I’m def gonna look at these

    • I own Numark TTX1s, and have suffered from the motor issue. But that was cleared up a long time ago. As for other features, I use 50% pitch a lot, and sometimes use reverse. The big screen is also very useful, but more than anything the big torque is the main reason I use them.

      While a great many people might not need such features, some DJs (especially turntablists) do, and wouldn’t be without them. And for this reason, I’ll take TTXs and superOEMs over a 1200 every time.

  11. Click bait but… Heck yeah! That’s money better spent than a stupid CDJ. I just wish I had a few thou laying around to pick two up. Actually, I only need one to pair with my MKII. Come to think of it, all you really need is one turntable and instant doubles.

  12. I’ve already got a mint pair of SL-1200 mk5s but would love a nice brand new pair Technics, who would’nt, and no one else has made decent reliable deck yet, all the other decks available are pretty much made by same factory with the same shit quality control, i.e. Loose tonearm bearings, rumble etc,

    PS maybe pioneer might make a decent NXS turntable soon to go with the brand new club new mixer with is about to drop REAL soon

        • It is on the whole another super OEM out of the Hanpin factory, but with some extra Pioneer stuff done to it.

          I’m interested to play with the new Denon DJ VL-12. It’s but from scratch and not at Hanpin.

        • The shitty quality control is the responsibility of the client based on defined requirements.
          You get what you ask and paid for with a Chinese factory.

          A chinese plan can do awesome products (they do in fact !) but you need to have everything clearly explained, detailed, checked.

          Shit in = shit out !

          • Fair Point Spark. I was referring to the original posts’ use of the term “shit quality control.” I should have used quotes.

            From what I’ve read, people are pretty happy with the quality of their Super OEM decks.
            The point I was trying to make is that Pioneer gets a lot more credit for their OEM decks than other manufacturers decks built by the same factory… which I think’s a little unfair.

            (Nothing against Pioneer. I’ve owned DJM mixers for the last decade)

            • Companies get more credit and devotion when they have more control on the whole production process.
              Big ones (Pioneer, Apple, etc) put so much pressure on all the people involved that there is less randomness into the result.

              When you relay on third parties that you can’t control/monitor as you wish it’s a pain to deal with the rising issues.

              Nowadays a lot of chinese companies have upped their game and even the base entry configuration is pretty solid. Customization and injected risk management from the client wil make the difference for the final customer and that will make him accept the pricing.

              TV box, tablet, smartphone, dj controler, super oem deck and the list goes on…

      • I agree and am definitely not trying to be cute or a smart-ass, but has Technics ever produced a turntable in their history that was meant for DJs (i.e. mixing and turntablism)? I have three SL-1200 M3D(s) that are 17 years old and well taken care of. I admit that when I bought them, I did so because I thought that it was what you were supposed to do if you were a serious DJ. I love them to death, but I’ve never felt that their design was intended for DJ use. A lot of the newer turntables out there (Reloop, Stanton, etc…) seem a lot more appropriate for the functions and intended uses that DJ(s) post on this website about.

        • Don’t worry you’re not being cute. I say the same thing in the story anyway. In the past, even though 1200s were never designed for DJs, Panasonic were happy for DJs to use them, without really having to market them at all. But now, they’re expressly saying that they’re not for DJs, because we no longer fit their audiophile dynamic. They can’t in their right mind promote a £1300 turntable to DJs in this market — so they don’t and actively and officially distance themselves from it. And the association with DJs doesn’t help sell to audiophiles either.

          • They were advertised by Panasonic as the turntable of choice for DJs back in the 80s

            The SL-1700Mk2 had fader start wich was meant for radio DJs and thats the pre-1200Mk2 model.

          • No. The fact it’s direct drive doesn’t help sell to audiophiles. This isn’t aimed at audiophiles. It’s aimed at pro/consumer. It’s a living room hifi turntable for yuppies and hipsters. The fact it’s “only” £1300 means desperate DJs can afford it.

            • It’s not a subject I’m going to debate, because it’s been done to death in other more audiophile minded places, and contrasting opinions come to light. I will post this here though, because it’s a cool alternative industry take on the subject:

              “I’ll think you’ll find the most likely reason direct drive turntables were derided by the hi-fi magazines isn’t because they weren’t any good, but because initially only a company as large as Panasonic (Technics) had the money to create the tooling for such a system.

