Turntable from U-Turn Audio

https://uturnaudio.com

Are you guys familiar with this great looking turntable?  The price is hard to beat for such a customizable platform.  Build philosophy reminded me of Dynaco, too.

I think I gotta have one, but would love to hear if anyone had some experience using one first.

Thanks in advance....

Mando, it's a great little table, very friendly, knowledgeable and English-as-a-first-language support, sturdy, and quiet. Plus they come with pre-installed carts, which is the most annoying process we face setting a new table up.
You'll probably want the platter and cork mat upgrades. I've had mine from when they first came out and love it. If you want to upgrade with a heavier cartridge they'll send you an extra counterweight gratis.
Last I heard they were working on a tonearm upgrade but there's no flies on the original.
No anti-skating, but neither did my $1300 VPI either. Nice damping on the cue function but pick-up is manual.
Takes about 2 minutes to set it up. Plug it in, string the rubber band around the motor and platter, drop in the tonearm ass'y, and you're live.
And a hinged dust-cover even comes with it; just drop the hinges into the slots.

I haven't got one.
I just checked out the website and one thing I'd advise would be to get one with an acrylic platter. When I changed over to an acrylic platter on my Music Hall turntable, there was a very noticable drop in noise.

It looks like a pretty nice table.

My brother bought one with cartridge and built-in phono preamp. He loves it and can once again enjoy the vinyl he's kept for 40 years.

If you are looking for an effective low cost turntable you can pick up a Rega Planar 3 with RB-300 arm these days for $300-400. The base Orbit may be a bargain, once you add the cueing and ditch the particle board platter--not so much. And what's with that smell? Seriously.

It's a heck of a lot nicer than a Crosley.

Yeah, U-Turn makes what appears to be a decent TT.

For those without mechanical skills, New is the only way to go. Otherwise, there are very excellent legacy TTs from many makers in many configurations that will result in better performance *IF* properly restored.

Thorens
Revox
AR
Rabco (Harman Kardon)

Come immediately to mind in no particular order. The linear TTs can be fussy, but if one 'gets there', there is nothing like them at all.

And, if course there are exotics both in tables and arms that may be had at a fraction of 'new' cost back on the day.

Take deepee's advice.

Dogstar wrote:It's a heck of a lot nicer than a Crosley.

Depends. Crosley now sells re-labeled Pro-Ject turntables: the C10 and C20. The C10 is several steps up from the Orbit, and a better deal to boot.

I've got a U-turn for sale, c/out the Buy & Sell sticky link on the front page of of the Forum shortly. Only reason I'm selling it is I scored a solid-gold Thorens and use the proceeds for restoration purposes.