"Orbit" turntables... are they a good thing?

[Mike Blakesley]

Hey turntable enthusiasts, check this out... new (to me, at least) turntable company:

Orbit turntables »

They're getting some rave reviews from some pretty knowledgeable places. They claim to be hand-built in the USA. They start at $179, but if you customize it and add all the most desirable features (including upgraded cartridge) they can cost closer to $500. I wonder how good they really are? I've still got my old Technics that needs work but maybe something like this would be worth looking into.

 

[Bobberman]

Hey turntable enthusiasts, check this out... new (to me, at least) turntable company:

Orbit turntables »

They're getting some rave reviews from some pretty knowledgeable places. They claim to be hand-built in the USA. They start at $179, but if you customize it and add all the most desirable features (including upgraded cartridge) they can cost closer to $500. I wonder how good they really are? I've still got my old Technics that needs work but maybe something like this would be worth looking into.

they look promising and affordable however i still prefer "DIRECT DRIVE" turntables they are higher quality (and being a Old time DJ) I prefer them and more used to them and they seem to last longer just my opinion. But im always open to the possibilities.

 

[Rudy]

Orbit was a Kickstarter project a couple of years back. They seem to get decent reviews in the press but they're on the low end of "audiophile". Once you add the options (things like the cueing lever are extra), you can spend just a few more dollars and get an entry-level Pro-Ject (Essential II or Debut Carbon DC) or Rega RP-1, or a Marantz TT-42. Music Hall's entry-level MMF-2.3 is a bit higher than it used to be but also would be in the running. All of these have been around for many years, whereas Orbit is a startup with an unknown future.

The Orbit got marks for being easy to set up, but most entry level turntables are, as they usually have a cartridge (albeit not a very good one) preinstalled and aligned. The only thing notable that's different is that it has a "unipivot" arm, which most users are not used to. (VPI uses them on their high-end tables, but I'm not a fan of the sound of the VPIs, to be honest.)

Here's a review from when they first came out:

U-Turn’s Remarkable $179 Orbit Turntable is A Crosley Killer! »

 

[Rudy]

BTW, it doesn't take much to kill a Crosley. Just run it over with the truck a few times.

 

[Rudy]

Just looking over the total cost, I hate to say it...but you'd be better off with a Crosley. Not any Crosley though, the C10, which is made for them by Pro-Ject. They are around $349 on Amazon at the moment, and personally I'd dump that crappy pre-installed Ortofon OM-5 cartridge (they are nasty trackers) and get something more musical. It's notable that the Crosley estimated a set number of sales of the C10 for an entire year; they sold that estimated number in one month. It's nicer looking, and comes with the dustcover and in two different finishes (here is the mahogany):


I bet near the holidays, the C10 will either be sold out, or might be part of some killer deals. These are going through more standard retail distribution channels, so they are outside the usual markets where turntables of this caliber are found.

The U-Turn isn't really a bad system but it does have its shortcomings (which need to be addressed with the add-ons). And I question the staying power of an upstart company. Many of those Kickstarter projects end up failing for one reason or another.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

So is that Crosley the same Crosley that you see in "nostalgia" catalogs making old-timey-looking radios and phonographs that convert records to MP3s? I always thought it was one of those old names that's gotten bought and re-bought over the years by no-name companies just for marketing purposes. You know, like Westinghouse and Hotpoint and names like that.

 

[Rudy]

Yes, that is the same Crosley. They are fully aware that their plasticky "record players" are not very good, and consider them more as a novelty/nostalgia item than a serious piece of playback equipment. I actually think it's a great idea--that brand recognition might help get people away from record players like those that are destroying their collection. (Unless all they play are scratched-up $1 bin rejects.) It gives them an upgrade path with a brand they already know, a brand that they can find at most popular retail outlets.

Crosley is also (sit down for this) working on a record pressing facility as well.

At AXPONA, Michael Fremer commented that while the official number of vinyl records sold in the US (via Soundscan) was a decent number, the true worldwide number of records pressed was estimated to be around 80 million for 2015. (He had his own contacts at some of the pressing plants, plus he was able to get second- or third-hand info on the others.) Now, this 80 million is a manufacturing number, so that also accounts for scrapped pressings and such. But scrapped pressings are still a very small portion of total output. That is no number to sneeze at.

 

[K.C. Jr]

(Whispers) I use a Crosley.
Hey, it's all I can afford at the time! Now, if you would please excuse me, I'll make a run for it while I'm still able.

 

[DeeInKY]

Good old Powel (yes, one L) Crosley, owner of the Cincinnati Reds, inventor, owner of WLW, etc... The remnants of the company have changed hands a number of times. They made everything from cars to refrigerators (my grandparents had a Shelvador - so named because it was the first refrigerator with shelves in the doors - for about a million years). Just saw where the record plant is going to be in Louisville. Who would have thought?

 

[Rudy]

Just saw where the record plant is going to be in Louisville. Who would have thought?

That could be your career change?

 

[Rudy]

(Whispers) I use a Crosley.
Hey, it's all I can afford at the time! Now, if you would please excuse me, I'll make a run for it while I'm still able.

One day you'll be able to make the step upward.

 

[DeeInKY]

That could be your career change?

That would be fun. Me and a hundred hipsters. And I actually know what those round vinyl things are.

 

[Rudy]

I don't think the hipsters would know what to do in a manufacturing environment. Except sit out front, sip coffee and be ironic.

I wouldn't fit in, if I worked in QC. I'm too fussy.