Technics SU-G700M2 Amplifier - Behold this Affordable Monster Japanese Integrated!

In this episode, the guys contemplate the changing fortunes of the Technics brand - and look at its latest, all-singing, all-dancing mid-price integrated amplifier.
An all-digital design overseen by the company's Chief Technical Officer Tetsuya Itani, it's a serious piece of work and has amazing loudspeaker driving ability - it really tickled David's Yamaha NS-1000Ms!
Each episode of Mike and Dave's Hi-Fi Riff features their unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and/or wonderful hi-fi designs.
Mike has a huge wealth of knowledge from his hi-fi retail years, and David’s written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few tips along the way.
So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and do leave your comments below.
Don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.
To read David's StereoNET review of this Japanese giant, click here: www.stereonet.com/uk/reviews/technics-su-g700m2-integrated-amplifier-review

[@warrenraye1126]

Loving this new-ish channel. Keep them coming!

[@andrewaldridge4260]

Hi Chaps, great video love these hi-fi riffs. I had a Technics amp back in the early 80's. It was part of their mini-series 315 and what a great little amp it was tremendously enjoyable. I started reading hi-fi mags around that time and so grew into a hi-fi snob. My next amp was an Arcam A60 and then moved onto Linn and for many years now the nerve centre of my system has been a pre & power from Steve McCormack. I still look back fondly on the Technics which started me off on this wonderful journey.

[@williemclean3224]

I just received my Technics SU G 700m2, I hooked up my VPI scout 2 turn table with an Ortofon 2m black cartridge and played a few albums and couldn’t be happier with the sound of the amplifier and how quiet it is.

[@12MK2]

@Willie McLean May I ask you a question. Is it possible to record music via the USB 2.0 connection to a PC? Aside from playback, I would like to be able to utilize the amp's phono pre-amp and dac to convert vinyl records to digital. Thanks!

[@williemclean3224]

@@12MK2 I wish I could answer your question but I’ve never attempted this myself.

[@12MK2]

@@williemclean3224 Thanks for the quick response. Please post here if you ever attempt to record this way. Much appreciated.

[@nuznikas]

If technics has analog output you can try cheap tascam recorder

[@12MK2]

@@nuznikas It does have analog outputs. However, thinking that the Technics SU-G700M2 is processing as signals digitally, my thought was that somewhere in that chain was internal high quality analog-to-digital converter (for phono and other analog signals) that potentially routes to the USB 2.0 connector. Looking at the spec sheet in more detail, it appears though, that all of the digital terminals (Opt, Coaxial, USB) are inputs only. Maybe I will go with an audio interface with pro grade DAC + ADC converters.

[@motorradmike]

Great discussion, chaps. Thanks!

[@sofarsogoodsowot]

Down to earth review, with a beer as well, excellent!

[@MrVinylista]

Cheers!

[@markd4292]

@@MrVinylista Love the beer there! Cheers.

[@Jrer241067]

TBH i don’t understand why one of you didn’t rate Technics. I’ve had many Amps cd players from them over the years ,and felt they were a cut above the rest. Admittedly I think they lost there way a bit in the 00s but in the 80s,90s they had some cracking stuff. Current I have some Reference Equipment from them and(Yes) it was in small batches to special order. Fantastic sound . My dream system would be anything from Naim,In 1992 listened to a demo unit ,2 box cd player 2 box Amplifier and some B&W the sound blew me away. The sales guy said it was a (BUDGET ) beginner system £12,000.00 um a bit out of my price range ,but EXTREMELY GOOD.

[@bigblueocean]

I started my audio journey at fifteen with a pioneer stack system. Two years later I had a very different Thorens/Nad/celestion system.

[@billjones261]

Hi guys thanks for your review , will have a listen to that amp. by the way what is that acoustic guitar hanging on the wall behind you ?

[@NEIP]

Hi guys. Love the videos. Like Michael I also worked in Hi-Fi retail 30 odd years ago but thankfully didn’t share his negative attitude towards Technics. While that period was certainly not a golden time for its product output, they nevertheless still built solid products, many of which are still running today. Meanwhile lots of the better reviewed cottage industry products of the time are long in the dustbin. They were also an affordable gateway into the world of hifi. Sorry to moan. Keep up the videos guys, they are a great watch.

