Just bought used turntables, did I make a mistake?
I just picked up a pair of Stanton STR8-60’s from a guy on craigslist for $75. It included slipmats, spare records, and a mixer. It did NOT, however, come with needles. I tested everything I could (stable headshell, no platter wobble, the pitch fader was smooth and the motor seemed to be fine), and they are super clean. Without needles tho, I still feel shakey. I’m gonna go buy some needles in the morning so I can play with them, but this deal seems too good to be true.
in short yes, well maybe not. I dont understand why people would buy turntables now a days. In my experience they are becoming less and less common place in venues. But I suppose there is something kinda nice and tactile about them.
Stanton makes good turntables. The only issue with the ones you picked up, is that they are one of the lower end line that Stanton puts out, summing up to basically mean the torque (platter speed/strength) on them isn’t going to be as high as a top of the line version.
That being said, for $75 you did fine. It’s a good introductory piece of kit that you’ll find out if you really want to make a big investment in them later on, and will get you started out of the gate.
Well, I already have a controller setup and I figure I can sell the mixer for $20. Worst case senario I’m out 50 bucks(in which case I just put them back on craigslist). I got them because I want to learn to beatmatch, I honestly dont plan on using them out, especially as my friend has 1200s.
This is how I got the bug. I picked up some stanton ST-80’s (the plastic moulded ones) a while back. Theyre good enough to know you want something better, if that makes sense.
If you experience goes anything like mine then you’ll get frustrated with the torque and the general build of the unit then you’ll pick up 2nd hand 1210’s, and have a hard time trying to shift the old stantons. lol
You’ll wanna spend more than $20 on a mixer too, at least 10x more.
I got a set of used KAM decks and 2x mixers (worth about £10 each) off eBay for £20! SO I immedietly sold both mixers and that paid off. I only use the KAM s just to mess around with timecode at home, but when we practice we use my mates technics.
Cheap decks, you get exactly what you pay for them and you will notice a considerable difference once you try others.
Get some ortofon concordes, not cheap but best needles I have used so far
Thanks for the reassurance. Minor hickup which i did not anticipate, the mixer doesnt work. which is odd because I told the guy he could keep it but he just kept throwing free shit at me. The tables work fine tho so that didnt bother me.
If your wanting to learn beatmatching on tables then nah you havent wasted your cash mate. Do what you gotta do and if you like it sell them on and buy some better ones.
honestly, I got them (1200’s) because they look cool as shit. There is really no technical reason to buy them unless you are a scratch DJ but they’re straight gangster and get more looks than a simple controller.
IMHO, There is a part of DJing that is “the look” and to me, and CDJ’s were a) too expensive to get quality ones and b) not thoroughly customizable to look original. Plus I already had jogwheels. I have plans to paint and change the lights on both my decks to make them my own.
Also, I do enjoy the tactile feel, and they make DJing a bit more interesting due to the wow and flutter of the decks. So now instead of hot-touching knobs (because I’m fidgity as fuck, my ADHD and anxiety gets the better of me) I can play with the TT’s because I usually have to. Plus girls that love my TT’s let me play with their tt’s, which means my hands are occupied all night.
For $75, hell no. If you’re getting it to try out and see if you wanna use decks, hell $75 isn’t bad at all. I should’ve bought used decks to learn. I went and bought T.62’s (which are fine to learn on imo) but the needles were junk and torque wasn’t like a 5.0 V8 with a super charger, and dumped a bunch of cash. It did, however, reassure that I wanted decks over CD (just my feel) and that I wanted to DJ in general. Thankfully I found a deal and picked up 2 TTX1’s with Ort Pro S carts/needles and all the goodies wih for $300 a few months later, and got a DVS to save my vinyl (and my back). I like the feel of vinyl . Just my two cents.
