According to Pocket-lint, production of Technics dj grade turntables, the SL-1200 and SL-1210 models will discontinue after February 2010. Although, its common practice these days to use cd-j’s and mp3 formatted music as the medium, the iconic tools of the trade are still an industry standard in the booth. As quoted by Ian North, spokesperson for Panasonic:
“It is a sad day today but due to low sales globally in analogue turntables a decision to stop production has been made on Technics Turntables. For Australia this means we will receive our last shipment in March”.
Even with this bit of gloomy news, most beginners usually end up picking up someone’s used setup on craigslist. But in the grand scheme of things, this is something to mourn about.
Image Source: Turntablelife.com
that sucks.. those are the best turntables. i’m never gonna sell mine.
Clarification came from Panasonic UK to squash rumours. And It’s not what you might think. So here goes – the 1200MK5 and 1210MK5 WILL be discontinued leaving the 1210MK5G as the top of the range and most definitely NOT discontinued. It never was a limited edition, just a flagship special edition model. And the 1200 and 1210 MK2 will continue as normal. So now there’s some distance between the MK2 and MK5G models instead having a middle MK5 deck to confuse matters. So it’s vanilla Technics or the more expensive piano black extra pitched blue light luxury model left in the range.
http://www.colinfitz.com/panasonic-to-cease-production-of-technics-1210-turntables-in-2010/