A true Direct Drive classic - the Technics SL-1210MKII.

Arguably the most successful DD turntable ever made.

The SL1200 / 1210MkII is a very well built TT with a heavy Aluminium main chassie and thick heavy rubber lower chassie.

Constructed to take a lot of abuse and still work perfectly.

Strong motor means extremely fast starts of 1/4 turn and quick electronic brake.

Quartz-lock and high quality drive equals ultra-stable rotation.

The arm is a stable construction which will play nicely with the right cartridge. Has a stable Gimbal suspenison with high precision adjustable bearings. 

One of the best VTA adjustments on any TT - super stable and easy to use. 

Over 30 years since it was introduced and it's still going strong!

Works very well as a HiFi turntable as well as for professional DJ and studio use of course.  

Technics SP-10MKII - the DD reference!

The SP-10MkII was and still is the favourite for most radio stations, studios and other professional applications.

Rock solid build and super quick starts.

Introduced in 1976 and was an immediate success.

The Player consists of 2 parts, the actual motor assembly and the electronic control unit.

Fantastic build quality second to none and extremely durable and reliable.

The platter weighs 2.9kg but still reaches nominal speed in 0.25 secs due to the massive 6kg/cm torque!

The SP-10MkII was also sold for home use mounted in a big heavy Obsedian plinth and fitted with one of Technics top arms. It was then called SL-1000 mkII - see the "High End DD Turntables" page.  

There was also a MkIII version. It was substatially improved with an extremely heavy platter weighing an unbelievable 10kgs it's a very rare beast today.

Kenwood KD 500 - the "rock" TT.

This was Kenwood's first turntable using their now famous stone composite plinths.

The Plinth is actually casted or more exact compressed of a mix of Limestone particles and resins which makes it very heavy and solid: over 15kg. It's one of the best plinths made within reasonable price range and it is almost unaffected by resonances and feedback.

The drive is also of supreme quality with a sofisticaed FG device using a slit disc and opto reader.

The KD 500 was sold without arm so the user could fit his/her favourite.

Many, like mine here was fitted with a SME 3009 - a very  nice combination.

The best thing about the KD 500 was its price - surprisingly low for such a high quality turntable. This contributed to make the KD 500 a true best seller for the company. Consequently, these can be found quite easily today, but the prices now start to reflect the quality though as these can fetch high prices with the SME arms.

There was also a version with Kenwood's own arm: the KD-550.