TECHNICS SL-P1300 Broadcast/Studio CD
Player with Remote, XLR Balanced Outputs, and Digital Output
Description
Review
"The Technics SL-P1300, one of the few top-loading CD players
manufactured that (except for portables), looks almost identical to the
SL-P1200, its predecessor, which was originally designed for use by
disc jockeys and other professionals who need very accurate cueing and
mixing control. The SL-P1300 carries over most of the special operating
features and the rugged mechanical construction of the SL-P1200 while
adding several advanced circuit features.
For a CD player, the SL-P1300 is rather large and heavy, measuring 17
inches wide, 15 inches deep, and 6-5/8 inches high and weighing a solid
35-1/4 pounds. All of its operating controls are on the slightly
sloping top panel, and the display panel at the rear is tilted back a
bit for improved visibility. The front edge of the cabinet contains a
headphone jack and its horizontal-slider volume control. On the rear
apron are the conventional phono-jack line outputs, a pair of XLR
connectors carrying balanced line outputs, for minimum noise pickup in
professional applications, and coaxial and optical digital outputs for
connection to an external d/a converter.
Perhaps the most distinctive external feature of the SL-P1300 is its
2-1/4-inch-diameter search knob, which turns with a feather touch and
will spin for several revolutions after a flick of the finger. When the
search button on the panel is engaged, this knob shifts the position of
the laser pickup forward or backward across the disc, providing
exceptionally easy and precise cueing. A fast or slow search rate can
be selected by a button on the panel. Slow search changes the cueing
position in increments of 0.1 second of playing time; in fast search
the increments are roughly 1 second.
Another useful feature is Auto-Cue. When this button is engaged, the
player automatically goes into pause at the end of each track and
positions the laser at the actual starting point of the following
track. Since CD tracks are often separated by a silent interval, this
feature makes it easy to begin play precisely on the first note of a
track when the start button is pressed.
Most of the other control buttons on the panel will be familiar to
users of conventional CD players. A numerical keypad provides direct
access to any track or, with the index button, any indexed point within
a selected track. It can also be used to program up to twenty tracks
for playback in any sequence. The keypad also permits access to any
portion of a disc by its elapsed-time position, and a time cue can be
stored during play by pressing a single button. Later, pressing time
recall begins playback from that point.
The entire disc, a programmed sequence, or any selected portion of a
track can be repeated, and there are the usual forward and reverse
track-skip and track-search buttons. The search buttons are designed to
shift the laser by one track width (approximately 0.1 second of playing
time) with each momentary touch, so that a user can synchronize two CD
players for smooth in/out fades. Although the SL-P1300 is not unusual
in having a music-scan feature that plays a few seconds of each track
before proceeding to the next one, its version of the feature is unique
in that the duration of the sample, normally 10 seconds, can be varied
between 1 and 59 seconds with the keypad on the supplied remote control.
Finally, another unique feature of the SL-P1300 is its pitch control.
When activated by a button, this slider control varies the speed of the
playback (and thereby the pitch of the music) over a nominal ±
8-percent range. This feature is useful to home tapists or broadcasters
who may need to adjust the length of a selection to fit an available
time slot or to match the pitch or tempo of one recording to that of
another.
The display window is conventional, with large numerals showing the
track and index numbers and elapsed or remaining time in minutes,
seconds, and tenths of a second. A "music calendar" grid shows the
numbers of all unplayed tracks up to a maximum of twenty. Displayed
symbols and words indicate the status of the various operating controls
of the player.
Like the earlier SL-P1200, the SL-P1300 makes extensive use of
multilayer damping materials within its zinc die-cast case. The entire
player is supported on four large, rubber-damped spring feet, and the
optical assembly and power transformers (separate for analog and
digital circuits) inside the case are individually isolated from the
base to minimize vibration effects. The wireless remote control
operates all main-panel functions except power on/ off, disc
compartment open/close, Time Recall, dial search, Auto-Cue, and pitch
control. The music-scan and index-skipping functions can be performed
only from the remote control.
Advanced circuit features of the SL-P1300 include an
eight-times-oversampling (352.8-kHz) digital filter and an 18-bit,
high-resolution D/A converter system using dual converters for each
channel (one for the positive half and the other for the negative half
of the analog waveform). A comparison of technical specifications
indicates that the SL-P1300's ratings are about 6 dB better than the
SL-P1200's in respect to noise and channel separation. The new player
is also designed to accept 3-inch as well as standard CD's."
Lab Tests
"Meaningful performance measurements on the Technics SL-P1300 would be
impossible (or at least impractical) without the very latest in test
equipment, which we have in the Audio Precision System One. For
example, the player's frequency response varied only ±0.04 dB from 15
to 20,000 Hz. The equalization of the de-emphasis circuit was accurate
within 0.02 dB from 125 to 1,000 Hz in one channel and within about
0.003 dB in the other. Its noise-spectrum level when playing the
"signal-zero" portion of a test disc was - 120 dB at 20,000 Hz and fell
to - 145 dB at 30 Hz (except for 60- and 180-Hz hum components in one
channel at - 116 dB).
