Turntables and CDJs…who's ventured into other brands?

I remember there was one place that I played at every Sunday afternoon, that had Denon CDJs. Started bringing my CDJ1000’s with me as I hate those Denons. The new generation from Denon seem to be really decent now (Phil is quite partial to them, these days). Probably the only competition for Pioneer.
For turntables the top line Stantons, Vestax and Numarks are almost the only alternatives that offer decent enough build quality and torque. I recently purchased a brand new pair of the Numark TTX’s. I was on a budget and was only buying for a pair of turntables that won’t be leaving the bedroom for anything other than the ocassional house party. The Stantons would be my 2nd choice but they are still really expensive…still nothing compared to the cost of Technics these days! More expensive than they were 5 years ago! If cash allowed me, I would buy the Technics simply because I know exactly what I’ll get with them. The general consensus is that all the newer turntables only have a limited life whilst Technics just keep on going!

Steelo, post: 21504, member: 1368 wrote:
For turntables the top line Stantons, Vestax and Numarks are almost the only alternatives that offer decent enough build quality and torque.

There is some wrong in this statement.. Most brands have stronger torque than technics, even the cheaper ones like omnitronic and so on.. The reason for this (only certain models) is that the high end stantons and the cheaper ones have the same motor. They are known as Super OEM turntables.. the internal stuff is made in the same factory and sold to all the brands.

Build quality on the chassis (spelling?) and tonearm differ from the brands tho.. I still stick with my 1210mkII tho..
As for cdj`s i have no idea. Also i have only read about the other turntables, and looked at speccs.. I havent tried em.. I`ve heard that some numark ttx`s have failed quite fast.. manufacturing stuff.. Dont know about the credibility about the sources tho.

I have a set of turntables that do not match each other. I have a stanton (not sure of the model, but it’s their cheapest direct drive turntable) and a Numark TT200. I love the Numark, but the discontinued them and the only other ones I could find new were floor models that had pieces missing off of them. Both of these decks work perfectly for what I’m doing now, and will serve me well as I grow as a DJ. They aren’t Techniks, but the cost of those are outside of my budget.

I bought a pair of Denon DN-S5000’s which I still take out on occassion. The first time I had played on them I was booked for a bar gig where the booker, who was also a DJ, was really against laptop DJing (i was using Final Scratch at the time). But like most hungry DJ’s, I took the booking and updated my old CD binder with my newer music. He had told me in advance about the Denon decks that were provided so I was curious to try them out since it was a big deal that a CD deck had a spinning platter. What sold me on getting a pair was not long into the night I had a good flow going and I found myself instinctively looking to grab a headshell to put the needle on the next record. Being a turntable guy I was quite impressed. They still work decently so no need to upgrade.

I started on Citronic PD1 turntables (late 2001), horrible stuff to mix on, direct drive at least, but the worst motor known to man, that said I still have them and they still work. I use one as a “listening” turntable in the lounge room and I gave the other to my Dad.
It’s pretty amazing they still work, they were absolutely thrashed in the two years I used them regularly, carted to house parties etc. Even got dropped down some small stairs once, still worked.

I’ve used a few different CDJs overtime as well. Had some Denon DNS 1000s I regrettably sold to fund an overseas jaunt. Still never got more, I’d love to get some more.
Nothing worse then these bad boys I got given 8 or 9 years ago, again still got them but purely due to not even being able to give them away.

I own two Stanton ST.150 turntables. I purchased them because, in my humble opinion, other turntable models have been available for years that are better than 1200’s, and the Stanton ST8-150 and ST.150 were highly recommended, based on several reviews.

I am extremely happy with Stanton ST.150 turntables. Actually, I might purchase a third turntable in the near future.