*There’s an Audiophiliac/Steve Guttenberg imposter scamming my viewers, There’s no FREE gifts. DON’T respond! I don't do giveaways or ask for money (except for my Patreon)*
steve, my family gave me a Fluance RT-85 last christmas. I love it and I have almost 700 LPs. It comes loaded with an Ortofon Blue MM cartridge. I'm 75 years old and have been listening for years...the RT-85 is wonderful.
I ordered an RT-85 a few weeks back. I really like it. It did, however, have a small problem in that the auto stop feature didn’t work. To make a long story short, the folks at Fluance have been really great working with me to get the problem resolved and to accomodate my schedule. If you value customer service and, if my experience is any indication, Fluance is a great vendor.
Hello Steve.Just wanted to say how much I love your channel.I am totally blind and really appreciate how clearly and concisely you explain everything.I have and always will love and cherish music and I can hear the passion in your voice.… Big love to you and your family❤
I bought the Fluance RT-81 in December 2017 for $249. I’ve been very happy with it. I just checked and it is still $249 which makes it an even better bargain today .
@@denis4072 No sir - You only overpay if you feel that you didn't get that bang for your buck. If you feel you got that bang for your buck, then you did not overpay. That's generally how it works with consumers. Fluance turntables offered a lot for the money in 2017 and they still do today. That is why they're well-reviewed and quite popular then & now.
There is one company in Taiwan that makes these, plus Thorens (low-mid priced). They make turntables only for three major brands plus Monoprice. Some people put them down, but they are experts in turntable design (Yan Hornq Electronics). The other companies are Elac, Teac, Fluance. Some people have put them down, but these are excellent brands.
That is one heavy duty belt. My SOTA Sapphire TT has a belt that's so thin in comparison. This is one well-thought-out turntable especially for the price!
Great review Steve. (Thank-you) Nice to see an affordable TT in the market because as you suggest, products like this help people start their journey with something that sounds good.
Timing of this is perfect, as I know somebody who might be looking for an inexpensive turntable. Also, as usual, interesting, musical selections from you, Steve!
Hi Steve, I went on the waiting list for the turntable after I watched your review. I finally got the TT, and I am very pleased. This is for my downstairs study sound system. Along with Vinyl Studio software, this TT (added a Teoman Audio Cartridge) has revolutionized my hobby of converting quality vinyl records to .flac files and compiling on my "jukebox" for music outside, or other places where I can not play records. Great video and spot on observations. Thanks! Mike in Spring, TX.
Funny on Mayall, In the 90s used to go to an audio store in Thousand Oaks, Ca.. Turns out Mayall lived near and was performing in local venues. Back in the 70s a couple friends went to his concert and after it was done they saw him walking outside the arena as apparently his car had missed him. They offered him a ride in their VW and he accepted. On the way to his destination my friends who had made a bootleg tape of the concert put it in their car stereo and played it for him. His comment was, "You Yanks are crazy!" No nonsense about making the tape. Cool guy.
Especially after this insightful, and needed, review of the Monoprice Turntable I think, more than ever, I like what I perceive as the ethos of Monoprice. They are as serious about solid sound as they are delivering maximum value - by what I can tell. This brings up something that has been rattling around my mind for years regarding turntables. My first turntable was a very lack-luster Garrard (I went too low in the line) around 1972. After a bit of generally knowing it was really weak, I graduated to the AR-XA paying around $70 bucks delivered from Illinois Audio. It was a game changer of stupendous levels. Still to this day the highest value audio device I ever bought. Back to that rattle in my cranium. I have always thought that someone needs to resurrect a sub-chassis suspended very affordable turntable and use the AR-ES1 as the template. The major players, apparently, believe affordable turntables only need solid plinths and somewhat compliant feet. But, Monoprice with their solid customer base and reputation for making smart manufacturing choices seems like the perfect candidate to revive this all-time iconic turntable. Since I'm sure they wouldn't make it cheesy I would imagine a price of about a grand, or just under. Though it's a big price gap from this apparently very high-value and performing turntable, I could see the two covering two very good markets within turntables. Markets with a huge potential as I would imagine the two offerings: one for more casual audio lovers and/or the cash-strapped, and the other for literally everyone else. I own my 2nd AR-XA (first was stolen) and I still love it. The ES-1 was almost as far as was rationally needed to take the basic table to take on just about anything before or since. If you have any person who listens to you at Monoprice please float my idea and tell them I want to be the first customer. In closing, I really enjoyed this episode of your show Steve. Though at my age I can afford some of the expensive gear I still have a real soft spot for gear like this that gives a lot of listening joy at a bargain price. I still hold the AR-XA as the pinnacle of that and I guess I haven't ever got past that thrill for over 50-years!!!
I have not done my research on the other AR model you mentioned by assume it is a later model featuring a more modern anti skate tonearm? Agreed, if someone would produce a true AR/Thorens like turntable today for Around a grand, I think the would have a winner.
Wish I had known about this table before I got my AT LP60X. I like my AT but I've had issues with needle down force and there are no adjustments. Absolutely love the milk carton kids too.
What I usually do is use the needle up/down button after pressing start (or getting the needle to where I want it to start) and then I slowly depress the needle up/down button. It’s a lot smoother and doesn’t hammer the record.
The Audio-Technica at lpw40wn belt drive needs more online review love. Same cartridge, great sound and features. More worldwide availability (for us here from south america).
I have the earlier Monolith by Monoprice turntable and I've been very happy with it. It came with an unbranded AT-100E, in a quick release headshell. My model appears to have come from the same OEM as Fluance.
Well I am ... I am (not the Audiophiliac) so I'm surprised, very surprised that Steve is recommending Audio Technica at all! In Brooklyn we have Grado and we're able to buy for $159 what Audio Technica want a $1000 for. I mean ... anybody that ever heard Grado Disco cartridges with a Technics SL1200, well I mean, but don't take my word for it I'll give you a run down. The DJ200 has an F.R of 10Hz-55KHz and uh a Channel Separation of 30dB - and it's $159. Now compare Audio Technica's $1000 AT-ART 1000 for 30dB and an FR ... marginally better ... than their AT-VM95E for $50 that has a channel separation of 20dB. I mean come on 20dB channel separation?
@@keplermission I don't seem to notice a huge difference between cartridges. I picked up an AT-3600L and a separate headshell to compare with the AT-100E and I thought that the differences were minor. By contrast, I did have a separate turntable with a ceramic cartridge PLUS faulty impedance matching. That was a night/day difference in sound. Grado does seem like a good company. Maybe I'll try their headphones, someday.
