So…I did a thing today. š And yesā¦when all was said and done, IT LIVES! (Color me surprised!)
When I got this 1200MK2 turntable a couple years ago, it came wired with a European electrical plug with a US adapter tacked on. Being the anal-retentive bitch that I am, that wouldn't do. So I ordered a US cord (basically a meter-long extension cord that I cut the end off of) and replaced it. Sadly, I failed to take into account how much of the cable was actually inside the turntable, and the resulting length of the cord was much less than I would've liked, making it difficult to plug into my power strip.
When I pulled the entertainment center out from the wall a couple weeks ago to do some long-overdue cable maintenance, I decided it was time to do something about it. Despite my soldering skills being that of a six-year-old, I felt it was necessary to dive back into the guts of the machine and make this right.
While perusing YouTube later that day, I happened across a video that showed how replace the power cord with a socketed version and another that showed how to install an adapter that allowed you to use any signal cables instead of the mediocre OEM ones that came with the turntable.
I conferred with my friend John (an expert on Technics turntables), showed him the video, and verified he thought this was something I could do myself. (It wasn't rocket science, but with my soldering skills I was naturally nervous.)
Two weeks and about $85 (not counting shipping) later, I had the parts.
The process was surprisingly simple, even with my abilities. (TBH I've seen a lot of electronics repair videos since I initially swapped the power cord on this table so I now knew what mistakes to avoid.) In total, both swaps took about 45 minutes; a lot of that time being taken up with disassembly and reassembly of the table itself. And dare I say it, the new audio cables (nothing special; the same cables I have connecting everything else in my system) I bought for this project actually do improve the sound. (I never thought I'd find myself saying that cables improve sound, but here we are…)
If you've got a SL-1200/1210 MK2/3/4/5 (basically anything prior to the MK7) and hate the original Technics cables, this is a surprisingly easy and recommended project. You can order yours here.