Verdict
If you want to hear every fight of info contained in the grooves of your records , and if you esteem musicality as much as analysis , and if you do n’t listen purchasing and fit a doubtless expensive pickup , the Technics SL-1300 G will reward like small else at this kind of money
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Technics , of course , is synonymous with turntables in much the same path fish is synonymous with chips .
But the party has always had ambition beyond supplying every disc jockey who knows anything about anything with a pair of pack of cards ( and perhaps a sociable ) – that ’s why its current range of turntable extends all the way to the £ 20 yard grade .
Its former machine , the SL-1300 G , is n’t quite as headily priced as that – but it ’s no one ’s idea of a bargain , either . When you consider the quality of the substitute lazy Susan this sort of money can buy you , what does this Technics have to recommend it – beyond Big Night Out cachet , I mean ?
Availability
The Technics SL-1300 G direct - driving force lazy Susan is on cut-rate sale , and in the United Kingdom it will set you back £ 2799 – and that ’s without a cartridge . In the United States it ’s cartridge - less too , and it sell for $ 3299 . In Australia , meanwhile , you should expect to hand over AU$4999 – and then bump the money for an appropriate pickup .
look like a flock of money , does n’t it ? Especially after you ’ve spent another £ 500 or so on a worthwhile cartridge ( no-account to labour the point , but I think it ’s worth labouring – and there ’s more where that came from ) . There are more low-cost Technics record players available , of course – but there are some substantially pricier models too : the flagship SL-1000R , for representative , will place you back very nearly £ 20 M …
Design
loosely , it ’s dependable to say that if you ’ve witness one turntable design you ’ve figure them all – there are exception at the very top and very bottom ending of the market , of course , but broadly speaking speak one turntable look very like another . And specifically , if you ’ve seen one Technics turntable you ’ve very much seen them all . The overall Technics feel was set up some meter ago , and hard - won ubiquity is not to be meddle with .
So the SL-1300 G is , at 173 x 453 x 372 mm ( HWD ) , of stock turntable size . It ’s a evenhandedly substantial 13 kg – and it ’s deserving noting that a whole 3.6 kg of that is the platter . Technics never scrimps on structure , and the SL-1300 G has a two - part bod and three - part phonograph record in an drive to make its structure , to all intents and design , immune to vibration .
So the phonograph recording comprise a three - stratum construction . The main body is of Al , the upper surface is of administration ( 2 mm deep ) , and the total rear surface is cover in deadening rubber – the result is high rigidity , significant vibration damping and the practical riddance of vibrancy . It also means smooth rotational stability and considerable inertial mint . Fundamentally , it ’s the same platter as the one conform to to 2018 ’s £ 4 K SL-1200G.
And it sits on a body of standardized rigidness and efficiency . A two - layer mental synthesis this time , the body of the SL1300 G is of a die - mould aluminium top denture sitting on a BMC ( bulk moulding compound ) base – and further rigidness and quivering damping add up courtesy of the reinforcing ribs positioned between the motor and the tonearm assembly .
Each SL-1300 G is balance after assembly – after all , if the weight dispersion of the turntable is uneven , excess vibration and/or noise can be generated by the rotation of the platter . You ’ll know your SL-1300 G has been utterly balanced using specialised equipment by the BALANCED gummed label on the underside of the platter .
As is standard Technics practice session , the SL-1300 G has a exponent on / off button above a commencement / intercept button on the bottom left wing of the top dental plate . There are also velocity - selection buttons for 33.3 and 45 – press them at the same metre and your perfectly balanced phonograph recording will spin at 78rpm .
Features
Technics introduce its first coreless verbatim effort motor in 2016 – by removing the Fe heart and soul , so the theory went , rotational instability called cogging can be eliminated . For the SL-1300 G , a twin - rotor coil construction reduces the warhead on the bearing and minimises rotational vibration too .
Like the platter it turn , the motor here is close based on that outfit to theSL-1200G. But it also contain the Delta Sigma ( ΔΣ ) motor control software and crusade scheme that debuted in last class ’s SL-1200GR2 . It uses Technics ’ expertise where pulse width transition is interest in an cause to eradicate even the most minor rotational inaccuracy and minimise misplay in the drive sign – the smoother , more exact rotation that should leave , reckons Technics , intend smooth , more accurate strait .
Naturally these are not the only lengths Technics has gone to . The SL-1300 G feature a low - randomness switch electric circuit – it get rid of the indigence for a transformer power provision and the vibration - suppressing parry - measures that a transformer exact . Current injection applied science detects residual noise in the transformerless tycoon supply and apply reverse phase current to remove them – it ’s a more effective scheme than the more common regulator alternative , according to Technics .
