Panasonic discontinues Technics analog turntables

[archosman]

TOKYO (TR)

[postjack]

This has been rumored for quite a while. Sad to see the production cease, but DJs have been moving to laptops for a while, and the audiophiles who like DD tables (a tiny niche within a tiny niche) isn't near enough to sustain production. Its such a quality product though I'm sure I'll be rocking mine for years to come.

I wonder what the hell KAB is going to do now.

[Knuckledragger]

\ As Postywillow said, this has long been rumored. I wonder what this will do for parts supplies. I'm guessing more than half of the 3.5M 1200s made are still in use, and they will all need new pitch sliders, PCBs etc over the years. I'm glad I had my 3 serviced a couple years ago.

[deepak]

This all started from a blog post from a vague email from Panasonic. The SL-1200 is not being discontinued. They are discontinuing one of their special edition SL-1200s and another turntable. This same rumor has been going around for months.

http://www.motherboard.tv/2010/10/29/once-again-panasonic-is-not-killing-off-technics-turntables-updated-with-confusion

[postjack]

This all started from a blog post from a vague email from Panasonic. The SL-1200 is not being discontinued. They are discontinuing one of their special edition SL-1200s and another turntable. This same rumor has been going around for months.

http://www.motherboard.tv/2010/10/29/once-again-panasonic-is-not-killing-off-technics-turntables-updated-with-confusion

ah, good news then!

while we are talking about it, it sucks the MSRP has doubled over the past few years. actually makes me consider some of these newer ~$500 belt drive models as possibly a better deal. rega rp-1, project genie, etc. hell the genie comes with a sumiko pearl and is a good looking table, all for $500.

[deepak]

ah, good news then!

while we are talking about it, it sucks the MSRP has doubled over the past few years. actually makes me consider some of these newer ~$500 belt drive models as possibly a better deal. rega rp-1, project genie, etc. hell the genie comes with a sumiko pearl and is a good looking table, all for $500.

I agree it's a good value for hifi under $500 (probably worth its weight in gold to DJs), especially for me since it has a button to switch between 33 and 45 rpm. Most of the cheaper belt drives make you slide the belt over on the motor which is a pain. But yeah I will dump the Technics in a heartbeat for a good idler drive.

[postjack]

http://m.npr.org/story/131418593?url=/blogs/therecord/2010/11/18/131418593/technics-1200-hip-hop-s-war-horse-goes-to-the-great-lock-groove-in-the-sky&sc=fb&cc=fp

NPR is saying it's true, the 1200 is indeed discontinued.