IFA 2017 BERLIN: Technics’ premium SP-10R turntable

Talk about back-compatibility — the new premium turntable announced by Panasonic under the Technics brand at IFA in Berlin is

described as “interchangeable with systems using the SP10MK2 (released in 1975) and the SP-10MK3 (1981) — the two predecessors which have been highly evaluated by professional broadcasting stations and are still very much admired and used by many audiophiles world-wide.”

So if you’re running a 42-year-old SP10Mk2, the new SP-10R will slot right in with your existing arm and cartridge, though when it is finally released (it’s expected mid-2018) it will be supplied as a complete system with tonearm and cartridge. Described as the company’s “most premium turntable ever” it revives the model number used for the first ever direct-drive turntable, and claims S/N ratio of 92dB and wow/flutter of 0.015%, the best of any of Technics turntable to date. A new coreless direct drive motor adds to the two-sided rotor drive system used in the company’s SL-1200G, with stator coils on both sides of the rotor and a new separated ultra-low-noise switching power supply. The 7kg platter combines brass, aluminum die-cast and deadening rubber, similar to the platter of the SL-1200G. For more details we’ll have to wait until next year, but it sure is pretty...