Design
Panasonic drops seven hot colorways of its iconic turntable
You can't go wrong with any of the colors, but they'll be limited to a run of 12,000 globally.
What better way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the classic SL-1200 turntable than with a brand new paint job — or seven, actually. Panasonic is dropping a very limited run of its Technics SL-1200M7L turntable that is going to be available in black, red, blue, white, green, yellow, beige. As gorgeous as each of these look, you’re going to have to snap these up quick because there will only be 12,000 made in the world.
Panasonic said the colors were chosen to reflect the street culture that’s very much entwined with DJing. The limited edition SL-1200M7Ls will also have a gold-anodized tone arm and a slipmat with a gold Technics logo that adds a nice touch of class. Each of the turntables will have a special badge and a serial number, proving that they’re the real deal.
Rich history — While we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original SL-1200 that was released in 1972, the SL-1200M7L is actually based off the SL-1200MK7 turntable that Panasonic released in 2019. The SL-1200MK7 is the most recent evolution of the classic turntable that’s earned a reputation amongst DJs for being durable and easy to use. But throughout the years, Panasonic really only stuck to gray or black colorways for all the variations of the SL-1200.
Like the SL-1200MK7, the SL-1200M7Ls will have a coreless direct drive motor that makes for a more stable rotation. The Panasonic turntable was built with a two-layer construction for its structure platter to improve its vibration damping and sound reproduction. Panasonic also designed the highly-sensitive tonearm to more accurately read the record’s grooves but also so it can withstand some abuse like with scratching.
Better be quick — The limited edition SL-1200M7Ls are currently available for pre-order for $1,100. Panasonic said they’ll be available from retailers like Guitar Center, B&H, Stokyo, and others and are expecting to ship them out in July.
The last time Panasonic released a limited edition colorway for the SL-1200, they limited it to 1,200 units. The all-black SL-1200GAE that celebrated the 55th anniversary of Technics sold out very quickly, so you can probably expect the same with the SL-1200M7Ls.
