Technics SL-1210GR Direct Drive Turntable System
Technics SL-1210GR Overview
The Technics SL-1210GR Direct Drive Turntable System is a professional turntable designed for audiophiles, DJs, and turntablists. The SL-1210GR builds upon the success of the SL-1200G, which offered significant enhancements to the analog and digital technology including the coreless direct-drive motor and precision digital motor control, which eliminated cogging from rotation irregularities.
Additionally, the turntable utilizes a two-layer construction on the aluminum die-cast platter to achieve high rigidity, while eliminating vibration. The S-shaped tonearm employs a lightweight, yet rigid aluminum pipe, while the gimbal suspension system utilizes high-precision bearings, which are hand-tuned by skilled Japanese artisans to enable the grooves in a record to be accurately traced. The tonearm ships with a counter weight and an additional auxiliary weight for use with a variety of cartridges to match music genre or feeling. High-damping silicon insulation is used throughout to prevent unwanted vibrations from corrupting the sound. This two-layer construction prevents horizontal and vertical vibrations and provides a smooth and articulated sound.
The turntable features gold-plated RCA terminals for use with detachable cables, as well as a detachable earth-ground wire and a detachable power cord. The Technics SL-1210GR ships with a rubber slip mat, dust cover, 45 adapter, balance weight, auxiliary weight, headshell, overhang gauge, cartridge mounting hardware, stereo RCA cable, earth ground cable, and an AC power cord.
- Coreless direct-drive motor achieves stable rotation
- Technics developed the twin-rotor, surface-facing, coreless direct-drive motor with rotor magnets placed on both sides, thereby eliminating the rotation irregularity of the motor, referred to as cogging, which was a unique issue for direct-drive systems
- High-precision motor control for ideal rotation conditions
- Sine waves stored in ROM are used for the control waveforms at constant speed for smoother and more stable rotation compared with using the simple sine wave generation with an external coil as in the conventional SL-1200MK5
- Electrical circuitry has been tuned for maximum performance
- Starting Torque: Achieves 2.2 kg x cm with only a single rotor
- Same startup time (0.7 sec at 33 1/3 rpm) as the SL-1200G
- Rigidity and vibration damping characteristics
- Two-layer construction with deadening rubber applied to the entire rear surface of the aluminum die-cast to eliminate the unnecessary resonance that is otherwise relayed to the record
- Optimized shape of the aluminum die-cast
- At 2.5kg (including the rubber mat), the SL-1210GR platter is 0.8kg heavier than that of the previous SL-1200MK5
- Back surface of the platter has strengthening ribs added to improve rigidity.
- Increasing the surface area of contact with the deadening rubber achieves damping characteristics that are more than twice those of the SL-1200MK5
- Tonearm Achieves High Initial-Motion Sensitivity
- High-precision tonearm tracking of the rotation of the record
- Static-balance universal S-shaped tonearm
- Aluminum Pipe: Lightweight and rigid material of the tonearm pipe
- Gimbal Suspension Construction: Tonearm bearing section uses a cut-processed housing that employs high-precision bearings
- High initial-motion sensitivity of 5mg or less is achieved through manual assembly and adjustment by skilled Japanese artisans, enabling the grooves etched into the records to be accurately traced
- Auxiliary Weight: Allows for swapping a wide variety of cartridges to match the music genre or feeling. (Applicable cartridge weight when using the supplied auxiliary weight: 10 - 16.4g
- High-Quality Terminals for Sound and Appearance
- Gold-plated RCA terminals for detachable cables
- Metal Shielding Construction: Reduces the effects of external noise
- Rigid Body with High-Damping Silicon Insulators for Smooth Sound and Isolation
- Ensures high rigidity by using a body with a two-layered construction, solidly unifying the BMC and the aluminum die-cast chassis
- Uses special silicon rubber that ensures both high vibration damping characteristics and long-term reliability
- Microcell Polymers: Vibration in the horizontal direction is absorbed by reinforcement with cylindrical tubes using microcell polymers
- Insulators are tuned specifically for the SL-1210GR
- Prevents Unwanted Vibration: Installation of the insulators is equipped with a vertical adjustment mechanism using screws, eliminating the rattle that occurs when the turntable is installed in a rack
- Stable Record Playing: Exact horizontal adjustment of the platter and record surface reduces rotation irregularity due to slanting