The Technics Direct-Drive SL-1210G Turntable, with Elegant Black Finish, Offers Exquisite Craftsmanship, Balance, and Stability: Plays LPs with Expressiveness, Richness, Dynamics, and Focus

The Technics SL-1210G direct-drive turntable is all about exquisite craftsmanship, diligent engineering, terrifically balanced performance, and reference-class speed stability. Equipped with a coreless direct-drive motor with no iron core and perfectionist-oriented electronic speed control, SL-1210G permanently ends any possibility of cogging (a form of rotation irregularity). Moreover, its twin-rotor construction reduces the bearing load all the while maintaining high torque. In sum, SL-1210G plays vinyl LPs with equal parts fun, capability, neutrality, refinement, richness, dynamics, and focus.

Just how seriously does Technics take each SL-1210G? The balance of every model is adjusted in the factory via specialized, high-precision adjustment equipment (also used to evaluate bullet-train wheels) for each and every item after the turntable gets assembled. Similar obsessiveness goes into building the nearly eight-pound, three-layer, ultra-rigid platter — comprised of brass, die-cast aluminum, and a noise-deadening rubber on its underside. The result: Incredible inertial mass and smooth operation.

The 39.7-pound SL-1210G boasts an impressive plinth, featuring four layers of different material (hairline-processed 10mm-thick aluminum top panel combined with die-cast aluminum, BMC, and heavyweight-class rubber) to ensure rock-solid firmness and steadfastness. High-grade support feet add to the package, as does a shielded case for the brass-milled, gold-plated phono terminals for maintaining signal purity.

Technics' nine-inch universal static-balance tonearm looks and sounds like luxury. Utilizing lightweight magnesium for high damping properties, and cold drawing to improve the material characteristics, it employs Technics' traditional gimbal suspension construction wherein the horizontal rotation axis and vertical rotation axis intersect at a single central point — as well as high-precision bearings using a cut-processed housing. Supplied auxiliary weights support a massive range of cartridges.

Operating SL-1210G is a joy. Push-button 33, 45, and 78RPM control abet a stop/start button. A pitch slider and strobe light reside here, too. Backed by our Satisfaction Guarantee, SL-1210G comes with a dust cover, 45RPM adapter, balance weight, headshell, phono cable, and set screws. 

"[I] can think of few turntables that offer as much value as the SL-1200G. The quality of its engineering and execution makes typical audiophile products look slightly homemade, and I'm willing to bet that it will remain as bulletproof as the legendary DJ deck on which it's based... What [the SL-1200G] will do is reproduce the music on your records with faultless sonics and probably last into the next century."
—Alex Halberstadt, Stereophile, Class A Recommended Component

"As with a great sports car, much is to be said for balance. Those rare cars with an equal amount of stop, go, handling and feel are often much more fun on a curvy road than a high horsepower car that is a monster beyond your capabilities. The Technics SL-1200G is like the new generation Miata. It offers up such a balanced amount of analog performance, that you'll never notice you aren't listening to a $30,000 turntable."
—Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio, Exceptional Value Award

“The ability to use multiple cartridges removes a barrier to really exploring a diverse LP library as well — and that’s one of the things we loved about it.”
—Tom Martin, The Absolute Sound, 2024 Recommended Product

"The most important thing I learned was that these Technics turntables continue to be the real deal. [I was] endlessly impressed with this well-made precision machine."
—Marc Phillips, Part-Time Audiophile

"Fantastically fun to listen to, extremely capable in most audiophile senses and built as well as some turntables at ten times its price, it's nigh on impossible to criticize."
—David Price, StereoNet, Applause Award

"When you see the G up close, you start noticing little details—especially in the fit and finish. Once you tear it apart, you’ll discover it’s been completely redesigned. For those of us who never liked the sound of the 1200 or thought of it as only a DJ ‘table, the new generation of Technics 1200 turntables is a shock to the system—while still a direct-drive design, it now sounds fantastic courtesy of the new non-cogging motor and upgraded plinth."
—Part-Time Audiophile, Best Turntables, Buyers Guide Summer 2024

Coreless Direct-Drive Motor

Conventional analog turntables have problems with degradation in sound quality caused by factors such as minute speed vibration during rotation and rotation irregularity called "cogging." In the SL-1210G, the use of a newly developed coreless direct-drive motor with no iron core eliminates cogging. Also, the twin-rotor construction reduces the bearing load while maintaining high torque and also reduces minute vibration during rotation. These factors enable reproduction of the warm, exquisitely detailed sound etched on analog records.

High-Precision Motor Control Technology

The application of motor control technology developed for Blu-ray devices and switching the drive mode depending on the operational status of the motor achieve a high-starting torque and high-speed stability.

Three-Layered Turntable Platter

The turntable has a three-layered construction with a rigidly combined brass and aluminum die-cast platter. It is designed with a deadening rubber layer that covers the entire rear surface to eliminate unnecessary resonance, thereby achieving high rigidity and vibration damping. This delivers smooth rotational stability and inertial mass surpassing the SP-10MK2, the direct-drive turntable standard used by broadcast stations worldwide, as well as having more than twice the inertial mass of the SL-1200MK5.

High-Level Balance Adjustment

When the weight distribution of the turntable is uneven, excess vibration or noise occurs during rotation, which causes degradation in sound quality. Therefore, the balance of the turntable is adjusted at the factory by using specialized high-precision balance adjustment equipment for each and every item after the turntable is assembled. Turntables that have undergone adjustment are labelled with a sticker reading "BALANCED" to indicate that adjustment has been done.

High-Sensitivity Tonearm

The tonearm employs lightweight magnesium, which has a high damping effect, with cold drawing improving the characteristics of the material and achieving the high precision required. In addition, high initial-motion sensitivity is attained by employing the traditional Technics gimbal suspension construction, with the horizontal rotation axis and the vertical rotation axis intersecting at a single central point, as well as high-precision bearings using a cut-processed housing.

Four-Layered Cabinet Construction

A hairline-processed, 10-mm-thick top panel of immaculate aluminum has been added to the previous three-layered construction of aluminum die-cast, BMC, and heavyweight-class rubber on the SL-1200MK5. This four-layered construction combines high rigidity with a high-quality finish and feel.

High-Quality Terminals

Brass-milled, gold-plated phono terminals and ground terminals prevent degradation in sound quality while enabling the easy attaching and detaching of cables. Also, the use of metal shielding inside the case reduces the effects of external noise.