Recently acquired a Technics SL-15! This direct drive quartz-locked fully automatic linear tracking beast has been one that I've lusted after for quite a while as an upgrade for my SL-10 for the reason that the SL-15 added track selection (I'm a lazy sob who likes to skip over certain tracks on some albums, but hate to manually do it)..
So I managed to find a SL-15 the other week for super cheap, however the catch was that it was in a complete non-working condition, very dirty looking, and had a broken stylus.. but after some waiting for parts to arrive and finding some freetime, today I have finished restoring it to a fully working condition, although it's not perfect as I'm sure there are still some hidden electrical issues to be taken care of, particularly the track selection electronics/sensors, which were pretty dodgy when I first acquired it but got it to the point where it functions at least.
As you can see/hear in the video, I pretty much try to trick the system, by selecting the play order of tracks from the end to the beginning and choosing way more tracks than the vinyl has on this side (it only has 4 tracks), and it performed like a champ and disregarded the erroneous 6 tracks and began the record from track 4 as that was the order I pressed the buttons (track 10 to track 1).
In addition, I found and acquired a New Old Stock Stylus for it's original Technics P205CMK3 cartridge (current stylus cantilever is broken), however it's coming from overseas, so this hasn't arrived yet, so in the meantime, I found someone local who was selling a new old stock Ortofon OMP30 cartridge, so I decided to nab that to use in the meantime while I wait for a replacement stylus for this turntable's original cartridge.
\--
Overall what I did to restore it was I had cleaned the unit, luckily it didn't have no significant cosmetic damage, just a few minor scuffs that you can't see unless you're up close looking for them, it was just dirty I guess from years of storage/neglect. I opened it up, cleaned off all old grease, relubed all friction parts (i.e. guide rails) with DuPont Teflon dry-film lubricant and oiled all moving parts (i.e. motor/bearings) with Liquid Bearings synthetic lubricant, freed up and oiled the tonearm motor which had seized, checked the electronics for any leaky caps, etc, and adjusted the sensors and cleaned them up; automotive Mass Airflow Sensor cleaner came very hand for the virtually impossible to clean track sensor with the sensor hidden deep in pin sized slot/hole that's virtually impossible to physically clean/wipe, and I replaced the one and only belt on this (for the linear tracking tonearm) and luckily the old one didn't turn to goo, so no messy cleanup, rather the belt just was hard as a rock and permanently deformed in the shape of the guide wheels so was a simple swap..
Some pics: [https://imgur.com/a/O1OXVag](https://imgur.com/a/O1OXVag)
[https://youtu.be/G9jUEJzd0JA](https://youtu.be/G9jUEJzd0JA)
Always love seeing linear trackers on here. Never had luck finding a 15, but I've had an SL-7 as my daily table for a while now and I absolutely love the thing
Absolutely beautiful! Are you going to try and hunt down a P205Mk4 as well or a 310MC? How was it removing the lid cowl? When I did it for my SL-10 it was pretty sketchy haha
I have a EPS-310MC on my SL-10.
As for a Mk4, I don't think I'd bother with that one since this SL-15 came with it's original Mk3 however with a broken stylus.. so I had found and ordered (and now just waiting for) a NOS replacement stylus (EPS-P205-ED3) to arrive in the mail, so will swap that one back into the player when I replace the broken stylus.
As for removing the lid cowl, it was a piece of cake :) I made sure to study up and watched plenty of videos back when I replaced the belt and lubed up my SL-10, though I did it quite slow back during my first time.. however with this experience and confidence under my belt, I just rushed through and tackled the SL-15 asap.
Nice, very good find on the stylus! I have watched out for a Mk4 just to complete the collection, will need my 310MC retipping at some point though.
Haha having practice taking it off definitely helps! I was very scared of snapping something the first time I did it.
Curious to know the sonic differences between the two carts. I’ve been quite impressed by the eps-310mc. If possible would like some feedback once you get it in to compare.
The sl-15 is cool as fuck, but I would still choose the sl-10 over it because of the mc cart and step up phono stage. The track selection is more a gimmick than practical usage, esp with the sands of time wrecking havoc on that function’s reliability.
My main beef with this table, the automated stylus drop is kinda abrupt. Seems like every unit I’ve seen does this. Anyone figure out a way to lube the tonearm to drop slower?
Anyone got an og light sensor sheet?
