Customer Reviews

Panasonic Technics SLBD20D Semi Automatic Turntable

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I personally own this turntable. It is not a heavy duty dj constructed turntable such as their MK 2 series or the new M3D. It was designed by Technics for practical and casual in home use.It provides excellent and almost perfect accuracy with regard to very low wow and flutter (speed differences that would audibly affect playback).This is for the couch potato who likes to put an lp on and not have to worry about turning it off.The semi-automatic operation takes care of that.In addition, anti-skating and tone arm weight adjustments have already been pre set at the factory so there is no guess work for the owner.The plug in cartridge is easy to replace without having to gauge stylus contact and performance as with a pro dj turntable. However,heed my warning, here are the drawbacks: If you are a heavy vinyl user and enjoy adjusting anti skating or counter weight balance for optimal high end quality sound, this is not the table for that. Their MK2 or M3D are the tables that are suitable for those tasks.Also, I have been able to compare this table's tracking abilities using a slightly warped record (warped around the edge only) and the SLBD20D could not keep up. However, when I tried it on a Technics M3D I was able to adjust the counterweight balance and tracking force, anti-skating, etc. and low and behold the M3D stood its ground.Don't get me wrong, the SLBD20D is a well constructed table run by a very quiet belt-driven dc motor. It's a fine simple machine that sets out to do the simple operation of just playing a record. Also, not everyone can nor is willing (on a tight budget)to fork over several hundreds of dollars for a dj turntable if their lp collection is very limited. This is a great budget turntable with the feel of remarkable Technics engineering behind it !!!

Attempting to transcribe some rare soundtrack albums unavailable on CD, I discovered to my dismay that my venerable Dual automatic turntable - buried for more than ten years under several stacks of CDs - had given up the ghost.
No strobe light. No motion. No nothing. Dead.
I saw the Technics SL-BD20D at a refurbished sale recently and decided to take a chance. I'm very glad I did; this is a solid no-frills turntable that does all the basics right and will satisfy the needs of all but the most demanding audiophiles.
I did replace the cartridge that came with the machine. Surface noise seemed excessive and the sound seemed a little distant or hollow; in fairness, there was other evidence that the refurbishers might not have done their job properly, and perhaps I bought a unit with a worn needle.
At any rate, equipped with a Shure MP94E P-Mount Cartridge, the SL-BD20D sounds great. As I say, it handles basics superbly. This is a serious turntable that will treat your vinyl with respect, not one of those retro novelty machines you see advertised.
The SL-BD20D has a straight low-mass tone arm, and the playing geometry is correct. I don't hear the sibilance at the end of record sides that I have heard when a cartridge is improperly aligned or a tone arm improperly mounted. Surface noise is surprisingly low. The servo motor and belt drive provide good steady speed, with no audible hum, wow, or flutter.
I read a user griping that you can't set the tracking force or anti-skating on this machine. The whole idea of the P-Mount design is you don't need to; P-Mount cartridges are designed to track properly at this machine's pre-set 1.25 gram force. After several hours of playing records, the SL-BD20D with the Shure cartridge has tracked perfectly, never skipping once in either direction.
With the low-mass tone arm and anti-resonant base, bass is full but well damped. I am listening to Fleetwood Mac doing Rhiannon now, and it sounds as good as I remember ever hearing it - even with my beloved old Shure V-15 Type IV.
The SL-BD20D is a semi-automatic design; you lower the stylus onto the record with the well-damped cueing mechanism, and the machine returns the tone arm to rest and shuts off automatically at the end of the side.
As someone who grew up with generations of what we used to call record players, from Webcors to Garrards to Miracords to Duals, I have seen my share of eccentric and unreliable mechanisms. I am happy to report that the mechanism on the SL-BD20D works very quietly, with smooth and precise movements. Traditional Japanese attention to detail.
Otherwise, the SL-BD20D is handsome and comes with a hinged smoked dust cover, 45 adapter, and full-sized turntable to support your vinyl properly. It should be noted, however, that the unit does not include a preamp.
You can spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on an audiophile turntable. But if you simply want first-class sound with a minimum of fuss and bother, you can have the SL-BD20D with a good cartridge that's a snap to install for well under $200. That's impressive indeed.

