How does the Technics SL 1200 compare with....

jmoog08 -
I was looking at the same TTs as you are now. I contacted a well respected on line retailer. The guy I talked to had a VPS Scout...he recommended the Technics from KAB. His store didn't eve carry Technics. That impressed me. I ordered a pretty heavily optioned SL1210M5G this past winter along w/KAB mod'd. Stanton audiophile stereohedron tip cart. I am really enjoying the Technics table. No - I did not do AB testing. Went solely on reviews (here and also TNT Audio), simplicity of setup and operation as well as tank like build. Good luck with your decision.
GH

Johnnyb & Jmoog -
I was not as precise in my language as I ought to have been. The person I spoke to owned a Scout. He had the opportunity to audition at home a KAB mod'd. Technics table. He was very impressed with the Technics table. I didn't intend to imply he said it was sonically better than the Scout - more that with the Scout as a reference point he was still very impressed with the performance and value of the Technics and (given my budget in the ~$1000 range) thought I should consider one. 2 points he made specifically were about the quietness of the Technics (very black background might have been his exact words) and the twitchiness (my word) of the Scout in terms of set up and what appeared to be an ongoing need for adjustment. This conversation did follow however from my expressed interest in Rega and Music Hall tables (both of which his store carried). Hope that clarifies.

I'm not trying to persuade anyone that A is better than B (as a side note - might some of the differences in opinion about the Technics table revolve around experiences with a stock SL1200 series TT vs a KAB modified version?)- just trying to relate my experience and also confirm what Johnnyb has said, "the Technics is giving me a lot of musical enjoyment". Two recent changes have contributed greatly to this: 1) I purchased a used Lehman Black Cube phono-pre (in part because of a thread response by Tvad (though not the SE version). This replaced a very entry level NAD PP-1. 2) I did a DIY Mapleshade knockoff using a heavy, 2&1/4" thick Cuisinart chopping block from the kitchen organizer dept at Lowes along with 4 Dayton speaker cone spikes from Parts Express (thread of the accompanying studs is a perfect replacement for that of the Technics stock footer). I'm using Isonoe boots (orginally purchased for the stock TT footers) under the cutting board. The benefit of this latter tweak may go to Tvad's point above about the need for damping. Whatever the cause(s), vinyl on the KAB Technics SL1210 M5G is sounding amazing to me.