              None of the smaller manufacturers would of been able to afford to produce direct drive turntables, hence if it was decided that direct drive was better than belt drive, 95% of today’s turntable manufacturers wouldn’t be in business. This of course has significant implications for flowery hi-fi magazines (what would they fill their pages with?).”

              https://www.discogs.com/group/thread/502514#4946370

      • As far as super OEMs go, I can’t say that we’re in position to know that for sure just yet. The TTX1s had issues with motors but that was the Yahorng factory and not Hanpin. And I can’t say I’m aware of any known motor issues with super OEMs either.

        • It’s not issues, per se. More about the robustness of the build. Of topic a bit but a build parallel that comes to mind is the difference between a Honda commando and a Norton commando. They both do the same thing, but I’d rather have the Norton. Give it a little love every 5000 km and it’ll last forever, same with a Tech.

        • Wow and flutter on the super oems are poor. I’ve yet to see some decent super oems that handle rumble anywhere near as well as Techs. I’ve had 8 st-150s and they all had rumble and noise issues. Then you see videos on the Pioneer PLXs rumbling to the shithouse. Not a hope in hell I’ll buy another super oems deck. The Denon’s look pretty promising but time will tell.

            • Come on now — you’ve been coming here long enough to KNOW that I always post full specs. This time, because it was more editorial that news, I posted a link to the Technics page with the specs.

              Personally, I’m not a numbers guy. I prefer to use my hands and my ears. If it performs to my standards and expectations, then I’m happy. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, not the analysing of the ingredients.

        • I use a pair of MK2 that are a year older than I am and they are still solid… that’s 42 years of radio station use. I prefer buying something once. I don’t mind spending a bit more for quality, that will actually last instead of contributing to the disposable society model.

  14. I was gonna drop in and say that if fools are willing to pay 2 grand for a plastic CD deck then is it really that bad a price.. i wouldnt pay it personally but its not that bad considering. Ive been using CDJ2000s at a gig for the first time ever recently and have to say they are not worth anywhere near that price, the platters on my DDJ-SX2 are better.

    So if you want these lovely TT’s then go and get them and Serato then buy the Pioneer DDJ-SP1 and you will basically have 2 ultra high quality decks with far more features than anything else on the market.

  15. Top quality, nobody can beat this.
    Now you can buy this for about the same price as a second hand M5G.

    I would prefer to see a red stroboscope though, with white pop-up led and blue pitch led.

  17. ‘the irony of using a top end MacBook Pro to spend all day to type words and do a bit of Photoshop when a cheap PC laptop could do the same thing didn’t escape me.’

    Haha, spot on with this one. It’s crazy how brands can have certain power to be able to charge so much more than the competition (i.e. Pioneer although they are improving slightly, Apple, Technics) when there are is competition that do the exact same thing. The combination of prestige and consistent quality lets these companies charge such a large premium.

    The thing is though, if you have just enough money and the products function is important enough to you, it’s easy to justify spending more to get a sure bet that the product will satisfy you. I was thinking recently, what a good purchase my mid 2012 13 inch Macbook Pro has been. Apart from not having an SSD, it has been flawless over the last 4 and a half years, where every PC I’ve had needs a bit of work or a clean reinstall at around the 2 – 3 year mark. Even though I’m not doing much on it that I couldn’t do on a regular PC, the premium was worth it compared to buying a laptop at a 3rd of the price.

    With these new Technics, I think ‘some’ people will definitely buy them at this price. Although, if the new motor doesn’t preform as well as the old one for DJ’ing this will hurt it a bit. Pioneer releasing their super OEM re-brand has definitely taken the spotlight away from them a bit (even though it shouldn’t have any effect as they are the same exactly the same as all the others). Overall though, I think the new Technics main competitor is it’s older iteration. Roughly 4 pairs can be bought in good condition for the price of 1 pair of these if you are patient. I would love a new factory fresh pair myself, but unless you are seriously balling (as the kids say) you would have to be a pretty die hard fan to spend that much.

  18. The reason I would never, and I think most DJs agree, is right there in the article. There’s already 3,000,000 Technics 1200’s in the world, and a big chunk of those are always for sale.

  19. As Mark says; the PLX-1000 maybe is the best Pioneer´s turntable, True (and the price is really nice). I think 1300 Pounds is expensive for a Technics “basic” turntable for Dj´s, all this kind of thins make me feel fine because i have 3x 1200, two of this in mint conditions (since 1992… =)), But i Think the real game of the brands now is to take a piece of market, the durability and the robust as the MK2 is incomparable, but when i think in the new products, ever i´m thinking about this durability, and this technics of 1300 pounds will be the next “for all my life” Turntable?”, i´m not sure.
    My tests of the Pioneer PLX-1000, in all situations, was fine, the only thing in a club environment with Technics, Pioneer, Reloop or other brands are the DJ Booths, in the 90´s or 2000´s a good DJ booth had “solid towers”, now the DJ Booths are really unstable, a lot of things have changed since 2000´s… In my opinion if really Technics thought of the Djs, they maybe they would have extended the range of Pitch to 50% like Pioneer, or make something new in the connections panel (i can´t see it, no photos anywhere), the cables was one of the problems with the classics mk2. I was expecting something more from TECHNICS, I think they are just taking advantage of the pull of the vinyl record … And if they come out as good as their CD players that do not count on me ….

