Great job!!! You anticipated my question about whether a used vintage turntable would be a better choice. I have a Technics SL-1300 that I'm pretty happy with.

Nice! would love to see the setup all together, especially with that Al Hirt album squawking away. (A little creative overdubbing of homegrown mouth-horns would be hilarious and safe from the copyleft trolls 😂🤣)

Help millennial, a neighbor of mine purchased a entry level stereo system including a turntable. The man asked me to help him hook up his speakers, I I made speaker leads for him and show them how to connect up his speaker and components and provide external ground for his turntable. I'm recommending he watch your video so that he can set up his turntable, you're a great teacher Tony

I like your take on quality and what sounds good! Any song or system that has history in your life will fill the ears, mind, and heart with warmth and joy!

Great review for general S/U of a turntable. Thanks! Enjoyed watching.

You are right. It's about the enjoyment of the listeners.

Great video! I still use a Dual CS-721 direct drive TT that I bought new in 1978. I went for quite a few years without using it when CD's came out, but I have so much vinyl, I started using it again and it still sounds phenomenal when properly set up. Some people don't like the direct drive tables, but I love this one and there were a lot of good tables during that era.

liked your comments regarding the jukeboxes, as a jukebox restorer , who has now moved into just restoring and repairing the amplifiers, i have to agree with you, to my ears a 1950's seeburg V200 or a ami I jukebox is the best sounding thing there is....the bass hits you in the chest, and sweet smooth treble, technically when you look at the schematic of a seeburg amp, the amounts of tone shaping and feedback loops is crazy to achieve the classic jukebox sound....but to me nothing beats it!

Wish my dad had set me up with a hifi system, had to work a whole summer saving for my first system -but then I had expensive taste 😝. Sent this YT to my daughter’s friend who took my original turntable, it’s so informative. Best to you and family and whole community here.

Great Show and Tell Tony….. I’m still using my Marantz 6300 I bought in the late 70’s and it’s running like a champ, so far…!

younger folks into vinyl is quite true. Walk into any used or new (vinyl) record store and you will more younger folks than older.

I used to love listening to records on my parents turntable systems in the 1970s and 1980s. When CDs were released, I never looked back, only forward with FLAC format. My entire collection is portable, I want to listen to it where ever I go. And I do. :)

Thanks for the motor adjustment info. I sent the first one back because of the motor running too slow even though the pitch was all the way up. Second one came with broken hinges for the cover.Third times a charm hopefully.

A very good and informative video, Tony, much enjoyed.

I got a mint Technics sl-3200 for 100$ last year. and I love it :)

Thank you Tony for the assembly, setting up, testing and review of this turntable, if I was buying a TT today this one would be worth considering. It is built very much like the Technics SL-1200 I bought in the mid 70's. Even though this is new turntable you can buy today that works good, I would rather have my original SL-1200 turntable. The early turntables were made like a tank and the later ones are built with cheaper lighter materials and motors. The SL-1200 has direct drive motor driven by discrete transistors, not by an IC chip. I bought an Audio Technical cartage with a shubaita needle for it for the SQ 4 channel records, which I never got any 4 ch system, so we are using a regular elliptical needle.

Cork rubber sheet makes a great mat material - draw round an old record and cut with scissors!

I have a Crosley T150A with the AT3600L on it, and like this one, the motor rumble can be heard as soon as you turn it on, both through the plastic "plinth" as well as through the tonearm and cartridge. That said, for rock and popular music, especially if you crank it up, you hardly notice. The cartridge outclasses the rest of the table so much that when I hear someone talk about upgrading the cartridge on that table, I tell them they'd be better off upgrading the turntable around the AT3600L, and only then think about whether you need a better cartridge. If you're doing critical listening and can hear the difference between carts, you need a better table anyway! If you do end up with something that comes with its own speakers like my Crosley, even the most basic $10 pair of swap meet speakers would be the best upgrade you could apply unless you're running it through an amp. In the case of the Crosley, a set of old Realistic Minimus 7's would be a major step up! It's amazing how good those commodity amp chips they're using nowadays can sound for the money. No one's gonna toss their vintage Denon or Marantz for one of these, but if you've got Cruiser money, you should at least step up to something that has the magnetic cartridge like the AT3600L, unless you're only going to play 78s.

