Does this look like a decent record player to you?

2 Comments

1. mrskinny1 says:

   February 24, 2010 at 11:50 pm

   Really… no. Why would you even want to play records on something with such low sound quality? Money would be better spent on some CDs and a decent boom box… which would have better sound quality and at least play at the correct speed. If you have vinyl that can’t be found on CD, perhaps a friend with a decent system could transfer your vinyl to CD for you.

   Unfortunately, I don’t see anything at all on the market right now as far a decent all-in-one record player with built-in speakers. Everything on the market seems to have many bad consumer reviews about speed stability, sound quality and horrible build quality / reliability.

   If you must play vinyl, I’d probably try to find an 80’s system that still works. It would definitely sound better and very likely even last longer than one of these new record players for about the same money. You could probably find something like a receiver / turntable combo unit that comes with a pair of speakers… or you might have to buy a cheap set of bookshelf speakers if the seller doesn’t have the speakers.

   Another option would be to find a nice, old portable record player… maybe even one with a vacuum tube amp in working, but unrestored condition… and pay to have somebody restore it. That generally involves a little cleaning and replacing all the tubes and capacitors. You can usually still find a replacement needle. After that, you’d have a real nice sounding record player that’s built like a tank and might even be worth quite a bit in a few more years.

   Another option… People still have old console stereos they want to get rid of. Nobody wants them and you can usually find them for cheap or for free. Maybe try Craigslist or a local classifieds paper. Some of them actually sound pretty good. Way better than a $100.00 record player nowadays… I used to go to this auction with my friend. Nobody bid on the console stereos and they’d give them to anybody who’d haul them off for free.

   Here are some examples of stuff I’d be looking at…

   http://cgi.ebay.com/Vtg-Solid-State-Portable-RECORD-PLAYER-TurnTable-67P51_W0QQitemZ110490520297QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Electronics_R2?hash=item19b9bf8ae9 This one is solid-state (no tubes), but could still probably use some new capacitors to make it reliable and perform 100%.

   http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-GE-RECORD-PLAYER-TURNTABLE-PORTABLE-TRIMLINE-NR_W0QQitemZ270527022848QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Electronics_R2?hash=item3efcaac700 Again, this one’s old enough where a few new capacitors would be a good idea to make it reliable and ensure it’s sounding it’s best.

   http://cgi.ebay.com/SEARS-STEREO-DUEL-CASSETTE-TURNTABLE-RECORD-PLAYER_W0QQitemZ150412202120QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2305441088
2. E. F. Hutton says:

   February 24, 2010 at 11:50 pm

   That’s for capturing the content via USB. It’s not for only playing vinyl.