  20. Reading through comments, I think what a lot of people missed in the NYT article and the reason I would never *ever* buy a new Technics product ever again is that they *completely* turned their back on the market and culture that made their product the icon it is today; the 1200 wouldnt be the 1200 if djs had not adopted it in droves. Had audiophiles adopted the original mk1 with open arms would the product line would survive +30 years later?

    Anecdotally, seeing audiophile turntables currently, they dont have any of the features the later sl1200s have. The link Mark posted from the discogs forum suggests belt drives isolate the main platter from the bearing better than a direct drive, which i also do not care to debate here. Point being, just because the sl1200 was a direct drive does not mean it was the be all end all drive system for turntables.

    I think the marketing and product designers at Technics (Matsushita/Panasonic?) saw some strange opportunity to make themselves relevant to the current times and try to cash in on the vinyl market. But I also think the product engineers circle jerked themselves into believing the sl1200 as we know it today was the hi fidelity turntable everyone always wanted. Why they felt like they had to snub the market that made them successful is beyond me but i find it hugely egotistical and disrespectful.

    • Regarding the NYT article, I felt the same way when I read those comments too, I’m a Technics fan, and started DJing 20 years ago, so I was offended when I read it.

      But I thought about what was said, in my opinion, I think a lot of what was meant was lost in translation….
      “Our concept is analog records for hi-fi listening,” said Hiro Morishita, a creative director at Technics. “D.J.s are fine, too, but as a marketing target it’s problematic. We don’t want to sell the 1200 as the best tool for D.J.ing. The 1200 is the 1200.”

      This is just my opinion, but remember this is being said by a native Japanese speaker trying to communicate in English.
      I don’t think he meant to disrespect DJ’s, I think he was implying that trying to fight for space in the DJ market, with with all the extremely affordable Numarks and Audio Technicas, etc would be a problem for Technics because, as a brand Technics is trying to rebrand as a higher end company, and it would be hard to try and capture both the high end and low end of the market.
      They don’t want to come back as a “DJ” company, they want the 1200 to have a higher place in the food chain, something that people aspire to, and not just another Guitar Center demo with missing parts and broken feet.

      Also Technics Japan has always been aware of the support DJ’s have given them, and they’ve done things to honor that. For example in 2009 when they released the last version of the 1200 the MK6, it was a Japan only limited edition that included a specially made booklet..google the technics mk6 you can find pics of the booklet…
      “55 Pages of the SL-1200 series in all its glory. The history of the turntable, interviews with DJ champions of the world and product information. Beautiful design, pictures and type layout, this is one very special coffee table book.”

      Most of the backlash is directly because of the comment 1 guy made in the NYT article, but I think that comment wasn’t meant to be malicious.
      If you know how the Japanese speak and think, and knowing the guy that said the comment was Japanese, I think it’s a big case of lost in translation. Again, this is just my opinion.

  21. I feel exactly the same way.

    I had the same backlash reaction when I saw the price of the 1200G, then again when I saw the price of 1200GR. I thought Technics was really disrespecting the DJ’s that made them famous.

    When I thought about it more, I realized the price isn’t that bad, it’s not a “DJ” turntable, that’s why they’re not fighting in the $500-800 price level, they’re pricing themselves higher becuause it’s a “luxury” turntable.

    And when I see a 2 channel mixers like the Pioneer S9 asking for $1,700, I see the reasoning why Technics priced it at $1,400.

    Would I like it to be cheaper, yes of course, but Technics is a business and they’re marketing and pricing the new 1200gr to reflect the brand image they’re trying to convey.

    At first I didn’t want one, but now I’m excited that the 1200 is back

  22. I’m just here for the comments. Personally, with Rane 61 and 62 , Pioneer S9, Mixars DUO fetching between $700 and $1400 USD I don’t see how adding a couple extra hundred USD to get a new SL1200 GR is a big deal. However, this is NOT a DJ marketed turntable and is plainly stated by Panasonic.
    There are plenty of used SL1200’s on the market for us DJ’s to price gouge each other over.

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