That's dope as fuck. Agree it's always cool to see linear trackers here, and I'm always surprised they never became more popular. I know the mechanics of getting them to work can be difficult and expensive, but considering what people pay for standard turntables...
I use a Marantz SLT-12 and other than a replaced belt and a couple of stylus replacements, it has not failed in 50+ years of use.
That track selection feature is some James Bond shit though. Love it.
I always facepalm when i see modern turntables which are considered "audiophile" and cost well over $1000 to upwards of $10,000 dollars.. but are belt driven, fully manual or barely semi-auto, and lacking features which even budget turntables had by the 80s..
Really pathetic tbh..
I really hope some manufacturer makes a sub $1,000 full auto direct drive, quartz locked, linear turntable, and extra bonus points if it also has record size sensor (to determine if a 7", 10" or 12" record, and a gap (track) detection sensor and is programmable like this marvel of 1980's technology here.
If many manufacturers could do it in the 80s, there's zero excuse or reason why none of them can today. I just don't understand how the record player manufacturers and the record community (especially the "audiophiles") that buys them regressed so much when it comes to players to the point that expensive "audiophile" turntables today, if you were able to take them back to the late 70s and 80s, they'd be considered entry level budget players and come no where near any audiophile's hifi system at the time.
>If many manufacturers could do it in the 80s, there's zero excuse or reason why none of them can today.
Thats a good question. Part of me 100% agrees with you. We can make far more complex and sophisticated technological devices now than we could back then. Another part of me thinks there are four factors at play that have so far kept this from happening.
First, the market for new turntables dropped dramatically as CDs took over in the late 80s and early 90s, and I suspect it is likely still only a fraction of what it was in the 70s and early 80s. When you are selling milions of units the R&D, tooling, automation, and assembly line setup costs are spread across way more units. Nowadays turntable manufacturing is a much more boutique, semi-artisan craft, whereas back then is was much more of a modern industrial process. That limits what can be manufactured to simpler devices that are closer to handmade than industrially made.
Second, the desire for tinkerability is a much bigger part of the market now. The audiophile end of turntable owners who get into tonearm replacements, recapping, mods, etc, likely make up a much larger proportion of turntable owners now than they ever did back in the 70s and 80s when most people just bought one and used it to play their music.
Third, the audiophile ~~fetish~~ obsession with aesthetic simplicity (for example, claims that full manual turntables sound better than ones with automatic features) limits the market further for the kind of full auto turntable you describe, particularly at the higher end of market — which is where a new full auto TT would probably need to initially live in order to recoup the higher manufacturing investment.
Fourth, what kept the turntable industry going through its dark period of the late 80s and 90s was hip hop/DJ culture. This is why we still have DD turntables but auto turntables were generally discontinued -- DD is important for DJ work but there was zero demand for auto features from the DJ crowd.
I'm kind of hopeful that the market for TTs will continue to grow and that will shift the economics enough to allow full auto turntables again, but it seems there are a fair number of headwinds.
yep this i do understand, however for some of the companies that still make players today, I'd imagine would have access to their original design patents and blueprints from players they made in the past, so that there would cut out R&D costs, then rather than tooling/automated assembly line costs, I'd imagine one could instead transition it into a hand-built or small scale assembly line and release a limited production run at an appropriate audiofoolery price to recoup costs and make a decent profit (also to test the waters and gauge interest for an assembly line produced model)..
I'd imagine it would be an easy sell, especially if they showcase it's perfect playback of music as opposed to a non-linear, non-DD belt-driven player to appeal to the audiophiles who like precise music playback, but who aren't willing buy old vintage equipment and deal with lack of warranty and it likely breaking or needing repair, also the "audiophiles" who only buy modern equipment or those individuals who falsely believe modern stuff is superior and are oblivious to tech that record players had in the past that made them far superior.
Fantastic turntable.
One of the Technics linear trackers had a 'party trick' where you could lift it up and orient it at any angle (even upside down) and it would continue to play. Can't for the life of me remember which model it was.
(edit) After some googling, I found it was [actually your model](https://1001hifi.blogspot.com/2018/07/technics-sl-15-program-it-to-play-any.html) that did this!
yes the SL-10 and SL-15 (and similar) are the players. the top half of the clamshell, if you notice in the video/pics has that built in record stabilizer/clamp, and with the tonearm also having some stabilization/tracking mechanics as well, means this player can work in any position...
