In terms of technology and functionality, the new SL-1200MK7-S will offer the same feature package including the refined coreless direct drive motor, highly sensitive, yet robust tonearm, two-layer platter with improved vibration damping performance, and high rigidity cabinet with high damping insulator footings.
The original SL-1200 was launched as a popular direct drive turntable in 1972, becoming a best-selling model with cumulative sales of 3,500,000 units for the series. It was supported by powerful torque, easy operation, and high durability. It became greatly admired by both audio enthusiasts and DJs who helped to unleash the DJ culture in areas such as electronic dance music. The series is still highly acclaimed by DJs worldwide today. For more information about the Technics turntable heritage visit this page.
The new Technics SL-1200MK7 Direct Drive Turntable, launched in 2019, inherited the traditional design of the same series and maintains the same operating ease, reliability and durability, while newly adding the new coreless direct drive motor and other sound-enhancing technologies. It also features new DJ play functions, such as reverse playback.
The direct drive system uses a slow-rotating motor to directly drive the platter. This system has various advantages. It offers high performance, such as rotation accuracy and powerful torque, does not require replacement of parts and maintains high reliability over a long period of time. However, the direct drive system was said to on occasion produce a rotation irregularity called cogging. For the SL-1200MK7, the new coreless direct drive motor employs a coreless stator. The removal of the iron core from the stator eliminated the root cause of cogging. Furthermore, the magnetic force of the rotor magnets was improved to the highest possible level, and the gap between the coreless stator and rotor magnets was optimised, thus achieving high torque performance equalling that of the SL-1200MK5.
The chassis, an essential part for reducing external vibrations, inherits the audio quality enhancement technology fostered through the development of high-end turntables. The aluminum 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 raised the rigidity and vibration-damping performance to higher levels.
The insulator is comprised of a spring and rubber to provide optimal frequency characteristics. This not only assures high sound quality and superb howling resistance, but also effectively shuts out external vibrations under high sound level conditions.
The power and gold-plated phono cable terminals allow detachment of the cables. The rotation speed can be set to 33-1/3 rpm, 45 rpm or 78 rpm. The pitch control function allows fine adjustment of the rotation speed within ±8%/±16%. This function achieves accurate and stable pitch control thanks to full digital control with improved tracking performance and accuracy. The platter rotates in the reverse direction when the speed selector button and Start/Stop button are pressed simultaneously. This expands the breadth of DJ play styles.
Finally, the stylus illuminator features a new push-type structure and employs a high-brightness and long-life white LED. The illumination area and intensity were reviewed to provide improved visibility of the stylus tip compared to previous models even in a dark environment.
The SL-1200MK7-S will be available in early summer 2021.
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