TECHNICS SL-1200 MK7 GOES OFFICIAL AT CES 2019

CES 2019 sees the refresh of a D.J.'s favourite, the SL-1200. The Technics deck was befriended by turntablists for its high-torque, direct-drive platter. The company hopes to rekindle those flames with its newly announced SL-1200 MK7.

Back in the halcyon days of the MK2 many D.J.s fell in love with what most considered the best tool for the job. You see, at the time, the SL-1200's unique selling point was its direct-drive system that not only dished out more torque than a belt-driven turntable could offer but also gave it the ability to stop dead and then hit full playing speed almost immediately. All of these skills enabled artists to scratch that itch.

So, what has Panasonic (Technics's parents) offered us with the new MK7? Well, thankfully, they have only attacked it with minor tweaks and refinements where they were needed.

First up is a new coreless direct drive motor that promises to eliminate an effect called ‘cogging’ - when electric motors occasionally feel like they’re stuttering during slow rotations. Panasonic believes they've solved this issue by removing the 1200 MK7's iron core, and optimising the space between the magnets that make the MK7's platters spin. Furthermore, there's some other engineering refinement, the result being a turntable that always spins smoothly at any speed.

New Skills

Secondly, there's a bonus for those looking for hidden messages on their vinyl. The Technics SL-1200 MK7 can play in reverse. Before you get carried away, ensure that your cartridge and needle are designed for such tasks as most are designed to be used in a single direction.

Additionally, you can adjust the amount of torque the SL-1200 MK7 uses to start and stop its spinning platter to better suit individual performance preferences.

The deck looks pretty slick in its all-black matte chassis and all-black S-shape tonearm. The tonearm tube is of a lightweight, high-rigidity aluminium construction. The bearing section of the gimbal suspension consists of a machined housing and high-precision bearing to assure excellent tracking performance with minimum stylus jumping, even in harsh playing conditions such as scratching and playing in clubs.

Also, as a nod to where it has been designed to be used, damping has been taken care of both where the platter and chassis are concerned.

The platter features a two-layer structure with deadening rubber on the entire back surface to eliminate unwanted resonance; whereas the aluminium die-cast chassis is rigidly integrated with a special material consisting of ABS mixed with glass fibre to achieve a two-layer construction. The combination of this special high-rigidity material and a metal chassis raises the rigidity and vibration-damping performance to higher levels. The insulator is comprised of a spring and rubber to provide optimal frequency characteristics assuring high sound quality and superb howling resistance. Furthermore, this also effectively shuts out external vibrations under high sound level conditions.

Panasonic is still keeping quiet as to when the Technics SL-1200 MK7 will be available or how much it will cost. Stayed tuned and we’ll let you know as soon as we do.

For more information, go to Technics.