How to spot a BAD turntable!

The quick and easy guide to spotting problematic turntables and record players when shopping!
Have any tips you would like to share? Add them in the comments below!
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[@luckytech7186]

I would like to add something about dust covers. if it's just a matter of scratches and scuffs, (not cracked) there are headlight restoration kits that will do an amazing job on a dust cover. example (3M Headlight Lens Restoration System) only $15 on Amazon. just something to consider in a purchase decision. Good video sir, great advice for perchasers.

[@larrylarry1]

Also a small bottle of Brasso metal polish using a clean soft cloth can get most scratches out of plastic dust covers. It's good on plastic displays in cars too.

[@ebinrock]

Speaking of dust covers, I love the style of the Technics turntables, but NOT the dust covers. They have a sort of bubble over the back of the tonearm section. I understand this is to allow for tonearm height adjustment, but they could have done it in a more elegant way, maybe by sloping the whole dust cover from back to front (which, I guess, would make it difficult to place lightweight objects on top, but so does a bubble). It's either that or make the dust cover ridiculously tall.

[@svenschwingel8632]

I use a dual action car polishing machine with a very soft polishing agent and a really soft polishing pad. It will make the acrylic cover shine like new in a matter of minutes.

[@realscottsummers]

Toothpaste can improve it in a pinch

[@randysong6210]

Meguiars makes a product called Plasti-x. Works very well and removes most scratches even buffing by hand lightly with microfiber cloth. In more severe cases I've wet sanded with 1000 grit sandpaper then power polished using this product to fully restore.

[@patricklynch1962]

Your advice on wind up 78 players is excellent. The upright cabinet inside horn gramophone/phonographs were indeed made in the millions. My 1920 Victrola XI has a ridiculously high serial number because they made close to a million Victrola XI's alone, not counting all the other Victrolas and other upright cabinet phonographs by other brands. The real expensive ones have the morning glory horns and are much older. The one to watch out for among the wind ups are the Indian made gramophones with the brass morning glory horn. The quality on those are wildly variable and usually really bad. The only actual antique parts in those are usually the motor and the turntable platter but now the motors are being copied too. I got lucky with mine and can do a bit of work to them as well, but for someone new to acoustic playback machines, it would be better to find an actual antique. The great thing about the wind up antiques is that if you lose power at home, you can still have music! ❤

[@jro7075]

This was FANTASTIC!!!!!! you covered everything on this subject I even learned about the antique wind up 78 revord players I have seen several that were priced close to 1000.00 dollars that I did nit know!!!! thanks for that tidbit like I always say never to old to learn new things and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!! JRo

[@JeremyLeePotocki]

Well I just upgraded, and while my 1985 AIO Panasonic Stereo's turntable works well (has a Japanese ceramic cart not the current ones used) it's time to go magnetic due to my new bass heavy records. I've been sailing the used market for the last month, but the ones I wanted were already taken, or was(is) way over priced (don't even get me started on the "local" market.) So I went to the new route I saw that the Audio-Technica's AT-LP3BK is on clearance on Amazon for $169, and with their new "updated" model going for $329 I decided to pull the trigger on the AT-LP3BK. What's sad is for paying that extra $160 you only get Bluetooth, a external power supply, and a different stylus. The stylus though is a real head scratcher I listened to a comparison between the new AT-VM95C with the old AT91R & ATN3600L, and the AT91R & ATN3600L sounds better than the AT-VM95C (it's duller.) Why use a duller sounding cart on a more expensive deck especially only being $20 cheaper than the LP120X? Oh the same price that I paid for the new turntable is still cheaper than the cheapest price used on eBay after you add the gouging shipping cost (like $100 S&H cost).

[@12av67]

My best and favourite turntable is my JVC QL-Y5F direct drive fully automatic with an AT-51E cartridge connected to my Pioneer A-7 amplifier and vintage Fisher speakers. And it sounds amazing.

[@jasonshaw2065]

Recently upgraded from a crosley c6 to the fluance rt82. The c6 had insurmountable speed issues, which is a deal breaker I wish I'd known about in the beginning. The fluance speed controlled motor is a MUST. Great video thanks

[@davidrlogana5964]

Buyers of turntables have to watch out for defects

[@ObscureTech]

You are awesome. Doesn't even matter what the video is about.. It's always enjoyable

[@titanrichards2817]

Great video I had a cheap all in one record player but upgraded to a technics sl 1610 with a pioneer receiver and infinity tower speakers and sounds 100 times better than the all in one

[@Rebel9668]

Hardened grease cleans off almost instantly using a little lacquer thinner and a cloth. When re-greasing a vintage unit don't go overboard with the grease as that will cause it to get dirty and gummy faster. In some spots I don't even use grease, preferring instead a drop or two of Singer sewing machine oil or a combination of both to thin the grease out a bit.

[@fredmccarroll3476]

Nice informative video! My turntable is a Music Hall USB-1 connected to a Yamaha 7.2 A/V receiver with a Klipsch 7.1 Surround Sound speaker system. I also have two Tascam CD player/recorders that I use to record CDs digitally. And I record my vinyl records to reel to reel tape using my Pioneer RT-1020L reel to reel tape deck.

[@rEdf196]

Back in the 70's and 80's, ProLinear brand turntables, which looked deceptively sharp and decent quality, had a nasty habit of having a frequently stuck tonearm making it impossible to play a record without sticking and skipping just a year or two after the turntable was purchased new. I saw many 70's era ProLinear's do that.

