I have no doubt that the new SL1200 is a great deck but I too find it f'ugly. Just not my cup of tea. Well built but f'ugly. I wish it looked more like the prototype's that leaked out rather than an un-creative rehash of an old, tired design. Plus, as mentioned.......there are the tonearm limitation, too. I try to not get too caught up in looks, believing form follows function, but looks do count when they can be controlled.
Panasonic made some design choices and used the old platform for a good reason. To sell this product to those fans that have an older 1200, status for DJ and hopes that the audiophile community will get past the design choices and choose it for what it brings.
Sort of the same way car manufacturers got on the kick of re-issuing old body designs with updated performance. Catch the attention of the old market as well as the new and sell more. No one would deny that a new stock Mustang far exceeds the old from 1965-1971 but who would buy a new performance Ford if it were a totally new body design. Many, maybe but even more if you also factor in the old romantics, too.
However, in this equation it leaves folks like me out of their target market. I'll pass and get my analog needs met elsewhere.
Panasonic made some design choices and used the old platform for a good reason. To sell this product to those fans that have an older 1200, status for DJ and hopes that the audiophile community will get past the design choices and choose it for what it brings.
Sort of the same way car manufacturers got on the kick of re-issuing old body designs with updated performance. Catch the attention of the old market as well as the new and sell more. No one would deny that a new stock Mustang far exceeds the old from 1965-1971 but who would buy a new performance Ford if it were a totally new body design. Many, maybe but even more if you also factor in the old romantics, too.
However, in this equation it leaves folks like me out of their target market. I'll pass and get my analog needs met elsewhere.