Customer Reviews

Crosley CR89 Traveler Stack-o-Matic Turntable, Brown/Tweed

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As the owner of a Zenith Cobramatic HF11 that stacks up to 16 45's and LP's, the Stack o Matic is a wonderful and new look on a old perspective of listening to music, the way records used to be listened to. They are attractive players, with good sound, and with the automatic record changer, makes listening to your old recordings a pleasure. The sound quality of the Stack o Matic is very similar to the Decca Record Players of the late 50's and early 60's, with just volume and tone. The sound on the Traveler, to me, is better than the Varsity and Collegiate models, seems to have a tad of bass at times once you're used to it. There are two speakers together on the side of the player, and do have true stereo separation (play the stereo version of "Reflections" by The Supremes and sit close, the intro has a great seperation of sound sequence) but at a short distance, the sound appears to blend and is more like mono, kinda cool cause mono sound was the only way to hear them at that time. Using the enclosed red record adapters are a chore, and there are 45 spindle adapters, capable of holding 6 to 7 45's available. I do not recommend the stack mate adapter that is sold directly through crosley, because, at times, certain 45 rpms get stuck on the adapter and do not drop all the way because the hole on the record is a tad smaller. The record either drops and sticks halfway, causing the tone arm to bump against it and land on the turntable. Or the record drops to the turntable, but does not turn because the adapter is too thick causing the turntable to scratch the flip side of the record. Trying the same records on another adapters, such as a BSR work fine. Crosley should remodify their stackmate, and make it a micro tad smaller in width so that all records should drop normally. A drawback is that when the changer shuts itself off, it does not turn off the amplifier and you have to turn it off with the volume switch manually. The changer works fine and is effortless, needle replacement is easy. Maybe one day Crosley in the future would offer seperate bass/treble adjustments to enrich the sound further, like the Zenith Cobramatic of the 60's. Crosley should have also provided carrying handles on their Varsity Models, which many suitcase record players had. All and all, the Stack O Matic is a very good record player. The Traveler is attractive, and with the carrying handle, is great to take to parties and gatherings. You will get a lot of compliments on it. When the record changer cycles it's last record, it locks the tone arm onto the holder, good for traveling. Also a good tip is to screw the changer back into storage position (screws up) when transporting to avoid vibration on the springs, you can do it by hand, and just unscrew back when ready to play.

Wow, how many people have been waiting for new technology to play our old vinyl? This player is nice in concept, however, too many corners have been cut expense-wise to make this an outstanding piece of equipment (for which you are paying quite an UNBELIEVABLE price!) The sound is not what you would expect. No doubt they built scratch filtering in the amplifier so you have virtually no treble. Turning the tone control towards bass just makes the treble even less, it does not add a booming basS. The turntable is sturdy enough and has done quite well in the 3 months that I have owned it, however the 45 inserts look nice but are annoying to use, I found a nice spindle called the OMNIDAPTOR and it has been my great find, allowing me to stack about 6-7 45's. The vinyl covering is sticky adhesive so you will have the edges peeling in no time. The construction is sturdy though, and the handles and clasps are screwed into place giving a nice custom touch. They really could have done so much more with this thing, like external speaker jacks, a way to stop the scratch filter, 2 separate speakers (you just have to take their word that this is stereo with 2 speakers inside). I have kept mine just because there is no competition, so no alternative on the market. It's not that bad once you get used to it, and its great playing the old vinyl again. Its a popular player, I've discovered, because the local store at the mall that sold them were out of stock within 2 months. Luckily it was a birthday present otherwise I would have felt cheated by the amount of $$$ I could have spent on this thing!!!!

I bought a Stack-O-Matic so I could listen to a stack of old LPs in my study while I worked or read. It's fine for that sort of casual listening, and it's great to listen to LPs without having to get up every fifteen or twenty minutes to turn them over.

If you want audiophile sound, don't bother with this; get a real turntable and connect it to your stereo system. The sound has a muffled, lo-fi quality (which is unfortunately worse at lower volume levels) and the tone control only cuts the treble, which is already a bit on the low side. There's no stereo imaging effect at all because the two speakers are right next to each other on the side of the unit. It's fine for background music, or if you just want to hear your old records again and aren't too picky. If you bought an old portable record player at a flea market or off eBay, it probably wouldn't sound any better than this.

On the plus side, the cabinet is attractive, heavy, and well-constructed (although the vinyl covering does tend to peel a bit) and the record changer mechanism handles discs gently. A headphone jack would have been nice, though -- and why does this use a "wall wart" power supply?

