Technics SL-J2 Turntable Review

Inexpensive yet sophisticated, the Technics SL-J2 is a fully automatic direct-drive turntable whose servo-driven linear-tracking tone arm accepts plugin P-mount cartridges. The SL-J2 offers automatic selection of the playing speed and the tone-arm indexing position as well as a feature not often found in its price range: a skip-search capability that enables the arm to skip over up to nine bands on a record in either direction. An optical sensor on the tone arm counts the appropriate number of blank (unrecorded) intervals between cuts as the arm scans across the record.

The SL-J2’s dynamically balanced tone arm is built into the hinged plastic dust cover, which lifts the pickup into a safe position whenever it is raised to load or remove a record. Lowering the cover places the pickup at the outer diameter of a 12-inch record, but the stylus is safely above the surface of the record (or rubber platter mat if no record is in place) until the start control is pressed. When the power is on, a red LED on the tone arm, which can be seen through the cover, shows the arm’s movement across the disc. There is a corresponding indicator in the calibrated scale on the top of the cover.

With the speed-selector switch next to the platter in its normal auto position, the arm’s optical sensor determines whether a 7- or a 12-inch disc has been loaded and moves the arm to the appropriate starting position. If no record is on the platter, the arm moves to the 7-inch position and then, not sensing reflected light from a disc surface, returns to its rest position. The playing speed, 33-1/3 or 45 rpm, is also selected automatically to match the record diameter. For a non-standard record such as a 7- or 10-inch LP or a 12-inch 45-rpm disc, the speed and index diameter must be set manually with two additional switches on the top of the base near the platter.

A third switch, normally left in its middle m, or medium, position, adjusts the sensitivity of the optical sensor for the skip-search system. If the blank intervals between bands on a record are unusually narrow, the sensor may overlook them. To avoid this, the switch is set for high sensitivity. On the other hand, the groove spacing on some records is greater than usual in order to accommodate large recorded amplitudes, and this might cause the sensor to interpret normal spaces as unrecorded band divisions. In this case, the low-sensitivity setting should be used.

The SL-J2’s tone arm cannot be moved by hand even when the dust cover is open, but only by use of the operating controls on the front of its base. Large, flat pushplates start and stop the player, and two smaller plates, one for each direction, control the skip-search function. The music select window on the front panel normally displays a large red 0 when the player’s power is on, serving as a pilot light. If one of the skip-search controls is lightly tapped, the numeral in the window increases by one digit, to a maximum of 9 with successive taps. At the same time, the pickup lifts and the arm moves forward or back the number of tracks selected, then begins or resumes play.

The skip-search control plates can also be used for “manual” cueing to points between band divisions. Holding one of the plates in for a couple of seconds causes the pickup to lift and the arm to slew in the desired direction until the control is released. There is a small cueing button to raise or lower the pickup in place on alternate touches, and a repeat button can be pressed to cause a record to replay indefinitely (until the button is pressed again).

The Technics SL-J2 is 12-1/2 inches square, about the size of a record jacket, and 3-1/2 inches high. It weighs 9-1/2 pounds. Price: $200.

Lab Tests

We installed a Shure V-15LT P-mount cartridge in the arm of the Technics SL-J2 for our tests. No adjustments are possible (or needed) with the mounting system’s standardized arm and cartridge dimensions, mass, and tracking force. The cartridge merely plugs into the end of the arm.

The foolproof design of this player also prevented us from checking the actual tracking force (nominally 1.25 grams) or the isolation from external vibration since the arm is completely inaccessible to the user and cannot be lowered to a stationary record. We could tell, however, that the player is quite resistant to impact on its cover or base while it is playing a record, since tapping these did not cause groove jumping unless the impact was quite severe. On the other hand, the audio-frequency components of the tapping were plainly audible in the playback signal. We did not have any problems with acoustic feedback, but our room and test setup are relatively free from acoustic feedback in any case.

The measured rumble of the SL-J2 was average for a direct-drive turntable: -32 dB unweighted, -55 dB with ARLL weighting, and -61 dB with DIN-B weighting. Although the major rumble frequency component was below the audio range, at about 8 Hz, there were also fairly strong components at 30 and 83 Hz, but the rumble was not audible at any normal playback level. Flutter was low, 0.05 percent in a JIS-weighted RMS measurement and ±0.07 percent DIN-weighted quasipeak. The speed error was less than 0.1 percent (probably comparable to the tolerance of the test record). Tone-arm capacitance measured 150 picofarads.

The start-up time for the SL-J2 to begin playing a 12-inch record from the beginning was only 4 seconds. If the skip-search function was used to start on a band near the end of a disc, start-up time increased to 9 seconds, which is comparable to the normal start-up time of many automatic turntables. At the end of a record the mechanism took 10 >6 seconds to shut off the platter motor and return the pickup to its rest position.

The low-frequency arm/cartridge resonance was at its maximum at about 12 Hz, a nearly ideal frequency from the standpoint of tracking warped records. The player operated smoothly and quietly, and the skip-search feature worked as claimed on records having visible gaps between bands. On some discs, however, the brief intervals between portions of the recording were cut with normal groove spacing, and in some of these cases the optical sensor did not interpret the divisions as silent intervals even when set to its maximum sensitivity.

Comments

The Technics SL-J2 illustrates, better than most audio components, how much more value per dollar buyers receive today compared with only a few years ago. It is attractive, about as compact as a player for 12-inch records can possibly be, extremely simple to set up and operate, highly versatile, and still relatively inexpensive.

The high degree of standardization inherent in the P-mount system means that the overall performance of this player should be virtually independent of the cartridge installed in it, and the cartridge can be installed without the usual critical setup alignments. The linear-tracking tone arm, having no need for antiskating compensation, remains in place when the cueing button is operated, and the stylus returns to the exact point on the record from which it was raised (a feat few pivoted arms can match). The simple operating controls make the player usable even by a child without risk of damage to records or the cartridge.

The only substantive criticism I might direct against this unit is that the interior is not illuminated well enough for accurate manual cueing of the pickup to portions of a recording not separated by visible (or photoelectronically detectable) gaps. The red position light on the arm is not very helpful. A strong external light would solve this problem, however.

In sum, the Technics SL-J2 is a lot of record player for the money. It may not appeal to some hard-core audiophiles (to whom the simple and foolproof P-mount system seems to be anathema), but for playing records well its overall value is hard to match.

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