technics 1200 Mk 5

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Montoya
Montoya Posts: 506
edited February 2012 in 2 Channel Audio
I have a chance to buy a Technics 1200 Mk 5 just trying to get some input on this turntable is it worth 325.00? It looks to be mint And I have heard good things about this turntable but want to hear from people who have actually owned one or currently own one.
Post edited by Montoya on

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  • Dawgfish
    Dawgfish Posts: 2,554
    edited February 2012
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    I have a heavily modded MK2 and have been looking for a good deal on a black MK5 for a while (prefer a black table over my current silver one). The main improvement with the MK5 over the MK2 is better tonearm wiring and a better quality phono cable. $325 is a steal for a MK5 in mint condition. I would jump all over that. The 1200 series turntables represent one of the best bang for the buck values in audio IMHO. With a few mods they can compete with turntables costing much more.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,042
    edited February 2012
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    I don't own one - but they're very good solid direct drive turntables with an adequate (and adjustable) arm. If it hasn't been used for DJing; it should be an excellent value at that price. KAB (still) has a cottage industry of tweaks, mods, and upgrades for this venerable turntable family.
    http://www.kabusa.com/
  • Montoya
    Montoya Posts: 506
    edited February 2012
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    Well the Turntable is here at the house spinning an I must say it is a much better turntable than my MMF-5 with acrylic platter and project speed box. I am using the goldring 1012gx that came with my MMF-5 and have yet to put on my Dynavector 10x5 so that is saying a lot because I didn't really like the goldring on the mmf-5.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,042
    edited February 2012
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    Not surprising - the affordable Music Hall tt's are a bit cheesy (and relatively inexpensive for what they aspire to be). The Technics benefitted from years of mass production to defray R&D costs and minimize parts costs (and the lower profit margins of a huge-mongous company) - if a boutique manufacturer made an SL-1200 turntable, I reckon it would've been considerably more expensive (maybe 5x what Matsushita charged for 'em).
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,315
    edited February 2012
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    goldring 1012gx I had a Goldring 1042 and to my ears, my denon 160 sounded better. Throw that Dynavector 10x5 on the 1200 and call it a day! good combo in my opinion.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • JuanR
    JuanR Posts: 718
    edited February 2012
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    Thats a sweeeet turntable and a sweet deal too! I own a couple Technics TT's and enjoy them very much. I run mine mainly on a Denon DL-110 cartridge but have a couple other cartridges I toss in every now and then.....If you ever decide to sell that MK5 put me at the top of your list, I am looking for one myself.
  • Montoya
    Montoya Posts: 506
    edited February 2012
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    I almost threw down 1700 on a demo Rega P7 I think I just saved myself a good amount of money this buy killed the itch. Also this turntable is built like a tank looks like it can take some serious abuse if it had to.