Stereophile magazine gives a fantastic review for the Pro-ject Debut III. I can't find a link for it, but it's $350, includes a built-in phono pre-amp, and the included Ortofon OM 5E cartridge rivals some of the high-end cartridges. I haven't heard it yet, but after reading such a tremendous review, I have started saving my pennies!
Yay, yet another timeless belt driven. It just doesn't cut the cheese.
Here are my concerns about the 1200 though...first, I know Cris (I think it was) stated earlier in the thread that the Technics 1200s were initially designed for home hi fi use, and were then adapted for pro/DJ/club use because of the durability...can I rest assured knowing this table is fine for home vinyl use? It doesn't have to be used in a pro situation, does it?
Yes, it was designed for home audio use.
Wikipedia has a bit of info on this table that may intrigue you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_SL-1200
Secondly, if I kept the stock 1200 tone arm, which cart would be recommended to put on it? I don't want a heavy duty scratch needle from say Stanton or Ortofon or Shure; something that would work well for warm stereo sound.
WmAx (Chris) recommends the Denon DL 110 and I concur. If up upgrade the tonearm at a later time you can use the DL 110 still.
Ideally, I'd like to find and order a table that came with the tonearm already balanced and the cart installed and ready to go...but I don't know of any in my price range that are any good...the models I linked from Crutchfield from Sony and Denon are pretty much crap, aren't they? Which other turntables would come with a pre-installed cart and arm?
The problem is that just being shipped can cause the tonearm to become unbalanced. Thankfully there's a manual with the SL-1200 that should help you through setting it up. It's not as bad as you think. I also don't think there are many if any good turntables that come with a cartridge and stylus already on it. Pre loaded or fixed cartridges are garbage anyway, think the Sony on Crutchfield.
Oh...and to clear up some folks' questions about me needing this for USB/computer recording duties, that's not a necessity at all. I will be recording my vinyl directly into a TASCAM component professional CD recorder, not through the computer. So, a USB feature is unnecessary in my turntable selection.
I have yet to see a turntable that had USB that was any good, such a feature is really for a casual user, not a true vinyl lover.
I was going to try to explain this last night but I was tired.
The 70's was a the peak of vinyl. Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Sony, Technics, and many other manufacturers where competing heavily in this market trying to come up with new technologies the improve vinyl playback. It was around this time that Quadrophonic vinyl came around as part of the innovation surrounding a competitive market (Quadrophonic records, while sounding good had playback problems so it didn't catch on). So many of these companies spent millions in R&D to produce turntables that were unlike anything before them to really broaden the market, so emerges the bulk of the high end market during this time. Left and right new hi-fi companies sprout to make amplifiers, speakers, source components in all different kinds.
In the 80's CDs came along and changed the market. Vinyl quickly took a fall in favor of "perfect sound forever". CDs where cheaper to make as was the hardware that played them. Well the market for vinyl thins and Japanese giants like Denon, Sony, Technics, etc... moved with the market. Sure they continued to produce turntables, but not like the ones they did.
The SL-1200, despite the demise of vinyl as it was, remained because it was a cost effective mass produced table of extreme durability so it was adopted by DJs everywhere. After a couple of decades several other companies copied the aesthetic of the SL-1200 to tap into the DJ market, however most of these DJ tables are still no rival for the durability of the SL-1200 and certainly not it's performance.
Enter the now. The SL-1200 is still used by DJs today keeping it in demand therefor production. It's market is dying now that you can DJ with a CD turntable. The amazing thing is that the Technics SL-1200 somehow pulled through the last 3 decades where virtually no other turntable did. It's a great turntable for what you pay.
There are two distinct levels of vinyl users now. Those who have them and just want to be able to listen to them, not necessarily critically. Then there are those that listen to them critically and usually fall into the "audiophile" category. Well there are several turntables available today that are excellent other than the SL-1200, however most of them are outlandishly expensive because they cator to a distinct market. The SL-1200 makes an odd appearance now that it's associated with DJs so it's likely the audiophile will end up getting something that they think is considered hi-fi table, Rega for example, but really is not.
Because the market for vinyl is considerably smaller than it was in the 70's there is far less competition and production requirement. What's a company like Rega to do? Should they spend millions on research and development to devise a turntable that defies budgetary constraint? Of course they shouldn't, they'd go bankrupt. Does Denon, once at the cutting edge of vinyl, have any reason to mass produce a turntable for $3000 that litterally performs better than any table out there?, no the market is not big enough for them to mass produce such a cost effective turntable system. Since all these manufacturers discontinued their best turntables long ago and have long since abandoned vinyl as it used to be they won't work it back into their business plan. There's just no money in it.
The Technics SL-1200 truly stands alone in today's market, there is nothing like it for a new turntable.
