Technics - SL-1300G Grand Class Direct Drive Turntable

ΔΣ-Drive motor control paired with a twin-rotor coreless motor and a three-layer brass-and-aluminium platter — the Grand Class engine of the SL-1200G, 5kg lighter and drawing less power.

The SL-1300G takes the drive electronics Technics introduced on the SL-1200GR2 and puts them behind a substantially more serious motor. Where the GR2 uses a single-rotor, single-stator design, the SL-1300G uses what Technics describes as an iron-coreless double-rotor, single-stator motor. Two rotors sharing the load reduces the burden on the bearing while keeping torque high, and starting torque goes up accordingly — 0.32N·m against the GR2’s 2.2kg-cm, roughly half again as much.

The platter is the other headline. It is a three-layer construction: an aluminium die-cast core, a 2mm brass layer bonded solidly to it, and a rubber damping layer underneath. Brass is dense and, more usefully, its resonant behaviour is quite different from aluminium’s, so bonding the two together spreads and damps whatever ringing either would have on its own. The finished platter weighs about 3.6kg — the same formula and mass as the SL-1200G’s.

That combination is what makes the SL-1300G interesting in the range. It uses the SL-1200G’s platter formula and torque figure, adds the ΔΣ-Drive control the SL-1200G predates, and comes in at approximately 13kg rather than 18kg and 10W rather than 14W. Technics does not explain the weight difference and we are not going to speculate about it.

One correction worth making plainly, because it is a common assumption: the SL-1300G has no built-in phono stage. Every Technics source — the US and UK product pages, the launch announcement, the owner’s manual and Panasonic’s support page — lists a PHONO output and an earth terminal and nothing else. There is no LINE output and no PHONO/LINE switch. The models with a built-in phono equaliser are the SL-1500C and SL-1500CS. Budget for a phono stage with this one.

No cartridge is fitted. We will mount and align whatever you choose.

Features

• Iron-coreless twin-rotor direct-drive motor with ΔΣ-Drive control
• 0.32N·m starting torque — about 50% more than the SL-1200GR2
• Three-layer platter: aluminium die-cast, a bonded 2mm brass layer and rubber damping, approximately 3.6kg
• Static-balance S-shaped aluminium tonearm, 230mm, with 0–6mm height adjustment
• 33 1/3, 45 and 78rpm
• 0.7 seconds from standstill to 33 1/3rpm
• Available in silver and black
• Special silicone rubber insulators
• No cartridge and no phono stage — a pure turntable

Specifications

• Type: Direct drive manual turntable
• Drive: Direct drive with ΔΣ-Drive (Delta Sigma Drive) motor control
• What ΔΣ-Drive does: Technics generates the motor drive waveform using PWM derived from ΔΣ modulation — the same high-precision one-bit conversion technique used in their full-digital amplifiers — to produce what they describe as a perfect sine wave. The stated result is a large reduction in motor vibration, and improvements in tracking precision, imaging and noise floor. It was introduced on the SL-1200GR2. Technics’ own SL-1300G announcement is clear that ΔΣ-Drive was not introduced with this model — it came first on the SL-1200GR2 — and that the SL-1300G applies it in a higher class alongside a stronger motor
• Motor: Brushless DC. Technics’ UK page describes an iron-coreless motor of twin-rotor construction; their US announcement describes it as an iron-coreless double-rotor, single-stator type with higher driving force than the SL-1200GR2’s single-rotor, single-stator motor, and states the coil-mounting circuit board was reinforced to further reduce mechanical vibration. Both descriptions are marketing prose rather than formal spec-table rows. Coil and pole counts are not published
• Platter: Three-layer: aluminium die-cast base, a 2mm brass layer fixed to it, and a rubber damping layer on the underside. Technics’ spec table calls it “brass and aluminium die-cast combined.” 332mm, approximately 3.6kg
• Speeds: 33 1/3, 45 and 78rpm. Technics’ UK spec page footnotes the actual 78rpm speed as 78.26rpm
• Starting torque: 0.32N·m (3.3kgf·cm / 2.86 lbf-in)
• Start-up time: 0.7 seconds from standstill to 33 1/3rpm
• Wow and flutter: 0.025% W.R.M.S. No measurement standard is named on this model’s spec page
• Rumble / signal-to-noise ratio: Not published on the UK or US spec pages, in the owner’s manual, or on Panasonic’s support page
• Tonearm: Static balance. Technics’ UK copy describes an S-shaped aluminium tonearm with high-precision bearings. Unlike the GR2 manual, no Technics document for the SL-1300G uses the word gimbal, and bearing material is not published
• Effective tonearm length: 230mm
• Overhang: 15mm
• Offset angle: 22°
• Tracking error angle: Within 2°32′ at the outer groove; within 0°32′ at the inner groove
• Effective tonearm mass: Not published. Technics publishes no tonearm effective mass figure for any turntable in the current range.
• Arm height adjustment: 0–6mm
• Anti-skate: An anti-skating control is fitted. Technics does not name the mechanism type
• Headshell: Included, approximately 7.6g. No model number is published
• Cartridge weight range: From 5.6–12.0g at the low end, rising to 23.0–28.5g depending on counterweight configuration — a noticeably wider top end than the SL-1200GR2’s 18.7–25.1g maximum
• Cartridge fitted: None
• Built-in phono equaliser: None. Every Technics source for this model lists only a PHONO output and an earth terminal. There is no LINE output, no PHONO/LINE switch and no built-in preamp. You will need a phono input or a separate phono stage
• Auto lift: None. Technics’ manual types it as a direct drive manual turntable
• Outputs: PHONO (pin jack) x1, earth terminal x1. No balanced XLR output
• Insulators: Special silicone rubber
• Finishes: Silver (SL-1300GE-S) and black (SL-1300GE-K)
• Dimensions: 453 x 173 x 372 mm (W x H x D), with the dust cover — the same footprint as the SL-1200GR2
• Weight: Approximately 13.0kg (28.7 lbs)
• Power supply: AC 120V, 60Hz in the US
• Power consumption: 10W on — lower than the SL-1200GR2’s 11W despite the stronger motor
• Standby consumption: 0.2W. Unlike the GR2, Technics’ web page and owner’s manual agree on this figure for the SL-1300G
• Country of manufacture: Not published. Technics prints no country-of-manufacture statement on its product pages, specification sheets or owner’s manuals for any model in the current range — we checked all three for this product. Claims circulate online about where Technics builds its turntables; none of them come from Technics, so we are not going to repeat them here as fact.
• Warranty: Panasonic administers Technics warranty in the United States and the term varies by model rather than by product category. The SL-1300G does not appear in Technics’ published US warranty table. Other Grand Class turntables — the SL-1200G, SL-1210G, SL-1200GR and SL-1210GR — are listed at three years parts and labour. Ask us and we will confirm with Panasonic rather than assume. Technics states that product registration is not required and does not extend coverage. A dated sales receipt is required, coverage runs to the original purchaser, and the product must be purchased and serviced in the United States. Non-rechargeable batteries, antennas and cosmetic cabinet parts are excluded. Note that Technics’ warranty statement does not explicitly name styli or cartridges as excluded items, even though wear-part exclusion is normal industry practice — we would not assume coverage either way without asking Panasonic first.