What turntables to buy?

[dt17]

Hi guys,

I've been DJing with CDJs for the past couple of years but recently I was offered a great deal on a massive collection of vinyl records. Long story short, I bought them and now I'd like to buy some turntables in order to start DJing with vinyl.

I've never used vinyl before and I was hoping some of you could recommend the best gear to buy?

Obviously I've read about Technics 1210's being great, but should I try and get a second hand set of them or are there any other turntables that are more up to date or just as good as the Technics?

Budget is around £500 for the pair.

Thanks!

[Stazbumpa]

Audio Technica, Stanton and Reloop do decks within your budget. Bear in mind that you might need to spend a bit more on decent carts/needles for your decks too. Do not skimp on this aspect otherwise you will have crap sounding records and may also end up damaging them in the long term.

You can get Technics second hand if they've been looked after, but it depends on how badly the seller wants to get rid of them as to what price you will pay. Good ones for under £500 are possible but luck will need to be on your side. And yes Technics were great, in fact they still are. It was the last bit of proper "industry standard" kit that was based on practicability rather than marketing. Mine are 1996 vintage and are still going strong.

[LoopCat]

1200/10's are my choice for their aesthetic repair-ability/durability. Like Stazbumpa has said though, it can be a bit of a gamble if you want to get a cheaper deal.

Do your homework, there are lots of guides on buying used Technics. My advice is to always have a look at them in person. Make sure the pitch fader is nice and smooth. A brand new pitch fader has a bit of tension the whole way from 0 to +8 -8 and doesn't race away in certain areas (if it is worn out you can buy a new pitch fader for around 30 dollars). Check that the tone arm isn't loose by giggling it left and right, it should be solid with no play in it.

Also make sure you can test it out and play a record, preferably the whole way through or at least needle drop it and let it play at different positions to make sure it doesn't skip at a certain parts of the record. Check the RCA cables as they are soldered on. Plugging them into a mixer and monitoring the L and R meter to make sure they are both working is a good idea.

As you can see it is easier to just go out and buy a new pair of Stantons/Reloops but IMO there still isn't a turntable that has matched the Technics in terms of build quality, aesthetics and repair-ability. If you can pick up a set in good condition for a reasonable price you can be pretty certain you have the best DJ turntables you can buy.

[frontyer]

I have played alot on Technics, but I own Reppol RP-7000.
And so far I love them. So I would recomend that turntable. Its just as solid as the technics (same materials and feels exactly the same)
Not had any problems with it so far. So its defintely worth it, and probably the best NEW turntable you can get.

[Deejaesnafu]

i think he means http://www.reloop.com/reloop-rp-7000


those do seem legit and i like the fact that it has power and rca connectors rather than hardwired cables.

i have a set of techs, and ive had them for 20 years or more,and i cant see why id ever replace them as they show no signs of giving up any time soon.

[Irrational Fear]

I own a pair of Technics 1210s and they are great. Also owned a pair of Vestax PDX2000mk2 until recently which were also great- in many ways better than my Technics and pairs are available second hand for roughly half the cost of a pair of Technics.

They would be my two options if I was buying second hand, but if I had the money to buy new I would likely go for a pair of the Reloop RP-7000 as mentioned above (if it were my money).

As you've stated your budget in pounds I assume you are in the UK, which means your £500 budget might be stretching it for a new pair of RP-7000s unless you can get a good deal with a retailer, I'd expect closer to £600 would be the magic number though.

If you can stretch to it though you won't go far wrong- particularly if this is your first experience of turntables as you'll have a warranty, no issues to look out for (such as potentially dodgy RCA connections), and you will almost certainly get a set of brand new carts with them if you buy new (even though they might not be the best they will at least be brand new- if you buy second hand TTs there is every chance you'll want to budget another £100 on top for decent carts).

That said, for pitch-riding while mixing vinyl you can't beat the feel of the pitch fader on the Technics, and a good pair will go on for ever. But unless you know exactly what you are looking at I would probably go for a new set of the Reloops- which also have a few other things that the Technics don't have, such as adjustable torque settings, removable RCA/ground cables, line-out, additional start/stop button for use in 'battle' position etc. Nothing essential but all potentially useful- the one biggie for me being the removable cables.

[Patch]

i have a set of techs, and ive had them for 20 years or more,and i cant see why id ever replace them as they show no signs of giving up any time soon.

Same here - and I think if mine ever bit the dust (it'd probably take a natural distaster!), I think I'd go for the Reloops too.

[Craig Willis]

The only tables I would touch are...

Technics 1200/1210
Reloop RP 6000/7000/8000
Stanton STR8/ST 100/150
Vestax PDX 2000/3000
Various Super OEM (Citronic PD-45/Kam/etc) (Search Super OEM)

But in my honest opinion if you don't want to spend a ton of cash take a look at The Gemini PT series, PT 2000 and above are all quality tables and can be found on eBay for next to nothing! A really good table, one of the few things Gemini did that was right.

[SlayForMoney]

Same here - and I think if mine ever bit the dust (it'd probably take a natural distaster!), I think I'd go for the Reloops too.

Yeah, me too if I was in need of new turntables.

[elseanjuan]

i had/have 3 gemini PT2100's i still use one as my stereo player, but the other ones just have no torque. fine for playing dance music, but even back cueing you have to really push them forward to get your speed. bit of an art