In an interview published in The New York Times last month (“A Turntable Reborn Turns Its Back On Its Hip-Hop Legacy”), Technics creative director Hiro Morishita scored a publicity own-goal by stating, “Our concept is analog records for hi-fi listening. DJs are fine, too, but as a marketing target it’s problematic. We don’t want to sell the 1200 as the best tool for DJing. The 1200 is the 1200.”
The backlash to this comment, especially in the DJ community, has been significant, and now the Japanese tech giant has moved to appease this core fan base while, at the same time, announcing the release of a slick new model of turntable, the 1210GR, which is available in black.
Speaking at the product’s launch at Abbey Road Studios, Adam Marshall clarified that DJs are still very much the focus of Technics’ products. “Technics turntables wouldn’t have their legendary status if it weren’t for the DJ market,” he told DJ Mag, going on to say that, “Some of what was said [before]…was lost in translation.”
The 1210GR will cost £1,299, making it a much more affordable option than last year’s GAE model (which costs £3,999).
Remind yourself of the long journey DJs have taken with Technics turntables by checking out some old-school footage from the 1987 World DJ Championships below.
