Turntable Reviews

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Analog Gear NewsTurntable Reviews
Crosley Grows A Pair (Of Serious Turntables)
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 29, 2016
News at this past year’s International Consumer Electronics Show that “novelty” turntable manufacturer Crosley was introducing a pair of quality turntables built for the company by Pro-Ject drew me to the “ZOO” to check them out.

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Turntable Reviews
SOTA Moonbeam Turntable --- Nice Price and a Smooth Performer That's Easily Upgraded
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 05, 2016
SOTA is an American turntable brand founded circa 1980 by Dave Fletcher and Robert Becker in Berkeley California.The talented Spiral Groove turntable designer Allen Perkins worked for the company in the late 1980s.

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Tonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Wilson-Benesch’s Circle 25 Turntable and A.C.T. 25 Tone Arm.
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 25, 2015
For vinyl lovers, it’s important to know that Wilson-Benesch first began in 1989 as a start-up dedicated to building a turntable simply because it felt vinyl was a superior medium compared to CD. For that reason alone, the company should be venerated. W-B argued that new, emerging technologies like carbon fiber could further elevate vinyl playback.

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Turntable Reviews
Onkyo's CP-1050 Direct Drive Turntable Offers Extraordinary Speed Stability, Attractive "Retro" Looks
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 21, 2015
Even had the purchase by Onkyo of Pioneer Home Electronics not been made public, some kind of connection would have been obvious to anyone opening the boxes of this Onkyo CP-1050 turntable and the recently reviewed Pioneer PL-30-K turntable.

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Turntable Reviews
Pioneer PL-30-K Automatic Single Play Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 09, 2015
Spend some time with Pioneer’s PL-30-K automatic turntable ($349 MSRP/$300 “street price”) and you’ll quickly realize it’s not a “throwaway” turntable put together in haste by a company keen on “cashing in” on the vinyl resurgence.

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Turntable Reviews
The George-Warren Turntable—Well-Made, Sensibly Engineered, Elegant-Looking
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 09, 2015
Souix-Falls, South Dakota based George-Warren Precision Sound manufactures and sells direct but one model turntable. After spending a few months with it, I’d say one is enough.

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Turntable Reviews
Another Listen to Music Hall's MMF 11.1 Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 01, 2014
Another listen to Music Hall's MMF 11.1 turntable? Wasn't one full review sufficient?
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Turntable Reviews
AVID “T"s Off with Low Priced Ingenium Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 26, 2014
Designing a turntable (or pretty much anything) with no budgetary constraints is far easier than is designing one to a specific price point, especially a low one.

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Turntable Reviews
The Audio Technica AT-LP120-USB Turntable Shames the Plastic Competition
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 22, 2014
Off the audiophile pedestal and into the “real world” we go, with a review of Audio Technica’s easy to set up $250 AT-LP120-USB turntable.

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Turntable Reviews
Music Hall's MMF-11.1 Top of the Line Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 03, 2014
It’s no secret that Pro-Ject builds Music Hall turntables to Music Hall’s specifications and design parameters using mostly “off the Pro-Ject shelf” mechanical components. Before getting to the 11.1, perhaps you are wondering why Pro-Ject would want to compete with itself.

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Turntable Reviews
Zorin Audio TP-S3 Turntable and PUS-12 Tone Arm By the Numbers
Michael Fremer  |  May 09, 2014
Zorin Audio is a China-based company producing a series of tone arms and turntables that last year at an audio show impressed visually. The machining appeared superb and the designs sensible, but with sufficient innovation to draw my interest.

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Analog CornerTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #60
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 20, 2017  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2000
A pleasant surprise arrived at my door the other day: the 180gm vinyl edition of Companion, the Patricia Barber album released last year on Premonition/Blue Note. According to the jacket, the six-track set, impeccably recorded live in Chicago last July by Jim Anderson, was mastered from a 24-bit transfer of an analog recording. You can bet the vinyl sounds better than the 16-bit CD—at less than 20 minutes a side, there's plenty of room for the recording's full dynamics.
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Turntable Reviews
Oracle Delphi Mk.VI turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 27, 2010
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Turntable ReviewsTonearm Reviews
SME Model 20/12 turntable & 312S tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  May 15, 2009
Much has happened in the analog world since I reviewed SME's flagship Model 30/2 turntable for the March 2003 Stereophile (footnote 1). Back then, spending $25,000 on a turntable (without tonearm) was an odd extravagance intended only for those seriously committed to the format, and who already owned large LP collections. Although new LPs were being pressed in growing numbers, the resurgence of vinyl was still spotty, and the long-term prognosis for the old medium remained in question.
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Tonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Rega P3-24, RB301, & Elys 2 turntable, tonearm, & phono cartridge
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 15, 2008
It's now been eight years since a Rega P3 turntable passed through my listening room. While the new P3-24 superficially resembles the P3 (and virtually every other Rega 'table), the company has made some significant changes, including upgrading to the high-quality, low-voltage (24V), electronically adjusted motor used in the more expensive P5, P7, and P9. As in those models, an electronic circuit trims the phase angle of the P3-24's motor coils, thus substantially reducing motor vibrations. In 1998, during a factory tour, a Rega engineer demonstrated the circuit's effectiveness to me. As he adjusted the circuit board's pot, vibrations from the motor dramatically decreased, until it was difficult to tell if the motor was spinning or not. Back then, this "hand-trimmed" motor technology was available only in the P9. The P3-24 uses a less sophisticated version of the same basic idea.
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