Seems pretty nice for the dough. With a little shopping those AT-3600L cartridges can be found for about $13. A nice upgrade is the AT-95c for $40 or better, the AT-95e for about $60

Good information for a new generation of vinyl owners.

Great review and I agree it's easy to say buy vintage but if you're not in the know it's easy to buy a dog

I converted my whole vinyl collection to CD Back in the mid 80’s. …. And have not looked back. I DO NOT miss the Snap Crackle and Pop vinyl has to offer. I currently own 700+ CD’s.

Wow the simplicity of it all. I was just looking at the service manual for my Denon DP-61F turntable, an engineering marvel. The Q-factor, anti-skate, horizonal and vertical tracking all controlled electrically. There are motors in the tone arm. If I counted right there are 104 IC's and 54 Electrolytic caps (I recapped it about 6mo ago) they don't make them like that anymore. Fortunately It has kept it's value. I'm not one of those people with golden ears. BUT I can definitely hear the deference between that plastic thing with a $13 cartridge & needle and my Denon and Ortofon goodness. My first memorable music experience was a jukebox also, My dad used to take me to the bar with him and had me set in a booth in the back and drink my coke with cherries in it. Patsy Cline was great. But I grew up and discovered Jimi Hendrix, ELP and the Moody Blues etc. and I heard them on a Very Very nice stereo. After that it was just impossible for me to appreciate something like your Radio Shack and digital now sound. With the equipment you have in your home/bench... How in all honesty can you say this sounds good? when you know what good sounds like. I just think there are lines between Great,Good and Crap. Sorry somedays my little finger is shaped like a ballpeen hammer. SH

Interesting video showing what's out there in turntables. On the cost subject, in 1975 after military service and broke, I assembled my first component hifi system consisting of a Pioneer SX-434 receiver, BIC-920 turntable (with Shure M70 pickup) and KLH model 31 speakers all for under $250. Yup, bottom of the line "budget gear". Barely qualifying as HIFI. I was happy and really dug that stuff. Sounded boss to my uneducated audio ears. As Ray Davies sang.....Cheap is small and not too steep. But best of all cheap is cheap.

If I was going to purchase a new turntable I would go with the Swedish Turntable called the Miniot Wheel which is a Linear Tracking Turntable can be used vertically or horizontally.

Hi Tony. Here's a tip for you regarding anti-skate adjustment which I find to be as precise as possible when doing it like this on the fly. When you go for free-floating arm and counterweight says 0 (arm is completely horizontal, floating free, deck rests on fully leveled surface), and you know upfront what cartridge manufacturer asks you to adjust counterweight (force) at, now at this point start rotating anti-skate ajusment slowly and you will see arm trying to move either towards the center of the platter or the other way. Now adjust it carefuly (best on 3 positions, out, middle, inside) so the arm tries to stay in place, not trying to 'skate' either way, or really super slowly trying to go towards the outer rim. My experience always led me to the adjustment arm is (anti-skating) trying to stay perfectly in place rather than slowly trying to 'escape' outwards. I have found that way styli produces best results and equally wears off.

This TT looks best to be avoided.

I would imagine that the D.C. supply for the motor is not well regulated. Hence the need for the ‘pitch’ adjustment, as the speed may vary with changes in line voltage. Depending upon the stability of the supplied line voltage, the adjustment range of the pitch control could be pressed. Since this is probably made in China, they would have set that for 115 or 120 volts there, and our line voltage is usually above that here, nowadays. For the price, that looked to be a pretty good value to me. I have a 60 year old Sansui SR-4040 turntable. Remarkably, I can still get belts for it.

That is a lovely AT3600L cart... They do best right at 3 grams but you may get away with 2.7.... Bets cheap cart there is! :)

I've had my Technics SL-1310 since 1979, when I bought it from a buddy in the barracks. It's equipped with a Stanton 681EEE/S and I've never felt the need to get something else.