[@richardsinger01]

My limited consumer experience is in accord with that. Eg Linn amp dead after 5 years from new, Pink Triangle LPT psu problems after 10 years, limping on with regular repairs. Meanwhile Technics and Yamaha amps, Dual TT, Pioneer tuner still going strong after 35 years.

[@666chew]

I've had mine for about a month now and love it, along with the matching SACD player. It has tremendous speed and power with tons of resolution tempered by a healthy dose of finesse. It doesn't sound like anything else I've had or heard. It powers my JBL 4319 monitors which seems like a match made in heaven.

[@markd4292]

Hello. I am looking at this amp. So you like yours? And it handles your speakers well? I would imagine your JBLs go below 4ohms? They are rated at 6ohm. As long as the Technics can handle lower than 4ohms I like it. I missed out on getting the JBL 4319s. Bummer. They look nice. I am probably going to wait for the KLH Model 7 to come out. I heard the KLH Model 5 and loved it, but the company later said the larger model 7s will be out, so I put that on hold. Now I'm just looking for a bookshelf speaker, maybe something like the JBL Studio 530 or the JBL HDI 1600. Cheers

[@666chew]

@@markd4292 i'm just loving this amp and SACD combo. There is a break in period with the disc player that's the biggest I've experienced but well worth the wait (around 150 hrs) but the amp only took a few days. At first I thought the JBLs had to be replaced (I fiddled w/the pots and digital settings on the SACD player) and then one day it filled out beautifully. If you can find a pair of used 4319s, it might be worth it but that KLH model 7 may be just the ticket you need. good luck

[@markd4292]

@@666chew thanks for the reply. I am very curious: does the amp sound good at low volumes, or do you really have to crank it up to get the best out of it? I know, what is low volume when we are just talking about low volume and we are not in a room together hearing volumes? It's subjective indeed. Let me say what "low volume" I referred to above is: the kind of volume level you will play at 12am or 1 or 2 am in the morning in the basement while people are asleep two floors up, but who have good hearing. That low volume level. Does it do well in this regard? Thanks. PS: I guess the speakers will probably play a big role in this too, given very high efficient speakers (90dB and up) won't need a great deal of power to come alive

[@666chew]

@@markd4292 Hmmm, good question. I've listened to it at low volumes just to see how it fares and it does so very well. You can hear everything but it does lack that reach out and grab you ability that only listening to it does at higher levels. Not lease breaking levels but room filling levels. My speakers are 92db and they really come alive if I just nudge the volume up .5db. Then it all comes together and makes realistic sense. Much more emotion in the music with just turning it a bit. The images just get bigger and fuller but doesn't hurt my ears like my older gear did. Hope that helps.

[@markd4292]

@@666chew Thanks for doing the experiment. It most certainly helped me. Based on what you said, I think I can live with it especially like you my speakers will be in the 90dB and up range, so I probably won't need Googles of power. Thanks for helping. I'll go demo it when it comes back in stock. Stay Well.

[@markd4292]

Hi guys. Thanks for the review. I have my eyes on the SUG700M2 but still undecided. I am just getting back into the HIFI journey and starting from scratch, except for a few vintage amps/preamps I got prior to the pandemic, my favorite is the Mitsubishi DAA15DC dual mono block, it's a beast but with a very rolled off treble, probably really good for those bright speakers and/or horns. But this Technics seems really interesting. Technics also has a very interesting speaker out the SB G90, have you demoed it? It looks nice, but with my limited ability to move speakers a lot from the front wall, I am limiting myself from getting speakers with a rear port. Still, bang up review.

