The real thing

This started out way back in the 70s as a Rolls Royce home hi-fi component. When the disco boom started, people looked to the emerging direct-drive turntables as tough enough to take the abuse of heavy party play.

Come the 1200 MK2 in the late 70s and Technics actively wooed the DJ market it had inadvertently won over and the design's been more or less unchanged since then (although there's now a 1210MK3 with a pitch reset).

Don't just buy this machine if wanna be a DJ, though. It's heavy rubber mat, nice tone-arm and solidity make it a good choice mid-range Hi-Fi component, and the 1200's silver finish make it easier on the eye than the rather drab 1210. If you listen to a lot of brash music at home, the sound is big, punchy, full-on and setting a licorice platter spinning on a manual turntable just feels so darned right.