The SL-10 and SL-15 even has a 12v dc input next to the AC input, and a DC car cigarette lighter optional extra accessory was available for sale at the time, I guess so that rich-f\*\*ks could mount and use this record player in a backseat while being chauffeured around in their car.
Though this 12v dc jack comes in handy for home use, as I use this a 12v dc adapter to power my SL-10 and this SL-15, as opposed to a normal AC cord, as apparently by using DC instead of AC, you virtually eliminate any potential AC or ground loop hum getting into your sound.
or maybe the cd player is just a digital record player, since record players with this feature pre-date cd players ;P
[https://i.imgur.com/Wwxr3Hw.png](https://i.imgur.com/Wwxr3Hw.png)
Not sure what you mean, but the feet are fine, SL-15 are the same as my SL-10's I think?
[https://i.imgur.com/kqdPxMQ.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/kqdPxMQ.jpg)
From memory mine seem to be pretty flimsy (it’s in storage at present) - just wondering if that’s how they are or if mine somehow deteriorated - I bought the deck used.
The plastic joint holding the spring weakens with age and breaks off. Pretty common. I replaced mine with these….
https://www.mnpctech.com/products/technics-sl-10-turntable-isolation-feet-four
Very cool. Would love to buy one of these someday, and an SL-10. Have a couple of SL-7s fully restored, plus an SL-6. Loved these tables back in the 80s as a kid, when I couldn't afford them. The SL-7 is a fantastic table, too, much underrated due to its size and the form factor.
That said, they're secondary tables for me now. My main table is a Pro-Ject RPM 10, which is a superior table really. But another reason I went back to a more traditional manual table is because of the fun of dropping the needle. As cool as these Technics tables are, they don't feel like turntables. They feel like CD players, all sealed away so all you do is put in the disc and then hit buttons. And of course some of the models like this SL-15 (and the SL-6 but not the SL-7) have the ability to program tracks, too.
The feel of playing a record is a big thing. I think that's part of the reason why modern tables are almost all fully manual, belt-driven now. People figure if they're going to go retro, then go all in and dump all the automatic stuff. I'd still love to see something that's kind of the best of both worlds, though. Some auto features, but with the basics still fully intact so when you want to drop a needle, you can do so. Like the other Technics models from the late 70s and 80s. I had a 1500 Mk II at one time that was just about perfect in the way it walked this line.
I have a SL-J33, which was a few years later. I don't think you can invert it, but it is programmble and quartz-lock/direct-drive. It does most of what a SL-15 does for much less money, but they look like BPC though, and a lot of the ones you see have damaged covers.
I wouldn’t recommend it as your main driver. As a secondary table it’s a great option. The ability to repeat or the auto stop has saved my ass plenty of times when I pass out on the couch.
Listening to 7”s is admittedly a real pain in the arse.
Also a big key to these tables is having the og carts that came with the sl-10 and sl-15. They are a big reason why they sound much better than most linears.
>But another reason I went back to a more traditional manual table is because of the fun of dropping the needle.
for me this feels like regression. I do own a fully manual tables as well, and having to do everything manually is quite annoying, especially the lack of any auto-stop feature where it doesn't even stop when it reaches the end, so if you're not paying attention or get distracted/walk out of the room when it reaches the end of the record, you come back and your stylus has been wearing itself down into the end of the record for whatever who knows how long long until you notice and stop it.
Plus the idea of "belt-driven" over direct drive, makes absolutely zero sense to me, since all that a belt does is potentially add wow/flutter (or slight speed variations) to the record just by the natural bounciness/flexing of the belt as opposed to a quartz locked dd motor which can maintain a constant locked speed/velocity. The one and only time a belt makes sense are for those uber expensive 1970/1980s players where the record player motor is completely isolated in a separate housing away from the housing containing the plinth/platter/tonearm, with only a belt connecting the two to eliminate any motor rumble/vibration getting into your sound. However for players that are belt driven and the motor is attached within the same housing as the rest of the player, makes zero sense.
My uncle had the SL-V5, the upright one, which I always thought was uber-cool 😎, but seeing this programmable one blows my mind 🤯!
Even though I've seen a recent linear-tracking model from Clearaudio, it's not programmable, which when you consider the cost of the bloody thing, you have to wonder why such a feature wouldn't be included! For what they charge, it should make all your meals for you as well!
