Technics SL-1300G Fills $2000 Gap With Sonic Excellence

The "sweet spot" in the Technics turntable lineup?

Technics has a turntable problem most turntable manufacturers would be happy to have. The company’s SL-1200 introduced in 1972 and in continuous production until the “death of vinyl” in 2010, only to return to production with the “resurrection of vinyl” in 2016, is iconic. More than 3.5 million were sold and many are still in use.

Because it’s iconic and instantly recognizable, Technics wisely chose to maintain the turntable’s oft-copied basic looks and even keep the 1200 number, while continuing to upgrade the “under the hood” mechanical and measured performance (though there was considerably blowback from DJ community grouches regarding the re-introduced SL-1200Mk7 because it wasn’t as heavy as the older discontinued 1200 and cost more).

The benefits of maintaining the industrial design and even the basic model number are obvious, but so are the drawbacks: people see “same” and think “same” as anyone perusing YouTube comments knows. 

And Technics adds to the confusion with every new 1200 variant model it introduces, differentiated soley by “sur letters”. So, today’s lineup includes, among others, the $1299.95 SL-1500C, the $2199.95 SL-1200 GR2, the $4299 SL-1200G, and now the latest addition, the $3299.95 SL-1300G that while having a higher number, has a lower price tag than the SL-1200G. There are other models including the Lamborghini-inspired $1599.95 SL-1200M7B and of course, among them, and at the top, the “Reference Class” $19,999.95 SL-1000R. What Neil Young has.

 The lineup is divided into four “classes”: DJ, Premium, Grand, and the aforementioned Reference, which also includes the not mentioned SP-10RE-S that comes sans plinth and tonearm. The original SP-10 from 1971—the world’s first direct drive turntable— pre-dates all including the original SL-1200. All of the turntables discussed in this review are in the Grand class.

As you can see from the “letter and number salad”, higher numbers do not necessarily mean higher price— and feature sets vary. For instance, the least expensive 1500C also includes a built-in defeatable MM phono preamp and an end of side arm lifter. The 1500C also dispenses with the D.J. “clutter”: the die-cast strobe markings on the platter side, the sliding variable speed controller, and the pop-up cueing light. The idea was to create a more home audio, less disco looking turntable.

 One Above

 Hopefully all of that will help put the new SL-1300G into proper perspective as should this: above the 1300G, at the top of the Grand class, sits the $4299.95 SL-1200G, a hefty forty pounder that features a four layer, 10mm thick solid aluminum top plate plinth and most importantly it includes the newly developed (new in 2016 when the 1200G was introduced) twin rotor, nine stator-coil, iron-free “coreless” motor that Technics claims eliminates cogging much as an iron-free cartridge armature’s movement does not alter the magnetic field in which it operates, which helps produce more uniform cantilever movement and great dynamic capabilities (the analogy is useful, though  not 100% precise).

Like iron-free armatures that deliver lower output compared to ones with or of iron, coreless motors also produce lower torque, which is why Technics created a “motor sandwich” by adding a second, torque increasing rotor assembly.

For those unfamiliar, the cause of “cogging” is torque variations produced as the motor shaft (of any motor) rotates and the rotor’s permanent magnets interact with the stator (coil windings). Belt drive systems do a good job of minimizing the cogging effects using a belt to isolate the motor and platter. In direct drive systems the torque ripple/cogging whatever you want to call it happens within the platter itself so despite the great wow and flutter measurements, the sonic effects of cogging are more easily heard and if not “heard”, sensed.

 Other 1200G features include a heavy, three layer individually factory-balanced almost eight pound platter, hand-adjusted in Japan tonearm bearings, self-damping cold drawn magnesium tonearm tube and complex construction footers that include silicon rubber components and a newly developed cylindrical microcell polymer tube that fits within a zinc diecast housing.

Visually and feature-wise, the 1200G retains the “disco”-look: pitch slider, platter strobe, cueing light. You could say the 2016 top-of-the-line is dated and in need of fresh replacement. Perhaps Technics is working on that.