@@atomicagegamer3693 Okay ... uh ... yep. Of course the AT-100E is $50 and uh, the AT-3600L is $15. You know your turntable and arm have a big effect and then ... there's your amplifier, R.I.A.A. equalization signature, and you know, a dozen other variables. You know if you're not hearing a difference between the $50 AT-100E and the $15 AT-91 (3600L), you know there's a problem with your reproducing system, a big problem, but getting time is difficult. Miguel Barrio is on two of Steve's videos and seems very keen to listen to records and different sets, but how he is able to make the time? Wow ... I did notice that the harder we seem to be working, the more it appears that the day comes to last longer and Miguel is one of the hardest working out there. So uh ... the AT-91 is a spherical stylus and it suits you know ... much older Bang & Olufsen that were very popular in New York. The AT-VM95E is an elliptical stylus and it suits later equipment, and if you're not hearing any difference - your equipment is not what Steve might call 'fast'.
@@atomicagegamer3693 You know ... back in the day we had a controller amplifier, the British QUAD 44 and it had a 'bus panel' that allowed us to switch as you say head-shell cartridges but ... we can't do that with most amplifiers that are suited for only one R.I.A.A. signature and that could be your main issue. The Grado is uh ... a 5mV type and suited to 5mV US-engineered foreign amplifiers like Onkyo or harman/kardon. Audio-Technica is a 2.5mV type suited to Technics and Pioneer that are far-eastern engineered. Now uh ... Steve knows that this subject is so difficult, (sorry but so specialist) that only service techs are advised to perfect your system. But Techs don't respect low-priced gear any more than you know sellers of Swiss watches could develop an appreciation of a low-priced wrist watch. Techs are proud and don't spend time on poorly serviced equipment. It may be that your sets are need of servicing but you know, don't go there if you don't know your stuff. That's why so many audio enthusiasts learn for themselves, you know?
I have a 1byOne turntable that is a near clone of this one. It uses the same anti-skate mechanism, and sounds like a million bucks. I cannot believe how good this turntable sounds, and I bought it new in the box for $30 at the flea market. It sounds as good as my very expensive Kenwood KD 850 turntable. I'll never sell it.
That looks like the perfect entry level turntable. I started off with belt drives as a teenager in the late 70's but after having used a high end Japanese direct drive (no not Technics LP12's) I just don't see myself wanting the faff of a belt drive t/t ever again.
Forty odd years ago when selling hifi, we'd run an Audio Technica AT-311E for $10 against a Shure M91-ED at $9.99. We were paying like $18 for the Shure (those greedy protectionist pricks) and around $6 for the AT. I was the cartridge guy and my pitch was that the AT was dual-magnet with much newer technology and only a penny more for better sound! And it worked - we sold about 25-30 311E's for every M91-ED. Was the 311E better than the M91-ED? Maybe. But our 311E cost was a third of the M91-ED, and we wanted to stick it to Shure for their arrogance and highly inflated price for the M91-ED. Of all the pickups we sold, however, my favorites were Grado and the Denon MCs. Ahh, the good old days...
Whilst this is a good turntable for the money, if you really want to go as low as you can go and still have a great turntable that isn't considered a toy, the Insignia (Best Buys house brand) Bluetooth Turntable is a diamond in the rough. For a paltry $130 it has speed control circuitry (!), a replaceable cartridge (sadly no replaceable headshell, but the entire cartridge CAN be replaced, unheard of in this price range), MDF wood plinth, a J shaped stainless steel tonearm, auto stop at the end of the record (!!), a proper counterbalance with anti skate control, literally everything you could ask for in a proper, real turntable. I'm using mine over a year now and absolutely see no need to replace/upgrade it. Give this one a shot Steve, I think you'll be impressed!
I’m definitely vinyl curious having got rid of my vinyls for cd’s about thirty years ago. Thanks for the intro to John Mayall, sound good streaming through my phones, can’t wait to try it on my shiny old Dual 505. Thanks for the great info.
This turntable looks so much like my 40 year old micro seiki MB10 that it could have been made by the same company. I'm still using the MB-10 and it sounds fine. Peter green , John mayall , wow, definitely blasts from the past. Proves good music does not go out of fashion.
John Mayall! I have all those albums in my collection and more - but more interestingly..... One summer night in the 1970's we had tickets to see Mayall in a small (and short lived) venue in Scarsdale NY. Jumped in our cars and headed to the concert but something was off. All the lights were out - yup it was the great blackout. The entire east coast was out. We got to the show and some folks announced there would be a show - don't go anywhere. Some pickup trucks showed up with generators and the show went on. Mayall and the band played all night- We left and the sun was up! I've seen John a number of times and he is always great - This show was astounding! i wish there was a recording of it somewhere. This is one thing I really miss - Growing up in NYC in the 1970's, there was live music everywhere. You could go out any night of the week and find a band. It's all gone.....
Glad I waited a few seconds longer. I was about to start typing that you have to listen to Mayall's stuff after the Blue Breakers. And specifically The Turning Point! Story was the drummer did not show up so no drums on it! So the drum section is where John started beat boxing it! I actually not only have my original from back in the day but he autographed it for me a decade or so ago. Along with USA Union!
Love my U.S. made U-Turn Orbit Special (with the cue lever and Pluto phono stage). I'll upgrade the Ortofon Red to something else later. But it is good to know that another good low-cost option exists for those who want to get started on the vinyl analog journey. +1 for the removable headshell. If you have friends at all vinyl curious, please steer them to something like this and not even look at one of those cheap suitcase players. This one looks pretty good and the USB functionality of digitizing LPs and singles might appeal to some. Good review as always, and killer viewer system of the day.
At that price I would be suspicious...but I do have to follow your wise advice for this price point. I agree this would be a good choice for an entry level for a novice interest. And what would we do without Steve Guttenberg..we love your reference, your advice..we can trust your view point. Happy New Year 2023...thank you Steve Guttenberg ❤. Keep spinning those platters...ps..more reviews on turntables!!!
I'm 62 yrs-old and first started collecting music about 1980. My purchases were almost exclusively record LPs and 45rpm singles for the first few years simply because that was the most widespread and dominant choice for music available. All told I have more than 2000 records in my collection. After awhile, when CD's became more popular, more titles became available, and the price became competitive with LPs, I switched over to that format and have at least as many CDs. I know this will be blasphemy to the analog lover, but regarding sound quality, which to me is not simply sonics but surface noise, pops/clicks and distortion (all of which are preset with every LP album, no matter how good the pressing is, how well you take care of your vinyl, or how good your equipment is), LPs cannot match digital, period. Digital will always be cleaner and clearer. I've been listening to my albums for more than 40 years now so can tell the difference, believe me. Also, digital studio recording has been widespread and mainstream since 1980, which means practically all the current albums you've heard and familiar with are digital anyway, so hearing them on CD, streaming or on a record makes no difference in the actual sound. If you think digital somehow sounds sterile and harsh compared to vinyl, the digital sound is what was captured in the studio. When you hear a digital recording that's what you get. I think this notion that somehow LPs have a warmer and more inviting sound is more imagination and mind tricks than actual sound quality. Keep in mind the first record played using a needle (stylus) was invented in 1887, which is the basis for all record technology since. The technology has just been refined but is not materially different than the earliest record players, so records are ancient as far as the technology goes. To me record technology is the worst conveyance for music available, since it introduces surface noise, pops/clicks and basic distortion not found in any other sound medium. You have a needle scraping over a vinyl surface that generates surface noise along with the music. I think the warm and fuzzy sound some hear is all the crap your ear is picking up in addition to the music, and you're mistaking it for ambience...lol. The only thing that saved me in listening to my collection was stumbling upon a wave de-clicking program I found years ago for free. It's made fairly "clean" albums (low pops/click) almost CD quality and "dirty" albums (high pops/clicks) at least listenable, but I'd still prefer the digital version if given the choice. If the album is mainly acoustic or orchestrated, digital wins -- hands down. No surface noise whatsoever. All you hear is the music. No pops, clicks or distortion. And that's why we listen to music in the first place, right? The music. All that said I understand why some prefer records. The nostalgia. The fact you can hold the album, the record shell and sleeve, and read the liner notes (something you can also do with CDs, of course). But this notion that records are vastly superior to digital regarding sound quality is poppycock.
