I bought yet another piece of vintage vinyl equipment...

[frikkie]

A Technics SL-D1, like so:


In beautiful condition, with a decent AT cart & stylus fitted. For the princely sum of R300... Gumtree ftw.

I remember these decks from the 80's as sounding particularly sweet, and I'm over the moon with this one!
Gave it a wipe-down, re-balanced the arm, cleaned the stylus properly, and connected it to my trusty old NAD 3140.

Vinyl heaven! Being a DD drive, it is whisper quiet even with the volume waaay up, and being fully manual, no auto mechanisms to interfere with arm operation etc.

It's an awesome sounding player! I've been spinning vinyls all night on it, and I can't be happier with my purchase! 

[JacoP]

Why do other people get these bargains? 

Enjoy!

[witblits]

Hi Frikkie
I've got the d3 and I know you will keep enjoying your TT.

[Shonver]

Nice, Frikkie! I have not yet come across a poorly-performing Technics, whatever the model, though I much prefer the ones with cast metal chassis as a minimum.

[Viagara]

Nice, Frikkie! I have not yet come across a poorly-performing Technics, whatever the model, though I much prefer the ones with cast metal chassis as a minimum.

What is it that makes the Technics turntables so good as entry-level vinyl-spinners? Surely there has to be other makes from the same era that should be as good or close? I am thinking of makes such as Pioneer, Teac, Sansui, Marantz or NAD perhaps.

Just curious

[frikkie]

What is it that makes the Technics turntables so good as entry-level vinyl-spinners? Surely there has to be other makes from the same era that should be as good or close? I am thinking of makes such as Pioneer, Teac, Sansui, Marantz or NAD perhaps.

Just curious

I used to own a fantastic Pioneer turntable some years back. I don't remember the model specifically, but it was one of the direct drive ones with the graphite arm - like so:


That was a great sounding deck, and those high-output MC carts they came with as standard were superb.

But yes - Technics just knew how to make fantastic turntables - with their experience building the SL1200's they couldn't go wrong...

This particular one I picked up last night sounds great - I think it's a combination of very good suspension, a whisper-quiet DD motor, and what appears to be a very well-built arm with very low friction present in the bearings. I'm not the biggest fan of chrome arm tube tone arms, but I have to say that this one really sounds very, very good...

[JacoP]

Lucky bugger!!! 

[Shonver]

What is it that makes the Technics turntables so good as entry-level vinyl-spinners? Surely there has to be other makes from the same era that should be as good or close? I am thinking of makes such as Pioneer, Teac, Sansui, Marantz or NAD perhaps.

You know... all that 70's/80's propaganda that said that nothing good can come from the East. Must buy British... that's what is at work here.

Right now I'm loving:

Technics SL-10
Yamaha PF-1000
Yamaha PX-2

(though these are not entry-level).

[frikkie]

You know... all that 70's/80's propaganda that said that nothing good can come from the East. Must buy British... that's what is at work here.

Right now I'm loving:

Technics SL-10
Yamaha PF-1000
Yamaha PX-2

(though these are not entry-level).

Shaun - are you interested in yet another SL? You can have mine - gratis.
It's not responding at all, and I'll never get to actually working on it, so you're welcome to it if you want it.

[Shonver]

Shaun - are you interested in yet another SL? You can have mine - gratis.
It's not responding at all, and I'll never get to actually working on it, so you're welcome to it if you want it.

You know I'd love it! Thanks, dude!

[frikkie]

You know I'd love it! Thanks, dude!

You're most welcome!

[Ampdog]

Mmmmm .....

Makes me wonder whether I should not put my 30 year old Thorens 135 in the market. I would love one of those properly designed linear servo tracking 'arms' plus a synchro-motor TT or such. Perhaps I should begin looking under Gumtree as well.

[handsome]

I would compare first...those TD135's are great turntables

[Viagara]

There are some more TT's for sale on Cape Town Gumtree:

Technics SL-B200 for R545

Thorens TD-115 for R645

Dual 1210 for R150(no stylus)

Yamaha CS-53 for R800