 One Below

 The $2199.95 SL-1200 GR2 introduced in 2023 sits in the Technics price queue one step below the new SL-1300G. It incorporates the 1200G’s “classic” looks and basic feature set, but it’s the first “4th generation" design and so is the first to incorporate the newly developed ΔΣ-Drive (Delta-Sigma) drive, here implemented using a single rotor/single stator, iron coreless motor and a new low noise, transformer-less switch-mode power supply operating at 100kHz+ (transformers buzz, hum and vibrate) that also features an inverse- phase, current injection noise canceling system.

The platter drive system is based upon a derivative of the company’s “JENO Engine” (JENO is an acronym for Jitter Elimination and Noise Shaping Optimization digital amplification) used in the company’s amplifiers. In this application the circuit replaces the previous GR drive system that utilized a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control system based on a reference sine wave stored in ROM. This new system uses real time feedback and Hall effect sensors that monitor and measure platter rotation to then create a corrective signal applied to the motor using a PWM DAC.

The system measurably reduces drive signal error distortion as well as helping to reduce minor rotational inaccuracies so low in level that they are unmeasurable using traditional wow and flutter or signal to noise ratio measurement techniques. It generates a super clean sine wave to drive the motor.

Technics claims that “…minute vibrations appear as reverse phase components in audio signals and obscure the sound image, but the ΔΣ-Drive reduces these vibrations to improve sound image localization, enabling clear and high-quality spatial expression”. Platter surface vibration measurements with and without Delta-Sigma drive illustrate the point. Another Technics measurement shows greater audio spectrum sharpness around 3kHz with Delta-Sigma control, which Technics claims enables “clear playback”.

If your B.S. detector has just kicked in, please consider: electromagnetic cartridges, like cutter heads, are velocity sensitive, not amplitude sensitive devices. That’s why pitch shifts when playback speed changes. Minute velocity changes are what makes the system work and spurious ones produce deleterious consequences

Our survival depends upon threat localization. Three-dimensional localization with two ears is a time domain-based sense (that doesn’t diminish as our hearing ages, btw). We are super sensitive to it. Research done during the development of the OMA K3 turntable’s motor controller demonstrated that listeners in blind tests could hear arc second speed shifts (there are 1,296,000 arc seconds in one rotation). Speed accuracy and speed consistency are two different things. That a turntable rotates precisely at 33 1/3 or 45 is just for starters.

I learned during a recent trip to Japan to attend the launch of Technic’s new and excellent sounding EAH-100Z earbuds that the company uses listening panels in its new product development not just the measurements it displays on its website. Its upgrades are often of the incremental not monumental kind, verified through both measuring and listening.

 The GR2’s dual layer die-cast aluminum platter features strengthening ribs and strategically placed deadening rubber. This is another critical upgrade to suppress vibrational energy resulting from energy pathways through the spindle bearing and platter-based noise further suppressed by the thick rubber mat.

 The ”S” shaped arm has a 230mm effective length. The tube is of aluminum. The plinth, sitting on silicon rubber feet is likewise of aluminum and BMC (bulk molding compound—a type of rubber). All things considered the GR2 offers a great deal of important “tech” for a very reasonable price. It also spins at 33 1/3, 45 and 78 with ±8% pitch control.

 The New SL-1300G Fills the $2100 Gap

 The approximately $2000 price differential between the SL-1200 GR2 and the SL-1200G is greater than what most people spend altogether on a turntable, so it was critical for Technics to fill the gap. The 1300G does that and then some.

 First it uses ΔΣ-Drive to control a new variant of the double rotor motor found in the far more costly SL-1200G. The new motor produces far greater torque than the one used in the SL-1200 GR2, while the reduced bearing load, Technics says, minutely reduces rotational vibrations. The system’s rigidity is improved, using for the motor’s coil mounting base, the same reinforcement pattern found in the Reference Class SL-1000R/SP-10R.

Like some of the more costly Technics ‘tables, the 1300G’s three-layer platter features a heavy brass top plate, below which is the die cast platter, the underside of which is damped using a rubber compound covering the platter’s entire underside. Technics says the new platter’s rotational stability and inertial mass surpasses that of the worldwide broadcast standard SP-10Mk2.