Gee thanks a lot Steve! HA HA.. Your review was *so GOOD* until last week Ive been unable to purchase one.. everywhere I looked it was 'out of stock' 'out of stock' 'out of stock'..! Finally just got one today, and although I thought about the Fluance ..but NO I'll will WAIT! Glad I did - setting up tonight.. Cheers
I like Techniques turntables and Vestex (straight arm). Currently have 2 Vestex PDX tables, Rane TTM56 magnetic faders mixer and Boss 303 sampler. I'm a DJ and love mixing records and staying analog mostly, except perhaps when looping/sampling. Cheers, dig the channel! 🍻
@@Yiannis2112 “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” That witticism-I'll call it “Einstein Insanity”-is usually attributed to Albert Einstein. Yeah but, Steve kept putting that rubber belt on the platter rim, over and over again. Just like you with your negative opinions.
Steve, what I’ve never heard mentioned, is that the internal preamp on an Audio Technica AT-LP120 that I tested out, quite a number of years ago now, so no idea about the X version, actually had an annoying feature. It wasn’t so much the sound of the preamp, (let’s face it, we’re talking cheap here) but the fact that it would mute noise when the signal fell below a certain threshold and allow sound to come through when exceeded. This was good for masking a poor S/N ratio, or sometimes muting record surface noise, but it was not only non-adjustable, but also very imperfect. I spun an old King Crimson record, and the sound actually dropped out during a whisper quiet section of an orchestral piece and popped back in later. This is totally unacceptable, even for a cheap phono preamp. Only good for listening to compressed audio, in which case, it will just mask the poor S/N ratio of the unit. 👨🏻 I hope this type of thing has been addressed on newer units and by other brands. So many other aspects I’d like to talk about that affect sonic perception, like cartridge loading, stylus cut, cantilever design and compliance, tonearm resonance, damping, and mass,, wow and flutter, acoustic isolation, noise floor, et cetera, so many design aspects, but I’ll save all those somewhat controversial subjects for another time..👨🏻 After all, it sounds like for $250 this on is not that bad. Yours is not the only review I know of on this, another is also favorable, although I wasn’t too enamored with the S/N ratio spec for this belt drive. You can’t trust the printed numbers anyway, I’d have to test it out for myself.
@@pauldavies6037 well, I don’t know how easy it would be to remove without a schematic and board layout info, but I also found something similar in a Bluetooth headphone amp once; that was even worse, because it would obviously reduce the volume if you turned the volume up suddenly and increase the volume if you turned the volume down. It was really crazy. I don’t mind digital stuff, but I hate it when it’s implemented in a stupid fashion, especially as the cost rises. As far as people complaining about losing highs in the AT-LP120 from preamp’s low pass filter at the output of each channel, I think that depends more on sonic preference or the loading that the cartridge they’re using will tolerate. I have no issues with that filter creating a “veil” over the highs using my external phono preamp. I didn’t need any additional high frequency extension using that turntable. besides, it’s a cheap turntable. My good turntable has almost 30 dB higher signal-to-noise ratio, and it’s also a direct drive, and fully automatic to boot..big price difference though!
Great review Steve, so good in fact that Amazon reports (as of 1/9/23) "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock." -- Oh well :(
I have checked turntables with slow, quiet sustained piano selections to listen for any inaccuracies in pitch variations or rumble beneath the pianissimo passages. That usually reveals much.
@@dougdavis8986 Analog is for people who have a closer association with sentiment than with advanced engineering. MP3's are an exercise in how good the _minimum_ standard can be--definitely not for synth music with higher-frequency square waves--but audiophiles typically have an even richer imagination with respect to those than digital in general. I have always enjoyed doing blind A/B listening exercises with people who are certain that they can tell the difference between a studio master half-track (reel-to-reel) and a 320 kbps MP3. Even in-studio, the result is the same as any other unweighted guessing game, exactly as the data have long indicated. It's especially humorous when they are 40+ years old and have no clue what their own listening frequency response curve is, and what has happened to it over the prior 20 years. Being an audiophile often involves some degree of science denial, and usually paying a lot of money to accommodate that. It's better to just enjoy the music experience and leave studios and serious listening rooms to the pros (actually engineered). (PS. There is no escape from the consequences of dragging a mechanical object across another material surface like vinyl. The consequences can be minimized, but never absent.)
Thanks for all your videos Steve, I truly appreciate them. I can't afford the vast majority of what you review as most of my money goes to my kids and cars... lol. Although, I appreciate the turntable reviews especially for if and when my Technics dies!
John Mayall “used to be” the English blues elder statesman? He still is and will be as long as he has breath left in his body. Great stuff as usual, Steve.
Hi Steve. Do you know why CD audio is flawed? What the exact technical problem is? I do. Ask if you wanna know. BTW you were fantastic in those Police Academy movies. 😺
Hi Steve, loved your review of the monoprice turntable for the beginner audiophile. What phono preamp and set of powered bookshelf speakers do you recommend to go with the monoprice? Thanks again!
Good to see realisticly priced products on the channel. Negatrive coments are for some reason disappearing (deleted?) so let's see how long this one survives.
@@TrueAudio 🤣 Well, my so called negative comments are just criticism about the product and why the price point is what it is with info about what circuitry/modules they are made with. No personal attacts or general bashing. I'm talking the recent Class-D video.
Repeated from elsewhere: A few years ago, I was getting back into vinyl and tried the Monoprice Monolith TT. to make sure I am really into it. It had all sorts of tracking problems and tech support was useless... I even had a friend of mine that owns an LP12 try to help me w/o much luck. So I returned it and gave Fluance a shot. Best thing I did ! I ended up with the RT84 which was on sale at $350 back then ! Never looked back. Still works great. I changed the 2MBlue to Hana EL !!! WOW !!! My worry with Monoprice is their TT's come and go so long term support is iffy at best.
@@ptg01 Sort of like Topping or SMSL and their seemingly new DACs about every week...if they are churning them out that fast you have to wonder how much R&D really went into them.
