Technics SL-P900

Part of Technics' last full-fledged audio-only series.
Launched just after Japan's 1990 economic crash, the "900" series and the related "5000" units didn't sell much.
They had many qualities and very affordable price but the market was going down and... Sony ruled anyway on the 100,000¥ / 200,000¥ segment.

With eight d/a chips, a special BMC base (Bulk Mold Compound - should sound familiar to Sony heads), two power transformers, X-Pro caps, a laser lens made of glass and a strong linear motor, the SL-P900 was an excellent player which seems to have been available in limited quantities and almost on order only.
A strange move for a 100k¥ unit, but probably prescient. Above it was the ultra SZ-L1000 / SH-X1000 combo.

Center of the Technics' digital units then was the MASH analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue chips. Developped jointly by NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) and some part of the Matsushita empire, MASH converters allowed extreme linearity and zero cross distortion.

The SL-P900 sported 2nd gen' MASH chips which allowed a further 20dB improvement in s/n ratio - at that point, said ratio borders the noise level of outer space but it still was to be a good marketing point.

Some of the "900" units saw market-related versions under the "10" name (SL-PA10, SU-MA10, SV-DA10 etc), some slightly different, some not, some not exported everywhere, some not at all...

The Technics brand was officially shut-down by Matsushita on december 28, 2005, after nearly 40 years of success - the market for high-end audio isn't down anymore, it has vanished forever.