Just a few years ago, while digitizing an LP, I wondered if my turntable's cartridge might need a stylus replacement. Looking into it, I discovered a replacement stylus was no longer made. Now, forced to think about replacing the cartridge with another, I realized my 43 year old Sony PS-4750 Turntable could not accommodate the cartridge I had my eyes on. It appeared I would not be able to get the correct vertical tracking angle for the stylus by any means. Well, this made me think perhaps after 43 years it might be appropriate to consider a new turntable with features which could get me a more satisfying experience overall with my LP's than what I was getting from the vintage Sony. So, while appraising turntables which could accommodate the cartridge I wanted, I learned about the latest in the Technics SL-1200 Series, the SL-1210GR. This turntable had all the features which were absent on the Sony: like VTA adjustment, leveling feet, azimuth adjustable headshell, and speed stability, making me conclude this was the turntable I needed, although I would first need to find a means to purchase the $1699.99 priced product. At any rate, I scraped the money together and I have now enjoyed the turntable for about three weeks using my old cartridge to better understand if the feature set of the Technics is actually helping to deliver more from the groove. There's no doubt about that, and in fact, the Technics seems to have the engineering to even please perfectionists with bigger budgets than mine. There is one issue that does need to be fixed however. The tonearm lift makes a squeaking/clicking sound during its use to drop or lift the tonearm from the record. Contact with Technics assures me that once the tonearm damping fluid distributes itself the squeaking sound will go away. Since my LP's all sound better and a new cartridge promises even more, I am not too concerned about the tonearm lift, which could be cured with a little WD-40.
I