Go with Fluance. Better quality control than monoprice. If you can, reach for the RT82 or higher model, as they include a speed controlled motor. Chef kiss!
Man, I wish this was readily available across the pond, looks a really solid build. Steve, are you hoping for a 50th remaster of Dark Side Of The Moon? UHQR perhaps?
AAA+ review! I ordered one in black. Paid 199! To my surprise, yes it did have the ATVM 95E installed. One concern though. I did detect a little side to play in the tonearm.. wondered if the one you tested exhibited that?
Hi Steve. Great channel! I'm curious if you would recommend a turntable or 2 in the $300 - $500 range. I listen to a lot of vinyl (jazz, classic rock soul/funk). Right now I'm using a vintage Phillips 222 that sounds good to my ears but looking for an up-grade. - Thanks!
Great review. 👍 Glad to hear that a good record player is not thousands of dollars. Wondering if this is an american made product. For me, that's important. Thank you for your time.
Hey Steve, great review! I'm just getting into turntables and this one looks pretty solid. Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but do I need a receiver or amp to pair with this? I'm using the Klipsch rb61ii speakers and this would be a setup in my dining room.
Whatever you are using to power those Klipsch RB61ii's should work fine. That turntable has a built-in phono stage pre-amp, so it can output at a line level. That means you should be able to plug in RCA jacks to any amplifier or even use an RCA to 3.5mm cable and plug them into an Aux-in port. You could plug them directly into powered speakers or an amp+speaker combo.
@@kabrandt22 How are you currently using the speakers without an amplifier? You either need an amplifier or "powered speakers", which have a built in amplifier and typically have several inputs (line-in, optical, etc.). Those speakers appear to be passive (un-powered / require an amp) but maybe I'm looking at the wrong model...
Hope you are fully recovered Steve - you sound great again. I've been searching for a phono preamp with USB out so I can rip my albums (I know, that's not your thing) w/out any luck. I might buy this table just for that. Thx
@user-wk5ed9sm2z If you don’t find one you like, you might consider an analog to digital converter (ADC). I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i I use with my guitar that I’ve been meaning to try. It’s a decent ADC, but just an example. The idea is you would use whatever phono amp you have/like.
@@CosmicKnight1 I'm doing exactly that! I have a Scarlett 8i with 4 adjustable gain controls because I'm also digitizing a tape deck! - The sound is absolutely wonderful. Low noise and highly dynamic. The Focusrite produces true 'audiophile' quality for sure! - So now I can use my iFi Phono preamp.
A big advantage for cheap dull sounding tt´s from the 1970ies was: There was no digital source to compare with!. You bought cheap crap, and that was that! Nowadays, we have a phone to hook to the poweramp, and play at least in descent soundquality! So, when you co,pare this with a cheap sounding bad TT, then you have your dealbreaker immediately! When I was young, I had nothing to compare but another expensive TT...and I told myself: OK, there is the pricegap to hear....my bad! lol.
I have found several Monoprice turntables under the name “Monolith”. Can you provide the precise model number so I know I’m looking at the correct one? Thanks.
Just thinking what about the Vinyl Video Phono Preamp with a HDMI output so you can enjoy those LPs that also have some video encoded into the grooves.
Morning uk time hope everyone is safe and well 😁 how does this compare to the rega p1 plus, I used to own the rega p1 not the plus and for the money it sounded fantastic 😀
Nice review and I put an Email alert on the TT and need to check it out for possible upgrades. Speaking of Vandersteen, I picked-up a pair Model 2Ce 8-10yrs ago at a garage sale ($175) and if you search at AudioKarma "Vandersteen: Model 2Ce Upgrade and Refinish" you can see what I have done to Upgrade/Re-Build that speaker (Vandersteen either would cry or be impressed). I will send a picture of my gear (Viewer System). hey you never know.
I have heard Steve talk about Fluance, U-Turn, Music Hall and Rega turntables, and a few of the Pro-Ject turntables, but I haven't heard his opinion on the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, which I bought before I discovered this channel. Does anybody know what he thinks of it?
Forgive me, but I fear any turntable that offers bluetooth, USB and a phono preamp. Plus, my opinion is that those add-ons cheapen the product. I also worry there is some serious signal interference that's likely audible even when not using bluetooth, preamp or the pc output. That said, I wonder how good this turntable is when fitted with an even better AT cartridge?
It tickles me when you refer to features on turntables as if they were a new source of technology. I know it's for the uninitiated, but still. 😁👍 Oooh, speed control knob!! Wow, damping cue.😁 Btw , my first turntable was a 1963 black and Decker with a John Deere cartridge. You could see vinyl shavings fall to the floor.
It's mainly to be used for recording (digitizing) an album to a PC or Mac using the free Audacity program. If you don't have a preamp you might get one of the passive ones by Schiit Audio so you can have a volume control for safety.
Thanks, but what are the compromises in this unit? It looks pretty good, but there must be compromises to achieve this price point. Made in China, I assume.
I’m sorry, I forgot to check, but yes, it’s likely made in China. If that’s a problem, U-Turn audio makes all of their turntables in the United States, prices start at $199! I reviewed your top model which is about $1000 here on the channel a few months ago. And I reviewed their affordable turn tables when I worked for CNET
Entry level better off getting an old Hitachi direct drive off the internet. Even the most minimalist of those from the late '70s still cruise the right speed and they are better than they should be. Should be able to get one for $20-60 on the bargain sites. Put an updated AT cartridge and compete with the best for pennies.
*There’s an Audiophiliac/Steve Guttenberg imposter scamming my viewers, There’s no FREE gifts. DON’T respond! I don't do giveaways or ask for money (except for my Patreon)*
When did you report him? I would guess by now YT would have deleted him.
steve, my family gave me a Fluance RT-85 last christmas. I love it and I have almost 700 LPs. It comes loaded with an Ortofon Blue MM cartridge. I'm 75 years old and have been listening for years...the RT-85 is wonderful.
Enjoy!!!
Have the same, recent.y picked up a Schitt Mani2 phono amp, man what a difference and affordable. Highly recommend.
@@jackstraw1756 - The Mani 2 sure is a great value - just got mine last week and love it!
I ordered an RT-85 a few weeks back. I really like it. It did, however, have a small problem in that the auto stop feature didn’t work.
To make a long story short, the folks at Fluance have been really great working with me to get the problem resolved and to accomodate my schedule. If you value customer service and, if my experience is any indication, Fluance is a great vendor.
@@jackstraw1756
I have the mani2 with a technics sl 1500. The mani2 kicks some serious ass. Best turntable preamp on the market for the price
Hello Steve.Just wanted to say how much I love your channel.I am totally blind and really appreciate how clearly and concisely you explain everything.I have and always will love and cherish music and I can hear the passion in your voice.… Big love to you and your family❤
Thanks, so nice to hear from you!
Yes .. Steve’s delivery is like a radio show … put images in your head …
I bought the Fluance RT-81 in December 2017 for $249. I’ve been very happy with it. I just checked and it is still $249 which makes it an even better bargain today .
