› Forums › Music › Sound Engineering › End of an era – SL1200/1210 production to stop
- This topic has 18 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated December 6, 2009 at 8:53 pm by 1984.
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November 27, 2009 at 4:41 pm #1048422
Unfortunately the digital age has finally overtaken.
for some reason this German report was the first one I found!
Seit 1979 (!) ist der Technics SL-1200 und SL-1210 in der MK2-Variante mit Pitch-Regler auf dem Markt und wird bis zum heutigen Tage von DJs in aller Welt innig geliebt. Nun wurde bekanntgegeben, daß die Produktion des legendären Plattenspielers eingestellt wird. Ach menno!
Panasonic, Hersteller des Technics, ließ just verlauten, daß das letzte Exemplar dieses famosen Plattenspielers im Februar nächsten Jahres seine Produktionsstätte verlassen wird. Der Technics war und ist einfach DAS Turntable schlechthin. So wie der iPod quasi das Synonym für den MP3-Player ist, hat der Technics einen vergleichbaren Status inne – mit dem Unterschied, daß er diesen Ruf aufgrund seiner technischen Brillianz verdient hat. Auch wenn es ähnlich gute Geräte anderer Hersteller gab und gibt, konnte er unter anderem aufgrund seiner bemerkenswerten Robustheit und des starken Direktantriebes wegen einen triumphalen Siegeszug antreten, der noch bis heute andauert. In praktisch unverändertem Design gab es nach und nach auch technisch aufgemotzte Varianten des Ur-MK2 zu kaufen, beispielsweise mit Pitch-Reset-Knopf. Wie sind Deine Erfahrungen mit dem Technics? War oder ist er für Dich ebenso unverzichtbar wie für die Heerscharen von DJs weltweit? Kennst Du vergleichbar gute Modelle anderer Hersteller?
Das Ende einer Ära – Produktion des Technics SL-1200 wird eingestellt | delamar.de
If your German is not much good (mine is rusty and can only just about translate the above) then I managed to track down some English reports
TECHNICS TURNTABLES to be Discontinued! |
Gearjunkies.com – Comprehensive resource for music production and DJ equipment
November 27, 2009 at 4:46 pm #1221004='(
i need to get hold of a pair before they become extortionate
November 27, 2009 at 5:35 pm #1221002Glad I’ve got some then, I can see them rising in price within the next 10 years!
Someone posted this on SJ aswell, I scanned the page, but someone mentioned the MK2s and MK5Gs aren’t being discontinued?
November 27, 2009 at 6:25 pm #1221008how much do they go for at the moment? I had a Technics hifi once, was wicked.
November 27, 2009 at 6:49 pm #1221000hmm
i gonna get a pair then next year .. just so i can say i owned a pair lol …i used to have a technics stack system years ago too .. was amazingly good quality! .. for a 60W or 80w system (can’t remeber which) it blew people away … sounded like at least 100-150w in todays standards of hifi’s (it was “out dated” even when i had it as a youngster) and sounded so much better as well. 3 way full range cabs the works! .. really miss that system .. 🙁
November 28, 2009 at 12:47 pm #1221005@1984 364107 wrote:
how much do they go for at the moment? I had a Technics hifi once, was wicked.
bout 400 for a used pair of mk2s i think
@DaftFader 364114 wrote:
hmm
i gonna get a pair then next year .. just so i can say i owned a pair lol …i used to have a technics stack system years ago too .. was amazingly good quality! .. for a 60W or 80w system (can’t remeber which) it blew people away … sounded like at least 100-150w in todays standards of hifi’s (it was “out dated” even when i had it as a youngster) and sounded so much better as well. 3 way full range cabs the works! .. really miss that system .. 🙁
we had one too but about a month before i realised its full potential it was given away to a decorator ='(
November 28, 2009 at 1:59 pm #1220998the price of new ones has gone up, was having a looook in the htfr catalouge, fuck spending £499 each when theres the vestax pdx2000 mk2’s sat next to em for £130 less.
second hand technics ftw
November 28, 2009 at 3:04 pm #1221003@joshd96320 364191 wrote:
bout 400 for a used pair of mk2s i think
we had one too but about a month before i realised its full potential it was given away to a decorator ='(
As cheap as £200 if you’re patient!
