Easy peasy<\/h2>\n
Technics SL-1500C is a home model.\u00a0In the company’s catalog, only SL-1210 MK7 is cheaper than it.\u00a0All other options will cost more.\u00a0Since the model is home, then you need to figure out what was reduced here and what was added in the construct.<\/p>\n
First of all, the 1500 has no pitch control, no backlight and, accordingly, no stroboscopic marks on the disc.\u00a0From what is not visible from the outside, the device has a slightly lighter disc (by a couple of hundred grams) and a less powerful motor (than the modern 1200, but the same as the 1210), not designed for DJ use.\u00a0It is also not the tonearm itself that is slightly different, but the tonearm mounting assembly.\u00a0And the player also has a built-in switchable MM phono stage, and comes with an Ortofon 2M Red head.<\/p>\n
You take a turntable out of the box and everything turns out to be unusually simple, compared to anything else.\u00a0The assembly takes about five minutes, no more.\u00a0The head came to my test copy separately, but if we assume that it is simply preinstalled on the shell, then even a person with little experience can cope with the setup in ten minutes.\u00a0And without a single tool.<\/p>\n
This is undoubtedly the strong point of the device – especially for those users who are afraid to do something wrong.\u00a0But it is also important that the turntable allows you to reconfigure almost everything – it is not a thing in itself, limited by the lack of adjustments.<\/p>\n On first acquaintance, the appearance leaves a pleasant impression.\u00a0The workmanship is at the level: the device is weighty and well assembled, the parts are made of decent materials, everything is well processed.\u00a0The case is placed on the surface with the help of adjustable legs that untie the player well.<\/p>\n However, there is no level in the kit – and if the task is not just to put it on the surface, but to set it according to the level, then do not forget to acquire this very level.\u00a0The legs have a large stroke – even on a rather curved stand, it will be possible to place the turntable evenly.<\/p>\n The lower part of the body is made of heavy “deaf” plastic, this part is made as rigid as possible due to the ribs and, moreover, is weighted down by a metal insert at the bottom.\u00a0The upper part is made of cast aluminum alloy.\u00a0The top and bottom are twisted together by about one and a half dozen screws.\u00a0All assemblies and components are attached only to the upper metal part.<\/p>\n Here you can find a motor, a power supply (by the way, a pulse one, and judging by the markings on the board – the same as for the SL-1210 MK7), a motor control board and a separate phono stage board under the additional screen.\u00a0And the tonearm assembly.<\/p>\n The motor is quite compact and clearly intended for home use, not to be played on.\u00a0The counter magnet attached to the main disc is flatter than professional models.\u00a0The aluminum disc itself weighs 2 kg, including the weight of the rubber damping layer on the bottom side and the weight of the standard mat.<\/p>\n The disc was made with good accuracy – vertical beats are not visible either at idle speed or during playback, judging by the behavior of the tonearm.\u00a0For a slight beating, one can take the fact that the bevels of the disk end are walking a little, within tenths of a millimeter, but this is a purely visual effect that does not affect the overall geometry and is due only to the fact that light bevels stand out against a dark background.<\/p>\n I did not like the standard rubber (or silicone) mat, which is just not ideal in thickness.\u00a0Not to a critical level, but still.\u00a0However, under normal conditions this is not so significant, but in all other cases the checkmate can be changed by choosing to taste – and we will return to this issue later.<\/p>\n The player’s control is nowhere easier.\u00a0One toggle button, a large branded start \/ stop button and two gearshift buttons that, when pressed together, will turn on the 78th speed.<\/p>\n The behavior of the drive by ear does not cause any complaints, even at the highest speed.\u00a0The motors spin up quickly, stop quickly, and, having adapted to the process a little, the plates can be changed without stopping the disc at all.<\/p>\n The dust brush is easy to use, the mat keeps the plate from slipping.\u00a0So from the user point of view, everything is in order.<\/p>\n The turntable is equipped with the traditional Technics statically balanced arm with an effective length of 230 mm with a pivoting design and a removable shell.\u00a0Everything seems to be recognizable – but there are nuances.<\/p>\n Usually, the height adjustment is carried out with a rotary ring located at the base of the tonearm base – here you also need to “open” the tonearm lock (the lever is located at the back of the base), and then move the whole tonearm with the base up and down, rather than twisting it.\u00a0It was unusual – it took some time to get to the required accuracy.<\/p>\n There is a peculiarity here: if you remove the lock, the tonearm does not fall down all the way – it remains in place and holds with some effort, but at the same time it can be moved.\u00a0And then fix it in the desired position.<\/p>\n Why they changed the adjustment familiar to Technics, which has been worked out for decades, I personally do not understand, because it is impossible to drastically simplify or reduce the cost of the unit in this way.<\/p>\n Another feature of the tonearm assembly behavior: it seems that if you “shake” it in a loose state, you will find a backlash.\u00a0But if you do not make an effort (they are useless here), the tonearm unit will be where it was – in its place.<\/p>\n And measurements according to the tuning template, which allows you to fix the distance from the pivot assembly of the tonearm to the axis, do not show deviations, as well as measurements in azimuth.\u00a0Perhaps, additional damping is achieved by the “elasticity” of the structure.