Let me start off by saying this is not a high end turntable. It doesn't sound as good as a totl turntable with the head and stylus replaced or a tube preamp. What it is, is a budget turntable that hits above it's cost point.
All opinions in the review are honest and my own. I am not affiliated with target, any audio company for that matter. I purchased this product with my hard earned cash, specifically because I broke my audio-technica lp60 trying to mod it.
Packaging:
As expected with a budget/consumer product, the packaging was good enough to keep it from getting damaged in shipping. A couple layers of formed cardboard. Plastic bags and twist ties holding the cables and other vitals.
Build:
I do like the color scheme but would rather a clear cover than the smoked it comes with but that's my preference. Despite being mainly plastic, it does have some weight to it. Especially in the cover.
The arm and knobs feel sturdy and the cables are not built in like my previous turntable. This is good because the rca cable included is fairly thin and should probably be upgraded later.
The feet on it are actually spring loaded and conical, so it sits pretty stable. If someone was to bump the table by accident I feel it protect the record pretty good. *** Did not. I bumped it by accident when moving something nearby and my heart stopped. Luckily the record was already in bad shape.
The mat is standard felt type. Immediately replaced with my leather deer hide mat.
My first and possibly only downside. After setting it up I immediately placed a timing sheet on it and pulled out my lamp. It definitely runs fast. I haven't tried adjusting the motor speed yet.
Update: It's been maybe 6months now and it gives a little motor noise when starting up.
Connectivity:
Unfortunately I do not have a phono preamp so I can not test the phono out of the turntable.
So far using it with the built in preamp, and straight from the start you can tell it is better than other similarly priced. Line out voltage is almost double, and despite having the same AT white stylus as others there looks to be more detail. I recorded from line out to my desktop via sound blaster ZX at 24B/96k and zooming in shows a little more detail. It also caused some clipping because of peak voltages.
Bluetooth has good range. Pretty much the same as my HTC 10. The turntable is located at one end of my house which is fairly rectangular and 1800sq ft. I can connect my Vmoda cfw2 and walk anywhere in my house. Only one spot gives some cut out due to the electrical panel being in between. Sound is ok. You still hear the static and pops from bad records. Also the stage isn't as wide compared to line out to a headphone amp. I can't tell which codec it's using though.
Conclusion:
This turntable is a good base to upgrade from without spending much money to start. Nothing is outstanding, but pretty much every can be swapped.
Edit: I lowered the rating half a point because after opening it up I realized most the weight comes from the cover and 7 little wood blocks that hold things together. The actual housing is thin, cheap particle board.
I might cut out a new bottom from plywood and put some isoacoustics underneath.
Message me if you got any questions.
All opinions in the review are honest and my own. I am not affiliated with target, any audio company for that matter. I purchased this product with my hard earned cash, specifically because I broke my audio-technica lp60 trying to mod it.
Packaging:
As expected with a budget/consumer product, the packaging was good enough to keep it from getting damaged in shipping. A couple layers of formed cardboard. Plastic bags and twist ties holding the cables and other vitals.
Build:
I do like the color scheme but would rather a clear cover than the smoked it comes with but that's my preference. Despite being mainly plastic, it does have some weight to it. Especially in the cover.
The arm and knobs feel sturdy and the cables are not built in like my previous turntable. This is good because the rca cable included is fairly thin and should probably be upgraded later.
The feet on it are actually spring loaded and conical, so it sits pretty stable. If someone was to bump the table by accident I feel it protect the record pretty good. *** Did not. I bumped it by accident when moving something nearby and my heart stopped. Luckily the record was already in bad shape.
The mat is standard felt type. Immediately replaced with my leather deer hide mat.
My first and possibly only downside. After setting it up I immediately placed a timing sheet on it and pulled out my lamp. It definitely runs fast. I haven't tried adjusting the motor speed yet.
Update: It's been maybe 6months now and it gives a little motor noise when starting up.
Connectivity:
Unfortunately I do not have a phono preamp so I can not test the phono out of the turntable.
So far using it with the built in preamp, and straight from the start you can tell it is better than other similarly priced. Line out voltage is almost double, and despite having the same AT white stylus as others there looks to be more detail. I recorded from line out to my desktop via sound blaster ZX at 24B/96k and zooming in shows a little more detail. It also caused some clipping because of peak voltages.
Bluetooth has good range. Pretty much the same as my HTC 10. The turntable is located at one end of my house which is fairly rectangular and 1800sq ft. I can connect my Vmoda cfw2 and walk anywhere in my house. Only one spot gives some cut out due to the electrical panel being in between. Sound is ok. You still hear the static and pops from bad records. Also the stage isn't as wide compared to line out to a headphone amp. I can't tell which codec it's using though.
Conclusion:
This turntable is a good base to upgrade from without spending much money to start. Nothing is outstanding, but pretty much every can be swapped.
Edit: I lowered the rating half a point because after opening it up I realized most the weight comes from the cover and 7 little wood blocks that hold things together. The actual housing is thin, cheap particle board.
I might cut out a new bottom from plywood and put some isoacoustics underneath.
Message me if you got any questions.
