Fear not Dennis, the Psychicanimal will be along shortly. :-) Until he arrives however, I think I can try to get you started.
Sure (sorry), there are lots of better cart's you could try. For instance, I run a Benz-Micro Glider M2 in my SL1200. I've also installed such tweaks as a sorbothane mat, a Michell record clamp, a Music Direct tonearm wrap, a KAB fluid damper, and a Symposium shelf riding atop Foculpods underneath. And a decent phono preamp makes a big difference (I use a Camelot Technology Lancelot). One day when I'm feeling ambitious, I'll replace the cheap output RCA jacks and as much of the captive leadout cable as I can with better stuff. The tweaks work and are nice, but are not essential to enjoyment.
You are correct that you really can't swap the tonearm on this deck, but you wouldn't want to anyway. I'm convinced that properly outfitted, you can't get a better TT for the money than this, and PsychicA will probably opine that's true for triple the money. I don't know about that, but if you're pretty casual about analog for the time being, I don't think it's necessary for you to scrap the TT right away, although I'm sure folks will come along here to disagree with me (many of whom will never have owned a 1200). I've had mine for over 15 years, and it's the only piece of gear I haven't felt the urge to upgrade while building my high end system. 1200's are very solidly built, very easy to use, easy to set up, reliable, sound fine, and are non-tweaky for the non-analog-veteran. It benefits from Technics' extensive TT-building history and economy of scale in bringing a level of technology and construction to a price point that no high end company could hope to match in today's digital world.
As far as set up goes, the TT comes with its dedicated cartridge alignment jig, so correct overhang should be no problem if you follow the instructions. If you've also correctly set the tracking force, anti-skate, and vertical tracking angle (arm height) according to your cartridge's instructions, and provided you have the TT on a good support and leveled, than you can probably place the blame for any sonic shortcomings on your cart, phonostage, or records.
I'm not familiar with your cartridge, and you don't specify what you're using for preamplification, but there are definitely options for you at your $500 max. budget. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to actually go out and audition analog gear these days, but I can recommend talking to Bob at the Elusive Disc mail-order company for good advice, service, and prices. Stick with it - it shouldn't be that hard or expensive to get analog sound that easily competes with your digital overall, and will probably beat it for sheer musicality.
Sure (sorry), there are lots of better cart's you could try. For instance, I run a Benz-Micro Glider M2 in my SL1200. I've also installed such tweaks as a sorbothane mat, a Michell record clamp, a Music Direct tonearm wrap, a KAB fluid damper, and a Symposium shelf riding atop Foculpods underneath. And a decent phono preamp makes a big difference (I use a Camelot Technology Lancelot). One day when I'm feeling ambitious, I'll replace the cheap output RCA jacks and as much of the captive leadout cable as I can with better stuff. The tweaks work and are nice, but are not essential to enjoyment.
You are correct that you really can't swap the tonearm on this deck, but you wouldn't want to anyway. I'm convinced that properly outfitted, you can't get a better TT for the money than this, and PsychicA will probably opine that's true for triple the money. I don't know about that, but if you're pretty casual about analog for the time being, I don't think it's necessary for you to scrap the TT right away, although I'm sure folks will come along here to disagree with me (many of whom will never have owned a 1200). I've had mine for over 15 years, and it's the only piece of gear I haven't felt the urge to upgrade while building my high end system. 1200's are very solidly built, very easy to use, easy to set up, reliable, sound fine, and are non-tweaky for the non-analog-veteran. It benefits from Technics' extensive TT-building history and economy of scale in bringing a level of technology and construction to a price point that no high end company could hope to match in today's digital world.
As far as set up goes, the TT comes with its dedicated cartridge alignment jig, so correct overhang should be no problem if you follow the instructions. If you've also correctly set the tracking force, anti-skate, and vertical tracking angle (arm height) according to your cartridge's instructions, and provided you have the TT on a good support and leveled, than you can probably place the blame for any sonic shortcomings on your cart, phonostage, or records.
I'm not familiar with your cartridge, and you don't specify what you're using for preamplification, but there are definitely options for you at your $500 max. budget. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to actually go out and audition analog gear these days, but I can recommend talking to Bob at the Elusive Disc mail-order company for good advice, service, and prices. Stick with it - it shouldn't be that hard or expensive to get analog sound that easily competes with your digital overall, and will probably beat it for sheer musicality.