[@stanleycostello9610]

"Sing, Sing, Sing." Happy New Year to you.

[@garretts91]

1:33 Love the dig on the keyboard warriors!

[@sammidebussy]

I have a Sony PS-LX310BT connected directly to Bose RCA desktop speakers. Best sound from a beginner turntable 😊

[@Recordology]

Very nice!

[@kworkwa]

Omg I wanted to know if you could do an unboxing on the Crosley fusion, been thinking about getting it just wanting to know the looks and how the vinyl plays and everything! Thx! Love recordology, been subbed for quite a while and don’t regret it at all!!!

[@pervertedalchemist9944]

Not too crazy about the belt being on the outside of a turntable, but I like the Fluance make and model.

[@ebinrock]

To me, that makes it much easier to replace. Not only that, but it looks like it's a wide and thick belt, not like one of those flimsy jobs that'll break often. All this said, I generally prefer a direct drive anyway, as it locks in the speed right away and (if it's well made) effectively dampens the motor noise, and hopefully the motor itself is very quiet.

[@ry491]

Great advice . I have an Amos wooden all in one unit . Its great on all but the record player. It suffers from the missmatch I think . No bass and very harsh . Is there any way of correcting this . Can anyone help . Happy new year to all ...

[@Greg-et2dp]

Record ology I learn lot from you about bying a used turntable my friend 😅😅😊

[@natas3.14]

Man, I played your video for fun, & though I agree with much of what you're saying, I think you're coming off a little to technical about the whole thing. I love records, & am a genuine Hifi addict, w/a special affinity for vintage Pioneer. (If you're curious my main kit is a fully self restored mid level Pioneer Pl518, {cart is At95ml the cheap microline} to a Sx680, through a set of Gen 1 HPM 60s. Sounds fantastic, though I recommend not getting the at95ml, get the at95en instead, your welcome ). My point, it should be fun. If you want to get a Crosley something or other, by all means buy yourself a Crosley something or other. No you won't be buying "the vinyl experience " but you will have a record player that may very well give you "the itch" Records are great, & they smell fantastic! Yes silly, but it's true. When you open the seal on a brand new record, & hold this big flat disk, you will smell the genuinely delightful smell of fresh vinyl. The art is big, bold, & exciting, the disc has the lines where the actual music is physically laying between, it's fun. No its not as simple as typing out an artist name and done, it's effort, it's cleaning the disc so no dust is on the playing surface, it's touching the album, & its all absolutely worth it. If someone want s to just dip their big toe in, by all means get a cheap player. I actually recommend an Audio Technica Lp60 or something similar just a better machine but, something is better than nothing. Remember spin that vinyl, enjoy the music, & be happy

[@ericmayle8510]

If sellers have a working turntable they can always record a short video on their phones to show the buyer it actually works.

[@rastaman5105]

spins clockwise , just like the turntable spins with a record on it !

[@richkurtz6053]

I saw the Crosley Cruiser Plus on clearance at Marshalls for $36. Looks like a good value for what it is.

[@tomsherwood4650]

Might get a decent 70s or 80s. I got an early 80s Denon close to top of the line. Modern TT are not a great buy because of the fact there is no mass market like back in the day, thus price to performance ratio is not as good as the heyday. The tech of TT is long established so a vintage job is likely made at the peak of the technology. The stuff he is showing looks like plastic toys or something. Go listen to a good record on a quality system and you will see the music is comparable to your digital stuff for practical purposes. Cheap is cheap you get what you pay for and if you get junk you may not like vinyl or think it is not hardly as good as it can be.

[@svenschwingel8632]

There are great modern decks. But they'll cost you. If you want to go cheap, your solution makes sense.

[@tomsherwood4650]

Direct drive gets you away from all that issues with old bad belts. My direct drive has a wow and flutter rating of .02% which is inaudible. That may not be true with a really cheap one. You get what you pay for and cheap sounds bad.

[@svenschwingel8632]

So true. Even the new entry-level belt-driven decks have horrible W&F. If I were to get a belt-driven deck, a Rega Planar 3 would be my personal entry point. Even the otherwise great Fluance models have rather high W&F.

[@iktekamasya]

I started collecting with a knock-off crosly, it was horrible, cheap, sounded very flat and weak and it destroyed my Jimi Hendrix record. I immediately started saving up for a upgrade. I’ve been collecting for a little more than 2 years now, but I was always scared of using that cheap player, 9 months in I bought a Audio Technica Lp60 and some cheap Walmart speakers. It was great upgrade from that horrible player. I recently purchased a whole new setup, audio technica lp120, Sony audio receiver and klipsch passive speakers. It’s amazing!! Every time I used that cheap ass player, i strayed further from god.

[@mikemitchell5871]

Technics 1200 dj style mk2 best turntable

[@themadcoachman]

No Djs play Records any more , all powered with laptops and modern dj equipment

[@Error2username]

Compared to all plastic tt, yes maybe.

[@johnchurch4705]

@@themadcoachman a friend of mine is a DJ and still uses vinyl plus other mediums.

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@themadcoachman of course there are still DJs that rock vinyl. Why do you think Technics re-launched their SL 1200 series with the Mk7? Or Ortofon releasing new Concord line-ups? Club DJs were what kept the Vinyl community alive.

[@svenschwingel8632]

For a mix/beatmatching DJ, the Mk2 is still the way to go due to his analog pitch controller. But from a sheer sound quality type of view, the Mk7 blows its predecessors out of the water. Better tonearm, better motor, better insulation - you name it.