Technics chose IFA 2024 to reveal its top-flight Grand Class direct drive turntable, the SL-1300G, combining its 50 years of direct drive turntable know-how with its latest tech.

Sitting above the fourth-gen SL-1200GR2 we reviewed earlier this year, the SL-1300G takes the technology introduced for that model and runs with it, resulting in improved rotational speed accuracy and reduced mechanical vibrations, as predicted by Simon Lucas in his review, where he sagely stated "You've got to wonder if the SL-1200GR2 is simply the advance party for the new tech being rolled out across the company's entire turntable range at some point."

The Delta Sigma Drive (ΔΣ-Drive) motor control software is the chief of these new technologies. Using Technics' expertise in PWM signal processing, this tech aims to reduce the vibrations inherent in a direct drive motor design from affecting the platter, allowing for a smoother and more accurate spin, so says the manufacturer. We are told to expect a wow and flutter of 0.025% W.R.M.S.

This works with a more sophisticated and powerful iron core-less motor, an approach that Technics finds reduces cogging—the uneven, jagged motion inherent in basic direct drive designs. The quoted starting torque is 0.32 N・m (3.3kgf・cm) (2.86 lbf-in), which apparently translates to a 0-33 1/3 rpm time of 0.7 seconds.

That more powerful motor means Technics can use a larger, heavier 3.6kg triple-layer platter consisting of a die-cast aluminium core sandwiched between a 2mm thick brass top layer and a heavyweight rubber underside that is designed to dampen resonances.

Further vibration mitigation is found in the SL-1300G's high-rigidity body. Here, a two-layered construction solidly unifies the BMC (Bulk Moulding Compound) and the aluminium die-cast chassis. Furthermore, reinforcing ribs have been added between the motor/tonearm on the top panel.

We are told that the heavier platter also aids the rotational accuracy to an "outstanding" level. Technics claims that it surpasses the SP-10MK2, the direct-drive turntable standard used by broadcast stations worldwide, and has more than twice the inertial mass of the SL-1200MK5.

Meanwhile, a new multi-stage high-speed switching power supply (similar to the one used in the flagship reference SL-1000R) promises a "stable supply capacity and less ripple and humming."

The S-shaped aluminium tonearm returns with a 230mm effective length, boasting high-precision bearings in its gimbal suspension.

The new Technics SL-1300G turntable goes on sale in October 2024 with an MSRP of $3,299 USD, in black or silver finishes.

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