Forever turntable under $2000

Looking at that Technics webpage again, the full statement is...

"Sine waves stored in ROM are used for the control waveforms at constant speed, and this achieves smoother and more stable rotation compared with using the simple sine wave generation with an external coil as in the conventional SL-1200MK5."

sleepwalker65,

That omission you accidentally made actually changes the perspective and presents new turntable as superior in what you considered its flaw. There are even two graphs right there. They show smoother waveform of the new motor, as promised by the text. Not perfect, but smoother.

https://www.technics.com/us/products/grand-class/direct-drive-turntable-system-sl-1200gr.html

sleepwalker65,

"...everyone knows that silicon is a crystalline element that is as far from being compliant and vibration damping..."

Could the trick be that Technics does not use silicone, but silicone rubber?

I have a hard time believing that their marketing material did not get proofread by someone technically adept. It would be unexpected that someone can design multiple widely-praised machines and have no clue what she/he is talking about.

When it comes to reliability, pretty much everyone agrees that old Technics have been quite durable. New ones may not be and time will tell. However, the same is true for old ones that are pushing 40 years now. What will last longer starting from today? 40-year-old turntable or a new one?

Technics SL-1200 did not start as a DJ turntable. It got adopted by DJs. Not all were used hard. Many have lived a decent home life.

"Sine waves can not be stored digitally and still faithfully resemble a clean waveform."

The text mentioned (“Sine waves stored in ROM are used for the control waveforms at constant speed, and this achieves smoother and more stable rotation”) does not talk about clean waveform, but about smoother and more stable rotation. Both being relatives, "better when compared to..." in some way. It is definitely a marketing description, but does not promise eternal accuracy.

For whatever it is worth, this is what Technics says on its website about what they did with their new $1700 model...

"The SL-1200GR ensures high rigidity by using a body with a two-layered construction solidly unifying the BMC and the aluminium die-cast chassis. For the insulators supporting the body, as with the SL-1200G, the SL-1200GR uses special silicon rubber that ensures both high vibration damping characteristics and long-term reliability. Vibration in the horizontal direction is absorbed by reinforcement with cylindrical tubes using microcell polymers. While inheriting the technology of the SL-1200G, the insulators have had tuning performed specifically for the SL-1200GR.

Also, the installation section of the insulators is equipped with a vertical adjustment mechanism using screws. This eliminates the rattle that occurs when the turntable is installed in a rack or the like, and prevents unwanted vibration. In addition, exact horizontal adjustment of the platter and record surface reduces rotation irregularity due to slanting, thereby enabling more stable record playing."

https://www.technics.com/us/products/grand-class/direct-drive-turntable-system-sl-1200gr.html

If history is anything to go by, you are left with Technics. Mine is closing in on 40 years with no maintenance except a few drops of oil around Christmas time (that is how I remember when the time has come again).

Not going into technical discussions about these new ones and their "audiophile-worthiness", wouldn’t it be strange that a company with such a heritage comes back, decides to make something good, banks a lots of its image and credibility on it, advertises it as "audiophile" item, and then forgets to address something every hobbyist is obsessed with? I would bet that thoughts about different important aspects did cross their mind during the development stages. I am not sure how they dealt with them, but they are no fools. Maybe they even listened to prototypes?

You can take a gamble and buy "new from the ground up" now, or wait 40 years to see if they are as reliable as the previous ones. (1200 G/GR, etc., maybe even new 1500)