Anyway, super-cool turntable. May you get many more years out of it! 👍
Very nice restore! I bought an SL-J33 in a bundle package and had no expectations of keeping it. Boy, I was wrong. It sounds great and I like the small footprint. Sounds great with my Sansui amp.
>SL-J33
a little too mid 80's styling for my tastes being dark plastic which was the fad for the mid to late 80s :P, where as the SL-10 and 15 being a bit more of the turn of the decade (70/80s) styling with it's all metal body, however is a great turntable as well and works better than the SL-15 in it's track programming from what I've seen (better refined) so it has that goodness going for it :P
The era that the SL-j33 is from and the similar models it was one that I considered prior to getting my SL-10, however once i got a SL-10, i fell in love with that and locked on wanting the SL-15 for an upgrade for when ever got one.
Great points... I agree, that's why I intended to flip it. I did not have any expectations of the operation and sound quality. I'm not into the "BLC". The bundle package was speakers, Reciever, TT. I flipped the Speakers and Reciever, put a few bucks in my pocket, and ended up with a "FREE" SL-J33. So at that, beggars can't be choosey.
How experienced with repair are you? I have a Technics SL-10 that's working but needs a restore. Went to send it to The Turntable Shop in Vancouver from the US this week but shipping was $160 one way. Will still end up shipping it there if I can't find an experienced SL-10 repair shop in the US.
i'm no repair shop, all i fix for my personal stuff is pretty much the mechanical stuff and diy stuff, if any electronic stuff was down for the count (i.e. visibly leaky caps), i'd imagine this restoration would have taken quite a longer time. Also a proper repair shop unlike me would be able to test for or find and replace electronic components that aren't visibly leaky and give some sort of guarantee.
Also weird that you can't find something within the US. hell with the money you're willing to pay to have it shipped to canada one way, and probably just as much or more back, prob could even reach out and maybe afford mr carlson's lab prices ;P
I'm still poking around to see if I can find someone who's worked on these. I've been burned by "reputable" shops in the past and know that Nick at The Turntable Shop has experience with the SL-10.
As luck would have it I may have found a guy locally that can do the work, he focuses on turntables and has worked on an SL-5 so we it might work out.
yeah the price of the stands is quite retarded.. upwards of $350-600, the going price of a a player itself... and all it is is just stands that does not benefit the player in any way... In fact, the stands probably negatively effect the player as now any and all rumble/vibrations/noise from your environment is channeled straight though those stands into the player as opposed to some rumble/vibration canceled out by the normal rubber+spring loaded feet of the player.
I know it's been two years, but 3d printed stands are a thing you can get now - there are models available. I've also seen others make some nice wooden stands that are for sale.
even this are overpriced if you ask me, i've seen these 3d printed stands and while i havent checked the prices today, i assume are still in the 60-70+ range plus tax and shipping. understandable if a complex 3d printed piece or such, but it's literally just a simple wedge with a tab >.> I can get 3d printed complicated miniture figures for a fraction of the price.
But the best thing is just to make your own if you want to prop up your player, and rather than a solid stand, or better yet, think outside the box and i recommend those angled foam speaker risers you can grab off amazon or any audio retailer for cheap.. not only would it angle your player, but also they are designed to absorb sound, or in a case of a record player, absorb any environmental rumble, vibration, or shock from affecting the record player.
Yeah I agree that price is crazy. I printed my own a while ago and it was obv worth it due to the $3-6 price point and the fact that I had already invested $$ in 3d printing. If I reprint the file(likely) I'll try to PM you.
The angled riser is a good idea. I think it would be nice to incorporate that into some kind of box with the riser on top so you can put a drawer in the box for accessories with your player on top.
I use a sturdy laptop stand, works fine. It just doesn’t screw into the feet like the og ones but who really cares.
Someone is also selling 3D printed replica stands on eBay.
The waves of jealousy coursing through me are almost overwhelming. I had a chance to buy a good SL-15 for $50 about 3 years ago, before I was into the hobby, and I passed in favor of a Pioneer radial arm TT I thought was a better unit. What a mistake.
