-Direct drive is the type of motor, kind of self explanatory but all you need to know is direct drive> belt drive and to always get direct drive.
-Technics are industry standard and arguably the best. Similar to mac’s though you will play more for the name.
-The needles are the expensive parts IMO so be careful
There are tons of helpful articles and youtube videos to help you buy second hand turntables. I’ll leave the rest of the advice for the people who are more experience with them. I use Technic MK3’s in a club but I don’t know know a whole lot about them.
If you can get MK5’s on the cheap then its a bargain. You wouldnt be let down with MK2’s though.
Stick with techs in the second hand market, theyre built to last.
Also, pick them up locally if at all possible so you can run a few important checks. Follow this guys advice:
When you have them, get some good slipmats. I personally recommend either technics standard slipmats or some from http://www.sicmats.com/
Then you need some carts and needles. The widely considered best back for buck is the Sure M44-7. But it doesnt really matter that much if youre using timecode, I used stanton 500’s for a while and they were fine, didnt collect as much dust as the M44-7’s either.
Set up ebay saved searches for all the super oem turntables. Sometimes you can get the for absolutely nothing second hand and they are all pretty much identical to the stanton st150s which are arguable the best turntables currently in production.
Well I have used 2 different models from the KAM brand and they weren’t impressive, but when buying turntables you get what you pay for them . . .
Just make sure that the platters don’t wobble, pitch faders are working correctly, no squeking when moving the platter and that the motor is working correctly with no intermittent faults.
Its a bit risky to buy off the internet, but if you are collecting you can try them out to make sure they are working correctly.
MK2’s for $375 is a massive rip off.
you can find them for $100-200 easily.
I let a pair of custom white technics, new pitch, Blue LEDs, Cases, slip mats, needles, 6 styli, RCAs go for $700 on ebay.. after shipping.
..that is about an average price for PERFECTLY working technics with all accessories..
I’d pay $375 for MK5’s.. not MK2’s
I don’t have experience on many other non-technics decks, so I can’t talk from experience. I have to say this though. I have seen clubs use the a single turntable for 20 years with out ever replacing it, and only getting it tuned. They might have changed them out when newer iterations came out, but that’s it. You can argue that no other brand has had that chance to challenge the durability, but why fix what’s not broken? Technics turntables are the only brand I have ever seen where the product outlast genres of music.
U can find techs on local craigslist or ebay for around $150-$300/each depending…but most are beat to shit…everyone I’ve got on ebay I have to paint, calibrate among other things to get 100%… there are a few of us out there that sell fully functioning techs but not many on ebay
I remember talking to stanton rep years ago when they changed the design…they work fine but they are pretty ugly…stanton rep said they wanted the ttables to look like an island
