Of the five turntables in this article, this is the one that it is just about possible that you could find being sold by someone that wasn't aware of what they had or confused it with the vastly more common (and vastly less capable) SL1210). What are the chances of finding one going cheap? All models are highly sought after but the mk2 was a big improvement over the original and the last of the line mk3 can stake a claim to be one of the best decks ever made. The Technics is built like a tank and as a result became a regular in studios and radio stations as well as in high end audio setups. Want some examples? How about the nine kilo platter being able to go from stationary to 33.33rpm in 0.25 seconds (or equivalent to 30 degrees of a single rotation)? What about the amount of force required to make this platter slow down again? That would be roughly one ton per cm2 which means you can set any cartridge on any arm to any weight you want without ever worrying about pitch stability. The SP10 is shorthand for over engineering. Right at the top of the hierarchy though is a model that went light on affordability to deliver truly incredible performance. I imagine that many of you make use of one of their many models even now as your turntable of choice.
Technics is a legendary brand in hifi circles and a champion of affordable and excellent design.
If you find one of these for sale at a price you can stomach, I'd jump in with both feet but injecting a little moment of reality I'm going to try and sum up your chances of actually finding one. They are all perfectly capable of delivering truly incredible vinyl performance years (decades in many cases) after they ceased production. Here are five of the greatest, no holds barred decks ever built.
In the fullness of time, I hope to be able to write a piece on some real world bargains that you can find at yard sales, in free ads and the like but first of all, I'm going to indulge in a little flight of fantasy. While I'm compelled as a reviewer to point out that new turntables offer some of the very highest performance the format has ever delivered, some designs that are no longer in production can more than hold their own. One of the (many) great aspects of vinyl as a medium is that as well as there being several decades of truly great music that can be played as easily as your latest VMP delivery, there is almost as great a reserve of hardware too.