Hot off the press...Technics SL 1300G

JP Jones found the tiny flaw in a PCB that was causing my Victor TT101 to malfunction, after two other excellent techs could not. I then also bought his recreation of the MN6042 chip, which he installed in my SP10 mk3, even though the OEM chip was working fine (because JPs discrete version affords a small improvement in speed accuracy vs the original). So thanks, JP, wherever you are.

I own a 1200G. I also have both a SOTA clamp and an HRS weight. I prefer the weight because the clamp imposes stress on the spindle whereas the weight does not. I cannot detect any sonic difference in the use of one over the other. 
 

The arm lift is manual and works very well. 

"I prefer the weight because the clamp imposes stress on the spindle whereas the weight does not. I cannot detect any sonic difference in the use of one over the other."

jmeyers- 

So you can fit a rubber washer, place a LP over that and the clamp has enough spindle to dish the LP flat?

The spindle itself is a solid, machine cylinder made of stainless steel usually. How can it possibly hurt the spindle to pull up on it as with a record clamp? On the other hand a record weight undeniably puts added burden on the bearing and thrust pad. Those are wearable items. Somehow, the reasoning of the foregoing statement (see previous post) eludes me. The whole point of a record clamp is that it improves contact between the record and the mat without adding any appreciable stress to the bearing and thrust pad.

I am a user of Spindle Weights only and have in my set up adopted 1Kg Weight as the most preferred. A later addition of a Composite 1Kg weight proved better for tidying the end sound up than the Homogenous 1Kg weight.    

lewm questioned the "spindle stress" statement better than I could.  I was about to ask in a somewhat less scientific way.

Would not a 1Kg Spindle Weight of the alternative Spindle Clamp Weighing 1Kg both place the same bearing pressure into the Thrust Pad ?

Both are Weights that are able to apply additional down force through the Spindle, hence the Ball and Thrust Pad are receiving the point force from the New Load.

@ozzy62 I was also curious about Technics 1200G a few months ago. I went to a local seller’s house to audition. It is a very good TT for the price. I liked the energy (especially good for reproducing live music) and accuracy. In spite of all the great qualities, I did not move forward with the purchase. To my ears, it was ’too’ neutral. Again, this is not a negative as I’m sure for many people this is a huge plus.

My old Micro Seiki TT, while nowhere close to Technics in terms of accuracy, energy, and stability, has a certain ’bloom’ that I quite prefer. It adds a bit of romanticism to the music, albeit, at the expense of accuracy. My digital front end is quite good at the moment, so when I listen to analog, I want it to sound different and not necessarily better. I found the sound of 1200G closer to my digital setup.

But with that being said, I’m conscious of the fact that what I heard at the seller’s house that day was his entire system and not just the 1200G. It is quite possible that I might have reached an entirely different conclusion had I heard the 1200G in my own system. I remain interested in acquiring a 1200G at some point though.

Pindac, is there such a product as a clamp that weighs 1 kg? If so, you’re quite correct that such a clamp places the same burden on the bearing and thrust pad as does a 1kg weight. However, no clamp that I know about weighs much more than 100g. I use the venerable SOTA clamp. I also use the weight provided by Kenwood for use with their L07D TT. It weighs 250g. That’s about as heavy as I personally would use. The L07D platter is partially magnetically suspended, which mitigates the potential issues.

Interesting new offering by Technics. I own the GAE—anniversary edition of the G. It’s a wonderful table.  Reliability and stability are super. The adjustment options and framework for doing them are something I couldn’t give up. The Japanese engineering is first rate. One really needs to lift, touch, operate and listen to see what this thing can do.  It’s a forever piece.  I cannot part with this unit and I’m known to move stuff through my room a lot. 
 

PS- I too wasn’t jazzed about the aesthetic looking similar to the old SL model. I had a custom walnut base made for it and I’m content.