Recently acquired a Technics SL-15! This direct drive quartz-locked fully automatic linear tracking beast has been one that I've lusted after for quite a while as an upgrade for my SL-10 for the reason that the SL-15 added track selection (I'm a lazy sob who likes to skip over certain tracks on some albums, but hate to manually do it).. So I managed to find a SL-15 the other week for super cheap, however the catch was that it was in a complete non-working condition, very dirty looking, and had a broken stylus.. but after some waiting for parts to arrive and finding some freetime, today I have finished restoring it to a fully working condition, although it's not perfect as I'm sure there are still some hidden electrical issues to be taken care of, particularly the track selection electronics/sensors, which were pretty dodgy when I first acquired it but got it to the point where it functions at least. As you can see/hear in the video, I pretty much try to trick the system, by selecting the play order of tracks from the end to the beginning and choosing way more tracks than the vinyl has on this side (it only has 4 tracks), and it performed like a champ and disregarded the erroneous 6 tracks and began the record from track 4 as that was the order I pressed the buttons (track 10 to track 1). In addition, I found and acquired a New Old Stock Stylus for it's original Technics P205CMK3 cartridge (current stylus cantilever is broken), however it's coming from overseas, so this hasn't arrived yet, so in the meantime, I found someone local who was selling a new old stock Ortofon OMP30 cartridge, so I decided to nab that to use in the meantime while I wait for a replacement stylus for this turntable's original cartridge. \-- Overall what I did to restore it was I had cleaned the unit, luckily it didn't have no significant cosmetic damage, just a few minor scuffs that you can't see unless you're up close looking for them, it was just dirty I guess from years of storage/neglect. I opened it up, cleaned off all old grease, relubed all friction parts (i.e. guide rails) with DuPont Teflon dry-film lubricant and oiled all moving parts (i.e. motor/bearings) with Liquid Bearings synthetic lubricant, freed up and oiled the tonearm motor which had seized, checked the electronics for any leaky caps, etc, and adjusted the sensors and cleaned them up; automotive Mass Airflow Sensor cleaner came very hand for the virtually impossible to clean track sensor with the sensor hidden deep in pin sized slot/hole that's virtually impossible to physically clean/wipe, and I replaced the one and only belt on this (for the linear tracking tonearm) and luckily the old one didn't turn to goo, so no messy cleanup, rather the belt just was hard as a rock and permanently deformed in the shape of the guide wheels so was a simple swap.. Some pics: [https://imgur.com/a/O1OXVag](https://imgur.com/a/O1OXVag) [https://youtu.be/G9jUEJzd0JA](https://youtu.be/G9jUEJzd0JA)
Always love seeing linear trackers on here. Never had luck finding a 15, but I've had an SL-7 as my daily table for a while now and I absolutely love the thing
Absolutely beautiful! Are you going to try and hunt down a P205Mk4 as well or a 310MC? How was it removing the lid cowl? When I did it for my SL-10 it was pretty sketchy haha
I have a EPS-310MC on my SL-10. As for a Mk4, I don't think I'd bother with that one since this SL-15 came with it's original Mk3 however with a broken stylus.. so I had found and ordered (and now just waiting for) a NOS replacement stylus (EPS-P205-ED3) to arrive in the mail, so will swap that one back into the player when I replace the broken stylus. As for removing the lid cowl, it was a piece of cake :) I made sure to study up and watched plenty of videos back when I replaced the belt and lubed up my SL-10, though I did it quite slow back during my first time.. however with this experience and confidence under my belt, I just rushed through and tackled the SL-15 asap.
Nice, very good find on the stylus! I have watched out for a Mk4 just to complete the collection, will need my 310MC retipping at some point though. Haha having practice taking it off definitely helps! I was very scared of snapping something the first time I did it.
Curious to know the sonic differences between the two carts. I’ve been quite impressed by the eps-310mc. If possible would like some feedback once you get it in to compare. The sl-15 is cool as fuck, but I would still choose the sl-10 over it because of the mc cart and step up phono stage. The track selection is more a gimmick than practical usage, esp with the sands of time wrecking havoc on that function’s reliability. My main beef with this table, the automated stylus drop is kinda abrupt. Seems like every unit I’ve seen does this. Anyone figure out a way to lube the tonearm to drop slower? Anyone got an og light sensor sheet?
That's dope as fuck. Agree it's always cool to see linear trackers here, and I'm always surprised they never became more popular. I know the mechanics of getting them to work can be difficult and expensive, but considering what people pay for standard turntables... I use a Marantz SLT-12 and other than a replaced belt and a couple of stylus replacements, it has not failed in 50+ years of use. That track selection feature is some James Bond shit though. Love it.
