What too look for in a turntable.... lots of things. What will you mainly use it for?
Torque (strength of the motor)
Weight
Material (metal vs. plastic)
Features (pitch range, key lock, etc)
Wow and flutter (the amount that the speed varies during any given rotation)
Personally, i was a Technics fan for life (or so i thought) and i recently picked up two Numark TTX1 digitals. These are the best turntables on the market. Period. The motor is the strongest on the market (3.7kg/cm as opposed to the Technics 2.5)... they are a solid metal base coated in sound dampening rubber, they have an interchangeable tone arm (straight, or s). They have variable pitch of 10, 20 or 50. These decks are rugged. I have been DJing for 9 years, and used Technics from day one. F that i will never stray from my TTX's now.
The illest feature for us producers: Key Lock. Being that these turntables output at line level (require NO amp or mixer, and have no ground wire... all though there is a switch that will switch them between line and phono output) There is a feature called the key lock that allows you to change the speed of a record with out altering the pitch. This is priceless for sampling. And for remixing (you can speed up or slow down acapella with out the chipmunk or screw effect).
They run about 350 a piece and are worth every penny. My highest reccomendation of any piece of equipment i own.
"Stress basics like freethrows, ya too concerned with lookin' pretty. I'll take the assist before i miss the 360"
-jSoul the Archetype
"And Rodney King.... ain't neva felt the beat like this"
-OMA
