my new, but older Technics SL-M1 turntable

danger boy

I picked this up over the weekend.. cleaned her up.. and she sounds mighty good.. cleaned up nice too. the platter is heavy too. spins so nice and smooth.

the cart and stylus appear to be in good condition. The seller installed them just before putting it in storage about 14 years ago.

He bought this when he was in the military on base.. it has a switch underneath to switch from 110v to 220v. so i wonder if this is more of a European model than a North American one? I ask this because I'm not able to find out much online about this particular Technics turntable. SL-M1 seems to really only open up web pages in Japanese.

either way... it's nice with the pressed wood base with the vinyl covering is in good condition. it's just as heavy as my Pioneer PL-530, which is a bear of a TT

the only thing I don't like is that when I play an album it picks up a lot more pops and clicks then my Pioneer does with it's AT440MLa cart and stylus. I played a near mint album of Def Leppard's Pyromania, the Pioneer was clean and pop free. but the Technics brought forth a couple pops and clicks.. annoying. I can only attribute it to it being a elliptical stylus and the Pioneer uses a microline one. who knows. but I may upgrade the cart and or stylus on the Technics SL-M1

SCompRacer

Wow, very nice condition.

Did you check out the Vinyl Engine?

http://www.vinylengine.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10522&highlight=slm1

http://www.vinylengine.com/phpBB2/album_cat.php?cat_id=82&sort_method=pic_title&sort_order=ASC&start=16

http://cgi.ebay.fr/Technics-SL-M1-exzellent-look_W0QQitemZ120177530083QQihZ002QQcategoryZ22038QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

danger boy

thanks for the links.. but I wonder how much 381,00 EUR is in US dollars?

i didn't know about the vinyl engine. I'll have to join that forum too.

hearingimpared

Nice looking table Al. I wonder if the suspension on the cartridge is dry rotted (14 years in storage) and not allowing the stylus to flow through the grooves easily thus all the noise.

SCompRacer

The exchange rate was $1.475 with a quick google search today.

Joe makes a good point about the cartridge. I have read posts where folks will apply Plast-i-Clay to the underside of the deck and platter on these tables to improve damping.

IIRC the only thing you cannot improve on the SL series is the drive motor. They are not quartz locked like the 1200 series. While vinyl enthusiasts can argue about direct drive, rim drive or belt drive being better, one thing they can agree on is how important speed regulation is to get the utmost out of the vinyl experience.

Also check out the Vinyl Asylum and Audiokarma forums.
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/bbs.html

ESavinon

I believe nadams has the same turntable.
I have a similar technics turntable (the linear tracking version of this table).
It sounds great.

danger boy

ESAVINON wrote: »

I believe nadams has the same turntable.
I have a similar technics turntable (the linear tracking version of this table).
It sounds great.

what cartridge and stylus are you using?

This one says, AT132ED on it I believe - Audio Technica P mount cartridge.

Since I just got it.. I think i'll take it in for a LOF tune up

ESavinon

I have the sl-m3 direct drive linear tracking tt. I have it in storage unused since i got it on ebay. I believe it has an audio technica stylus. I can't remember which model.
I have about 6 tables in storage at this time.

danger boy

ESAVINON wrote: »

I have the sl-m3 direct drive linear tracking tt. I have it in storage unused since i got it on ebay. I believe it has an audio technica stylus. I can't remember which model.
I have about 6 tables in storage at this time.

if you had to choose one, which one would be your favorite of the 6 you have in storage, and why? Bonus round, can you name all 6 in storage without checking them?

ESavinon

That's easy my denon dp-59l with the shure v15 type 5 stylus.
I like this table so much i have 2 of them.
2 denon dp-59l.
1 bang & olufsen tx2.
1 technics sl-bd35bk.
1 technics sl-m3.
1 mitsubishi sl-15t.

ESavinon

The reason why i like the denon so much has more to do with the fact that it was the best table i heard back in the early 80's when i first became interested in hi fi.

ESavinon

I'm currently looking at this auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120188037884&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=002

I don't know if i should just sell all my tables and get a vpi or get this old table.
Any of oppinions from our vinyl heads will be greatly appreciated.
Sorry for the thread hijack.

ESavinon

I found this link for you danger b.
http://www.thevintageknob.org/TECHNICS/SLM1/SLM1.html

hearingimpared

ESAVINON wrote: »

I'm currently looking at this auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120188037884&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=002

I don't know if i should just sell all my tables and get a vpi or get this old table.
Any of oppinions from our vinyl heads will be greatly appreciated.
Sorry for the thread hijack.

Ed, you can't go wrong with a VPI! I'm getting a bit of the upgrade bug and was thinking of going after a used VPI TNT Hotrod or a TNT HRX but I'm trying to curb my spending for awhile so I'm biding my time and moola.

I think a high end digital front end is more in my immediate future.

danger boy

thanks for the link. yeah, i read somewhere that the SL-M1 that I have with it's straight arm is the later model.. if it had a S shaped arm it would be an earlier model.