Technics updates its five-star SL-1500C turntable with premium technology for better sonic performance

The Technics SL-1500C direct drive turntable has been a favorite of ours for years, taking several What Hi-Fi? Awards and earning a spot on our list of the best turntables since we started reviewing them in 2019.

And now, an updated version has arrived in the form of the Technics SL-1500CS. This new record player carries many of the hallmarks of the 1500C – iron-coreless direct drive, built-in phono stage, S-shaped tonearm and rock-solid construction – and includes new technology first seen in its top models.

The ΔΣ-Drive (Delta-Sigma) drive technology that we first encountered in the award-winning SL-1200GR2 and SL-1300G has now made its way into the 1500CS model. This technology aims to reduce motor vibration and improve rotational accuracy to deliver more stable and accurate performance to your recorders.

The existing direct drive motor used in Technics turntables already accounts for unwanted vibrations and ‘cogging’ effects that affect vinyl playback. ΔΣ-Drive technology uses the brand’s experience with signal processing to provide the motor with a clean, low-noise power supply, further ensuring that “motor vibration components are reduced to an absolute minimum.”

Frank Balzuweit, Senior Product Manager at Technics Europe, explains: “The ΔΣ-Drive technology, which takes the sophisticated signal processing techniques used in our Technics digital amplifiers, is all about eliminating vehicle vibration down to measurable limits. This, the new SL-1500CS achieves levels of sonic performance beyond the perceived standards of its class.”

Elsewhere, the solid design of the five-star SL-1500 is carried over to the new model. The aluminum die-cast chassis is combined with ABS and glass fiber for durability and vibration control. The S-shaped aluminum tonearm returns, as does the automatic arm lift function, and the deck comes equipped with an Ortofon 2M Red moving magnet cartridge.