In my ongoing quest to obtain the perfect, most affordable pair of deejay turntables, it wasn’t long before I found myself standing in front of a demo pair of Stanton STR8-150 turntables. Stanton, already a respectable name in deejaying technology thanks to their quality cartridges and mid-range turntables, truly went all out on this flagship unit, determined to use innovation and intuitive design to dethrone the Technic 1200s as the undisputed king of turntables.
Stanton’s first step in this coup was to completely redesign the wheels of steel literally from scratch, and it doesn’t take a great deal of experience with the turntable to grasp how effective this approach was. Everything about the construction of the 150s practically screams ‘quality.’ The way the weighty, durable assembly in conjunction with its flexible rubber feet stabilize the unit, minimize feedback and resonance, and help keep the unit in place eliminates a good number of common minor problems that haunt disc jocks, allowing them to concentrate on more important tasks – such as playing music.
All over this STR8-150 turntable are plentiful little touches that let you know they designed it with the professional deejay in mind. In addition to the normal start/stop button in the lower left-hand corner, the unit also has an extra start/stop button in the upper left-hand corner to accommodate pro deejays that tend to prefer their turntables rotated 90 degrees in “battle position.” Plus, with a powerful, industry-leading motor flaunting a torque of up to 4.5Kgf-cm, this turntable was definitely made to resist the spins and counter-spins of even the most frenzied scratch DJ or heavy-handed mixologist. You can actually stop the platter with your thumb and see it return to the previous speed in no time flat. In addition, producers and beatmakers should get a charge out of the STR8-150 as the inclusion of S/PDIF digital outputs allows them to sample vinyl directly into digital recording or production gear.
But Stanton didn’t stop there; this turntable comes geared up with a host of cool functions to help you freak you mixes and scratches. Across the bottom of the deck is an array of silver function buttons. On the far left is the stop/start button, two small buttons that control the record speed (depress 33 for 33rpm records, 45 for 45rpm records, and both for 78s), and a motor on/off dial. On the right side are the controls for instantly reversing the platter direction (cool), key correction, a removable target light (a nice way to line up your cue marks before the needle hits the vinyl), and the pitch correction controls. I actually found that the pitch correction didn’t work as well as I had hoped; it doesn’t actually eliminate pitch problems, but does minimize them to a degree. Still, the ability to adjust pitch up to ±8%, ±25%, and ±50% is a handy feature for perfecting those on the fly remixes.
However, the Stanton STR8-150s are not all function – the form will definitely have you drooling as well. The STR8-150 sports an eye-catching retro-futuristic no-nonsense (any other adjectives I can hyphenate?) look with a black faceplate and various silver highlights. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, the straight tone arms help cut back on the needle popping that infrequently occurs during scratching. Deejays accustomed to the more prevalent curved or ‘s-shaped’ tone arms may initially have trouble adjusting to the different ‘personality’ of a straight tone arm (i.e. reduced sound quality, holds cues at a different point), but once you’re used to it, you won’t want to go back. Overall, the design of this premier Stanton deck manages to be more ornate than the plain-Jane 1200s, yet not as space age as some of the newer Vestax or NuMark turntables.
In my demo session using a compilation that actually included LL Cool J’s “Rock the Bells” (I was all excited when I saw it on there too… like I really would be able to do something other than rip the vinyl), the STR8-150s worked beautifully. The tone arms held the grooves even with my ‘Pathetically Out Of Practice’™ technique, or ‘P.O.O.P.’ for short, the start/stop/reverse and other functions all worked magnificently. That monster motor churned away keeping the record moving in spite of my heavy fingers on the platter, and every note being played emerged with crystalline clarity form the monitors.
To further encourage those still clinging to other brands and decks, Stanton includes all the related accessories including slipmats, cables, mounted headshells, and Stanton’s 680HP cartridge. With all these extras plus a solid construction, a brawny motor, a stable tone arm, and an assortment of handy functions, the Stanton STR8-150 will unquestionably put you in Hip-Hop heaven. You may forget about ever wanting a pair of those... what were they? 12-somethings?
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