 The double layer plinth construction is claimed to solidly bond a lower BMC (Bulk Molding Compound) layer to the upper aluminum die cast one and in its online literature Technics shows the measured improvement. Each platter is hand-balanced. The 1300G uses the same, or a similar complex footer as the 1200G.

 Technics employs a multi-stage “Silent (Switch Mode) Power Supply” claimed to produce less voltage “ripple’” and hum and because it doesn’t require transformers, no mechanical vibration, (though who puts the power supply on the same shelf as the turntable)? More important is the current injection active noise cancelling circuit that detects power supply noise and nulls it by applying an inverse phase current to reduce low frequency noise.

 

Clearly, for thousands of fewer dollars Technics has managed to endow the SL-1300G with physical and rotational technologies that are remarkably like what’s in the flagship “Reference” series SL-1200G—but with Delta Sigma tech, that is much better than the SL-1200G's drive system. What’s not better? Most significantly, the 1300G’s arm tube is of aluminum, not cold drawn magnesium, which is a self-damping metal.

 SL-1300G Features, Accessories, Measured Performance and Set-Up

 Eliminating the pitch slider, platter strobe and cueing light gives the SL-1300G a clean, “audiophile-friendly” look that’s especially striking in black, but you also lose the variable pitch feature. For most users that won’t be an issue as long as the turntable spins at the correct speed!

 Using the extremely accurate RPM phone app, the review sample’s speed was a consistent 33.32rpm. 45 and 78rpm are also onboard and the arm’s removable head shell means you can easily swap out your favorite stereo cartridge for mono and 78 rpm ones.

 The Shaknspin app numbers are impressive, especially the speed consistency over time ones.

RCA and IEC jack accessibility has always been problematic in these ‘table, but Technics has made it somewhat easier on its newest models including this one. However, it’s still best to use the ingenious packing material “ramp” to access the jacks and avoid laterally flexing the footers, which can destroy their isolating effectiveness.

 The heavy brass top plate affixes to the rotor shaft via three screws with Belleville spring and conventional washers. Add the supplied rubber mat and dust cover, level the plinth and once you’ve installed your favorite cartridge, aligned it, balanced the arm and set anti-skating to the corresponding tracking force number, you’re ready to spin records.

 It's best to start with the arm parallel to the record surface before adjusting VTA/SRA (if necessary). Technics makes this super-easy. Measure the distance from the record surface to the bottom of the head shell and check the instruction manual for the correct arm height setting. The 1300G arm features Technics’ threaded arm platform that can be unlocked and then smoothly and precisely raised or lowered without at all affecting rigidity.

 I really appreciate how Technics describes its arm’s bearing quality. Rather than go on about an ABEC rating and boasting about how easily the bearing spins, which has nothing whatsoever to do with bearing quality in the context of a tonearm, it describes the bearing’s “high initial-motion sensitivity”. In other words, a tonearm bearing’s job is not to spin, but rather to be able to instantaneously overcome inertia and move an infinitesimal amount. Balance this arm to float and you’ll be impressed both by how easily that’s accomplished compared to some arms, and by how free its movement is vertically and laterally.

If you measure azimuth and it's off, you can either get head shell shims, or a head shell that allows for azimuth adjustability. The only other possible adjustments to this ‘table are arm height and the torque setting. That one is accessible through a platter opening. Pressing the illuminated “H-L” button selects one of three settings. High is standard. Though Technics refers to the setting as affecting only start-up time (high torque equals fastest start up time), the three settings do affect overall sonic performance, but I found it had less of an effect than on older Technics turntables I’ve reviewed and while the lower torque setting produced somewhat smoother more “belt like” sound, I preferred the high torque setting’s “punch” and rhythmic certainty especially since these newer generation Technics turntables sound impressively smooth regardless of torque setting and the negative sonic qualities that made audiophiles resist DD turntables—brightness and/or a gauzy,“wooly” character—are wholly or at least mostly absent.

