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Nowt wrong with Vestax IMHO
Solidly built and sounds OK, but I never satisfactorily got the cartridge stable enough for scratching and the pitch control was poor; there was far too big a delay between small changes on the pitch slider and an actual change of pitch. Beat syncing was much harder on the Vestax PDT-5000 than on the SL 1200/1210s.
I have a pair of 1200's.
Back in the day I had a separate headshell with a hifi needle, rather than a DJ type. For recording or sampling, or even listening to albums I would swap the 'hifi' needle in and use the rubber platter in place of the slip mat and it sounded great I think.
My brother is an audiophile nut and he still uses 1200's in that guise. Mostly so he can mix too rather than it being the best sound in the universe.
erm.. Its a 40 year old design, and it sounds really good.
Well, it sounds pretty good, given that it's a DD table for DJing.
There are better tables out there for just listening to, both old and new. If you want to abuse it like a DJ then it'll be great, but it's not HiFi. And compared to something like a LP12 or TD124, it's not old, either.
slimjim78 - MemberPicked one up fairly cheap and have fully serviced it including new lid and hinges and a good polish of the paintwork and its now looking 9/10 - so am going to sell it
Where and how much? 🙂
A well setup up SP10 will pee all over a rega planar 3, although we are talking different ball parks in terms of cost.
I have one with an origin live arm on, but my mate has one with an SME 5 on, in a corian plinth, with a modest Denon DL304 MC cartridge and it is exceptional.
When he sold them he would have people bringing down their sondeks, etc to compare and would leave with an SP10.
You do surprise me, Vestax were sold on their scratch ability credentials, most stuff I've used of theirs has been solid kit, but admit it must be 10 years since I've used a Vestax TT
The last TT I had in the house for mixing before I went fully digital /controller was, and don't laugh now, Numark direct drive, it just did the job solidly and sounded great. Some of my last vinyl rips were done on that deck, and a couple of DJ's I know have copied them after wearing out their vinyl
Well, it sounds pretty good, given that it's a DD table for DJing.
Although, it was designed for hi-fi, but able to be DJ'd?
but it's not HiFi
Hi-Fi Definition please.
compared to something like a LP12 or TD124, it's not old
Gramophones are even older, but i'm happy to call a 40 year old design Retro.
I've used 1200's & 1210's for the last 15yrs or more and yeah they are great bits of kit, but... it all depends what you want from them. High end bespoke stuff will sound better but if your mixing then why would you? Belt drive/direct drive etc
The functionality of 1200/1210's are what makes them awesome. That said if you're stabbing, chopping hip hop beats the precision of newer Newmark's and Vestax's are a step on from Technic's. Status and reliability keeps them the choice with DJ's and I'd not, not have a set.
For me a set of gold 1200's is where's its at but at £1500 a deck its a lottery win away 🙄
That reminds me, Radio 3 last Saturday did a special vinyl only Record Review for Record Store Day. They broadcast from Spiritland in London who seem to have some esoteric looking kit.
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by the way, curiosity got the better of me and I splashed out on my first brand new amplifier for 15 years. A Marrantz PM6006.
Phono stage sounds good, amp is warm sounding, 2 optical inputs for Chromecast Audio and TV audio connectivity, plus through my B&W CM5's.. oh boy, these speakers sound good.
Oh, and just sold the spare SL-1200!