Regarding used vintage turntables, you covered the points. In the end you are going to spend an equivalent amount of money either way unless you really luck out. Maybe you can find deals at estate sales or stumble into something, but by now people with quality vintage turntables know what they have and you will pay. Even lower end Sony, Pioneer etc from the 80s go for almost what you paid for this one. So yeah, I think you got a good deal here, I apologize if my previous post sounded negative, I was just making a general statement about the quality of things these days.

The stylus for that is an ATN3600L and cost as little as $10.00 on Amazon, but you can upgrade it to an ATN3600LE which has is an elliptical stylus for $40.00 . The elliptical one is also made by Audio Technica, but they make it for a company called LP Gear and instead of the AT logo on the front of the stylus it has a styled LP logo, that and the body is blue instead of beige.

One thing that is good about these new ones, is the ability to connect directly to a computer via USB to record. You could do the same thing with the vintage one, but would need an DI.

Well if I was going to do vinyl again, I would wait and save more and get the Fluance Turntable the RT-85. It is out of stock I get it, there is a reason for that. Lots of turntable for the money. I guess the AT and this one are fine for their given purpose. I used to have many different turntables. So much maintenance and so delicate. I dove over to tape. More robust and much more for fun for me. Your mileage may vary of course.

$139 can never be a "good price" for a brand new turntable. Rather for a decent second hand Classic... my opinion.

On the "which is better" between a modern digital source and a turntable, the only reasonable answer is pretty much what you said, it depends. It depends on what the individual values in terms of what makes something good. If you're about the feel, the experience of it, the nostalgia or just the fun of collecting, you might consider vinyl to be better, but if your top priorities are things like SINAD, consistency, longevity, then you might find digital better. On a purely technical standpoint, digital is orders of magnitude "better", but many a technical person can still enjoy a vinyl collection for all the other reasons, and thankfully..in the end, we don't really have to choose. :) I have a primarily digital system, MiniDSP shd studio with a MiniDSP 10x10 to get some analog i/o like a phono pre and control subwoofers on the other aes/ebu loop, and I have a choice of going straight into MiniDSP plate amps over aes/ebu that have icepower 250asx2 amp modules...but! just for fun, I have a Cary sla-30 tube amp on my mains (97db sensitive Kochel K-300SDS) that I listen to more than the icepower amps...even though I know on a purely technical standpoint, the icepower amps walk up one side and down the other in the specifications department...and it's not even funny over the old push-pull el84 tubes. But you know what? I don't care! I like it and I can't help it. For some reason, when it's on and it's glowing, it just makes you feel good. I can totally see both sides of these kinds of arguments. Sometimes ya feel like a nut, sometimes...you don't. :)

Never used earbuds, instead preferring the over-the-ear big "can" type headphones. A lot of those little earphones remind me of ear plugs the factories used to make me wear and I despised those things. Last time I had an earphone of that style it was a single crystal speaker plugged into a transistor radio when I was a little kid. As far as the different media types of audio go though, I'm not particular about 1 form vs another. I think they each have their place. At home I prefer handling and listening to records while in my vehicle if I'm not listening to the radio, I use cd's. I do have a cassette deck at home but with so few options for blank tapes anymore I seldom use it at all as I only have 3 or 4 pre-recorded tapes left from a one time sizable collection. With turntables, although I do have a Pioneer DJ plx-500 that I occasionally use, I'm much more apt to have a stack of records on my old BSR changer. It's a late 60's model (MA65) and has the metal plinth, metal platter, metal eccentric wheel and a pickering v-15 MM cartridge with two NOS styli I recently got for it, a .7 and a 3mil for 78's. It is also the only TT I have capable of playing what few 16's I have.

I just received my vinyl copy of Shinedowns Planet Zero and now comes the turntable. My budget leans between this and the 1 by One with Bluetooth. I am tossed.

Xraytonyb your utube videos are awesome 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😎😎👍👍👍👍👍

Does it actually say the arm uses Technics alignment? Hanpin derived models (looks similar) are slightly different.