No sir - Since now that everything is inflated by average 30% and they still making money selling them @ $249 mean you overpay for it in 2017.
@@denis4072 most will tell you that the RT-81 is a bargain at $249.
@@denis4072
No sir - You only overpay if you feel that you didn't get that bang for your buck.
If you feel you got that bang for your buck, then you did not overpay. That's generally how it works with consumers.
Fluance turntables offered a lot for the money in 2017 and they still do today. That is why they're well-reviewed and quite popular then & now.
@@bk6678
I agree. Fluance gives consumers a lot of bang for their buck. The RT-81 is a great turntable. I own the RT-85.
2017 - 5 years ago now. Another 5 years from now we might all be wishing we could go back 2017.
There is one company in Taiwan that makes these, plus Thorens (low-mid priced). They make turntables only for three major brands plus Monoprice. Some people put them down, but they are experts in turntable design (Yan Hornq Electronics). The other companies are Elac, Teac, Fluance. Some people have put them down, but these are excellent brands.
That is one heavy duty belt. My SOTA Sapphire TT has a belt that's so thin in comparison. This is one well-thought-out turntable especially for the price!
Great review Steve. (Thank-you) Nice to see an affordable TT in the market because as you suggest, products like this help people start their journey with something that sounds good.
My favorite part about your videos is introducing music to the audience that we may know.
Timing of this is perfect, as I know somebody who might be looking for an inexpensive turntable. Also, as usual, interesting, musical selections from you, Steve!
Hi Steve, I went on the waiting list for the turntable after I watched your review. I finally got the TT, and I am very pleased. This is for my downstairs study sound system. Along with Vinyl Studio software, this TT (added a Teoman Audio Cartridge) has revolutionized my hobby of converting quality vinyl records to .flac files and compiling on my "jukebox" for music outside, or other places where I can not play records. Great video and spot on observations. Thanks! Mike in Spring, TX.
Funny on Mayall, In the 90s used to go to an audio store in Thousand Oaks, Ca.. Turns out Mayall lived near and was performing in local venues. Back in the 70s a couple friends went to his concert and after it was done they saw him walking outside the arena as apparently his car had missed him. They offered him a ride in their VW and he accepted. On the way to his destination my friends who had made a bootleg tape of the concert put it in their car stereo and played it for him. His comment was, "You Yanks are crazy!" No nonsense about making the tape. Cool guy.
Monoprice is so interesting. I think 90% of their entries really hit a sweet spot. Thanks!
John Mayall-Room to Move.First heard late at night on WMMS/Cleveland.Went out the next day and tracked down Turning Point.
Especially after this insightful, and needed, review of the Monoprice Turntable I think, more than ever, I like what I perceive as the ethos of Monoprice. They are as serious about solid sound as they are delivering maximum value - by what I can tell. This brings up something that has been rattling around my mind for years regarding turntables. My first turntable was a very lack-luster Garrard (I went too low in the line) around 1972. After a bit of generally knowing it was really weak, I graduated to the AR-XA paying around $70 bucks delivered from Illinois Audio. It was a game changer of stupendous levels. Still to this day the highest value audio device I ever bought. Back to that rattle in my cranium. I have always thought that someone needs to resurrect a sub-chassis suspended very affordable turntable and use the AR-ES1 as the template. The major players, apparently, believe affordable turntables only need solid plinths and somewhat compliant feet. But, Monoprice with their solid customer base and reputation for making smart manufacturing choices seems like the perfect candidate to revive this all-time iconic turntable. Since I'm sure they wouldn't make it cheesy I would imagine a price of about a grand, or just under. Though it's a big price gap from this apparently very high-value and performing turntable, I could see the two covering two very good markets within turntables. Markets with a huge potential as I would imagine the two offerings: one for more casual audio lovers and/or the cash-strapped, and the other for literally everyone else. I own my 2nd AR-XA (first was stolen) and I still love it. The ES-1 was almost as far as was rationally needed to take the basic table to take on just about anything before or since. If you have any person who listens to you at Monoprice please float my idea and tell them I want to be the first customer. In closing, I really enjoyed this episode of your show Steve. Though at my age I can afford some of the expensive gear I still have a real soft spot for gear like this that gives a lot of listening joy at a bargain price. I still hold the AR-XA as the pinnacle of that and I guess I haven't ever got past that thrill for over 50-years!!!
I have not done my research on the other AR model you mentioned by assume it is a later model featuring a more modern anti skate tonearm? Agreed, if someone would produce a true AR/Thorens like turntable today for Around a grand, I think the would have a winner.
It is a carbon fiber tonearm, but the mass isn't listed in specs. I'm sure a higher compliance cartridge would work however, like an ADC.
Wish I had known about this table before I got my AT LP60X. I like my AT but I've had issues with needle down force and there are no adjustments. Absolutely love the milk carton kids too.
What I usually do is use the needle up/down button after pressing start (or getting the needle to where I want it to start) and then I slowly depress the needle up/down button. It’s a lot smoother and doesn’t hammer the record.
The Audio-Technica at lpw40wn belt drive needs more online review love. Same cartridge, great sound and features. More worldwide availability (for us here from south america).
I upgraded the Audio Technics Cartridge and it’s night and day from the 95E. Took it to a few notches for sure!!
I did the same thing by changing my stylus to the AT-VM95SH and it made this turntable come to life
I have the earlier Monolith by Monoprice turntable and I've been very happy with it. It came with an unbranded AT-100E, in a quick release headshell. My model appears to have come from the same OEM as Fluance.
Well I am ... I am (not the Audiophiliac) so I'm surprised, very surprised that Steve is recommending Audio Technica at all! In Brooklyn we have Grado and we're able to buy for $159 what Audio Technica want a $1000 for. I mean ... anybody that ever heard Grado Disco cartridges with a Technics SL1200, well I mean, but don't take my word for it I'll give you a run down. The DJ200 has an F.R of 10Hz-55KHz and uh a Channel Separation of 30dB - and it's $159. Now compare Audio Technica's $1000 AT-ART 1000 for 30dB and an FR ... marginally better ... than their AT-VM95E for $50 that has a channel separation of 20dB. I mean come on 20dB channel separation?
@@keplermission I don't seem to notice a huge difference between cartridges. I picked up an AT-3600L and a separate headshell to compare with the AT-100E and I thought that the differences were minor. By contrast, I did have a separate turntable with a ceramic cartridge PLUS faulty impedance matching. That was a night/day difference in sound. Grado does seem like a good company. Maybe I'll try their headphones, someday.
@@atomicagegamer3693 Okay ... uh ... yep. Of course the AT-100E is $50 and uh, the AT-3600L is $15. You know your turntable and arm have a big effect and then ... there's your amplifier, R.I.A.A. equalization signature, and you know, a dozen other variables. You know if you're not hearing a difference between the $50 AT-100E and the $15 AT-91 (3600L), you know there's a problem with your reproducing system, a big problem, but getting time is difficult. Miguel Barrio is on two of Steve's videos and seems very keen to listen to records and different sets, but how he is able to make the time? Wow ... I did notice that the harder we seem to be working, the more it appears that the day comes to last longer and Miguel is one of the hardest working out there.
