It's the end of the world as we know it...

http://gizmodo.com/5675818/end-of-an-era-panasonic-kills-off-technics-turntables

If you've ever been a DJ, known a DJ, or listened to a DJ, there's a good chance you're familiar with Technics. Panasonic's analog turntables are legend among scratchers and spinners. And now they're gone.

Panny made the announcement that they'd cease Technic sproduction because of "a decline in demand for these analog products and also the growing difficulty of procuring key analog components necessary to
sustain production." In a word: obsolescence.

3.5 million SL-1200 turntables sold since 1972. Countless audio mixers and stereo headphones that also bear the Technics name. But with sales of analog decks being just 5% of what they were 10 years ago,
Panasonic's finally pulled the plug on a classic.

What made Technics so good? A reliable Direct Drive turning mechanism. A heavy, rock-solid 27 pound base. And three decades of tradition.

It's not that Technics are the only analog turntables in the world. It that they were the
analog turntables. And now, like any other technology that gets
eclipsed, they're antiques, collectibles, curios for fanatics. Lets
hope anyone who's got one keeps it well preserved.

UPDATE: Panasonic is in fact ceasing production of the SL-1200MK6 model specifically, while other Technics turntable models will live on. Phew! Sincere apologies for the misunderstanding.

I bought my turntable at the Guitar Center of all places. They have some decent relatively affordable turntables & cartridges for DJ's in their live sound department. Mine has the pitch control you speak of. I also added a phono pre-amp I picked up at Fry's and I'm in vinyl heaven.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I thought those two small buttons on the front near the left were what you used to change between 45 and 33. That knob with the red light? I remember some kind of turntable that had a pitch thing like that. When the red light came on, you knew youhad correct speed.

I think that you can still purchase a pair for about $600.00. They have them stored in their warehouse.

That's good. Now to hear that Pontiac is not discontinuing but only getting rid of their crummy Sunbirds.

Mardy Pune said:

From the page that Kopper linked to:

UPDATE: Panasonic is in fact ceasing production of the SL-1200MK6 model specifically, while other Technics turntable models will live on. Phew! Sincere apologies for the misunderstanding.

Yeah, but what will that do for the price of turntables? They're going to cost more at least for a while.

Mike Humsgreen said:

Thing is the trend is still and will continue to be relatively niche and thus unpractical for a massive electronics film like Panasonic who buy and sell on scales too large for the industry. I'd imagine though that smaller tutntable companies will be loving this as it means they have one less competitor and can thus better corner the market.


Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

It does seem strange, especially that since the creation of record store day, that a lot of the inventory of vinyl has actually increased especially in many indie stores. Seattle's vinyl sales have really done much better in the last three years than it did the earlier part of the decade.

From the page that Kopper linked to: UPDATE: Panasonic is in fact ceasing production of the SL-1200MK6 model specifically, while other Technics turntable models will live on. Phew! Sincere apologies for the misunderstanding.

There See still enough other companies who build good or even better turntables.of course the 1210 is the Standard dj player!

Thing is the trend is still and will continue to be relatively niche and thus unpractical for a massive electronics film like Panasonic who buy and sell on scales too large for the industry. I'd imagine though that smaller tutntable companies will be loving this as it means they have one less competitor and can thus better corner the market.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

It does seem strange, especially that since the creation of record store day, that a lot of the inventory of vinyl has actually increased especially in many indie stores. Seattle's vinyl sales have really done much better in the last three years than it did the earlier part of the decade.

It does seem strange, especially that since the creation of record store day, that a lot of the inventory of vinyl has actually increased especially in many indie stores. Seattle's vinyl sales have really done much better in the last three years than it did the earlier part of the decade.

I assume any that are out there will be holding their value for a long time. I always wanted to get one of those 1200's. I forget, do they play at 78 rpm too? I picked up a Stanton STR8-80 several years back for that reason, and I think because it was a little cheaper than the Technics although very similar. So if they are the standard, and they can't sell enough to maintain production, then what is the future for the other makes out there? My other thought would be, is the drop off in demand due largely to the current economy, and will the demand pick up when things improve?

Yeah, you're right. The nob on the left is the power on/off nob.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I thought those two small buttons on the front near the left were what you used to change between 45 and 33. That knob with the red light? I remember some kind of turntable that had a pitch thing like that. When the red light came on, you knew youhad correct speed.

I thought those two small buttons on the front near the left were what you used to change between 45 and 33. That knob with the red light? I remember some kind of turntable that had a pitch thing like that. When the red light came on, you knew youhad correct speed.

Yeah, the pitch slider on the right, that's what I meant. Didn't remember the term. Anyway,I never saw the point. Some turntables had a pitch adjuster that was more like a knob that was hard to twist but I think those were on Sony turntables. It had like a little light that would let you know when you finally were on the correct pitch. Definetly a need for 45 and 33 knob.

kopper said:

Do you mean the pitch adjust slider on the right, or the 45/33 speed adjustment knob on the left?

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Well that stinks. It was a good product. Only thing I didn't like was the speed adjuster (but I'm not a DJ either).

Why on earth would they do that? It's the industry standard, nothing even comes close for broadcast duties that I've come across. If you had enough of them you could probably invade a small island nation using them for ammo!

Do you mean the pitch adjust slider on the right, or the 45/33 speed adjustment knob on the left?

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Well that stinks. It was a good product. Only thing I didn't like was the speed adjuster (but I'm not a DJ either).

Well that stinks. It was a good product. Only thing I didn't like was the speed adjuster (but I'm not a DJ either).