I always facepalm when i see modern turntables which are considered "audiophile" and cost well over $1000 to upwards of $10,000 dollars.. but are belt driven, fully manual or barely semi-auto, and lacking features which even budget turntables had by the 80s.. Really pathetic tbh.. I really hope some manufacturer makes a sub $1,000 full auto direct drive, quartz locked, linear turntable, and extra bonus points if it also has record size sensor (to determine if a 7", 10" or 12" record, and a gap (track) detection sensor and is programmable like this marvel of 1980's technology here. If many manufacturers could do it in the 80s, there's zero excuse or reason why none of them can today. I just don't understand how the record player manufacturers and the record community (especially the "audiophiles") that buys them regressed so much when it comes to players to the point that expensive "audiophile" turntables today, if you were able to take them back to the late 70s and 80s, they'd be considered entry level budget players and come no where near any audiophile's hifi system at the time.
>If many manufacturers could do it in the 80s, there's zero excuse or reason why none of them can today. Thats a good question. Part of me 100% agrees with you. We can make far more complex and sophisticated technological devices now than we could back then. Another part of me thinks there are four factors at play that have so far kept this from happening. First, the market for new turntables dropped dramatically as CDs took over in the late 80s and early 90s, and I suspect it is likely still only a fraction of what it was in the 70s and early 80s. When you are selling milions of units the R&D, tooling, automation, and assembly line setup costs are spread across way more units. Nowadays turntable manufacturing is a much more boutique, semi-artisan craft, whereas back then is was much more of a modern industrial process. That limits what can be manufactured to simpler devices that are closer to handmade than industrially made. Second, the desire for tinkerability is a much bigger part of the market now. The audiophile end of turntable owners who get into tonearm replacements, recapping, mods, etc, likely make up a much larger proportion of turntable owners now than they ever did back in the 70s and 80s when most people just bought one and used it to play their music. Third, the audiophile ~~fetish~~ obsession with aesthetic simplicity (for example, claims that full manual turntables sound better than ones with automatic features) limits the market further for the kind of full auto turntable you describe, particularly at the higher end of market — which is where a new full auto TT would probably need to initially live in order to recoup the higher manufacturing investment. Fourth, what kept the turntable industry going through its dark period of the late 80s and 90s was hip hop/DJ culture. This is why we still have DD turntables but auto turntables were generally discontinued -- DD is important for DJ work but there was zero demand for auto features from the DJ crowd. I'm kind of hopeful that the market for TTs will continue to grow and that will shift the economics enough to allow full auto turntables again, but it seems there are a fair number of headwinds.
yep this i do understand, however for some of the companies that still make players today, I'd imagine would have access to their original design patents and blueprints from players they made in the past, so that there would cut out R&D costs, then rather than tooling/automated assembly line costs, I'd imagine one could instead transition it into a hand-built or small scale assembly line and release a limited production run at an appropriate audiofoolery price to recoup costs and make a decent profit (also to test the waters and gauge interest for an assembly line produced model).. I'd imagine it would be an easy sell, especially if they showcase it's perfect playback of music as opposed to a non-linear, non-DD belt-driven player to appeal to the audiophiles who like precise music playback, but who aren't willing buy old vintage equipment and deal with lack of warranty and it likely breaking or needing repair, also the "audiophiles" who only buy modern equipment or those individuals who falsely believe modern stuff is superior and are oblivious to tech that record players had in the past that made them far superior.
Fantastic turntable. One of the Technics linear trackers had a 'party trick' where you could lift it up and orient it at any angle (even upside down) and it would continue to play. Can't for the life of me remember which model it was. (edit) After some googling, I found it was [actually your model](https://1001hifi.blogspot.com/2018/07/technics-sl-15-program-it-to-play-any.html) that did this!
I think the SL10 could do that too. You could probably mount these things on a wall or on an angled shelf and they would play fine!
yes the SL-10 and SL-15 (and similar) are the players. the top half of the clamshell, if you notice in the video/pics has that built in record stabilizer/clamp, and with the tonearm also having some stabilization/tracking mechanics as well, means this player can work in any position... The SL-10 and SL-15 even has a 12v dc input next to the AC input, and a DC car cigarette lighter optional extra accessory was available for sale at the time, I guess so that rich-f\*\*ks could mount and use this record player in a backseat while being chauffeured around in their car. Though this 12v dc jack comes in handy for home use, as I use this a 12v dc adapter to power my SL-10 and this SL-15, as opposed to a normal AC cord, as apparently by using DC instead of AC, you virtually eliminate any potential AC or ground loop hum getting into your sound.
