Good lad....1200's are simply better everybody knows that
Seriously, ive had my 1200's for over 20 years now and they are working perfectly, they have signs of wear on the top casing otherwise great. If they did break then I would want to upgrade to mk5 golds or even mk2 gold editions (although these can be up to £1k each for realy good ones). I would also love a pair of SL1200 mk1's rare and always seem to come available in USA...postage always kills te deal.
The mk5's do have better pitch control although I always try and keep records within approx 3% of each otherwise can start to sound funny so the extra 8% is unlikely to be any use to me.
If possible when buying take somebody who already has technics with you as they will be used to how they should feel ie strength of motor, brake, feel of tone arm etc. Avoid anything which has been in a flight case or has covers or been painted etc. Otherwise they are generally bullet proof.
Why Technics, they are hardy, easy to fix, parts always availible, do the job perfectly and are already installed everywhere. I used some vestax years ago, friend paid a fortune for them, strong enough to pull your arm off, straight arm etc.....just did not feel right and within 2 months they were gone replaced by another set of technics.
Notice you are doing recording work also, have a look at the tone arm upgrades, tis so good that many hifi people swear by it for giving a great sound.
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