Technics Turntable Owners Club

SL1200/1210 are becoming very hard to get in India, these days. In ebay.com, however, lots of UK/US models are avialble, with 120v/60Hz AC inputs. Since it has DC brushless motor, step down transformer, 230/110V will be sufficient as a voltage adapter( as few of my technical expert friends suggested). Can anyone shed some more light on the basis of practical experience?
 
I am a great fan of the SL1200 but at the prices they are selling back in India, its not really worth. Alternatively one can easily get a SP25 broadcast quality direct drive turntable from the Technics stable in that price range. The SP25 offers more flexible options and in my very personal opinion, is far better than the SL1200 series.
 
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SL1200/1210 are becoming very hard to get in India, these days. In ebay.com, however, lots of UK/US models are avialble, with 120v/60Hz AC inputs. Since it has DC brushless motor, step down transformer, 230/110V will be sufficient as a voltage adapter( as few of my technical expert friends suggested). Can anyone shed some more light on the basis of practical experience?

A stepdown will be ok but you need to check if the strobe light is working directly off the a/c supply and if that is the case, whether the platter is with both 60 and 50 Hz markings. A US only model may have only 60Hz markings and that shall not give the correct indication of speed even if the platter is runing at perfect RPM.

Regards,
 
If i recall correctly the strobe LED in the SL1200 is driven off the quartz signal too, so the strobe will work correctly at any hz.

My 220V UK sl 1210 didnt have any 50/60hz markings, there was the dots for the correct speed, then for some +/- % speeds
 
I use to wonder: some TT motors derive their speed from the frequency of the mains. So supposing we use a step down transformer, will the TT run at correct speed? Or do direct drives have electronics that generate correct frequency internally?
 
most DD TT's use quartz crystal oscillators to create a frequency reference. even the cheaper FG servos drives use RC circuits which run on DC& are mains frequency independent.

The only TT's which are frequency dependent are the belt/rim drives that use ac synchronous motors
 
If i recall correctly the strobe LED in the SL1200 is driven off the quartz signal too, so the strobe will work correctly at any hz.

My 220V UK sl 1210 didnt have any 50/60hz markings, there was the dots for the correct speed, then for some +/- % speeds

Yes, on the SL1200, the strobe is not driven off the mains, but
from the internal motor drive circuitry.
It is safe to use it with a 240V to 110V stepdown, and most of us do use it that way.
It is possible to change the internal transformer, if one wants to avoid the stepdown transformer.
Search (google) and ye shall find.
 
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I use to wonder: some TT motors derive their speed from the frequency of the mains. So supposing we use a step down transformer, will the TT run at correct speed? Or do direct drives have electronics that generate correct frequency internally?

The speed of turntables which have synchronous AC motors is
dependent on the mains frequency - they have a different pulley
for use with 50Hz.

Some TTs with synchronous motors (such as the Dual 1219/1229) have motor
windings which can be wired for either 220V or 110V,
but need to use the pulley appropriate for the mains frequency.
If the motor does not have such windings, you would need a step down/up
transformer as well as the appropriate pulley.

As greenhorn answered, the newer Direct drive turntables have fancy electronics inside them
to derive a steady speed from a quartz crystal and circuitry to control the motor.
On some of these TTs, these chips are rarer than hens teeth, so if some IC is toast, it's good bye TT,
while those Lencos, Garrards and Duals will keep running on :)
 
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