Ok, here is an update - long overdue as the original had a few typos :)
(Hey, Amazon, you oughta like this, because your merchants can sell more stuff - because this is all about how to begin with audiophile madness and all the sound upgrades and tweaks one can do - heeeee)

This and its pitch controllable sibling BD22 are the very last semi listenable semi automatic entry level turntables below 300 dollars on the market. If you are looking for a machine that will lift the arm at the end of the record, this is pretty much the only one left that will do it and not sound like a plastic cup string telephone.

There is a SHAMEFUL glut of ever cheaper tables on the market now, so you can do MUCH worse than this one!

It is not the worst I've heard, but PLEASE don't pay attention to die-hard "Technics is the best" fans.

There you go - ok machine on a budget - expect ok sound, don't listen for more, stop reading here and buy and do NOT look back, or read on and catch the audio bug :)

Most of the Technics fans (I used to be one myself as a teen, must be the name, GREAT marketing!) only read manufacturer's hype sheets and have never tried a Thorens, Dual, Music Hall, Project, etc - not even mentioning giving a listen to a real esoteric piece that will cost more than a garage full of several luxury custom hybrid sedans!

Keep in mind that a stylus (the "needle") should be checked at least every 300 hours, and will be due for replacement after 1000 hours, earlier if your records are worn and scratchy, so having 1/2 inch mount for any cartridge of choice, instead of this Technics/Panasonic DB20 T4P mount, is a real advantage in case the needle is no longer available!
This P-mount machine is ok, but I am not taking bets for P-mount cartridges and replacement needles to be around as long as 1/2 inch mounts will be - at least for quality replacements!

If you are on a strict budget, then for sure this is the best choice under 200 dollars, but don't expect exceptional sound.
A good homebaked player to revive your vinyl collection, take it as such, and I think many people will be quite happy with it.

If can you get yourself to get out of the chair at the end of the record to lift the arm and return it, then look for a HiFi dealer that carries the contemporary audiophile turntables made by Music Hall or Project. You will have to spring around 300 dollars for their lowest offerings, but you get a real turntable - one that can accept standard 1/2 inch mount cartridges and can be tweaked and upgraded for better sound in small steps - making them ideal as a pre-programmed christmas wishlist that will never leave your better half guess at what you want, from a new platter, to a new cartridge, to cables, to a matt, to a new receiver, speakers - get the picture?
This Technics/Panasonic BD20 is ... well, sort of is it, no upgrades :)

Even the factory cartridges on the Music Hall MMF 2.1 and the Project 1.2 (both can be ordered with either Goldring or Ortofon cartridges) will sound much better than the T4P style cartridge on the Technics BD20 (there is no longer any really good T4P cartridge on the market for later upgrades) and if you need a new needle or want to upgrade to a better one, your selection will be much bigger down the line.

Almost forgot - Gemini, GLI-Pro, and Stanton have completely manual "DJ" tables on the market at a budget lower than a Technics 1200 series.
All of them are much sturdier, heavier, with a better platter and base than the BD20, and they take 1/2 inch mount cartridges as well and allow full adjustment and balancing of the tone arm.
For good listening DO NOT get the "straight" DJ tone arms I have seen in a few musician stores, you'll ruin your records! Get either the S shaped arms, or make sure the head is angled in, or can mount the cartridge at the proper angle (not always obvious).

