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Tech · Technics · 2016

Technics SL-1200GR

The revived 1200 built for home listening, with a coreless motor and none of the old MK2's wear.

Used turntables: the 1200 family and its rivals — #1

Overall

8.4

out of 10

Axis scores

Strongest on Performance (9.0), weakest on Value (7.6), a 1.4-point spread. The 8.4 overall is the plain average of all 5 Tech axes, with no weighting.

Technics SL-1200GR — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars run from a shared zero baseline; longer is better. Technics SL-1200GR: Performance 9.0, Value 7.6, Durability 9.0, Ease of use 8.0, Design 8.6.PerformanceTechnics SL-1200GR — Performance 9.0 out of 109.0ValueTechnics SL-1200GR — Value 7.6 out of 107.6DurabilityTechnics SL-1200GR — Durability 9.0 out of 109.0Ease of useTechnics SL-1200GR — Ease of use 8.0 out of 108.0DesignTechnics SL-1200GR — Design 8.6 out of 108.6Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better
  • Performance — How well it does the core job
  • Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
  • Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
  • Ease of use — Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
  • Design — Build quality and how it sits in a room

Specs

Drive
Coreless direct drive
Speeds
33⅓, 45, 78 rpm
Pitch range
±8% or ±16%
Tonearm
Static-balanced S-shaped, gimbal suspension, height adjustable
Cartridge
Not included; headshell included

As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.

Is it for you

Buy it if

  • You want the 1200's motor and arm in a unit young enough to still be under its second owner
  • Listening at home is the job and DJ features are irrelevant
  • You already own a cartridge or plan to choose one

Skip it if

  • You need a turntable that plays the moment it arrives, since there is no cartridge
  • Scratch DJing is the plan, where the MK7's reverse play and black finish fit better

When Technics brought the 1200 back, the GR was the version aimed at hi-fi rather than DJ booths. It keeps the familiar layout and the S-shaped arm and replaces the old motor with a coreless design that Technics says eliminates cogging, the small speed variations of a conventional direct-drive motor.

On the used market it sits above the MK7 and below the flagship SL-1200G. Its main advantage over a vintage MK2 is age: a GR has had at most a decade of use, so the pitch slider, tonearm bearings, and power supply capacitors that MK2 buyers worry about are still in factory condition.

No cartridge comes with it. Budget for one, and check the listing for the original headshell and counterweight, which go missing more often than you would expect.

Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.