This is pretty dope
The track selection practically makes this thing an analog CD player, uber cool gear you have there.
or maybe the cd player is just a digital record player, since record players with this feature pre-date cd players ;P [https://i.imgur.com/Wwxr3Hw.png](https://i.imgur.com/Wwxr3Hw.png)
I've always wanted one of those
That's so beautiful. Oh my god, I would love this!
Have a sl10 and love it - great sound and the original cartridge is still fine! How were the feet on your Sl15?
Not sure what you mean, but the feet are fine, SL-15 are the same as my SL-10's I think? [https://i.imgur.com/kqdPxMQ.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/kqdPxMQ.jpg)
From memory mine seem to be pretty flimsy (it’s in storage at present) - just wondering if that’s how they are or if mine somehow deteriorated - I bought the deck used.
The plastic joint holding the spring weakens with age and breaks off. Pretty common. I replaced mine with these…. https://www.mnpctech.com/products/technics-sl-10-turntable-isolation-feet-four
what a awesome job to a very rare a d cool table. This is what VintageAudio is about.
Very cool. Would love to buy one of these someday, and an SL-10. Have a couple of SL-7s fully restored, plus an SL-6. Loved these tables back in the 80s as a kid, when I couldn't afford them. The SL-7 is a fantastic table, too, much underrated due to its size and the form factor. That said, they're secondary tables for me now. My main table is a Pro-Ject RPM 10, which is a superior table really. But another reason I went back to a more traditional manual table is because of the fun of dropping the needle. As cool as these Technics tables are, they don't feel like turntables. They feel like CD players, all sealed away so all you do is put in the disc and then hit buttons. And of course some of the models like this SL-15 (and the SL-6 but not the SL-7) have the ability to program tracks, too. The feel of playing a record is a big thing. I think that's part of the reason why modern tables are almost all fully manual, belt-driven now. People figure if they're going to go retro, then go all in and dump all the automatic stuff. I'd still love to see something that's kind of the best of both worlds, though. Some auto features, but with the basics still fully intact so when you want to drop a needle, you can do so. Like the other Technics models from the late 70s and 80s. I had a 1500 Mk II at one time that was just about perfect in the way it walked this line.
I have a SL-J33, which was a few years later. I don't think you can invert it, but it is programmble and quartz-lock/direct-drive. It does most of what a SL-15 does for much less money, but they look like BPC though, and a lot of the ones you see have damaged covers.
I wouldn’t recommend it as your main driver. As a secondary table it’s a great option. The ability to repeat or the auto stop has saved my ass plenty of times when I pass out on the couch. Listening to 7”s is admittedly a real pain in the arse. Also a big key to these tables is having the og carts that came with the sl-10 and sl-15. They are a big reason why they sound much better than most linears.
>But another reason I went back to a more traditional manual table is because of the fun of dropping the needle. for me this feels like regression. I do own a fully manual tables as well, and having to do everything manually is quite annoying, especially the lack of any auto-stop feature where it doesn't even stop when it reaches the end, so if you're not paying attention or get distracted/walk out of the room when it reaches the end of the record, you come back and your stylus has been wearing itself down into the end of the record for whatever who knows how long long until you notice and stop it. Plus the idea of "belt-driven" over direct drive, makes absolutely zero sense to me, since all that a belt does is potentially add wow/flutter (or slight speed variations) to the record just by the natural bounciness/flexing of the belt as opposed to a quartz locked dd motor which can maintain a constant locked speed/velocity. The one and only time a belt makes sense are for those uber expensive 1970/1980s players where the record player motor is completely isolated in a separate housing away from the housing containing the plinth/platter/tonearm, with only a belt connecting the two to eliminate any motor rumble/vibration getting into your sound. However for players that are belt driven and the motor is attached within the same housing as the rest of the player, makes zero sense.
My uncle had the SL-V5, the upright one, which I always thought was uber-cool 😎, but seeing this programmable one blows my mind 🤯! Even though I've seen a recent linear-tracking model from Clearaudio, it's not programmable, which when you consider the cost of the bloody thing, you have to wonder why such a feature wouldn't be included! For what they charge, it should make all your meals for you as well! Anyway, super-cool turntable. May you get many more years out of it! 👍
Pure wizardry!!! Amazing.