If you cannot tell the difference between a cheap portable Walmart pocket CD player plugged into your stereo and a good full sized CD player, then the Technics BD20 may be for you, but if you can tell any difference at all, then do yourself a favor: Save the 120 bucks for a better turntable - you won't end up throwing it to Goodwill like so many have done (i've been through a lot of turntables - it's a hobby, I also fix them up for a friend with a second hand store, and I keep peeking around for what's out there)

The problem with the new cheap machines is that they are too light. Flimsy platters, and light flexible bases mean a plasticky sound.
If you can't afford a new 300 dollar machine you are much better off buying an old used table.
SOME of the Technics players were good, the later and current 1200 series is overrated and over priced. Technics models 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1301 are suitable hifi players, never mind the DJ machines.
Old Pioneer, Dual, Sansui, Hitachi, etc are all potentially good choices.

I know from my dealer friend without ANY failure returns on that model that a brand new Audio Technica AT 120 can be top notch with a higher end cartridge, BUT make sure you get it from a reputable dealer who can assist! If you get it or ANY equipment through "grey" channels, you should know how to install cartridges and check for proper grounding if you run into problem like a few have reported (yes, grounding can be done despite lack of a ground cable on this model, but it takes a wee know how!)

The bargain hunter's real secret for a cheap frills table are the OLD Sanyo, Hitachi, Pioneer, and a "Dual" semi auto model 510 is true audiophile grade and can be on ebay for as little as 25 bucks and will not have the problems of the more complex full auto models!

For old tables there are a few simple rules:
The simpler the better, the heavier the better, direct drive ok as long as it works, don't bother budgeting repairs for direct drives though, so belt drive is preferred!
By the way - Dual is still made in Germany!
The current semi auto Dual model 505-4 is very good, but a few of their OLDER models were even better - the new 505-4 is set at $1275 MSRP in the US. Buy a vintage Dual, send it to me or anybody with know how for any usually simple repairs (chuckle) and you have BARGAIN!
Getting the idea about the value of vintage equipment by now?

Beware fully automatic stacking tables in any case. I love them and have a Dual belt drive collection, but they may take a lot of tinkering to get them to work right!

Look for a solid belt or direct drive machine with a platter weighing at least 2 pounds, preferrably with a floating chassis (the platter and arm are spring suspended). You can find them for under 50 dollars.
Add a new cartridge, like Audio Technica AT110, AT 71, AT440, Shure M97 - Ortofon is rated high, but the OM-5 always sounds dull to me, so spring at least for an OM-10.
Ok, and here is my current favorite entry level high end secret for under 60 bucks, the "Sumiko Oyster" - sweet, sweet, sweet!
I need to try another Grado myself. While they can be very fatigue free and pleasant, they are very sensitive for the make and model of turntable and arm, more so than anything else I have tried over the years, so a local dealer is best in case of returns!
So, a fun hunt, maybe 50 to 150 for the table, plus around 50 to 100 dollars for a decent cartridge, and you have a much better setup.

I have an Audio Technica OC-9 moving coil cartridge (expensive - just went from 349 to 699 MSRP), but that is strictly used for burning CD copies. For daily listening the Audio Technica AT440 is hands down one of the best values (if you can find an old stock version, or act FAST on buying one here, as it too just went to triple its old MSRP and is now officially marked at 300 bucks!), along with the Shure M97 and the Sumiko Oyster or Sumiko Pearl.

Also keep in mind that you need a "phono" input on your stereo. If you have a modern stereo amp or receiver, chances are you don't have one. A so called phono-preamp will boost the player's signal for use in the "aux" input of your receiver. A good phono preamp is around 50 dollars.
NEVER connect anything but a turntable to a phono input, it is meant to be sensitive and it is - plugging a CD player in a phono input can smoke your amp!
So never mind the comments about built in phono preamps, the players that have them are mostly shoddy sounding - except the Audio Technica AT120 :)

Summary: the Technics BD20 is ok if you're on a budget, but you can do better with a little snooping and effort.

I have owned this turntable for several years now.You cannot compare this to the DJ famous standard 1200MK or M3D or even the newer high end models from Technics;They are worlds apart in every way and basically opposite each other on the spectrum for performance and durability ! Plain and simple...It is a no frills, easy- to- operate -for- home- use- only turntable. Do not expect this to be able to perform DJ scratching functions.It's belt driven. To replace the belt when it wears down you may have to search online for a company or hi-fi parts/turntable distributor direct (it's always wise to purchase more than one at a time like the cartridges/stylus).

