Oh Technics SL-1200, you were the stuff of legends! You were always there. We never thought anything would change. And for decades, it didn’t.

But like an adored band breaking up, you left us. We found ourselves in a prolonged state of denial, then shock.

Life went on, though. Poor imitations stepped into your big old shoes.

We finally accepted your departure. Sure, you died young (well, not that young), but you stayed beautiful. And your absence only added to your legend.

But hang on, what’s this? A stand at the DJ part of a music show, from Technics? Could it be… it is! It’s a new Technics deck – the SL-1200 Mk7! You’re back, like a loved one, from the dead…

So… why doesn’t this reunion feel like we’ve always dreamed it might?

Technics
The Technics SL1200 we all remember: Now there’s a thoroughbred right there. If they’d have just re-released this at a reasonable price, they could have shifted bucketloads.

A closer look at the new Technics SL-1200 Mk7

OK, let’s get down to this. What is this improbable and rather curious Technics SL-1200 Mk7 like?

It’s not as heavy as the original.

The finish is more textured and darker, but somehow doesn’t feel as expensive.

The controls feel cheaper, especially the on/off knob (although it is now recessed – good move). The surface light has lost the pleasing damped motion when you “pop” it up. It just clicks up. It feels flimsy.

The tonearm and its assembly, while coming in a nice new black colour, is identical to the one we remember (and, for the lucky few of us, the one we still have, on our hoarded old models).

Sure, there are new(er) bits: There’s a button to make the speed +/-16% instead of +/- 8%, and there’s the hole top right to vertically store a spare cartridge, that appeared towards the end of the last run of these (think: a place to put the house cartridges when you arrive at a club with your own).

Round the back, there’s a big indent protecting the newly added sockets for RCAs, but the earth cable still survives – uniquely to my knowledge among modern DJ turntables. (And dare I suggest, it’s maybe something that could have been engineered away?)

Oh, and if you remove the platter, little switches hidden underneath switch the lights from red to blue, and enable a reverse function.

And that’s pretty much it.