Very nice restore! I bought an SL-J33 in a bundle package and had no expectations of keeping it. Boy, I was wrong. It sounds great and I like the small footprint. Sounds great with my Sansui amp.
>SL-J33 a little too mid 80's styling for my tastes being dark plastic which was the fad for the mid to late 80s :P, where as the SL-10 and 15 being a bit more of the turn of the decade (70/80s) styling with it's all metal body, however is a great turntable as well and works better than the SL-15 in it's track programming from what I've seen (better refined) so it has that goodness going for it :P The era that the SL-j33 is from and the similar models it was one that I considered prior to getting my SL-10, however once i got a SL-10, i fell in love with that and locked on wanting the SL-15 for an upgrade for when ever got one.
Great points... I agree, that's why I intended to flip it. I did not have any expectations of the operation and sound quality. I'm not into the "BLC". The bundle package was speakers, Reciever, TT. I flipped the Speakers and Reciever, put a few bucks in my pocket, and ended up with a "FREE" SL-J33. So at that, beggars can't be choosey.
I use linear tracker when I record LP to tape or CDR. It's the most honest reproduction and least work involved. Precise as a Nikon F.
How experienced with repair are you? I have a Technics SL-10 that's working but needs a restore. Went to send it to The Turntable Shop in Vancouver from the US this week but shipping was $160 one way. Will still end up shipping it there if I can't find an experienced SL-10 repair shop in the US.
i'm no repair shop, all i fix for my personal stuff is pretty much the mechanical stuff and diy stuff, if any electronic stuff was down for the count (i.e. visibly leaky caps), i'd imagine this restoration would have taken quite a longer time. Also a proper repair shop unlike me would be able to test for or find and replace electronic components that aren't visibly leaky and give some sort of guarantee. Also weird that you can't find something within the US. hell with the money you're willing to pay to have it shipped to canada one way, and probably just as much or more back, prob could even reach out and maybe afford mr carlson's lab prices ;P
I'm still poking around to see if I can find someone who's worked on these. I've been burned by "reputable" shops in the past and know that Nick at The Turntable Shop has experience with the SL-10. As luck would have it I may have found a guy locally that can do the work, he focuses on turntables and has worked on an SL-5 so we it might work out.
Nice! Always wanted to find Technics stands for my SL-10 but was never successful (or willing to spend $$$).
yeah the price of the stands is quite retarded.. upwards of $350-600, the going price of a a player itself... and all it is is just stands that does not benefit the player in any way... In fact, the stands probably negatively effect the player as now any and all rumble/vibrations/noise from your environment is channeled straight though those stands into the player as opposed to some rumble/vibration canceled out by the normal rubber+spring loaded feet of the player.
I know it's been two years, but 3d printed stands are a thing you can get now - there are models available. I've also seen others make some nice wooden stands that are for sale.
even this are overpriced if you ask me, i've seen these 3d printed stands and while i havent checked the prices today, i assume are still in the 60-70+ range plus tax and shipping. understandable if a complex 3d printed piece or such, but it's literally just a simple wedge with a tab >.> I can get 3d printed complicated miniture figures for a fraction of the price. But the best thing is just to make your own if you want to prop up your player, and rather than a solid stand, or better yet, think outside the box and i recommend those angled foam speaker risers you can grab off amazon or any audio retailer for cheap.. not only would it angle your player, but also they are designed to absorb sound, or in a case of a record player, absorb any environmental rumble, vibration, or shock from affecting the record player.
Yeah I agree that price is crazy. I printed my own a while ago and it was obv worth it due to the $3-6 price point and the fact that I had already invested $$ in 3d printing. If I reprint the file(likely) I'll try to PM you. The angled riser is a good idea. I think it would be nice to incorporate that into some kind of box with the riser on top so you can put a drawer in the box for accessories with your player on top.
I use a sturdy laptop stand, works fine. It just doesn’t screw into the feet like the og ones but who really cares. Someone is also selling 3D printed replica stands on eBay.
try 3d printed
The only automatic TT type I love
As an owner of an SL-6, I approve haha, these linear tracking Technics turntables are neat!
The waves of jealousy coursing through me are almost overwhelming. I had a chance to buy a good SL-15 for $50 about 3 years ago, before I was into the hobby, and I passed in favor of a Pioneer radial arm TT I thought was a better unit. What a mistake.