Now, the positives. It's a sweet and smooth semi-automatic which means you put the needle down and it will lift the tonearm,return it to it's resting position and the whole unit shuts itself off (awesome for couch potatos and to avoid ruining your needle)at record's end. It uses a P-mount cartridge which is nice and easy to replace and use.You literally plug in a new cartridge and use only one screw to secure the cartridge to the headshell and tonearm.There is no gauging or measuring or guessing the stylus pressure and anti-skating settings for the unit;all are prefactory set. No fuss.No muss.The profile and aesthetics of the 'table look slim and sharp as a stereo/audio component addition to what you may already own.It's a contemporary styling and the charcoal or dark brown bronze color looks cool.Overall, the slim profiling and size of the unit will not take up too much space or look like an outdated record player of the 70's. The other plus is that the RCA jacks (left and right output plugs) are detachable along with the ground wire which is nice if you ever have to repair or replace them.

How does it sound? Mechanically, it is a very ultra-smooth dc servo motor that keeps the platter rotation speed in sync for accuracy.Many audiophile purists claim that belt operation is much preferred over direct drive due to unwanted motor noise and rumble transmitted to platter and out your speakers...Unless, you are going to really be fussy and only play classical music or music with a lot of quiet passages will you be able to tell the difference if a belt-drive is preferred over direct drive...I've owned both belt and dd motor tables and have yet to be able to sonically tell the difference over the other and which is sonically better.It goes along with other turntable debates such as straight arm versus s-shaped arm, linear versus radial playback, manual versus automatic, etc. etc....You get the picutre. It all comes down to personal preference and experience with turntables. Ultimately, whether you choose to go with this belt-driven reliable deck or their higher end direct drive you may never be able to tell the sonic difference in performance. Technics builds only highly reliable and above average to near excellent quality sounding turntables in both the mechanical workings and electronics to almost near perfect audiophile sound quality or musical output! In fact,if you choose one of their direct drives over this belt driven model, Technics' direct drive motor engineering and quality are superb for quiet performance over lesser known name brands. The only drawback is that all 1200 series models are manual (have been for about almost 30 years now)...Hey, in this day and age when most people claim that vinyl is dead, one listen on a Technics turntable and they'll regret tossing out some of their album collections (particularly since some records will never be releassed on the cd format---plus, you can now burn records onto a cd recorder/cd-r system) !!!The Technics SL BD20D is a remarkable and wonderful simple semi-automatic and reliable unit to own if you are not an audiophile vinyl purist looking for the perfect analog playback system! This deck will do the trick in just playing your records with a great sound quality...

This turntable performs flawlessly, the factory adjustments are right on spec... Sound quality is very good... If you want to listen to music and not constantly mess with adjustments then this is the one to get... The supplied stylus tracks very well, never skips or jumps, and produces very good quality sound... I also have one of those so called DJ turntables with direct drive and all the beeps and whistles for adjustments and a very expensive shure stylus with it, and the sound quality is just as good with this semi-automatic SLBD20D. Plus with a direct drive you can hear the rumble of the direct drive system if you listen closely... with the belt drive there is no wow or flutter associated with the mechanical operation of the platter... In my opinion a belt drive table is the only way to go for superior sound quality... Don't worry about replacing the belt due to wear, if you can't spring for $5.00 to $10 every 5 to 10 years then suffer with rumble of a direct drive... by the way the direct drive rubber wheel can also wear and get hard and crack and it cost alot more to replace than a simple rubber band... I suppose that there are other brands that are a little less expensive that would get the job done as well but I happen to trust Technics, they have been making turntables a long time and also their turntables are the benchmarks by which all others are compared too.
If you want to put a more expensive stylus on, that probably your ears would not be able to tell the difference then go and make your wallet lighter... maybe a more expensive stylus does do a better job... but who is going to put this thing on an osciliscope and measure the difference and look at a bunch of green lines on a screen... I just want it pleasant to my ears and to produce good sound quality which this table does do...
I can play a record and if I happen to leave and forget to turn it off, no problem it will shut itself off when done... try that with a DJ style and if you happen to be gone for a weeks vacation by the time you get back you won't have much of a stylus left and a sever scratch at the end of your record...
If you are going to DJ and scratch then yea get a DJ style table but if you want listening pleasure then get a belt drive semi or full automatic table that will produce probably better sound quality for less money...

