The decks that changed dance music

A new Pioneer vinyl turntable was exhibited at music trade show Musikmesse 2014 last week, exciting wax purists across the globe with what looks like a worthy replacement for the discontinued Technics 1210.

With the prospect of a new turntable entering the market, we take a look at some of the decks that have helped shaped dance music history. From the vintage record spinners of the 1970s to the hi-tech glory of the present day, here's some of the most influential equipment ever to have been released.

Thorens TD-125 MKII

Spawned by renowned Swiss manufacturer Thorens, this vintage piece is firmly locked into New York folklore. Although heavily overlooked nowadays, the TD-125 MKII was a firm favourite of legendary DJ Larry Levan during his residency at the Paradise Garage, while another legend in the game, Tony Humphries, has also spun a few records on this in his time.

Garrard SP25

First released in 1965, the Garrard was a club staple in the United Kingdom during the pre-varispeed era of the 60s and part of the 70s. Pioneering British DJ Greg Wilson was one of many DJs to use this before the Technics SL-1200s came along and changed the path of club music forever.

Technics SL-1200

It's safe to say that the Technics SL-1200 changed the DJing game entirely. Released in 1972 by Matsushita (now re-branded as Panasonic), the 1200 quickly became an established piece of kit for club DJs thanks to its high torque motor system before 1979's MKII version later became synonymous with hip hop DJs' knack of scratching.

Technics SL-1210

Although very similar to the 1200, albeit with a matte black finish, the 1210 arrived with a few circuitry updates. Sadly, Panasonic announced in 2010 that the Technics would be taken off the market due to "the accelerating transformation of the entire audio market from analogue to digital."

Vestax PDX-2000

Japanese company Vestax launched its turntables in the late 90s, placing its products in direct competition with the Technics range. The PDX-2000, a must-have for any scratch DJ, came close to overtaking the 1210 but the long-established Technics proved too popular and stayed as the industry number one.

Stanton STR8.150

Born in the 00s following the discontinuation of Technics, this straight tone arm (hence the 'STR8' moniker) turntable arrived with the self-professed "world's strongest torque motor". A back-to-basics steel construction, equipped with key correction, 50 pitch adjustments and digital output, this Stanton model certainly stepped into Technics' shoes with pride.

Pioneer CDJ-1000

A somewhat groundbreaking invention, the CDJ-1000 is heralded as the first CD player to accurately emulate the attributes of vinyl turntables. Debuting on shelves in 2001, consumers were wowed by the concept of it supporting playback from CD, CD-R and CD-RW. MK2 and MK3 versions followed in 2003 and 2006 before the range was discontinued in 2009.

Pioneer CDJ-2000 Ne

Classed as one of the most revolutionary pieces of DJ gear, the Nexus arrived as the follow-up to the CDJ-2000 when it was discontinued in 2012. Stacked with a seemingly endless list of features, including internal Rekordbox software, the ability to load music via USB and Wi-Fi (the first DJ player in the world to do so) and Pioneer's best Master Tempo ever, it's a class act for all digital age DJs.