24:58 You also have to be careful that the tonearm is perfectly horizontal at the zero gram indicator on the counterweight. If the arm dips in either direction, even if it still "floats" the counterweight will be offset from its true equilibrium position; so if the counterweight were too far forward, for instance (which I think happened here) moving the counterweight forward to the indicated downforce will apply too much force. Of course scales are the way to go, but, depending on the quality of the tonearm, correctly adjusting "by eye" can yield accurate results - when the counterweight on my Q Deck indicates 1.5 grams, the measured downforce is 1.55 grams (times g, since its a force not a mass).

Great video for vinyl newbies.

Tony,what alot of people don't realise,is that adjusting the rotational speed under LED lights WQILL NOT WORK!!!Their switching supplies are not 60Hz that the strobes use. GL all out there . Doc BC

I have a very similar cheaper turntable like this one, the Ion ITTUSB10, I took it apart to adjust the speed (don't trust the apps that measure turntable speed, in my experience they're always off no matter what I try) and noticed that it's actually grounded on the inside of the turntable, taking away the need for an external ground wire, I'll bet if you take that apart you'll find the same. I'm a teenager who got their start with a crappy all in one stereo from the early 90s with the same style turntable as the crosley cruiser, and while I'm happy to report that none of my records got ruined, this is definitely a much better starting point for your daughter.

I have to vote digital.

Tony, I bet you have some great stories particularly tagging along with your cousins that may or may not be appropriate for KZfaq. How about adding some to solder talks?

In the range of new shitty entry level Chinese TTs this seems not bad at all. A lot of adjustments possibilities, the use of metal where it counts, at first sight quite stable speed. Most important a detachable headshell and replaceable cartridge.

Tony...The Technics gauge, is specifically designed for Technics arms, with a specified pivot to spindle distance, and a specific number of degrees offset. It will work for this table IF those dimensions meet that spec. On balancing, to zero, the arm should be completely horizontal, not just touching. Skating force not caused by record rotation, but by cartridge overhang and arm angle offset. Re pitch control. 7 dots drift per minute, equals 0.1% speed error. This is a lightweight plasticky Technics 1200 look alike, which will not be durable. There are better cheap turntables, such as the Heyday, at Target, for $100. Your daughter deserves, much better.

One should do a comparison of an old turntable such as an old Technics and a newer model Audio Technica LP120 using an oscilloscope.

I understand the question was rhetorical. But I can tell you that a friend of mine has just that, a high end turntable and a high end digital source. He brings in people, both audiophiles and non-audiophiles. He starts out with digital. Everyone nods in approval. After the song, everyone tells him they are amazed at the sound quality. Then he puts on a record. Everyone's mouth drops. They are gob smacked. Happens the same way every time.

My inlaws have an old tube radio with a record player built in. The cartridge was dead. I solder in a piezo to the head and call it good enough. Hey, it works :)

Xraytonyb how much does it cost the Digltnow M_ 619 turntable?

Well, at one point I might have said the first one - TT through excellent system. But... having heard Sony's digital format, the one used on SACDs, analog seems to have some competition. I will also grudgingly admit that I've heard a Yamaha multi-CD player, through a vintage 1980-era Pioneer integrated amp, attached to B&W 801 floorstanders, and it did produce a truly glorious sound, so...

Sounded a bit like Al Hirt’s “Java” 🤔 Yep I got it right. I can “Name that Tune”

The second worse question ( understand it was rhetorical) is like asking if a rotten orange is better than a rotten apple.

Yet another SL1200 knockoff? Let's go Techmoan over it, haha. BTW it's true that the millennial generation (and gen Z probably too) kinda got the wind of vinyl records. Only most of us don't really know the stuff and buy those digitally remastered reissure records on thick vinyl and cheap TTs, then connect them with even shittier audio systems, let alone PCs (via the USB interface, oh the abomination!). That totally kills the joy of listening, if you ask me.

I just got this record player as a gift, really very Nostalgic. I really know nothing about stereos/record players. Thought I could just follow the instructions and pop an album on it. I was searching for volume controls 🤦🏻‍♀️. From watching your video I can see I have much to learn. Didn’t know I’d need to purchase speakers and a receiver, in order to actually hear my albums. Could you recommend something affordable for a beginner. Thanks Norma

"Those thing ms are the two things you can do to make it sound good". That and keep your records clean.