This is a great basic turntable if you're just looking to play the old LPs, however, be warned that if you plan on hooking this up to a mini-stereo system without phono jacks, then you'll need to purchase a seperate pre-amp which runs around [dollar amount]. This brings the total cost of the unit to about [dollar amount] which is not worth it if you're just a casual user of LPs (plus this is only a semi-automatic). You'd be better off purchasing a cheaper system (e.g. the sony) with a built-in pre-amp so that it can connect to mini-systems.

I had doubts about a simple turntable doing the job as well as this one. It works just fine. Tracks well, and the included cartridge is not at all bad in squeezing decent sound out of those old albums. This is semi automatic,meaning you set a switch to "cuing,' place the tone arm above the lead in track. Then close the plastic hatch if you like, and then move the switch to the down position. After the last track,the arm returns to its plastic holder. It is easier than it sounds. For initial setup the skinny silicone rubber belt needs to be slipped onto a shaft that connects to the platter underneath the unit (a two minute job with a pencil) and then you are good to go. This one will sit on a shelf with about 10" of hatch clearance. I attached the ground wire,but I suspect that it is not needed. I would place it on a stable shelf just for avoiding thumps at low frequency if you touch the shelf during play.
True, the cartridge is a budget one,and the P mount is simple,no gold contacts or frills. But it sounds really fine! I am tryihg a slightly better Grado (ca 60.00) I have owned, and it shows marginal improvement to my ears. Cartridge replacement entails removing one tiny jeweler size Philips screw. The Technics P mount system has always been under rated in my opinion,it is so beautiful and no fuss for the simple but pure of heart... Technics has provided one table adjustment, a vertical clearance screw,in the event the cartridge replacement clearance is too close to the disc. (I didn't need it with the Grado BTW). One can spend a lot of money on a turntable,-don't let me stop you--however if you just want to transcribe old discs to other media, or just have a working turntable, I would give this one a shot. Don't tell the listeners what you paid...they won't notice the sound difference over a superduper model. If you do not have an audiophile budget,go for it. And last but not to be dismissed, the shipping and packaging were superb. Five stars to Amazon on this one.

I wanted a turntable to play records from an old collection. I shopped and researched fairly extensively many higher and lower priced models and decided that this price point would do what I needed for the few records I had. I liked the semi automatic feature. I figured with a turntable, less is more and if I fell asleep while listening it would shut itself off. The operation of the turntable was excellent.
Earlier, I had purchased a new Shure M93E cartridge ($20) for an old turntable in an attempt to salvage it (to no avail) and found that cartridge to be better in the SLD20D than the one that came with it. The highs were much cleaner, with almost no distortion. I eventually bought quite a few additional lps on EBay to supplement my collection. That's how satisfying the sound was. The turntable is great, but I gave Panasonic 4 stars because they could have included a better cartridge for a little more money.

I must disagree with parts of two previous reviews.

Regarding the review of Aug 11th: I am running the table with a Grado Black cartridge and it works perfectly. As a matter of fact, it is essential to ditch the supplies low quality cartridge and go with something else to get decent performance out of the table. There are very few full-frequency (range of at least 20-20,000 HZ), quality P-mount cartridges available and the Grado Black cartridge is one of them. Just make sure that the grounding wire is solidly attached to both the turntable and your phono preamp (or integrated receiver.)