Low-level spectrum analysis of the output from test tones between - 70
and -100 dB showed a striking absence of resolvable harmonics, which
are usually present at levels of -15 to - 30 dB in other CD players.
This result was a first in our experience testing CD players with the
Audio Precision instrument. The level of the 1,000-hz test tone was
within a fraction of a decibel of the correct value even at - 100 dB,
another indication of the low-level linearity of the d/a converter. The
linearity of the playback from the sweeping tone (with dither) of the
CBS CD-I disc was excellent from - 60 dB until it disappeared in the
noise level at about - 116 dB.
The channel separation, almost identical on both channels, was about
130 dB at 100 Hz and about 100 dB at 20,000 Hz. The total harmonic
distortion (THD) plus noise at 1,000 Hz was -96 dB (0.0016 percent) at
0 dB and -98 dB (0.0013 percent) from -40 to -80 dB. For reasons that
are not clear, the distortion rose abruptly to - 86 dB (0.005 percent)
at -20 dB, but from a listening standpoint, of course, that level is as
insignificant as the other distortion measurements. Interchannel phase
shift varied smoothly from -0.2 degree at 5,000 Hz to - 1.2 degrees at
20,000 Hz.
The weighted wide-band noise was - 114 dB, and quantization noise (with
the d/a converters operating) was -95 dB. The dynamic range (EIAJ) was
97.5 dB. The frequency error was +0.0018 percent, and the pitch control
had a range of + 9.49 percent to -7.41 percent. The 0-dB output level
into an EIA load was 2.49 volts, with a channel imbalance of 0.05 dB.
The defect-tracking ability of the SL-P1300 was excellent, reaching
beyond the 1,500-micrometer level of the Pierre Verany #2 test disc
before audible dropouts occurred, and its impact resistance was the
best we have seen in a home CD player. Only with the most extraordinary
pounding on its case (more painful to the perpetrator than to the
victim) could we cause brief dropouts. The cueing time of 1.5 seconds
ranks with many of the faster CD players made today. Finally, the
headphone volume was excellent, about 3.5 to 4 volts into typical
headphone impedance loads before clipping occurred."
Comments
"The Technics SL-P1300 is one of the most advanced CD players we have
seen to date. While a few of its individual measurements have been
equaled or slightly surpassed by some other top units, its overall
performance places it at the head of its class in our experience.
We have been using an SL-P1200 for some time as a reference CD player,
so we were naturally curious to compare it with its successor. Making
the same measurements on both units with the same discs and test
equipment, we verified that the newer circuits of the SL-P1300 do in
fact produce measurable benefits. Compared with the SL-P1200, its
wide-band noise level was 7 dB lower, its quantization noise was 3 dB
lower, and its dynamic range was 2 dB greater. Its low-level linearity
curve was visibly superior, and channel separation was about 10 to 20
dB greater.
All of these measurable differences really have little to do with the
sound of the player, however, since we are dealing with infinitesimal
performance aberrations. The principal significance, as we see it, is
that Technics has made a number of refinements that, in the aggregate,
make an excellent product even better. One of the most striking
characteristics of our measurements of the SL-P1300 is their symmetry.
Measurements on the two channels of a CD player almost always differ,
often by a substantial amount. Even though the differences are not
likely to have an audible effect, their presence suggests a degree of
uncertainty that seems out of place in such a sophisticated component
as a CD player. The fact that the two channels of the SL-P1300 measured
so much more alike than those of other CD players suggests that its
makers really had a handle on what they were doing, from the conception
to the manufacture of the finished product.
The SL-P1300 is a most impressively engineered component. While I
cannot say that it sounded better than other top-of-the-line CD
players, or even different from them, I can say that I have not seen
another CD player combining such a high level of performance and
versatility with such an overall feeling of ruggedness, quality, and
precision."
Dimensions: 17"W x 15"D x 6.5"H. Weight: 36 lbs.
Produced 1988-92. Retail $1800.
Condition
Serial #FJ9IP10113, Technics SL-P1300 CD Player, 120V 60Hz.
Unit is in VERY GOOD condition, shows minor wear and
tear.
Unit is in EXCELLENT working condition and sounds great.
Plays factory produced CDs quite well and sounds impressive.
There are very few early CD Players that reach this level. Does not
read/play CD-R discs.
Includes the correct Technics Remote Control (these are
impossible to find).
Includes Print Out of Owners Manual.
Terms
Buyer to prepay for TECHNICS SL-P1300 and
packing/shipping/insurance.
Local pick up is welcome. Sales tax applicable for Arizona
buyers.
Actual unit in photos.
Sold as is, with no further guarantee.
PayPal or Visa/Mastercard/AMEX thru PayPal
accepted. Visa/Mastercard/Discover/AMEX
accepted directly also.
International
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