[@ronlysons6750]

I had one of these, the MK 2 version, had to wait about two months and it arrived last November. Bought it on the strength of an Andrew Robinson Review. My previous amps were Exposure XM5, Denon PMA 1600, Denon PMA 2500. All within a couple of months.. I have to say your findings are exactly the same as mine. Very clean, clear , with fantastic bass. BUT and it's a big but for me. Not good a low level listening. Fantastic when you you turn the wick up. In fact it seemed like the louder it went the better it sounded. And the sound just seem to get bigger, rather then louder. Totally different than any amp I have heard before and like you say, there is a market for this type of sound. However it wasn't for me and I really wanted to keep it, just for it's looks. Anyway I ended up with the Exposure 3510 and I am delighted with it. Really good at low level which I listen to most of the time. The Technics Is 70 watts into 8 ohms not 140, not that it matters. Runs really cool even at full belt. Like Mike, I'm a bit of an Exposure fanboy, Mike you've not a Model Super V111 power you want to sell have you. I had one of these many years ago driving Kef Model ones and it was really good. From memory I think it sounded better than my current setup.

[@MrVinylista]

Thanks Ron - very interesting feedback, and absolutely spot on I think. For me, my Musical Fidelity A1 is king of lowish volume listening, while the Technics is the opposite - and the Exposure 3510 treads a great middle path. I don't think Mike's ever sold any of his Exposure kit, but miracles can happen!

[@TheNorliss]

Remember: the only person that has to like the sound of your system is you. Now spend the remaining 45% of the running time of your video talking to your Mrs, off-camera 😂

[@hugobaptista8755]

Hi Ron. Can you tell your thoughts on comparing the SU-G700M2 and the Denon PMA 2500? I am looking to buy between these 2 and can't really decide.

[@ronlysons6750]

@@hugobaptista8755 Hi Hugo, they are completely different. The thing that really surprised me was the bass on the Technics, really deep a clean, if fact it is a fantastically clean amp throughout.. No so good at low level listening to my ears. The Denon being an AB amp sounds like an AB amp and is very good, you would have to try them out for yourself though. I was really impressed with the SU G700 at first, and if you play your music loud, the SU G700 would ideal. Both are really good, but nothing like each other. Let me know how you get on.

[@markd4292]

That is a really Great point about the Technics sounding not good at low volumes. I am a low volume kind of person, with a periodic crank it up. I was considering it, but your point and the points made in this video have me thinking differently. I never heard Exposure and I am not sure if I can get a demo anywhere, just like Atoll, which I heard was also nice.

[@kirkaparty4143]

Luxman, Accuphase, Michi(Rotel), yamaha seem to the ones left of the Japanese hifi

[@barrybrennan2135]

Hi guys, would this amp hang with something like a lower tier Accuphase or Luxman sound quality wise?

[@playbackvintagehifihunter9669]

Visually Stunning.. Would really like to try this soon!

[@bulldogbrower6732]

What did you fellows think about the Technics tuners. They were always the most sensitive. ST-S6, ST-S8, ST-9030

[@bigblueocean]

Looking forwards to seeing your own set ups. I note the mention of a marantz turntable.....

[@MrVinylista]

Yep, my 1981 Marantz TT-1000 will soon have its fifteen minutes of fame!

[@bigblueocean]

@@MrVinylista that's a real beauty. Looking forwards to seeing it.

[@seeyouinmist3924]

@@MrVinylista literally cannot wait....

[@tonyhodgkinson4586]

Visually it gives the impression it’s sitting upside down.

[@paulomontero12]

10 ota 10 for me

[@patrikbjorling4391]

Enough headroom with those watts and what about picofarads?

[@GeorgeJohnson-gf2do]

Which one of you guys is a Rush fan....Moving Pictures and A Farewell To Kings on the wall...🤟

[@MrVinylista]

Both of us. I'm a really big fan but Mike is a total obsessive!

[@Ferbeldeyberb]

Crème brulee.

[@seeyouinmist3924]

Another awesome video, thanks gents. Few comments and remarks if I may. 1) Not stocking technics - shame on you!! I do recall the annecdote I read online of the chap who did a blind audition of some Acoustic Energy AE1s on two amps, big expensive british amp vs a Technics SUMA10 - needless to say, he loved the technics!! 2) I wish Technics had reconsidered the arm on the relaunched 1200. Unsure whether its as good as the OLRB250 that I use on my mk2. 3) Amazing to hear that this amp really delivered with the TT1000 and NS1000Ms........but would be great to see this in action? I know the mic won't do it justice, but just to see these wonderful components being used would be a visual feast!!