The different thing, is how records were mastered, with vinyl the low frequency has to be strict mono, because otherwise the needle would whip out of the groove, which make that lows were pretty much always in phase. Digital, you don't have these issues, I mix sometimes materials that on purpose are out of phase. As an effect, second vinyl was not clipped at all, on purpose, like digital sometimes is. The negative of digital, is loudness, which is common supplied on modern records. So make the math, distorted, compressed sound, on earbuds isn't a good idea for your ears. Vinyl doesn't have that, that's why I prefer a good vinyl record, and it has also something romantic, you have to pull out the record out of an organic cover, most of them were masterpiece art, so you could feel something in your hands, digital, nope, only a fast forward button, and that's it. I have one of the first cd's that were recorded properly, nice mastered. These have an amazing dynamic range. But nowadays with their mp3, ACC, OGG format. It's a shame that record companies provide these to the end user. I still use my 1982 Technics 1200 MkII turntable, and it will stay here till the end of my life cycle.

There's something to be said for properly set up, high quality, analog playback (vinyl and magnetic tape).

Xraytonyb ware did you get Digltnow m_6 19 turntable

Vinyl is the new black

If Tony is happy, that's it! For a cheap turntable, is ok.

Is Al Hirt's "I Can't Get Started" solo on that record? In my opinion, it's one of the greatest trumpet solos ever.

I quite like at3600 for my non pristine records. 3.5g is the correct tracking force for the 3600. I have been restoring turntables for years. My preferance are technics Q locks and dual 1219. Those guages are great time savers. My hobbies include: restoring motorcycles, bicycles, audio gear, playing bass and pornography.

You didn't mention which hole (por) controls which speed. I imagine the holes line up with each speed button?

Tony, the comparison of the digi and the Audio Technica turntable are only comparable in price... The Audio Technica turntable isn't claiming world's best! It is a budget unit, I think that the Digi should be compared to the next model up in the Audio Technica range which looks similar to the Digi... Yeah it costs more but it's also a much better turntable... I noticed that the strobe light doesn't turn off when the platter is off and the tonearm is at rest! Might need to access that power switch more often than not.... Honestly, I think that I wouldn't be surprised if the same priced Audio Technica turntable actually sounds better.... This Digi thing seems to be pretending to be something that it clearly isn't... But at the end of the day, you have it now and it works and sounds great to you so you might as well use it.. Just for kick's, look up the specifications for the Technics turntable, pay close attention to it weight LoL.... You wouldn't want to drop it on your feet sitting down let alone standing up.... The Audio Technica clone isn't as heavy but it's definitely weighs more than my vintage pioneer PL110, but the pioneer not only sounds better, it knows how to hang onto the groove as it sits on timer floors right next to the subwoofer! Oh! It knows that the sub is there, I can see the feedback in the speaker cone at really high output levels.... The Audio Technica can't do it, none of the other turntables I have owned could.... I always wondered how DJ's didn't suffer from the same problem since their turntables were getting way more punishment from the speakers... Some turntables are just built better than others.... I don't use the Audio Technica turntable since I got the pioneer.

Vinyl sounds better,because back then MUSIC was better. Doc BC

1.A good turntable with a good system. The sound is warm and have high listening pleasure. 2. i take a bad mp3 over a bad turntable on crappy stereo

Xraytonyb what is your hobbies?

Digit now NOW! Not later? all kidding aside I miss my modest vinyl collection as a kid (80s when music was real)

the good packaging looks more expensive that the actual deck

"Crackle and Scratch"? Depends on what kind of gear you have and what LPs you are buying. I am a big fan of your videos, but this turntable is a toy. Not trying to be mean or a snob, but you would be hard pressed to find a lower end turntable. Can't wait for your next video... with some real audio gear. Thanks again for all the fantastic videos. 👽✌️

30:20 If you turn the internal pre-amp off, then shouldn't the cartridge see a specific cable/pre-amp capacitance. Back in the day, many turntable manufacturers provided low capacitance flying leads to prevent the use of bog standard line level leads with unknown capacitance per unit length.