November 28, 2009 at 3:12 pm #1221006unfortunately im not patient at all :weee:
November 28, 2009 at 6:30 pm #1220999yebbut HTFR has never been cheap for anything ! (and their vinyl was never original but that’s a whole other thread). Quick googling gives about 400 each as a more typical new price for 1210s. They’ve hovered around that price give or take 50 quid for at least 10 years ! Got mine 2nd hand though as you say for half that price again (cheers Emjay if you’re reading :))
December 5, 2009 at 8:17 pm #1220996This isn’t true.
Panasonic claims “no plans to discontinue Technics” – Pocket-lint
Panasonic keeps all of its operations under constant review. However, there are no current plans to discontinue the Technics Brand”.
December 5, 2009 at 8:43 pm #1221007YAY =D
December 5, 2009 at 8:56 pm #1221009but it says “This, unfortunately, doesn’t tell us much. Technics as a brand covers many products, including but not limited to, the SL-1200 and SL-1210. Those specific models of turntable could easily be axed from the range while the statement remains true.”
It just says they are not axing the Technics brand.
December 5, 2009 at 10:31 pm #1220997Well given that they have never announced that they are canceling the 1200’s or 1210’s I would think that it is safe to assume that it is staying.
December 5, 2009 at 10:42 pm #1221010@elretardo87 365189 wrote:
Well given that they have never announced that they are canceling the 1200’s or 1210’s I would think that it is safe to assume that it is staying.
I have no idea I was just pointing out that the link didn’t make any comment regarding their future production merely on the brand Technics. Does seem dubious though as you said, there has been no official announcement and the quality of the text linked is rather poor.
Perhaps it was a false rummer spread to increase Christmas sales :weee:
December 6, 2009 at 11:31 am #1220993It will be interesting to see what the Japanese make as an official statement. They didn’t really answer the question as Technics does make lots of other stuff, including home cinema kit, and the fact they took a fair few days to even give that answer doesn’t make it look like Matsushita Electronics is particularly bothered about this issue.
TBH I can’t see these decks remaining in production for more than another 5 years anyway, they will go the way of reel to reel tape recorders – which stayed in production until the late 1990s/early 2000s but AFAIK are no longer made, not even the UHER or Nagra ones used for film sound.
December 6, 2009 at 6:19 pm #1220994December 6, 2009 at 8:39 pm #1221001I think gl has a new job as “chief premoter” for panasonic and has showen as his first stunt he is worthy of the job by pushing sl 1210’s and 1200’s and all of the technics range in a fast boost of sales by making ever one belive technics were soon to be unavalible causing a “panik buying spree” … failing that it’s possable that it wasn’t gl but the actual person who does this job 😛 …. or could be some rumor maker off youtube … who knows really tho 😉
December 6, 2009 at 8:53 pm #1220995If they gave me a few video cameras, one of the new portable edit suites and other bits and pieces it would be a good way of paying back my family for the war…
Seriously though its the same as what happened with analogue tape recording and the German machines back in the early 2000s. These companies need to make money and market forces will always take over, meaning durable niche products stop being made if they aren’t contributing to long term profit.
The big irony is the Technics turntable was originally intended for home hi fi use, had it been meant for use professionally it would be branded Panasonic like all their professional video kit.
I think Panasonic are concentrating on portable electronics such as cameras, smaller hi fi and other industrial products – and moving their high value production resources to diverse specialist products such as electric bicycles (a smart move as oil runs out!)
A lot of DJ’s and producers are moving away from vinyl and worldwide the night time economy is contracting because of the recession, which is reducing the market for vinyl decks. Even the community radio stations these days no longer use vinyl, by 2001 when we did a show in a local radio station all their mainstream music was on computer and we had to bring our own decks, set them up in the news interview room and I had to open up the wall panel to get the feed into the main mixer!
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› Forums › Music › Sound Engineering › End of an era – SL1200/1210 production to stop