quote:

Originally posted by ghostshrooms Why did Panasonic stop selling Technics awhile back? People are still buying new records and was it Jack White who said record selling is at an all time high last year or this year or something

IIRC despite declining sales they also were getting problems with the supply chain for making technics.

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June 2018 mix

I posted this in the other thread about it:

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Originally posted by DJ RANN I'm with Paulino on this one; Pioneer had the option to go further and do timecode control turntable. The Reloop model did do it, but reloop are really crap as a company (I used to service some of their stuff) and secondly choices they made for parts like the tonearm and buttons were not smart. Granted it's only $799 and when you put it in to perspective that the new Pioneer one is $100 less and doesn't do a fraction of what the Reloop does, the pioneer starts looking like really bad value and the reloop starts to look like quite the bargain. And this is where I think Pioneer have completely missed the mark: Removable Power cable. Wow. Removable RCAs. Golly. 2 lbs heavier. Great. Rubber inside the tone arm. Amazing. CDJ style start/stop button. gosh. The removable cables are nice for installers but I plug my techs in and out maybe once a year. The weight difference won't mean anything. Rubber inside the tonearm? There may be some engineering merit to it but honestly, I'd prefer the Technics tonearm which is the best. CDJ start button? We know how those hold up to abuse. Now combine that with the fact it's made by Pioneer who don't make either the best sounding or the best lasting kit, you get all this for $700. The missed a massive chance here; They should have made a timecode turntable. By that I don't mean midi (both MTC and MMC are awful for time based control for anything precise) - they should have made it stream control data (Serato or Traktor) and then it would have been a serious contender. This crap? Nothing more than a marginal difference to Techs but I trust Technics' build quality and not pioneer's.

As a former Technics service Engineer, I can tell you why they stopped making Turntables:

1, Panasonic, along with the entire Japanese consumer electronics sector, were struggling. They had to lay off tousands of staff and when they started looking at the numbers, they had to figure out which divisions were making the highest returns and which had room for growth.

2, Technics cost Matsushita a lot to make and the cost was only going up due to metal costs skyrocketing in the 30 years they produced them. Manufacturing margins were as low as 20% for some models and when you compared that to their other products like car stereos where they could make them for $100, sell them for $500 and you need to replace them every few years it makes a $500 turntable that lasts quite literally a lifetime, not a great financial model.

3, Technics made such a good product, especially taking in to consideration the durability of it, and sold so many that the market was quite literally saturated. You can still to this day, buy brand new boxed Technics if you know where to look, even though they were discontinued over 4 years ago.

4, Finally, brands like pioneer made a concerted effort to tell noob DJ's that they constantly needed to the New and improved model to be up to date. They kept (and keep) churning out new models just to keep their bsuiness alive, and not create one or at least just a few great products with longevity.

just look at the resale price of something like CDJ800 now. You'll be lucky if you get $200 and that unit was $900 new.

Tech 1210's? Cost $350 10 years ago new. Now, good condition 1210 mk2 still goes for $300.

There are rumours that many of the Technics patents have been bought or licensed and the uncanny similarity between them indicated this is true.

Some also suggest that Pioneer fucked themselves by endlessly bringing out new CDJ's and USB players and people (like myself) got bored and DJ sales have shifted over the last 3 years to DVS.

So is this Pioneer testing the waters to abandon CDJ's and got for Turntables capable of vinyl and DVS?

So fucking ironic that the company that told everyone CDJ's and USB were the future now bring out a device designed in 1972. Oh and not to mention they spent the last 15 years convincing you this device was outdated.

I think all those out there who have repetitively bought Pioneer products should feel like they got bent over and didn't even get a reach around

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN I posted this in the other thread about it: As a former Technics service Engineer, I can tell you why they stopped making Turntables: 1, Panasonic, along with the entire Japanese consumer electronics sector, were struggling. They had to lay off tousands of staff and when they started looking at the numbers, they had to figure out which divisions were making the highest returns and which had room for growth. 2, Technics cost Matsushita a lot to make and the cost was only going up due to metal costs skyrocketing in the 30 years they produced them. Manufacturing margins were as low as 20% for some models and when you compared that to their other products like car stereos where they could make them for $100, sell them for $500 and you need to replace them every few years it makes a $500 turntable that lasts quite literally a lifetime, not a great financial model. 3, Technics made such a good product, especially taking in to consideration the durability of it, and sold so many that the market was quite literally saturated. You can still to this day, buy brand new boxed Technics if you know where to look, even though they were discontinued over 4 years ago. 4, Finally, brands like pioneer made a concerted effort to tell noob DJ's that they constantly needed to the New and improved model to be up to date. They kept (and keep) churning out new models just to keep their bsuiness alive, and not create one or at least just a few great products with longevity. just look at the resale price of something like CDJ800 now. You'll be lucky if you get $200 and that unit was $900 new. Tech 1210's? Cost $350 10 years ago new. Now, good condition 1210 mk2 still goes for $300. There are rumours that many of the Technics patents have been bought or licensed and the uncanny similarity between them indicated this is true. Some also suggest that Pioneer fucked themselves by endlessly bringing out new CDJ's and USB players and people (like myself) got bored and DJ sales have shifted over the last 3 years to DVS. So is this Pioneer testing the waters to abandon CDJ's and got for Turntables capable of vinyl and DVS? So fucking ironic that the company that told everyone CDJ's and USB were the future now bring out a device designed in 1972. Oh and not to mention they spent the last 15 years convincing you this device was outdated. I think all those out there who have repetitively bought Pioneer products should feel like they got bent over and didn't even get a reach around

It is pretty amazing to me how not even ten years ago it meant something to invest in high end gear, even from Pioneer, because you knew you were safe from a new version or update for at least a few years. Unfortunately it's now become like cell phones with a new model coming out every year with one minor new feature, making last years model outdated.

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I don't trust q-bert or shortbut. I would like to see a review from like jeff mills or the like.

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Originally posted by PaULiN0 I don't trust q-bert or shortbut. I would like to see a review from like jeff mills or the like.

Mills doesn't even play vinyl anymore

Anyways, not sure why anyone that's not a flashy turntableist would ever buy these. For that price you can get a working Technics /w Stylus even in Berlin (and Technics here are probably more expensive than anywhere else), why would you go with some new unproven thing, when you can get something that has been tried and tested over the past 25 years?

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June 2018 mix

Great post Rann, thanks for that!