Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not satisfied with the audio quality, September 7, 2007
I did quite a bit of research into turntables before buying this model. This unit seemed relatively solidly constructed, and had a handsome appearance. I was a bit put off at the prospect of spending $500-$1000 on a new turntable and wasn't sure if all that fuss was really necessary.
The turntable only takes a few minutes to set up, and comes with a mediocre pre-mounted moving magnet cartridge.
After set up, I switched on the built in phono amp and connected the unit directly to my receiver. The sound was not bad, but was also not exactly what I had expected. Surface noise was relatively high, bass and low mids were muddy and broke up a bit, and highs sounded a bit rolled off. I then hooked the turntable up to my backup 20-year old Onkyo receiver in my office with a built in phono preamp, and I noticed an improvement in sound quality. However, I was still not happy with the overall sound of the unit, it was lacking in overall detail. I thought that the cartridge might be a bit lame, so I picked up an audio technica 440mla and installed it.
Following installation and alignment of the 440mla, which has a significantly higher output voltage than the stock cartridge, I noticed an immediate improvement in quality - but I also noticed a distinct background hum that increased as the needle progressed through the record. Further investigation revealed that the motor or power supply, located within the turntable, was not well shielded, and the cartridge was picking up fairly significant electromagnetic field interference. I did not want to go through opening up the table to try and fix the problem by installing ground wires or shielding transformers. I reinstalled the old cartridge, and realized that the hum was still present, but I had written it off as surface or background noise associated with an inferior cartridge. This was a deal-breaker for me. It had to go back.
Another important point was that I noticed that the platter was not very well isolated. Any small knock or tap on the table was painfully audible. I could see how this would cause problems at moderate volume levels.
If you're looking for a nice looking turntable with mediocre sound that seems to be well constructed, then I think that this might be for you. It is more robustly constructed than the cheaper units. If you're top concern is sound quality, I'm afraid that you might want to save at least a few hundred additional dollars and look into a more serious unit. Mine is on its way back, and the refund will be used for that purpose.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than expected, April 22, 2007
I am a professional musician, I hadn't planned on actually listening to my LP's when I purchased this turntable, I only wanted a quality turntable to allow me to transfer my old LP's to disc. I still cannot believe my ears when playing my 20+ year old LP's on this turntable. For small group jazz, the sound is better than the CD's I have of the same material. I have never belived that LP's could ever sound better than a CD, now I do, although when it comes to orchestral music, I still think CD's still sound better due to lack of compression. My music studio has 10 speakers, 2 amps and all kinds of effects processors to make digital music come alive. I never would have believed a turntable and 2 speakers could produce nearly the same effect. Sure, there are pops and hisses on occasion, but the warmth and size of the sound stage is well worth it. This turntable tracks perfectly and is easy to balance the tonearm. Highly recommended.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quality product at a low end price, August 16, 2007
I used to use a very old pioneer belt drive full automatic. After using it for about 10 years (after my father has used it 20 years) I switched to a Thorens' low end model - TD-158. It had nice tone arm, smooth operation, and delivered a quality sound when combined with a good cartridge like shure V-15 type III. But sometimes I fall asleep when I listen to music and when I wake up I find it hung at the end of the record (because it does not have auto-return) wasting my needle and making noise. Now it serves my father, and I had to find a new one - affordable without sacrificing quality. I tried several things in the meanwhile. I tried $70 turntable with a cartridge fixed to tone arm - I liked its compact size and operations but it did not isolate vibration from speaker and did not allow me to change the cartridge.
I tried two times from eBay - one at $40 including shipping and the other t $45. Both were high quality product, but they were all damaged through the shipping. The seller did not know he had to separate the aluminum plate. The plate rolled and damaged entire content from inside. There are few sellers knowledgeable enough about how to pack a turntable.
Finally, I decided to purchase a new one and I was torn between Denon DP-300F, Musichall MMF2.1, Technics MK1200, and Thorens TD-170. All looked good to me. I was almost seduced by the red MMF2.1, but I wanted an automatic - at least auto return. Denon seemed to offer all feature set I needed plus a comparable quality.
There are things to praise about:
1) The buttons (start/stop) in front are very smooth. They operate without clicks or hard push. So starting and stopping goes soundless. Even mechanism of starting and stopping that is operated by the kinetic energy of the plate is very much soundless and smooth. It proves a solid design of mechanism from Denon's long experience in designing middle range hi-fi products.
2) The tone arm elevator lever is placed in a right place. And the operation is perfect. Only the down movement is well dampened. So the up move is quick and responsive, and down is very smooth.
3) The enclosed cartridge is pretty good. It's not as delicate as Shure M97xe, but it delivers a sound that doesn't sound very cheap. It's definitely better than the low-end ortofon cartridge that come with a Thorens.
4) The glossy finish is quite satisfying to look at.
5) Built-in phono EQ amp is a plus just in case I abandon my Aura VA 100 II and go with an amp that doesn't have phono in.
There are things I wished be better:
1) Tone arm rest does not have a grip to click and hold. So, I'd need a rubber band when I move the turntable.
2) The plate is quite light. Considering belt drive turntables don't need a heavy plate to maintain consistent speed, it's not that big minus.
3) There is no ground line. An obsessive high-end user could claim he heard some hum. For me, it means convenience in installation. Probably, it assumed most of the users use built-in phono amp. In that case we don't need any of ground line as we don't need one for a cd player.
4) Tone arm is straignt, meaning that I can't use a very traditional head shell. This is not a minus compared to a new MMF or Thorens.
5) Buttons are round and give some cheap feel. I'd like more of traditional quality feel buttons.
Overall, this turntable features full automatic functions that run smoothly and precisely without sacrificing much to the build quality and the performance at a low end price. If you are a vinyl lover, just go with this.
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