My other hobby is lisn to music records and CDs and fmstreo on my Yamaha reciver

Regardless of the System - Vinyl Record Turntable or a "digital source" either one with a Very Good System with Very Good Speakers; the Quality of the Sound is "Recording Dependent". Each System, has Good & Bad Recordings. It's very much "hit or miss" e.g. Even here on KZfaq, where the overall sound is compromised by Compression. Yet some of those Recordings are so well done, they can still sound could very good on almost Any Gear ... and the converse is also True. A Bad recording, Can't be rescued by a Digital Source. go figure ???

Hopefully the A to D converter isn't junk, some are really horrible :-( The manufacture should of set the speed presets, they didn't finish the job!. Imagine buying a car and before you can use it you have to set the valve clearances lol.

How about 50 hz?

we followed this tutorial. why is record playing very quiet sound ?

OK!

Mine won't auto return at end of record. Is it typical?

seeing how you balanced tone arm to me is not correct the tone arm when balanced to zero must be parallel to platter ,which means when bought over the top of platter it must be even with it the whole tonearm must balance evenly over platter a little high or too low will give you wrong setting never heard of a float point but BALANCED evenly ,any tonearm can float but it has to be even and match platter surface I have heard too many young people call it a float point its wrong term ,and on this TT if it has a built in preamp it is already internally grounded you dont need a ground wire I have a bsr turntable with a ceramic cart that has a ground wire so ceramic or magnetic it all depends on the manufacturer

that sounds too heavy for the cartridge you have to adjusted it to the compliance of the suspension say somewhere like 1.7g be more correct no modern cartridge tracks that heavy 3 g usually 2.2 grams is the highest. you should do it on the scope correctly balanced

looks like a Gemini turntable

Oh Tony...Please don't become another audio system / component u-tube "reviewer". U-Tube is already overloaded with these folks. I knew a "goodfella" in NY (a REAL goodfella...) who changed records (and removed the $$) in jukeboxes. I obtained quite a collection of 45's helping him count the "change" back in the day. All jukeboxes in NY where controlled by "Wise Guys" back then. MY first experience with "cool sounding" audio was listening to the Seeberg Jukebox in our Family Tavern in suburban NY. I was always fascinated with the mechanics of those units. The "wise guys" would replace the real popular records after about 200+ plays. Each record slot kept a mechanical counter that could be reset. I got a lot of free "worn" 45 rpm records...and a few new ones.

Xraytonyb your Diglton now m_ 619 turntable is so awesome

well I don't really care you know ? I prefer vinyl records because I like looking at them. so when I buy music first I look for vinyls. if certain artist don't offer vinyl I buy cd:s or cassette tapes or digitals. that's it man.

3:23 It's just a hip(ster) fashion thing though, coloured vinyl is also part of this fad; nothing to do with audio quality.

Turn table is better for question #1, definitely.

Wrong! Maybe the cartridge is authentic. They’re only $6. The overhang is proportional to the distance from the pivot of the arm and spindle in a right angle triangle on the center of the record. Judging based on the head shell alone is wrong. I guess it will play and you won’t damage anything. No harm no foul. I just don’t like bad info about TT setups. Interested though how it turns out in the end. After watching the wrap up well done.

I’m going with….salami salad?

However I have lots of vinyl

properly set up turntable on a good stereo system i am not for the digital thing every digital recording is compressed no matter what coding 350 eatt T.amp amd good mixer sounds 1000 times better then any digital recording

CROSSLEY IS A TRADEMARK PF MODERN MARKETING SOLUTIONS. Digitnow really are poor

lol, it is a sad state of affairs when mediocre stuff actually wows you. Wow! A METAL counterweight! Dude! An ALUMINUM platter!!! heh...

Thanx but no thanx. I'll buy a used Technics first...

Ugh they couldn't even make a mat with an even circle. They couldn't calibrate the pitch control at the factory. Its a junk turntable. It will probably die in a year

Plinths were cheap and plasticy in the 80s...

Xraytonyb my hobbys are painting pictures and lisining to shortwave and ssb iam thinking about getting my ham license I have 4 shortwave receivers