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Technics SL1500 turntable
Legendary build quality minus the hype
If Technics has such a fame with its turntables, it's mostly due to its DJ masterpiece, the SL-1200. But before the birth in 1979 of this icon, Technics had already set a standard with this direct drive turntable.
This early eighties model is built like a tank, with noble and precise aluminium cast body and platter. Still today the quartz controlled direct drive engine runs like a clock, a hallmark of Technics engineering that delivers stable rotation and quick start-up without the maintenance or wear issues of belt drives.
The aluminium die-cast platter is rigid and well-damped, helping suppress resonances and maintain steady speed under load. Paired with this is a gimbal-suspended S-shaped tonearm with adjustable tracking and anti-skate, allowing good groove following and low distortion.
The build quality is still there more than 40 years later. Stable, solid and musical.
Wonderful investment, way cheaper than a SL1200 (without speaking of the Mk II) and of course that the current SL1500C model, that goes for €1000.
A good mildly used example. We see lots of them beat up by too much travel from party to party.
Tested, cleaned, deoxydized.
The cartridge is the valued american-made Empire 400TC, built for HiFi listening and not djeing, with its original box and equipped with a new swiss-sourced stylus. The head is the period-correct original Technics.
Consistently, the dust cover is remarkably clean and original.
The platter rubber mat is brand new and close to the original. Most of these examples can be found with aftermarket mats, but no, a big smiley icon does nothing better than the original for stability and antistatic effect.
Perfect working condition, see the photo gallery for cosmetic signs of patina and age.
Made in Japan
Technical specifications
Full manual turntable
Direct drive servo Ultra-low-speed DC brushless motor
Platter: 33 cm Aluminum Die-cast
Wow and flutter: 0.03% wrms
Dimensions: 45 cm (W) x 14 cm (H) x 37 cm (D)
Weight: 7.8 kg