So uh ... the AT-91 is a spherical stylus and it suits you know ... much older Bang & Olufsen that were very popular in New York. The AT-VM95E is an elliptical stylus and it suits later equipment, and if you're not hearing any difference - your equipment is not what Steve might call 'fast'.
@@atomicagegamer3693 You know ... back in the day we had a controller amplifier, the British QUAD 44 and it had a 'bus panel' that allowed us to switch as you say head-shell cartridges but ... we can't do that with most amplifiers that are suited for only one R.I.A.A. signature and that could be your main issue. The Grado is uh ... a 5mV type and suited to 5mV US-engineered foreign amplifiers like Onkyo or harman/kardon. Audio-Technica is a 2.5mV type suited to Technics and Pioneer that are far-eastern engineered. Now uh ... Steve knows that this subject is so difficult, (sorry but so specialist) that only service techs are advised to perfect your system. But Techs don't respect low-priced gear any more than you know sellers of Swiss watches could develop an appreciation of a low-priced wrist watch. Techs are proud and don't spend time on poorly serviced equipment. It may be that your sets are need of servicing but you know, don't go there if you don't know your stuff. That's why so many audio enthusiasts learn for themselves, you know?
@@keplermission I'm perfectly happy with my LP gear CF3600LE carbon fiber elliptical for something like 50 bucks.
I have a 1byOne turntable that is a near clone of this one. It uses the same anti-skate mechanism, and sounds like a million bucks. I cannot believe how good this turntable sounds, and I bought it new in the box for $30 at the flea market. It sounds as good as my very expensive Kenwood KD 850 turntable. I'll never sell it.
I've been impressed with Monoprice products.
That looks like the perfect entry level turntable.
I started off with belt drives as a teenager in the late 70's but after having used a high end Japanese direct drive (no not Technics LP12's) I just don't see myself wanting the faff of a belt drive t/t ever again.
What turntable do you recomend?
Forty odd years ago when selling hifi, we'd run an Audio Technica AT-311E for $10 against a Shure M91-ED at $9.99. We were paying like $18 for the Shure (those greedy protectionist pricks) and around $6 for the AT. I was the cartridge guy and my pitch was that the AT was dual-magnet with much newer technology and only a penny more for better sound! And it worked - we sold about 25-30 311E's for every M91-ED.
Was the 311E better than the M91-ED? Maybe. But our 311E cost was a third of the M91-ED, and we wanted to stick it to Shure for their arrogance and highly inflated price for the M91-ED. Of all the pickups we sold, however, my favorites were Grado and the Denon MCs.
Ahh, the good old days...
Great recommendation on that Julee Cruise album (and the turntable). Love Twin Peaks, her work in it and David Lynch
I'll have to get the LP now that Steve says it is better than the CD. Wow. Sadly I think we lost Julee last year.
Whilst this is a good turntable for the money, if you really want to go as low as you can go and still have a great turntable that isn't considered a toy, the Insignia (Best Buys house brand) Bluetooth Turntable is a diamond in the rough. For a paltry $130 it has speed control circuitry (!), a replaceable cartridge (sadly no replaceable headshell, but the entire cartridge CAN be replaced, unheard of in this price range), MDF wood plinth, a J shaped stainless steel tonearm, auto stop at the end of the record (!!), a proper counterbalance with anti skate control, literally everything you could ask for in a proper, real turntable. I'm using mine over a year now and absolutely see no need to replace/upgrade it. Give this one a shot Steve, I think you'll be impressed!
Another excellent and humorous review from the great Steve! Wishing happy new year to you and your family! Cheers from Rio!
I’m definitely vinyl curious having got rid of my vinyls for cd’s about thirty years ago. Thanks for the intro to John Mayall, sound good streaming through my phones, can’t wait to try it on my shiny old Dual 505. Thanks for the great info.
Thanks for watching!
This turntable looks so much like my 40 year old micro seiki MB10 that it could have been made by the same company. I'm still using the MB-10 and it sounds fine. Peter green , John mayall , wow, definitely blasts from the past. Proves good music does not go out of fashion.
John Mayall! I have all those albums in my collection and more - but more interestingly..... One summer night in the 1970's we had tickets to see Mayall in a small (and short lived) venue in Scarsdale NY. Jumped in our cars and headed to the concert but something was off. All the lights were out - yup it was the great blackout. The entire east coast was out. We got to the show and some folks announced there would be a show - don't go anywhere. Some pickup trucks showed up with generators and the show went on. Mayall and the band played all night- We left and the sun was up! I've seen John a number of times and he is always great - This show was astounding! i wish there was a recording of it somewhere.
This is one thing I really miss - Growing up in NYC in the 1970's, there was live music everywhere. You could go out any night of the week and find a band. It's all gone.....
Great story, thanks for sharing!
Happy new year Steve. As always I’m hear to root for all your vinyl record related videos. Love it! Bravo. ☮️
Glad I waited a few seconds longer. I was about to start typing that you have to listen to Mayall's stuff after the Blue Breakers. And specifically The Turning Point! Story was the drummer did not show up so no drums on it! So the drum section is where John started beat boxing it! I actually not only have my original from back in the day but he autographed it for me a decade or so ago. Along with USA Union!
Thanks for dispelling the myth that you need to spend lots to get good vinyl replay.
Love my U.S. made U-Turn Orbit Special (with the cue lever and Pluto phono stage). I'll upgrade the Ortofon Red to something else later. But it is good to know that another good low-cost option exists for those who want to get started on the vinyl analog journey. +1 for the removable headshell. If you have friends at all vinyl curious, please steer them to something like this and not even look at one of those cheap suitcase players. This one looks pretty good and the USB functionality of digitizing LPs and singles might appeal to some. Good review as always, and killer viewer system of the day.
One of my LP fanatic friends was really happy with the Ortofon Blue on his U Turn.
This with a pair of powered speakers would be a nice minimal affordable little setup.
Sounds like a old Chevrolet covair I had in the 60s it was always throwing the fan belt off the pulley
Great to hear it's not another piece of rubbish, that puts people off vinyl 👍
At that price I would be suspicious...but I do have to follow your wise advice for this price point. I agree this would be a good choice for an entry level for a novice interest. And what would we do without Steve Guttenberg..we love your reference, your advice..we can trust your view point. Happy New Year 2023...thank you Steve Guttenberg ❤. Keep spinning those platters...ps..more reviews on turntables!!!
@Michael Valadez
how about $500.00 as it is here in Canada? you still suspicious?
