Technics doesn’t just make a turntable, it makes the turntable. For decades, there hasn’t been a DJ worth their salt, or a venue worth its alcohol license, that doesn’t rely on Technics SL-1200 turntables to get the party started and keep the party going, night after night.
But ever since its rebirth in 2014 following its inexplicable termination by parent company Panasonic in 2010, Technics has been on a mission to demonstrate that there’s more to the brand than now-discontinued DJ decks. It would like to establish itself as a manufacturer of high-end high-fidelity stereo equipment that deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as those long-established audiophile brands.
The latest product designed to enhance its reputation for elite-level equipment is—you guessed it—a version of its record player, the SL-1300G. Yes, it ticks quite a few of the “Technics turntable” design boxes established decades ago, but this is not a turntable to be flung in the back of a van and hauled from gig to gig ad infinitum. This is a premium item, made of premium materials, and well worth the premium price tag that’s attached to it. Or, at least, that’s what Technics hopes.
Photograph: Simon Lucas
The New SL
There certainly seems to be some justification of the asking price if you judge the SL-1300G purely in terms of heft. This is a substantial 29 pounds, and it’s made from appropriately luxurious and tactile materials. From its very robust, extremely pliant and thoroughly engineered silicone rubber insulators (that’s “feet” to the likes of you and I) to its clear Perspex dust cover, the SL-1300G is 6.8 x 17.8 x 14.7 inches of uncompromised and uncompromising engineering.
A full 8 pounds is accounted for by the platter. It’s a three-layer monster, made from aluminum with a hefty slice of brass across the top and an even heftier quantity of vibration-deadening rubber across the bottom. It’s highly rigid, rejects resonance like nobody’s business, and guarantees smooth rotational stability and plenty of inertial mass.
It sits on a chassis built from bulk molding compound with a layer of die-cast aluminum across the top, and it’s turned by a motor that’s had an awful lot of attention paid to it. It’s a motor based on the “coreless” direct drive principles Technics first introduced in 2016.
