Customer Reviews

Stanton T.80 Turntable With Cartridge

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bought the T80 in Dec 2005, have used it to transfer hundreds of 78s (I have a correct cartridge for 78s), 45s and 33s to computer. Immediately upon getting this turntable (to replace a worn out Onkyo), I found the tone arm was too short to track properly. It would commence to skip, that is, it would stay in the same track over and over, before it reached the inner part of platters. The "stop" averaged 3-1/4" to 3-3/8" from center and no attempts to change tracking weight or otherwise solved the problem; it would not complete any platter of any sort. My analysis was that the tone arm was about an inch too short and needed to be angled rather than straight. As I had not yet disposed of the Onkyo, I used the Onkyo pickup-head mount and modified it to: (a) extend the arm by 1.125", (b) preserve the Onkyo's pickup angle, (c) hold the Stanton pickup-head/needle, and (d) used the Onkyo quick-connects to extend the Stanton wires. That solved the problem and the turntable has, since, performed without any problems of any kind. I since made a drawing with a CAD program of an "extension" made with 1/8" plexiglass would enable using the Stanton pickup shell.

One other thing, it came with a cloth dust cover but no hard-shell cover. I had a "smoke" plexiglass cover made at TAP Plastics that fits turntable and dust cover perfectly. The only "maintenance" has been new "LP" or 78 needles as required.

ADDENDUM
After I posted this review, I found another forum comment that says Stanton makes two types of tonearm. One type is "DJ" and the other is "audiophile"; they are not the same. I was not made aware of this fact when I bought this turntable; it has the DJ tone arm, thus the original tracking problem. The audiophile tonearem should not have the tracking problem I experienced. THEREFORE, NOTE that "my fix" is ONLY for Stanton DJ turntables, not their audiophile turntables.

Everyone always talks about techs, well its nice to get something different and looks good too. This is an excellent table, the motor is strong. I am happy i tried out these tables. Good buy for the price.

The Stanton T-80is a direct drive turntable with analog and digital output, which is what I used to digitize my old LPs for long term storage. The turntable has everything you could hope of in terms of reliability a quality. The motor is quiet and quick. It will also rotate the platter backwards. Though some of the uses for this turntable are for professional DJs (hence the direct drive motor,and not a belt driven platter), I found the sound quality to be extremely good, and the built in analog/digital converter a great convenience as signal degradation was virtually eliminated. If you get a chance to get one, buy it! Don't buy the cheap crap they sell where you have the CD, radio and record player in one unit: those are toys, not professional tools.