I've been craving one for some time now to add to my collection of things. I'm kind of an audiophile, and will only be using the turntable for listening (and not dj-ing, mixing, etc). I've been seriously looking at two turntables that have caught my attention so far:

(1) Technics 1200 series (the 1200 MK2 in particular)

(2) Pro-ject Debut III (and others from Pro-ject)

I heard the Technics was a solid turntable, very reliable and sturdy. I also heard the Debut III has a much better sound quality. Which one is worth buying overall, assuming I value both sound quality and reliability equally? I won't buy a Stanton or a Numark because of aesthetic reasons. So, if any of you who own turntables could give me some advice about this, that would be .

BrawnThumbers Signal in the sky

I use a 20 year old panasonic turntable that can run 78s if needed.

I use a Numark.

I can't recommend any specific models, but I've heard the Technics 1200 series is great.

What I CAN recommend is that you buy it for playing your LPs for the purpose of nostalgia and fun, and NOT sound quality. Under absolutely no circumstances is an LP ever better than a properly mastered CD. I say properly mastered because in the early 80's a lot of recording engineers mastered CDs like they did LPs, because they were used to it. This meant unnecessary treble boost, etc., that made them sound scratchy and "digital."

If you have a huge LP library, then a player would be a good choice, but don't buy one for sound quality.