If you’ve ever been a DJ, known a DJ or listened to a DJ, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Technics. Panasonic’s analogue turntables are legend among scratchers and spinners. And now they’re gone.

Panasonic made the announcement that they’d cease Technics production because of “a decline in demand for these analogue products and also the growing difficulty of procuring key analogue components necessary to sustain production”. In a word: obsolescence.

Around 3.5 million SL-1200 turntables have been sold since 1972. Countless audio mixers and stereo headphones that also bear the Technics name. But with sales of analogue decks being just 5 per cent of what they were 10 years ago, Panasonic’s finally pulled the plug on a classic.

What made Technics so good? A reliable Direct Drive turning mechanism. A heavy, rock-solid 12kg base. And three decades of tradition.

It’s not that Technics are the only analogue turntables in the world. It's that they were the analogue turntables. And now, like any other technology that gets eclipsed, they’re antiques, collectables, curios for fanatics. Lets hope anyone who’s got one keeps it well preserved.