Wow, how many people have been waiting for new technology to play our old vinyl? This player is nice in concept, however, too many corners have been cut expense-wise to make this an outstanding piece of equipment (for which you are paying quite an unbelievable price!) The sound is NOT what you would expect. No doubt they built scratch filtering in the amplifier so you have very little treble effect. Turning the tone control towards bass just makes the treble even less, it does not add a booming bass. The turntable is sturdy enough and has done quite well in the 3 months that I have owned it The 45 inserts which look nice are annoying to use, but I have found a nice spindle called the OMNIDAPTOR and it has been my great find, allowing me to stack about 6-7 45's. The vinyl covering is sticky adhesive so you will have the edges peeling in no time. The construction is sturdy though, and the handles and clasps are screwed into place giving a nice custom touch. They really could have done so much more with this thing, like external speaker jacks, a way to turn off the scratch filter, 2 separate speakers (you just have to take their word that this is stereo with 2 speakers inside). I have kept mine just because there is no competition, so no alternative on the market. It's not that bad once you get used to it, and its great playing the old vinyl again. It's a popular player, I 've discovered, because the local store at the mall that sells them were out of stock within 2 months. Luckily it was a birthday present otherwise I would have felt cheated by the amount of $$$ I could have spent on this!!!!

I have been looking for a long time for a record player to play my old 78 rpm records. This one CLAIMS that it can play them, and indeed it has a 45, 33 and 78 rpm speed control, HOWEVER, it does NOT come with a 78 stylus, only one for 45 and 33 rpm records.

78 records had a much wider groove than the 45 and 33 records, and old record players similar to this one in the past usually had a stylus that could be flipped over with a lever to play different types of records.

This unit has a stylus that is removable from the cartridge, but they do not include a 78 stylus, in fact, in the instruction manual, you can order replacements, but they only have the ONE type.

I would not recomend playing any 78s with the tiny microgroove stylus that it comes with.

Not sure if some aftermarket 78 stylus would fit this cartridge, or if the cartridge is replacable with another type.

If you are only going to be using it for 33 or 45 rpm records, then this might not be a bad unit. It seems a bit more sturdy and not as "cheaply made" as some other brands that have tried to make reproduction record players of this type.

This is obviously not an audiophile player, but the sound from the built in speakers was not too bad with a 33 rpm record I heard played on it.

Too bad they made such a big mistake with not including a stylus capable of playing 78's.

We bought a different turntable for my 86 year old Mom and you had to pick up the arm and set it on the record. Well, my Mom is going blind and it was hard for me to do it much less Mom. We returned the "All-in-one player" and bought this model. It was just like we remembered when we were kids. Mom can stack the albums, yes I said albums, put the holding arm over them, and turn it on. It is so easy for her to use and the sound is just great. Mom can enjoy her music again and not have to figure out some new-fangled-contraption. Thank you Crosley for giving my Mom back her tunes.
Gretchen M. Engel
St. Louis, MO

I was worried about the sound quality on one of these portable record players but this one is great. I'm really happy with it. It looks really cool - great design. The stackomatic feature is nice, it automatically drops and plays your records. It even will repeat the same record over and over and over which is nice while cleaning your house etc, etc. With all my music on my computer, and no need for a home stereo anymore, this was a great way to keep my records around while getting rid of the big ugly and bulky stereo system.

My wife and I received this as a gift and it played records well, but the port where the power cord plugs into the unit started to fall apart after a couple of weeks of intermittent use. At first I could get it to work if I was careful about how I plugged it in, but eventually it just popped out altogether and stopped working. It appeared that it was only held in place with friction and a little glue which, for a product whose company boasts its portability, seemed awfully lacking. Maybe they've fixed this flaw since. The recessed knobs and speaker were good built-in durability measures but clearly the power cord port was not designed for even the most basic wear and tear. It looked really cool and the sound quality seemed fine, especially on my 78s, but none if it mattered when it stopped working. My guess is that this flaw might not have surfaced had I left it on the table permanently and babied it, but I used it as advertised (it is called the "Traveler" after all) and when not in use I stored it suitcase-style as the design suggests. Also the tan material that covers the unit seemed to be applied with a very low grade adhesive and started to peel almost immediately. It was fun while it lasted, I suppose. We have since bought a vintage portable player whose components have stood up better over forty years than Crosley's Traveler did over two weeks. A classic case of they-don't-make-em-like-they-used-to.

Not sure if it's the player i got, but i have to pinch the middle piece to fit any record on. It's a huge hassle and makes it very hard to change each record. The on/off switch seems super flimsy, like it will break each time i turn it on/off manually, so I usually let the record run to the end before changing. Since mine was used it didn't come with the manual (which when looking up online isn't helpful anyway) so I have no idea how the stacking part works... once the record is on the sound is fine. I just wish it was more easy to operate.

This is the second Crosley I have purchased-the first I gave to my granddaughter (age 3)to play records her Grandfather kept from his childhood-I bought the second one to play records I purchased at a sale-I can stack them and dont have to be near it to change every record-record playing quality is good-only problem was a loose screw in the carrying handle which we easily fixed-I am enjoying this product.