\u00a0Or it’s just done – and that’s it.<\/p>\n An essential nuance: the turntable has an automatic lift that raises the tonearm at the end of the record.\u00a0The lift is switchable – it can be used or not.\u00a0But this whole scheme is not a full-fledged hitchhiking: there are no mechanics in the design, and there is nothing but auto-lifting of the tonearm – even the rotation of the disc does not stop.<\/p>\n The tonearm is easy to adjust – just follow the instructions and everything will be fine.\u00a0To install the head, the traditional Technics directive applies – the needle should be 52 mm from the “edge” of the shell.<\/p>\n True, there is no template in the kit, but it is quite possible to tune in more or less this way, and the head is already preinstalled in the factory delivery.\u00a0If you want to be more precise using other methods, you need third-party templates.\u00a0Everything here is limited only by personal wishes and own meticulousness.<\/p>\n It is not difficult to set the height by eye.\u00a0However, as I already mentioned, you need to get used to moving the arm up and down with the desired accuracy.\u00a0But for heads of the standard level (Ortofon 2M Red is included in the kit), superprecision is not so critical.\u00a0Desirable, but an error of half a millimeter will not lead to something terrible.<\/p>\n You can even be guided by the paragraph of the instruction, which indicates what value of the height according to the marks should be set on the tonearm, depending on the height of the head in millimeters.\u00a0Just remember that these values \u200b\u200bare given under the condition of using a regular shell.<\/p>\n You can set the weight in basic tolerances without scales, in a simple way – hang the tonearm at zero, set the counterweight scale to zero and twist the counterweight to the desired tracking force.\u00a0I checked the results with different heads – the error was about 0.03 grams.<\/p>\n For budget heads, this is permissible, and much more expensive heads within the range of downforce are adjusted to similar values \u200b\u200bdepending on the sound (by ear).\u00a0Although, again: anyone who wants to install different heads and experiment should get an appropriate tool.<\/p>\n The anti-skating of the device is (probably) usual spring, and in terms of setting it turned out to be sufficient to set a value equal to the downforce or slightly less.\u00a0This is enough – even if you run several corresponding test tracks.\u00a0Of course, you can adjust more precisely, but then you need test disks and measurements.<\/p>\n In other words, the turntable allows you to make very precise settings, but it is not at all critical to do with the basic ones with a small tolerance – especially if you have a budget head.<\/p>\n The built-in phono stage is designed only for MM-heads and has no adjustments, and the documentation states that its gain is 37 dB.<\/p>\n We will listen in different combinations.\u00a0Out of the box, with a standard head and a standard corrector;\u00a0with external proofreader;\u00a0and with it, but with a different head instead of the standard one.\u00a0Plus you can try different clamp mats.<\/p>\n The only difference from the standard delivery of the player is the phono cable.\u00a0It was not included with the demo sample, so I put in a simple old Audio-Technica interconnect, so as not to use something about a third of the price of the player, and added a grounding cable.<\/p>\n The first one to play was 7RAY’s “Jazzy Zoetrope”.\u00a0The edition is modern, but completely analog, and in general the sound seemed recognizable to me, albeit somewhat simplified.\u00a0Perhaps I was surprised by the amount of bass.\u00a0There is a lot of it here, it is dense and voluminous.\u00a0However, I cannot say that it is structured neatly – there is some degree of formality.<\/p>\n Even more surprising was that the overall sound was soft and rather dark.\u00a0If there is a lot of bass, then the top, on the contrary, is smoothed out, devoid of sharpness.\u00a0But they are not devoid of speed, like everything else – nevertheless, the direct drive is made well and works.\u00a0The middle is even, not protruding – rather dense than airy.<\/p>\n The layout of the scene is correct, corresponds to how it was done on the recording.\u00a0The scale is there, there is no inclination to miniaturization.\u00a0And even the drawing of images and plans is present, although it feels a little air.\u00a0The detail is average, and I will not fully assess the dynamics on this record.<\/p>\n In general, the feed with a standard head and with a built-in corrector is rather simple, but does not cause obvious rejection due to the absence of distortions.\u00a0But there is a lack of transparency and openness at the top.\u00a0From experience on other discs, I note that in the basic “configuration” modern editions sound more spectacular than the old ones, but at the same time on modern ones a certain vintage in sound is a little more noticeable – and this is clearly the contribution of the path.<\/p>\n Then I put on the Miles Davis record “We Want Miles”.\u00a0The dynamics are even, but smoothed, and the overall sound is emotional, but rather soft and energetic at the same time.\u00a0The instrumental parts are perceived together without being too divided, and the emphasis here turned out to be on the general perception – more on emotionality than on analyticity.\u00a0The sound is also rather dark, with a smoothed top and solid bass, which is very noticeable even here, although it is not heavily accentuated on the recording.<\/p>\n Now it’s time to switch to an external corrector.\u00a0The same records are basic and additional.\u00a0The bass immediately came to its senses, gathered, became a little smaller in scale, there was a structure and texture.\u00a0The detail has become higher, the darkness is less, although the sound, as I expected from the Ortofon 2M Red, did not become light – and the smoothness at the top, albeit to a lesser extent, remained.