 I first installed the VPI Shyla, a moderate compliance (15x10-6 cm/dyne) cartridge built to VPI specs by Audio-Technica and based on its highly regarded ART series, with a generous .6mV output. Why that one? Readers requested I compare the 1300G with the two other Technics ‘tables described in this review, but that turned out to not be possible. Since this Technics hit the stand following the $5250 VPI Forever Model One belt drive/elastomer suspended ‘table, I compared it to that.

 This was also an opportunity to ascertain the arm’s usefulness with a moderate compliance MC cartridge. Using a test record the Shyla/Technics lateral and vertical resonant frequencies fell well within the desired 8-12Hz range. One final enhancement was adding the new “Disco” model of the “Little Fwend” automatic end of record arm lifter that neatly fits adjacent to the arm platform.

 

This Ain’t No Disco But It Is A Party

Speed certainty and consistency puts the mind at ease. It’s probably what high torque idler drive fans feel along with “rhythm and pace” pleasure, but that comes at the price of noise. It’s inevitable. This ‘table produced the black backgrounds and see-deeply-into-the-soundstage pictures usually reserved for far higher priced turntables along with rhythmic and pacing excellence as the measured performance suggested.

 First up, with the Shyla plugged into the Manley Labs Oasis phono preamp was Bravo Nino Rota by the Australian group The Umbrellas (Experiencevinyl/Sterling Sound EV03). Why? I was re-arranging shelves and there it was. This was recorded to analog ½” tape but first issued in 2001 only on CD. The notes say Sterling Sound tech Barry Wolifson suggested a vinyl release so the individual ½” tapes were spliced together to produce a cutting master for the late George Marino. Released on vinyl in 2009. Honestly, I haven’t played it more than a decade following a review. Perfect!

 

The small ensemble features piano, electronic organ, sax, trombone, pocket trumpet, vibes, marimba, double bass, tuba, drums and  a female vocalist. Compared to nothing, played on the SL-1300G the record produced off the charts three dimensionality, stable imaging, concise high frequency transient attack on brass and percussion, plus impressive low-level clarity to the tuba used as a rhythmic time keeper. Transparency was “the ensemble is directly in front of me” and dynamic pleasures abounded. It was a bit "forward" sounding but look at the instruments. They are as well. Was that the recording? The cartridge? The Oasis phono preamp? The turntable?

 I’d have to play records used for the Forever One turntable review since the only variable would be the turntable. My pleasure to return to the Craft “Small Batch” one-step reissue of Bill Evans’ Explorations (CR00825) about which played through the VPI turntable using the same phono preamp and cartridge I wrote:  ‘Vibrant and full-bodied on bottom, texturally supple with clean attack in the mid, well-delivered high frequency transients and effective decay into the black void….If the Model One leaned in any direction from fast, lean and nimble on one side and full, thick and rich on the other, I'd put it a bit on the "full, thick and rich" side of the sonic divide, but not to where the goings get slow and bogged down.”

I can repeat myself here, except I’d put the Technics sound to be somewhat less full bodied on bottom, but the rest the same, though here more in the direction of “fast, lean and nimble”, rather than “full, thick and rich”. But not "lean" in a negative way.

 The Weisfelds went for the sound I described, they told me, just as I’m sure Technics went for this somewhat more vibrant and faster paced, (but oh so smooth) sound. If you’d want “richer”, put a warmer sounding cartridge on the SL-1300G like an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze, a Hana Blue or any number of moving magnet cartridges priced appropriately for a $3199 'table and you’re there.

 Want a bit faster and shinier? Try the Shyla or if you want faster, shinier and way more detailed try an Audio Technica AT-ART20. I tried it. It costs almost as much as the turntable but the SL-1300G delivered its goods. I tried a $500 JICO Clipper, a stereo MM cartridge built into a unique integral head shell. Unlike previous JICO cartridges it’s a new design and not a copy of a vintage cartridge (JICO specializes in back engineering Shures).

