Technics launches limited edition SL-1210GAE Direct Drive turntable to commemorate its 55th anniversary

The limited edition TEchnics SL1200 turntable.
The limited edition Technics SL1210GAE turntable.

 

Technics, famed for its direct drive turntables, has announced an all-black edition of its famed Grand Class SL-1200G turntable in conjunction with its 55th anniversary.

 

Only 1,000 numbered units of the Technics SL-1210GAE turntable are available worldwide and according to theaudiophileman.com, 700 will be for the European market.

 

Technics is collaborating with Japanese cartridge maker Nagaoka, which coincidentally is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, to come out with the Limited Edition turntable.

 

The all-black turntable will be supplied with a special JT-1210GAE Moving Magnet Nagaoka cartridge which has been tuned by a joint team of engineers from Technics and Nagaoka. The JT-1210 features a Boron cantilever.

 

The Technics SL-1210GAE Direct Drive turntable is priced at £3,999 and should be in the market this month.

 

These are the highlights of the limited edition turntable.

 

All-black colour scheme

 

The SL-1210GAE’s 10-mm-thick aluminum top panel sports a meticulously anodized black brushed hairline finish. In addition, the operation buttons and tonearm also employ a high quality black finish that results in a uniform, premium appearance.

 

Each turntable has its own serial number.
Each turntable has its own serial number.

 

Special badge inscribed with a serial number

 

The SL-1210GAE is wholly made in Japan by skilled artisans’ hands, with a significant level of hand-made processes to ensure the highest quality possible. The top panel features a special badge, inscribed with the unique serial number to signify that it is a 55th anniversary model.

 

Insulator

 

The specially developed zinc insulator features αGEL, a soft gel-like material with excellent shock absorbing properties which is also used on the highly acclaimed, ‘flagship’ SL-1000R reference turntable. The high-density zinc die-cast housing offers superb vibration damping characteristics and excellent long-term reliability. The new insulator effectively isolates the turntable from external vibrations, ensuring completely undisturbed music reproduction while preserving every fine nuance and detail within the musical signal.

 

Strobe light ON-OFF switch

 

Turning off the strobe light allows the listener to concentrate more effectively on the music, especially in a dimmed environment.

 

Coreless Direct Drive Motor

 

Conventional analogue turntables have problems with degradation in sound quality caused by factors such as minute speed vibration during rotation and rotation irregularity called “cogging.” In the SL-1210GAE, the use of a coreless direct-drive motor with no iron core eliminates cogging. Also, the twin-rotor construction reduces the bearing load while maintaining high torque, and also reduces minute vibration during rotation. These factors enable reproduction of the warm, exquisitely detailed sound etched on analogue records.

 

High-Precision Motor Control Technology

 

The application of motor control technology developed for Blu-ray devices, and switching the drive mode depending on the operational status of the motor achieves a high starting torque and high-speed stability for optimum playback.

 

Three-layered Turntable Platter

 

The turntable features a three-layered construction with a rigidly combined brass top-plate, an aluminium die cast core platter and a solid rubber coating covering its entire rear surface to eliminate unwanted resonance, thereby achieving overall superior rigidity and vibration damping. This delivers smooth rotational stability and high inertial mass surpassing the SP-10MK2 (the direct-drive turntable standard used by broadcast stations worldwide), as well as having more than twice the inertial mass of the SL-1200MK5.

 

High-level Balance Adjustment

 

When the weight distribution of the turntable is uneven, excess vibration or noise occurs during rotation, which causes degradation in sound quality. To counteract this, the balance of the turntable is adjusted at the factory by using specialized high-precision balance adjustment equipment for each and every item after the turntable is assembled. Turntables that have undergone adjustment are labelled with a sticker reading “BALANCED” to indicate that individual adjustment has been done.

 

The turntable comes with a 'tuned' pecial Nagaoka MM cartridge.
The turntable comes with a ‘tuned’ special-edition Nagaoka MM cartridge.

 

High Sensitive Tonearm

 

The tonearm employs lightweight magnesium which has a high damping effect, with cold drawing improving the characteristics of the material and achieving the high-precision required. In addition, high initial-motion sensitivity is attained by employing the traditional Technics gimbal suspension construction with the horizontal rotation axis and the vertical rotation axis intersecting at a single central point, as well as high-precision bearings using a cut-processed housing.

 

High-Quality Terminals

 

The use of brass-milled and gold-plated phono terminals and ground terminals prevents degradation in sound quality while enabling the easy attaching and detaching of cables. Also the use of metal shielding construction inside the case reduces the effects of external noise.

 

Four-layered Cabinet Construction

 

A hairline-processed, 10-mm-thick black top panel of immaculate aluminum is added to a three-layered construction of aluminum diecast, BMC (Bulk Moulding Compound), and heavyweight-class rubber. This four-layered construction combines high rigidity necessary for superb vibration damping with a superior solid build and a luxurious finish and feel. – Posted by Lam Seng Fatt

 

 

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