<\/p>\n The rhythm with the structured bass became more distinct and the dynamics more pronounced.\u00a0In addition, the depth of the stage increased and there was a little more air.\u00a0The touch of “vintage” in the sound has almost completely disappeared, the difference in the presentation of old and new editions has become less noticeable (differences are heard, but not their own reading).<\/p>\n In general, it is already quite possible to listen and enjoy, because it sounds really good.\u00a0Is that soft and smooth, for my taste.\u00a0Here it would be to upgrade the head insert to 2M Blue (they are interchangeable), but in the absence of such, I will simply change the head.\u00a0And not on a budget MM, but on a more or less decent and seemingly suitable MC.<\/p>\n Along the way, I tried to change the mat and pick up a clamp.\u00a0I didn’t really like the clamps, although I try not to use them unnecessarily.\u00a0Right there, if necessary, a light collet will do, but heavy weight ones will not.<\/p>\n I liked the two-layer cork mat more than the original one in that the sound became sharper in the HF.\u00a0But I would not say that this particular option is ideal: in HF it is not bad, but the middle has become tough and a little loud.\u00a0In one place they subtract, in the other they added.\u00a0The conclusion is this: I did not succeed in choosing the ideal option, but the path, even with a regular budget head, responds to the selection quite clearly.\u00a0So if the owner has a desire, there is something to experiment with.<\/p>\n And then let’s get back to the head topic – put Audio-Technica AT33Sa.\u00a0Of course, in terms of an intermediate link, I would try older MM Audio-Technica (a very common combination), but they were not at hand either.\u00a0Delivered, reconfigured.\u00a0Played on Richard Hawley’s “Hollow Meadows” CD.\u00a0Even more interesting.<\/p>\n A delicate, fairly even sound, not sharp, without harshness or loudness, there is both intelligibility and a sense of detail, to the best of the air.\u00a0The rhythm is not bad, exciting, but not intrusive.\u00a0Emotional involvement is present.\u00a0In terms of dynamics – everything is smooth, without fuss, without explicit accentuation of the main tones.<\/p>\n Perhaps there is even some softness.\u00a0Complex fragments are worked out calmly, without any over-expression, but also without porridge.\u00a0A little darkness remained in the sound, but now it does not interfere with anything, but is neatly woven into its own sound signature.<\/p>\n Another record is Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”.\u00a0Surround sound with a fairly pronounced scale, detailed, not sharp, but with a share of drama.\u00a0A certain amount of details fades into the background, but the general meaning is conveyed to the proper extent – integrally, together, indiscriminately into separate components and without protruding parts.\u00a0The dynamics are even throughout the entire recording, the presentation is confidently detailed.\u00a0Sometimes there is some predominance of the lower and middle parts of the range over the upper, which makes the sound less sharp and more dense.<\/p>\n Haydn’s recording of “Die Sch\u00f6pfung” did not disappoint.\u00a0The timbres have been simplified a little, but on the whole, everything is reliable and believable, the parts are well read, and the music is perceived emotionally.\u00a0The scene is good in width and depth, there is good readability of images and natural proportionality.\u00a0Little air.\u00a0Note that I was going to finish on this disc, and the result was obvious after a few minutes – however, quite naturally, I wanted to listen a little longer.<\/p>\n And even put another one – Fran\u00e7ois Couperin \u201cPi\u00e8ces De Clavecin: Troisi\u00e8me Livre\u201d.\u00a0The sound of the harpsichord, which is quite expected, turned out to be not sharp, but quite full, with good separation of sounds – and even the after-sound did not raise any obvious questions.\u00a0They are just a little less corporeal than we would like, but with all these nuances there is a “body” of a completely healthy, rationally understandable transfer of music.<\/p>\n It is, of course, a direct drive turntable in character, but it does not look too much like the DJ Technics of yesteryear.\u00a0It sounds softer and more accurate.\u00a0Indeed, the “home” way of serving is cozy, but not sleepy.\u00a0However, I have already written many times about the fact that with the similarity of the principle, direct-drive players can vary greatly in sound.<\/p>\n SL-1500C is simple in basic settings – which does not prohibit more precise settings, and this is a question for each specific owner.\u00a0The same with the mode of use – you can bring home and listen, or you can gradually upgrade by changing heads, adding an external corrector and accessories.<\/p>\n The device will respond to all this – here it is quite transparent and flexible.\u00a0So you can not only improve something, but also select the sound to your liking.\u00a0In other words, for some it is a ready-made solution, but for others it is a platform for further improvements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first and very important point, which applies to absolutely all Technics turntables, is that they are direct drive.\u00a0Direct drive in relation to Technics has a very long history – both with DJ devices, which cannot be otherwise, and with home models, including the oldest 1000th device. A direct drive, in contrast to a belt […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10404,"featured_media":123600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[778],"class_list":{"0":"post-123581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-reviews"},"acf":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/bc793ab-513c-4648-b53e-399fdba1e314.jpg\")
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Listen and have fun<\/h2>\n
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Conclusion<\/h3>\n