 It features a conical nude stylus mounted to a tapered “S” shaped aluminum cantilever like what Shure used to manufacture for its M-44 cartridge (the “S” shape, not the taper which new) that JICO says “excelled in beautifully highlighting the clarity and reproduction of the mid to high frequency ranges”. What I heard. This combination produced the warm “classic” sound vintage turntable fans love, and that suits vintage jazz albums but with the blackest backgrounds and perhaps a more linear overall sonic picture.

 For instance, Scott LaFaro’s bass was warm, and reaching to the depths but with generous sustain and full control. Evan’s piano was more glorious wood than strings and Paul Motian’s cymbals were more “meaty” than sizzly (thought still sufficiently brassy) and his drums a whole lotta skin. The images were solid and stable.

  It’s said we have very short to non-existent sonic memories but this cartridge brought me back at least fifty years to listening to a Shure M3D, though on dynamic steroids. Maybe you don’t believe me. That’s okay. I could stay with this cartridge for all my vintage jazz records. JICO says “We’re thrilled to offer a new way to enjoy your old records, providing a fresh take on a classic listening experience.” True.

 And I’m thrilled to listen. As I was to enjoy the SL-1300G in its many incarnations as I shifted through a half dozen cartridges, each of which produced a different SL-1300G. But all of them had glorious musical flow, sensory relaxation and fine overall balance. Bottom octaves had reasonable weight and especially clean attack. That was true throughout the frequency spectrum. This turntable's sonic performance was grit and crunch free—unless it was in the recording.

 Conclusion

 The opening part of this review read somewhat like a Technics buying guide, but that was necessary to clear up some of the branding confusion. The SL-1300G is the line’s “sweet spot”. Its rotational performance is comparable to but with Delta Sigma drive probably better than that of the far more costly SL-1200G and while its chassis is somewhat lighter and less vibrationally sophisticated, the “tap test” produced an interesting result. With the stylus in the groove, tapping on the Stillpoint rack top shelf sent a fairly pronounced midrange-y “pop” through the speakers. Tapping on the plinth itself produced a very similar sound. I was surprised given the effort that went into the isolation feet. There's a mini-industry in SL turntable isolation feet. But tapping on the record itself, resulted in the kind of quiet you often hear doing same with a vacuum hold down platter. I can’t explain this sonic behavior, but in my experience that’s the “tap” that counts the most. It's probably related to the mat and/or the platter construction.

Let me put this trio of Technics turntables into perspective: the the $2199.95 SL-1200 GR2 features pitch control (etc.) has the vibration controlling, rotationally superior Delta Sigma drive and uses the single coreless rotor/stator motor and a lighter platter and less sophisticated plinth construction than the other two. The $4299 SL-1200G also has pitch control but does not have the Delta Sigma drive, but it does have the double coreless/stator motor, a magnesium armtube and a more massive plinth. The $3299.95 SL-1300G sits in between those two and features Delta Sigma Drive, the dual coreless rotor/stator motor—an enhanced one at that—an upgraded plinth (compared to the GR2) and is the most attractive of the three—at least that's my opinion. So there's an approximately $1000 gap between each 'table and a $2000 gap between the least costly and most costly.

I’d wager the $2000 more costly (than the least costly) SL-1200G’s magnesium tonearm produces a smoother, more damped and sophisticated sound than does the SL-1300G’s aluminum tube, but with $2000 left in your pocket (or $1000 if you choose the SL-1300G) you have greater leeway choosing a cartridge more appropriate to your musical tastes, though the $600 JICO Clipper may be all you need if you go for a more "vintage" sound. It’s certainly is a good place to start! My choice would be the SL-1300G and if need be, go light on the cartridge. You can always upgrade later far more easily than changing turntables!

The Technics SL-1300G makes for a great first turntable, but it’s equally true to say that for many it will also make for a great last turntable. An enhanced version of the SL-1200G featuring Delta Sigma drive and other improvements must be on its way.

Kudos to Technics for its "green" eco-friendly styrofoam-free packaging:

The video below was one I made when Technics introduced the 1300G at its Newark U.S. headquarters.