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Thread: Upgrading my vinyl tables

  1. #1
    Member DJ Headkick's Avatar
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    Upgrading my vinyl tables

    SO! What does a temp job paycheck + my first bi-monthly Walgreens paycheck + a resultant bad caffeine addiction equal?
    A ridiculously spastic thread asking which tables I should buy to replace my entry-level ones, WOOTWOOT!

    Anyway, a bit of background. I've been spinning for around 4 years now, been playing live for around a year. Most of my tunes have been in digital format; thus, I have a pair of CDJ400s and a couple of entry-level turntables. Now that I got a job, it's time to get a pair of legit vinyl tables and put my small collection of 12''s to good use. Here's the difficult part; the vinyl I have is primarily 90's era gabber [the stuff ranges all over the place; 150 to 220], so having over 12% is an actual requirement. I've played with rips of my collection in VDJ extensively to verify this. Also, of course, as long as I'm getting legit TTs, it may as well go without saying that I'd like a model that will not explode/that can handle scratching pretty well.

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    My budget is approximately $800. I've taken a look at my options, and it seems like the following models meet my minimal specifications:

    Vestax PDX 2000/MK2's: These are the tables that I have my eye set on; They're hardly around anymore, but I've heard excellent things about durability, and the Ultra Pitch slider (A separate, dedicated slider that ranges between -50/+50) seems like the most precise way to manipulate tempo. [Note: I'm too poor to rock PDX3000s.]

    Numark TTX's: Should I be careful due to the simple fact that these bear Numark's name? I've seen a few respected local names playing these, but I've been here long enough to know that Numark translates into DJian as Cancer.

    Stanton ST/STR8-150's: Although I've heard the hype about the excellent scratch-sessions these things are capable of, these are the last on my list for the simple reason that the pitch options are as follows; %8, %25, %50. The gap between %8 and %25 just seems absurd to me.
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    Anyone? Rep for sale. Thank you.
    Last edited by DJ Headkick; 09-06-2013 at 04:15 PM.

  2. #2
    Member Fultron's Avatar
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    Out of that list I would go for the Stantons. I haven't heard one bad thing about them, besides maybe price. That being said, you have the 150's up there, but no other Super OEM tables. Is there a reason for that? Give the Audio Technica LP1240s a look.
    "Without music, life would be a mistake" - Fredrich Nietzsche

  3. #3
    Member DJ Headkick's Avatar
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    It is worth mentioning, I am open to suggestions about models I do not know. I don't know as much about different models of TTs as I do CDJs. Thanks.

    Update: Did a bit more research; anybody ever played with American Audio HTD 4.5s? The 10%/20%/50% option is excellent for me.
    Last edited by DJ Headkick; 09-06-2013 at 04:45 PM.

  4. #4
    Member Fultron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Headkick View Post
    Update: Did a bit more research; anybody ever played with American Audio HTD 4.5s? The 10%/20%/50% option is excellent for me.
    Those are Super OEMs. They're essentially the same as -
    Stnton 150
    Akiyama Acura
    Citronic PD-45
    Reloop RP-6000
    Synq XTRM-1
    Audio Technica AT-LP1240USB
    BST Pro 4.5

    They each have they're own little differences (mainly aesthetics)
    "Without music, life would be a mistake" - Fredrich Nietzsche

  5. #5
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    Buy one technics m5g at a time. 800 will get you a used one on craigslist. I was lucky, found a mint pair for 800!

  6. #6
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    DJ Headkick, Are you into fixing up a pair of very old used 1200mk2 with cases. I have a pair that I brought in 1987 when I was 18. Loaned to a friend some years ago and he passed to his son. A kid at the time, didn't see the value in them. So I got them back. They been sitting here in my home for at least 10 years. I tested them about a month ago, when I pulled a pair of my almost new condition vestax pdx2300mk2pro's out the closet. I been thinking doing the repairs myself, but haven't got around to it yet. I got to buy a desolder pump, because one of them the pitch needs to be cleaned and calibrated and the other one's tonearm is loose at the base and it might needs to be tighten or replaced.

  7. #7
    Member Irrational_Fear's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Headkick View Post
    Vestax PDX 2000/MK2's: These are the tables that I have my eye set on; They're hardly around anymore, but I've heard excellent things about durability, and the Ultra Pitch slider (A separate, dedicated slider that ranges between -50/+50) seems like the most precise way to manipulate tempo. [Note: I'm too poor to rock PDX3000s.]
    I've not had too much experience with your other options (aside from a brief go on the Stantons) but I've had a pair of PDX2000 mk2s for a fair while now- a friend of mine purchased them second hand way back in around 2007 (not sure what year mine were manufactured) and I acquired them from him a couple of years ago.

    They wear their age extremely well, neither of them have any issues (except a fair bit of scratched paint), and the ultra-pitch is a great feature. For what a second-hand pair costs at the moment I really don't think you can go wrong with them.

    I often use a single PDX alongside my Technics 1210 m3d if just using two TTs and there isn't much to chose between them. I prefer the wider pitch range & ultra pitch of the PDX, also the straight tone arm too. The main thing I prefer about the 1210 is the fader- it has slightly more resistance and just feels nicer for nudging (I do all my nudging on the fader rather than the record), and the numbered increments alongside the fader make quick pitch adjustments easier as you have a reference point to return to- the lines on the Vestax do serve this purpose but without actual numbers it is easy to miss your place when making very quick movements.

    Obviously this is personal preference, but in terms of build quality I cannot fault my PDX's. They also have all the features you require and are likely to be cheaper than the Super OEMs I'd have thought?

    The super OEMs will likely have more torque but once you get to 1210/PDX levels of torque I can't see that the extra you get with the Stantons Etc is going to make too much difference for mixing that kind of music- particularly if you are coming from budget TTs already as you have probably developed a pretty light touch.

    If you can afford it go for the Stantons, if you want to save some cash I'd go with the PDX mk2s as you really won't be disappointed.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Headkick View Post
    Update: Did a bit more research; anybody ever played with American Audio HTD 4.5s? The 10%/20%/50% option is excellent for me.
    That's pretty much standard on most modern high end DJ turntables.

    Technics SL-1210M5G
    +/-8%,+/-16%

    Stanton ST.150 / STR8.150
    +/-8%,+/-25%,+/-50%

    Stanton T.120
    +/-8%,+/-25%,+/-50%

    Vestax PDX-3000MK2
    +/-10%,+/-50%,+/-60%

    Vestax Controller One
    +/-8%,+/-10%,+/-60%

    Numark TTX/TTX-USB
    +/-8%,+/-10%,+/-20%,+/-50%

    Numark TT500
    +/-8%,+/-10%,+/-20%,+/-50%

    Numark X2
    +/-6%,+/-12,+/-25,+/-100% (Motor limited to 80% for vinyl.) (DSP limited to 50% for MP3.)

    American Audio HTD 4.5
    +/-10%,+/-20%,+/-50%

    Gemini CDT-05
    +/-4%,+/-8%,+/-16%,+/-50%

    Gemini TT-04
    +/-10%,+/-20%
    Last edited by Windows 95; 09-10-2013 at 06:14 AM.
    But the number of US Supreme Court judges was always 6.
    Then it was 5, then 6, then 7, then 9, then 10, then 7, and then 9.

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