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Originally Posted by Sheynkman
DJ EQUIPMENT IS NOT HIFI EQUIPMENT AND IT CAN NEVER BE
the needles and arms serve a different purpose
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This is simply not true. The Technics 1200/1210's are basically tweaked 70's Hi-Fi turntables. They are (over) engineered to such a high standard that they make so-called "audiophile" turntables of today like the Rega, Music Hall et all look like junk from Ikea.
What these budget (read sub 1500USD) "audiophile" decks have over the Technics in stock form is the modern tonearm. The Rega RB250 Tonearm is a night and day upgrade over the stock Technics one hence the Origin Live Upgrade. Go for the OL1 tonearm with modded counterweight and external rewiring. These are very sturdy, probably more so than the stock arm and will be upto taking the deck on the road if needed. You can always sell the stock arms to recoup some of your investment. The Silver is not really worth it unless you have money to burn.
http://www.tonearm.co.uk/dj-technics-arm.htm
Personally I would go for 1200/1210 mk2s. Why mess with a classic design? the later ones have some interesting features, and the Vestax are pretty nice too but if you are ever going to play out, rememeber that the 1200/1210 mk2 are industry standard the world over and this is therefore what it's best to learn on.
Putting them on a properly isolated surface will give you better sound quality as will isolating them from speakers etc. The Kab feet sound interesting. At home I would get a few suspended wall shelves from a Hi-Fi company like target or the sound organisation. These turn up on ebay frequently.
As far as carts go, Stanton make excellent carts which are widely used in broadcast, archiving and Hi-Fi set ups as well as DJing. Get something decent like the 681EEE. There is a set I think which comes with some high quality stylii for listening at home and interchangeable cheaper ones for scratching.
For monitoring JBL Control 1's are cheap, compact and fairly neutral although I would hook up a better 2nd set for listening. A decent beefy Japanese amp like the NAD is a good compromise which will drive both sets of speakers. Otherwise go for a basic pro amp like those made by Sampson to power your monitors and run a cable from the tape outs on your mixer to your Hi-Fi amp.
In terms of mixers, it's worth spending money on a good one. Go for something with a minimal set of features where they have spent all the money on quality faders and eq rather than "phrase samplers" or other crap. Rane, Allen & Heath and Soundcraft all make professional boards so they sound pretty safe bets.
So far as cans are concerned avoid anything with an overly elaborate construction. They will need to handle getting stepped on and yanked about so again go for simplicity of design and build quality. Personally I have used Sennheiser HD25sp / HD25's for decades. They are practically indestructible, and all the parts are replaceable. I have gone through numerous drivers, pads and cables but they keep on pumping.