The SL-1300 G is supplied with a lightweight , rigid Al pipe tonearm – it ’s 230 mm long and is the traditional static - Libra S - shape . At the fixed death it features gimbal suspension and a high - precision bearing – there is a multi - part counterweight and anti - skate chemical mechanism along with a cosmetic surgery and tonearm curl . At the other end , though , there ’s just a headshell . Technics will happily tell you that this allows you to specialise your preferent magazine – the cynical among us ( by which I mean me ) will almost certainly have a bun in the oven disbursement as significant as this to include a cartridge that Technics engineers think become the turntable well .
And that ’s very nearly your lot where features are relate . In a niche at the rear of the bod are connectedness for main power and gold - plated stereophonic system RCA connection along with a grounding berth . Technics supplies a mains cable and a brace of absolutely bog - stock stereo RCA cables ( see my pickup - relate complaint above ) along with a foundation lead . And the integral affair sits on four exceedingly sturdy , very pliant and strictly engineered silicone rubber insulator – because they ’re nothing as mundane as base .
Sound Quality
So you ’ve spent proficient money on a good pickup , and have put yourself through the harrowing experience of fitting and poise it . Finally , you ’re good to go – and gauge what ? The Technics SL-1300 G makes it all worthwhile – well , very nearly .
It ’s the equipoise the SL-1300 G demonstrates at every turn that ’s the most straightforwardly telling affair about it . It ’s balanced , but it ’s energetic . It ’s active , but it ’s composed . It can extract and contextualise even the all right item , but it ’s entertaining . There are two sides to every coin , and this Technics refine both of them to a gamey shine .
With a heavyweight reprinting of Sounds Like The Flirtations playacting , the midrange faithfulness is really striking . It presents voices in a direct , articulated and utterly naturalistic way , keep them secure in a small pocket of space in monastic order for them to communicate fully , and balances a lead vocal phone line against the musical harmony supporting it as if it was the easiest matter in the earthly concern .
There ’s drive and dynamism to the display , but the SL-1300 G never lose the run of itself and is capable to hold its poise even when voice and instruments are assault with gusto . It make a persuasive soundstage even with a fairly crude recording like this one , and it manages to merge every chemical element into a convincing whole . Its frequency response is bright even , and it move around from the top end to the bottom in an entirely unstrained and confident way .
Switch to the rather more modern sounds of James Holden ’s Imagine This is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities and the good word keep on come . The Technics has authentic mien at the bottom of the frequency range , founder proper heft and punch to the down end – but it swoop on bass sounds with authority , and really snaps into them . Attack is straight - edged and controlled , so rhythmic expression is persuasive – this is one of the trait the vinyl group format is wide fetishised for , and the SL-1300 G is as skillful in this respect as the very best of its competition .
The overall tonal balance is nicely judge , and the music is present with lucidity and space just as much as it is with heartiness and drive . Detail tier are high across the instrument panel , and insight into the minutia of spirit and texture is considerable . As ever , the Technics covers all the bases – it can analyse the transcription and make apposite observations about the transient , most fleeting moments in it , but at the same meter it ’s an uncomplicatedly entertaining and absorbing listen .
It ’s really only at the top of the frequency range that problems lurk – and in my time with the lazy Susan , those problems persist latent rather than overt . The SL-1300 gigabyte procreate treble sound very assertively – it ’s not strident , but it ’s not far off . There ’s meat to the top end voice it delivers , but there ’s unarguable shine too – and in an unsympathetic system it ’s all too easy to envisage them becoming rather edgy .
A moment or two spent organization - matching is in order , because if paired with a likewise zingy amplifier or booming loudspeakers the Technics could reach a tipping - item all told too rapidly . In a well - match system , though , the highest frequencies have just the same stage of attack and perceptivity as the residual of the frequency range – which have them of a convincingly unified opus . Just do n’t provoke the top - end response here , that ’s all …
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
The Technics can play pretty much any eccentric of euphony and find the samara to it , apparently without any effort
The SL-1300 G is go up the edge of acceptable where treble sound are concerned , and wo n’t require much of a push to send it over
Final Thoughts
I dislike fitting cartridges in the same agency I dislike repairing manual watch – and so I assay to do neither if I can possibly help it . The fact that Technics is happy to rouse £ 2799 for its SL-1300 gravitational constant and then force the owner to allow and match a cartridge grinds my cogwheel more than somewhat – so it ’s a measure of just how complete and gratifying a listen this turntable is that I ’ve almost forgotten what a faff it is to get it working in the first place . Almost .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every turntable we review soundly over an protracted period of fourth dimension . We use manufacture stock test to compare features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a mathematical product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
Ever wanted to know what the SL appointment means ? The S tolerate for Stereo and , slimly confusingly , the L bear for Player .
