The Ultimate Club Machine: Technics SL Series
Osaka born Panasonic changed turntable technology [and music] forever in 1970 when their Technics audio division released the world’s first turntables to utilize a direct driven motor system.
This advancement replaced the traditional belt driven system, and resulted in a more stable rotation with less irregularities. Technics’ new innovation, allowing exceptional torque, an affordable price, and shallow learning curve, quickly became favorites among DJs, both professional and amateur.
Among them was 18 year old DJ Kool Herc, who single-handedly conceived hip hop at his famed August 1973 “Back To School Jam” party in the Bronx; DJing on his Technics SL-1100.
Technics soon realized their market and continued to update the series with the SL-1200, appealing to club DJs across numerous genres with features that allured the most experienced of DJs, and durability that could hold up to the harshest abuse the table may face in a club environment.
The turntable quickly became prolific over the next decades, becoming the industry standard, and an instrument synonymous with the term “DJ”. These tables could be found being DJed on side by side at hip hop clubs in New York, discotheques in Tokyo, and techno raves in Berlin.
Even as DJ technology has evolved beyond vinyl record players over the past five decades, the Technics SL product line has continued to be refreshed and has decidedly become the most iconic DJ turntable in the history of music; an ultimate symbol of Japan’s contribution to modern music.