[@MrVinylista]

[1] ha ha, Mike! [2] I haven't had a chance to compare the new SL-1200G arm with any Rega variants, but I have A-B'd one with an SME V on an SL-1200G (with bespoke armboard, obviously) - the SME killed it. Actually the SL-1200G/SME V sounds superb, better I think than the SL-1000R that I reviewed for Hi-Fi News, a few years back. [3] My SU-G700 sample has gone back, but I'll see if I can blag an SU-R1000 - I know where one is!

[@seeyouinmist3924]

@@MrVinylista was that one of Dave Cawley's creations? Technics should employ Dave as a consultant. I remember meeting him at the Bristol hifi show where he had (I think) an SME 309 bolted to a 1200mk2 - fab combo. I told the Technics guy from Japan upstairs who was showing off their 1200GAE at the time, and he just looked at me with a vacant face. I said don't you know there is a massive scene out there for changing the arm on the 1200, started by an article in Hifi World from DP and Stewart Wennen where they fitted an OLRB250 to the 1200? Whether they choose to ignore this or not, I don't know?! I loved your article on the SL-1000R but more for the fact that you had used a vintage Technics cartridge on it - an EPC-305mk2 if I remember right. Keep up the good work DP!

[@MrVinylista]

@@seeyouinmist3924 Thanks. No in this case it wasn't a Dave Cawley SL-1200 mod, but Dave has done great work on Technics decks and really driven the UK scene. I still remember reviewing his SL-1200 mk2/SME 309 for World and being amazed how good it was. I then bought an SL-1200 mk2 and put an Audio Origami modded RB250 on it, and it sounded fantastic. The SL-1200R review for News was fun - it's a gorgeous turntable and the only deck that Paul Miller has measured that measures better than my Marantz TT-1000 (which he also once measured for a Vintage Audio feature). The EPC-305/2 is a lovely cartridge and I'm glad I managed to find mine in my cartridge cupboard! I need to get it retipped now, and then I'll put it on my Technics SP-15/SME V - and the natural circle of life will be complete! ;-)

[@seeyouinmist3924]

@@MrVinylista fab, its stuff like this that made Hifi World a brilliant magazine in those days, literally longed for each issue to drop through my letter box. For me, the climax was the Jap special - L07D/MC25F+Kenwood L07C/M, NS1000M. I remember you saying the live and visceral feel of the set up was almost like having the band in your front room.....I think Richard Peachey from Vantage Audio at the time helped on that. Would be good to know what happened to him. He made some great armboards for my TTS8000 and SH10B3.

[@summerrr1]

Technics’ marketing outside of Germany and Russia is really poor. They could be a lot bigger.

[@MrVinylista]

Agreed. Technics could learn a thing or two from many of its rivals, who seem better able to market their often inferior wares.

[@TheNorliss]

Great stuff guys, always enjoy hearing your take on HiFi gear. It's a shame that comparatively few of the big Japanese CE manufacturers really bother with proper audio now, to say nothing of those that no longer exist in the way they once did i.e. Kenwood, JVC, Sansui etc etc. Seems like there's a lot going for this amp but from what you've said it's not all things to all men/ women/ non-binary gender people, but then what is? Regardless, it's good to see Technics really putting some effort into two-channel HiFi with their amps, turntables etc. And talking of turntables, I should have realised David would have something as cool as a Marantz TT-1000: a real vintage beauty from back in the day when the Japanese manufacturers were really going all out on these amazing, heavyweight direct drive machines. If I was American, I'd say "Color me envious" but I'm not, so I'll say "Colour me envious" instead. REALLY looking forward to seeing that in action 😍

[@tengkukamil3951]

Hi David, this amplifier is made in Malaysia and the factory is just down the road from where I live.I personally think it is overpriced.Perhaps, I could get to audition a unit if it fall off from the back of a lorry in the near future..ha..ha..