I'm 62 yrs-old and first started collecting music about 1980. My purchases were almost exclusively record LPs and 45rpm singles for the first few years simply because that was the most widespread and dominant choice for music available. All told I have more than 2000 records in my collection. After awhile, when CD's became more popular, more titles became available, and the price became competitive with LPs, I switched over to that format and have at least as many CDs.
I know this will be blasphemy to the analog lover, but regarding sound quality, which to me is not simply sonics but surface noise, pops/clicks and distortion (all of which are preset with every LP album, no matter how good the pressing is, how well you take care of your vinyl, or how good your equipment is), LPs cannot match digital, period. Digital will always be cleaner and clearer. I've been listening to my albums for more than 40 years now so can tell the difference, believe me. Also, digital studio recording has been widespread and mainstream since 1980, which means practically all the current albums you've heard and familiar with are digital anyway, so hearing them on CD, streaming or on a record makes no difference in the actual sound. If you think digital somehow sounds sterile and harsh compared to vinyl, the digital sound is what was captured in the studio. When you hear a digital recording that's what you get. I think this notion that somehow LPs have a warmer and more inviting sound is more imagination and mind tricks than actual sound quality.
Keep in mind the first record played using a needle (stylus) was invented in 1887, which is the basis for all record technology since. The technology has just been refined but is not materially different than the earliest record players, so records are ancient as far as the technology goes. To me record technology is the worst conveyance for music available, since it introduces surface noise, pops/clicks and basic distortion not found in any other sound medium. You have a needle scraping over a vinyl surface that generates surface noise along with the music. I think the warm and fuzzy sound some hear is all the crap your ear is picking up in addition to the music, and you're mistaking it for ambience...lol. The only thing that saved me in listening to my collection was stumbling upon a wave de-clicking program I found years ago for free. It's made fairly "clean" albums (low pops/click) almost CD quality and "dirty" albums (high pops/clicks) at least listenable, but I'd still prefer the digital version if given the choice. If the album is mainly acoustic or orchestrated, digital wins -- hands down. No surface noise whatsoever. All you hear is the music. No pops, clicks or distortion. And that's why we listen to music in the first place, right? The music.
All that said I understand why some prefer records. The nostalgia. The fact you can hold the album, the record shell and sleeve, and read the liner notes (something you can also do with CDs, of course). But this notion that records are vastly superior to digital regarding sound quality is poppycock.
Gee thanks a lot Steve! HA HA.. Your review was *so GOOD* until last week Ive been unable to purchase one.. everywhere I looked it was 'out of stock' 'out of stock' 'out of stock'..! Finally just got one today, and although I thought about the Fluance ..but NO I'll will WAIT! Glad I did - setting up tonight..
Cheers
I like Techniques turntables and Vestex (straight arm).
Currently have 2 Vestex PDX tables, Rane TTM56 magnetic faders mixer and Boss 303 sampler.
I'm a DJ and love mixing records and staying analog mostly, except perhaps when looping/sampling.
Cheers, dig the channel!
🍻
monoprice can be hit or miss but when they get it right it's always just phenomenal for the price
@@keplermission Get a nap. You're drunk.
@@Yiannis2112 “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” That witticism-I'll call it “Einstein Insanity”-is usually attributed to Albert Einstein. Yeah but, Steve kept putting that rubber belt on the platter rim, over and over again. Just like you with your negative opinions.
@@keplermission Where's your first post?
Not to mention very bad dynamics
in comparison with CD and MQA.
Fantastic! Great for us poor guys! I love my "Fluance RT-84 " , but I had to drop $450 for it, but worth it!
Been there, done that. I was around decades before digital.
Benchmark is my dream system! 😍
Steve, what I’ve never heard mentioned, is that the internal preamp on an Audio Technica AT-LP120 that I tested out, quite a number of years ago now, so no idea about the X version, actually had an annoying feature. It wasn’t so much the sound of the preamp, (let’s face it, we’re talking cheap here) but the fact that it would mute noise when the signal fell below a certain threshold and allow sound to come through when exceeded. This was good for masking a poor
S/N ratio, or sometimes muting record surface noise,
but it was not only non-adjustable, but also very imperfect. I spun an old King Crimson record, and the sound actually dropped out during a whisper quiet section of an orchestral piece and popped back in later. This is totally unacceptable, even for a cheap phono preamp. Only good for listening to compressed audio, in which case, it will just mask the poor
S/N ratio of the unit. 👨🏻
I hope this type of thing has been addressed on newer units and by other brands. So many other aspects I’d like to talk about that affect sonic perception, like cartridge loading, stylus cut, cantilever design and compliance, tonearm resonance, damping, and mass,, wow and flutter, acoustic isolation, noise floor, et cetera, so many design aspects, but I’ll save all those somewhat controversial subjects for another time..👨🏻
After all, it sounds like for $250 this on is not that bad. Yours is not the only review I know of on this, another is also favorable, although I wasn’t too enamored with the S/N ratio spec for this belt drive. You can’t trust the printed numbers anyway, I’d have to test it out for myself.
it sounds like it had some sort of muting circuit that could be removed
@@pauldavies6037 well, I don’t know how easy it would be to remove without a schematic and board layout info, but I also found something similar in a Bluetooth headphone amp once; that was even worse, because it would obviously reduce the volume if you turned the volume up suddenly and increase the volume if you turned the volume down. It was really crazy. I don’t mind digital stuff, but I hate it when it’s implemented in a stupid fashion, especially as the cost rises. As far as people complaining about losing highs in the AT-LP120 from preamp’s low pass filter at the output of each channel, I think that depends more on sonic preference or the loading that the cartridge they’re using will tolerate. I have no issues with that filter creating a “veil” over the highs using my external phono preamp. I didn’t need any additional high frequency extension using that turntable. besides, it’s a cheap turntable.
My good turntable has almost 30 dB higher signal-to-noise ratio, and it’s also a direct drive,
and fully automatic to boot..big price difference though!
Great review!!!! 🎉🎉
I love the Monoprice 5w guitar amp. It's good for the price like this turntable probably is.
Great review Steve, so good in fact that Amazon reports (as of 1/9/23) "Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock." -- Oh well :(
I have checked turntables with slow, quiet sustained piano selections to listen for any inaccuracies in pitch variations or rumble beneath the pianissimo passages. That usually reveals much.
The fact that it does is a pretty good explanation for one of the main reasons that we got rid of turntables long ago in the non-audiophile world. 😊
@@ReflectedMiles if you bought a good turntable you wouldn't have that issue cheapskate. Now get back to your mp3's.
@@dougdavis8986 Analog is for people who have a closer association with sentiment than with advanced engineering. MP3's are an exercise in how good the _minimum_ standard can be--definitely not for synth music with higher-frequency square waves--but audiophiles typically have an even richer imagination with respect to those than digital in general. I have always enjoyed doing blind A/B listening exercises with people who are certain that they can tell the difference between a studio master half-track (reel-to-reel) and a 320 kbps MP3. Even in-studio, the result is the same as any other unweighted guessing game, exactly as the data have long indicated. It's especially humorous when they are 40+ years old and have no clue what their own listening frequency response curve is, and what has happened to it over the prior 20 years. Being an audiophile often involves some degree of science denial, and usually paying a lot of money to accommodate that. It's better to just enjoy the music experience and leave studios and serious listening rooms to the pros (actually engineered). (PS. There is no escape from the consequences of dragging a mechanical object across another material surface like vinyl. The consequences can be minimized, but never absent.)
