Technics has been making record players for 50 years, and as such, it has a special edition on the way out, though numbers are limited for Australia.
Fans of vinyl may well know the Technics name from its use by DJs over the years, with its record players used by mixers for some of the longest time. If you’ve seen a DJ cue and spin vinyl before, there’s a good chance you’ve seen them do it on the SL1200, a record player that has been ticking away since 1972, making it one of the older gadgets to do so.
The SL1200 has seen numerous versions since the 70s including recent revivals, not to mention plenty of competitors both in the listening and mixing space, though with what is now a 50 year history, Technics and its owners in Panasonic are celebrating the record player in a way that probably makes sense: a limited edition model.
And given how the model is called the “SL1200”, it’s probably only fitting that Technics makes 12,000 of the things, making it a little difficult to buy.
In Australia, that will be very true, with only 300 of the worldwide 12,000 supply, with those units made up of a mixture of colours, as Technics offers the SL-1200M7L in seven colours: black, red, white, green, yellow, beige, and blue.
Aside for the variation in colours, the SL-1200M7L features a two layer platter to improve the damping performance, pitch control, reverse play, a cordless direct drive motor, with the record player being just that, albeit one that comes in colours, with a special slipmat celebrating the 50th anniversary alongside a special sticker.
Panasonic’s team in Australia couldn’t say how how many of which colour would be found in the 300 arriving on our shores, but did say the Technics SL-1200M7L would cost $1999 when they landed in May. Frankly, we’d take one in yellow or red, but they’re all pretty slick.
