best "entry level" audiophile TT?

The 1200 series is entry level in price, but the technology to price ratio is much higher thatn any of its competitors. The KAB mods take it to the $5K performance level with much less than that.

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Psychicanimal (Threads | Answers)

04-18-07: Psychicanimal

Tell me something psychic, have you ever even heard a $5K table? I have heard a SL1200 and it sound nothing like a $5K table. Doesn't even sound like $500 table.

No I haven't heard a $5K TT.

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Psychicanimal (Threads | Answers)

This is quite revealing. For months I have read claims of the Technics SL1200 modded by KAB performing at a level of tables costing thousands of dollars more, and I had assumed the author(s) had the listening experience to make the comparison. Now, this admission that you have never heard a $5k table. Readers of these threads take most comments at face value, and with the assumption that the author has first-hand knowledge of the subject.

I was seriously considering a purchase of a KAB Technics SL1200, but now I have to step back and reconsider how much of what I have read is hyperbole.

If you love the KAB SL1200, then it's reasonable to write about your experience with it, but please don't make other claims that have no experiential basis.

Well, I've been tweaking my analog front and set-up: Music Hall MMF-7 (Goldring Eroica H) and Wright Sound Company WPP200C phono preamp.

I recently lowered the VTA of my MMF-7 Pro-Ject 9 arm (despite the manufacturer's recommendation to leave the factory set-up alone), and doing so reduced some of the high frequency glare I was experiencing.

I also have been experimenting with different resistive loads for the WPP200C by using several pairs of RCA plugs with different value resistors soldered into them, and also using a pair of F-F>M RCA adapters to allow the resistor/RCA plugs to be easily swapped. I've more-or-less settled on a resistive load of 1000 ohms for the Goldring Eroica H.

So, at this point, I'm pretty satisfied with the MMF-7 and WPP200C combo.

Special thanks to member Nsgarch for his recommendation and assistance with the RCA/resistor technique, and for encouraging me to try lowering the Pro-Ject 9's VTA.