Technics SL-1000R Turntable

Technics SL-1000R is the flagship turntable of the range, a state-of-the-art model with direct drive motor and a heavyweight platter, along with a control unit and power supply kept separately. A precision made tonearm is supplied that has excellent tracking capability.

This is a versatile unit with the ability to fit three tonearms. It is also a three-speed unit with 78rpm available. A digital display allows for very fine speed adjustment.

Precision coreless direct drive motor

The motor used for the SL-1000R, is a reference standard design, with wow and flutter at the limits of measurability. It is only 0.015%. This is achieved by having coils on both sides of the rotor, creating a 12-pole 18-coil drive. This produces enough torque to drive the heavy 7.9kg platter.

The coils on both sides are offset at 60 degrees from each other, this suppresses fine vibrations. The result is a very smooth and stable rotation. Moreover, the thrust bearing is specially designed to take the weight of the platter, and uses special engineering plastic. Additionally, the chassis uses two stainless steel weights to lower the centre of gravity, giving unsurpassed vibration performance.

Heavy platter for a stable speed

The Platter of the SL-1000R weighs 7.9kg and is made of a 10mm thick brass weight, that is mounted between diecast aluminium plates. There is also a set of tungsten weights, that are used to add mass, and balance the platter. The three-layer construction provides high rigidity and excellent vibration damping.

Separate control unit

The Control unit and power supply, of the SL-1000R, is mounted in a separate unit. Notably, to provide enough power for the motor, a switch mode power supply is used. These switch at high frequencies and can generate noise. Therefore, the PSU is mounted in a shielded enclosure and uses a noise reduction circuit. The cable that communicates with the main unit is also specially designed to reduce noise. The result should be a very good signal-to-noise ratio.

Miniscule speed adjustment

Miniscule speed adjustment is provided, for this three-speed turntable. The speed can be set to two decimal places, with the digital control, and OLED readout. Moreover, more than one tonearm can be used at the same time, therefore, one could be fitted with a 78RPM stylus while another tonearm can be used for LPs.

Precision engineered tonearm

Technics uses a static balanced S-type universal tonearm design for the SL-1000R . This is lightweight and has a high damping factor, magnesium tonearm pipe. Moreover, the gimbal suspension uses a high-precision bearing.

The whole unit is carefully calibrated in Japan and has a high motion sensitivity so that it can accurately track the groove. Finally, an Oxygen Free Cable is used, for the headshell wiring. As a result, no signal is lost, for a highly detailed sound.

Three tonearms for maximum versatility

The SL-1000R can be fitted with three tonearms at the same time. These can be from other manufacturers such as Ortofon or SME. The arms just clip on around the base and the position of the tonearm bases always provides precise tracking.

Cartridge types

A turntable of the calibre of the SL-1000R, demands only the best cartridge. This would ideally be a moving coil (MC) type. These have a low-mass cantilever with tiny coils mounted on the end. The coils are used in conjunction with fixed magnets to generate the sound. However, the output from these cartridges is very low, often less than 1mV. As a result, you may need a phono stage that has enough gain and the correct impedance matching.

The most common type of cartridge is the moving magnet (MM) type. These have a magnet fixed to the cantilever. However, sometimes only one magnet is used, which can lead to crosstalk between channels. They do however have a higher output and there are some higher-end models available now, but in many cases, the optimal choice is moving coil (MC).

A choice of phono stage

As mentioned earlier, moving coil (MC) cartridges have a very low output. As a result, you will need a phono stage with high gain and the correct impedance matching. Some integrated amplifiers have a switchable phono stage for both MC and MM cartridges. However, a step up would be a separate phono stage. The best of these have switchable impedance characteristics, as well as gain settings. Finally, the ultimate type of phono stage will ideally have a separate power supply.

Multi playback and recording

With 78rpm shellac records, the groove width is larger than with modern records. Therefore you need a specifically designed tip, of the correct size. This is especially important as 78rpm records are cut laterally, so that the music infromation moves the stylus from side to side, instead of up and down. Too small a tip will drag along the bottom of the groove, creating a massive amount of noise. Finally, the recorded speed of early records often varies slightly, some may have been recorded at 80rpm, for example. However, the SL-1000R has a fine pitch control that can compensate for this.

As the SL-1000R is a three-speed deck with the ability to fit multiple tonearms, is also an excellent choice for playing 78rpm records using a specifically designed 78rpm cartridge on one tonearm, and for enjoying 33rpm/45rpm records using a cartridge mounted to one of the other two tonearms. This gives you the versatility to play what you want without needing to have more than one turntable and to be able to record your old 78rpm records to PC.