Regarding the review of April 22nd: I have not noticed any speed instabilities. As a matter of fact, this tables listed specs with regards to speed variations / wow&flutter (0.06%) rank up there with, or actually better many high-end table (for example the $1200 Clearaudio Emotion turntable has wow/flutter of 0.2%, over 3X worse than the Technics.) Poor speed stability is very common among `high-end' tables for some unknown reason, and one reason why I feel no rush to `upgrade' tables anytime soon.

I wanted a turntable that was an automatic or at least had automatic return. There are very few decent-quality automatic turntables on the market when I purchased. About the only other game in town was Thorens, and I read many reviews mentioning their quality had gone far downhill some years ago. I even tried a head-to-head comparison against a fully-manual Project Debut III turntable, but the Debut III skipped like crazy no matter what I did, had no convenience features, and had no sonic advantage I could hear over the Technics.

Though no set up is required when using a P-mount cartridge system, I did check cartridge downforce using a cartridge scale and the cartridge alignment using several alignment gauges, just out of curiosity. I found the Technics to be set up with typical Japanese perfection. The alignment was spot on, as was the downforce. I have heard the Project turntables have terrible quality control as far as cartridge alignment and downforce setting from the factory. Improper set-up can ruin your records in a hurry.

I have had this table for over a year and have been extremely pleased with it. I even bought one for my mother. My system could be considered a true entry-level audiophile system (if there is such a thing) and while this table is the most inexpensive piece, it does not seem out of place because of its good sound quality when using the after market Grado Black cartridge. I am using the turntable in conjunction with a Cambridge Audio 640P phono preamp ($200, has a switchable rumble filter), Vincent Audio SP-31 Hybrid Tube preamplifier ($500), Onix Sp-3 stereo tube amplifier ($1,000), and Strata mini loudspeakers ($2,000). I clean all records on a Loricraft record cleaning machine ($2,200) before playing. Once cleaned, they can go years before needing another cleaning.

Last piece of advice for those thinking of upgrading to the high-end manual turntables. Go for it if you want, but before the table upgrade, I believe the best investment anyone can make is buying a good wet record cleaning machine. This opinion was stated in an article in Stereophile magazine. It may sound counterintuitive, but investing in a record cleaning machine, such as a VPI, Nitty Gritty, or my favorite, a Loricraft, will make a greater audible difference per dollar spent than dropping a fortune on a high-end turntable or cartridge. This is because most of the noise heard from records is from the gunk on them and no matter how great your table or cartridge, a dirty record still sounds like crap. A little-known fact: even brand new records have mold release compound on them (so the pressing plant can remove them from the pressing molds) that must be removed by a wet cleaning in order to remove built-in surface noise from the record. In short, a record cleaning machine is essential.

I've owned this turntable for about 9 years now, and have never been sorry I bought it. It has bounced around the country as I've moved from place to place, and like the proverbial watch, keeps on ticking. No, it's not a 50-pound "reference" unit. And its price reflects that. Its specs don't, however, and in the end you have to ask yourself if what you're after is an emperor whose clothes are invisible to most non-tailors (or sonics measurable only in an anechoic chamber or lab) or the best performance for your scarce entertainment dollar. This turntable delivers on the latter, if not the former.

Admittedly, the cartridge mine shipped with was middling - an entry level design with little oomph or enough output to avoid cranking up the volume a bit on a mid-level integrated amp. Your mileage may vary, as I understand different cartridges have shipped at different times with it. But if you decide the sound's not quite there for your needs, plug in a new p-mount Grado or Audio Technica or Stanton, etc., etc. and instantly upgrade it to whatever level you're willing to pay (I recently upgraded to the Grado Prestige Green). As long as the basics are there (wow/flutter, rumble, reasonable tonearm etc. - and they are with this Technics) you're golden.

My point here is that for the vast majority of users on a reality budget, the SL-BD20 is a fine choice, and if my experience is an indication, a reliable choice as well.