In 1997, Technics released the SL-1200LTD, a thousand pounds worth of piano black lacquer and 24-carat gold plating fastened to possibly the most popular and longest-lasting turntable in history. As if that wasn’t enough, Technics threw in a pair of DJ headphones, a numbered brass plaque on the plinth, and a gold Technics logo on […]
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The Mark 2 version of the SL-150, released in 1977, added quartz-locked servo control to the original’s excellent direct drive motor, introduced a redesigned and quieter plinth, and incorporated wood into the equation; the armboard and lower section now received this as both a cosmetic touch and a sonic improvement. It was a worthwhile redesign
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The SL-P1200 was a (at the time) outmoded top-loading CD spinner with pitch control and a jog wheel for fine and accurate cueing control. The 1200, like the turntable with which it shared a model number (and indeed feet! ), was a ‘pro’ design meant for nightclub use, and it was quite firmly manufactured –
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There aren’t many dedicated audiophiles who haven’t possessed a Thorens TD 160 at some point in their lives — usually on their way up to a Linn LP12. It was a turntable that was firmly rooted in the middle class. It was built to do a job well, and it delivered a measured performance that
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Why can’t man develop an accurate loudspeaker if he can put cars on Mars and perfect open heart surgery? Modern speakers are severely hampered even under the best of circumstances, and the chance of getting one to perform correctly from 20Hz to 20kHz is still a long way off. Given that moving coil drivers are
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The world of loudspeakers in the 1980s was strange, but rarely great. With its clangy, first-generation metal dome tweeter, Celestion’s SL6 was considered cutting-edge. Linn’s bizarre Isobarik, with its slew of forward-facing and upward-firing motors, was cited as a model. Many people dismissed Quad’s ESL-63 electrostatic, which had been twenty years in the making. What
Passive preamps have one advantage: Their short signal lines and lack of circuit complexity result in a clear, detailed sound. They aren’t, however, a cure-all for the problem of controlling your source. They have traditionally depended on resistive networks selected via a switch or rotary variable resistors, which can result in significant impedance mismatches at
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Do you recall the decade of the 1980s? The only substantial amplification at the start of the decade came in two boxes. You’d have to buy two, one marked ‘pre’ and the other marked ‘power’, whether it was Naim, Meridian, Exposure, or Quad. Then, in 1984, Naim Audio shocked the hi-fi world with the introduction
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In a world of hard, harsh, and spitty budget boxes, the Mission 752 was one of the loveliest and most fascinating economical floorstanding loudspeakers of the nineties, with a beautifully smooth, open, and easy sound. One of the reasons for this was its (at the time) cutting-edge HDA (High Definition Aerogel) mid/bass driver, which provided
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In the 1970s, Japan’s Victor Corporation was a completely committed hi-fi producer, producing a range of highly clean sounding amplifiers, tuners, cassette players, and turntables. The 1977 QL-70 was one of the company’s best vinyl spinners, consisting of a turntable motor unit and plinth minus tonearm (the QL-7 had a manual tonearm, while the QL-A7