[@MrVinylista]

Hi Tengku, a lot of lower end Japanese hi-fi is now made in Malaysia, and made very well too. If this falls of the back of a lorry, it will destroy the road!

[@Zockopa]

If a 2k integrated is mid-price we realy have runaway inflation. I mean how compares this amp to a SU-V900,SU-V9 or SU-8099 ?

[@MrVinylista]

You can buy an integrated for £10,000, so £2k is almost budget in relative terms!

[@Zockopa]

@@MrVinylista Right,and because the colleagues in Laos working for 30 pence a hour you are incredibly rich for getting 10 € a hour - in relative terms.

[@Victrola777]

A lot of failures on these new amps has prevented me from buying one though.

[@jhuc2869]

Yes I can well remember being laughed at in hifi stores in the 1990’s with my 70’s Technics gear and aspiring to own some much vaunted, cottage industry biscuit tin (but full of Far Eastern semiconductors). It’s a damn shame what happened to our indigenous effort after the original innovators died away (Quad, Leak, Tannoy, Wharfedale) and were replaced by marketing over R&D cultists with no regard for the intellectual property of others and a pocket full of the hands of magazine editors and gobs full of bullshit. Yes I could have bought half the product (output stage plus volume control, piece of chipboard plus platter) for far more money with far less quality and engineering finesse and called myself an audiophile whist consolidating my thinly veiled almost racism. The fact is by then the Japanese stuff was way ahead at all price points and it was the top end of the market that missed out in the protectionist echo chamber.

[@jhuc2869]

@Alex Mit The disdain was cultivated in the 1980’s by certain ‘elite’ brands and retailers in the UK. They had a monopoly on opinion through the magazine scene that held sway over opinion. Thankfully, nowadays opinions are much more global, thanks to the internet, and people have access to much more balanced viewpoints. Technics got a bad rep for their amps and the ones branded class AA did have a particular sound due to the way voltage and current amplification was separated and bridged. They had a similar sound to the much maligned Quad 405 which didn’t initially impress but proved easy to listen to for extended periods of time. The reviewers of the time complained of stunted dynamics giving an unexciting sound. The tape decks and turntables were always superb. Another source of anti-Technics propaganda was the SL1200 mkii series being compared unfavourably with hifi specific decks. Unfair on Technics as this unit has a high mass tonearm for low compliance DJ carts and should be fitted as thus. One of the main assaults on the reputation of Japanese direct drive turntables was perpetrated by the cultists against this unit. Could the esteemed suspended belt drive maker have made an SP10 - don’t be daft, could Technics have made a sub-chassis, dressed up AR invention at an astronomical price - they’d have been embarrassed to do so!!

[@jhuc2869]

@Alex Mit Should be a nice sounding unit:-) There’s plenty of speaker bargains around and ones from the seventies are often better made than 80’s and don’t have ferrofluid in the tweeters which is now causing issues. Either that or nearly new can be where bargains are found. A nice pair of Celestion Ditton 15xr, AR 4x or Wharfedale E30 can be had at a good price and will give an entertaining sound with each offering a choice of flavour!! Have fun!!

[@jhuc2869]

@Alex Mit 👍

[@MrVinylista]

Harsh, but largely fair. There were a lot of strange things going on in the UK hi-fi scene in the 1970s and 1980s. It was, I think, almost racist. "Jap crap", etc. It was similar to the motorcycle industry in some ways, when the Honda CB750 arrived in the early 1970s and the British journalists mocked it as a kind of 'hairdresser's' bike - despite it being far faster, much better built and way more reliable than Triumph and Norton rivals.

[@jhuc2869]

@@MrVinylista I do think a lot of the malaise in post war UK manufacturing stemmed from a colonialist mentality of there’s always captive markets we can rely on including our own country and this stifled the perceived need for investment in development and QC. This was of course mistaken as when pitted against the Japanese and Germans, who did have to field a competitive product, our offerings withered. We should have continued to build our wealth the innovative capitalist way of the Victorian industrialists and not had our advantage twisted by the robbing nature of the privileged upper class establishment. A revolution about the same time as the French one or later might have worked!!

[@pierrecouvillers9304]

Null !!!! bla bla bla