@@ReflectedMiles cheapskate
@@ReflectedMiles Wow, you must be smart?
Love "California" off Turning Point! A track that begs to be shared when folx start talking about unplugged performances.
Thanks for all your videos Steve, I truly appreciate them. I can't afford the vast majority of what you review as most of my money goes to my kids and cars... lol. Although, I appreciate the turntable reviews especially for if and when my Technics dies!
If you're waiting for a Technics to die, you may be waiting a while....
Steve Thanks Much!
John Mayall “used to be” the English blues elder statesman? He still is and will be as long as he has breath left in his body. Great stuff as usual, Steve.
Thoroughly enjoy your reviews and especially appreciate the numerous music choices that you have introduced me to.
Thank You🤙
Hi Steve. Do you know why CD audio is flawed? What the exact technical problem is? I do. Ask if you wanna know. BTW you were fantastic in those Police Academy movies. 😺
Hi Steve, loved your review of the monoprice turntable for the beginner audiophile. What phono preamp and set of powered bookshelf speakers do you recommend to go with the monoprice? Thanks again!
Thanks for this heads up!!!
Good to see realisticly priced products on the channel.
Negatrive coments are for some reason disappearing (deleted?) so let's see how long this one survives.
@Christian Holmstedt
well Christy, this time you did not contribute 'Negatrive coments' so your comment will survive
@@TrueAudio
🤣
Well, my so called negative comments are just criticism about the product and why the price point is what it is with info about what circuitry/modules they are made with.
No personal attacts or general bashing.
I'm talking the recent Class-D video.
I've been considering the Fluance but your review of the Monoprice has turned my head.
Repeated from elsewhere: A few years ago, I was getting back into vinyl and tried the Monoprice Monolith TT. to make sure I am really into it. It had all sorts of tracking problems and tech support was useless... I even had a friend of mine that owns an LP12 try to help me w/o much luck. So I returned it and gave Fluance a shot. Best thing I did ! I ended up with the RT84 which was on sale at $350 back then ! Never looked back. Still works great. I changed the 2MBlue to Hana EL !!! WOW !!! My worry with Monoprice is their TT's come and go so long term support is iffy at best.
Stick with Fluance. Solid TTs without the gimmicks like Bluetooth. I have the RT82 and it's great.
@@ptg01 Sort of like Topping or SMSL and their seemingly new DACs about every week...if they are churning them out that fast you have to wonder how much R&D really went into them.
Go with Fluance. Better quality control than monoprice. If you can, reach for the RT82 or higher model, as they include a speed controlled motor. Chef kiss!
Thanks for introducing me to John Mayall. I kinda knew who he was but never really listened to him.
Seen these before with many names. They always come with at cart. The new OEM standard 😁
This guy is the original!
Man, I wish this was readily available across the pond, looks a really solid build. Steve, are you hoping for a 50th remaster of Dark Side Of The Moon? UHQR perhaps?
No, I’m a much bigger Pink Floyd fan before dark side, much less interest from that point forward
@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac Pink Floyd always puts me to sleep. Rubinoos LP would be good.
AAA+ review! I ordered one in black. Paid 199! To my surprise, yes it did have the ATVM 95E installed. One concern though. I did detect a little side to play in the tonearm.. wondered if the one you tested exhibited that?
Has anyone here purchased the Miniot Wheel Linear Tracking Turntable which is made in Sweden, and uses a control joystick that is part of the spindle.
15:16 ha ha, yes, I know what you are talking about. Not Accepting Imitations!
John McVie was in Mayall's BluesBreakers, too
That is an enviable system of the day 15:11
I've owned this since January 2022. The installed preamp just failed. 600 hours or so. cartridge was replaced about 70 plays ago. No clue what to do.
Hi Steve. Great channel! I'm curious if you would recommend a turntable or 2 in the $300 - $500 range. I listen to a lot of vinyl (jazz, classic rock soul/funk). Right now I'm using a vintage Phillips 222 that sounds good to my ears but looking for an up-grade.
- Thanks!
Monolith vs Fluance (which you recommend in another video). Thoughts on comparison? Oh sorry now i realize it was at the end of this video!
Julee Cruise died by suicide in June of 2022. She was 65. "Floating Into the Night" is more than well worth a listen.
Great review. 👍 Glad to hear that a good record player is not thousands of dollars. Wondering if this is an american made product. For me, that's important. Thank you for your time.
No, the Monoprice isn't US made. But U Turn makes all of their turntables in the US, starting at $199!
Hey Steve, great review! I'm just getting into turntables and this one looks pretty solid. Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but do I need a receiver or amp to pair with this? I'm using the Klipsch rb61ii speakers and this would be a setup in my dining room.
Whatever you are using to power those Klipsch RB61ii's should work fine. That turntable has a built-in phono stage pre-amp, so it can output at a line level. That means you should be able to plug in RCA jacks to any amplifier or even use an RCA to 3.5mm cable and plug them into an Aux-in port. You could plug them directly into powered speakers or an amp+speaker combo.
Plus, the Klipsch RB 61II are very fine speakers! I do have a pair myself and love them. Have fun with your Klipsch and future turntable! Cheers!
Well, that’s the problem, I don’t have amp at all lol. There’s a vintage Yamaha 2 channel amp for sale locally for $200 though.
@@kabrandt22 How are you currently using the speakers without an amplifier? You either need an amplifier or "powered speakers", which have a built in amplifier and typically have several inputs (line-in, optical, etc.). Those speakers appear to be passive (un-powered / require an amp) but maybe I'm looking at the wrong model...
The Klipsch RB 61II are indeed passive speakers. Our colleague just needs to purchase an amplifier and he will be fine.
Hope you are fully recovered Steve - you sound great again. I've been searching for a phono preamp with USB out so I can rip my albums (I know, that's not your thing) w/out any luck. I might buy this table just for that. Thx
@user-wk5ed9sm2z If you don’t find one you like, you might consider an analog to digital converter (ADC). I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i I use with my guitar that I’ve been meaning to try. It’s a decent ADC, but just an example. The idea is you would use whatever phono amp you have/like.
@@CosmicKnight1 I'm doing exactly that! I have a Scarlett 8i with 4 adjustable gain controls because I'm also digitizing a tape deck! - The sound is absolutely wonderful. Low noise and highly dynamic. The Focusrite produces true 'audiophile' quality for sure! - So now I can use my iFi Phono preamp.
A big advantage for cheap dull sounding tt´s from the 1970ies was: There was no digital source to compare with!. You bought cheap crap, and that was that! Nowadays, we have a phone to hook to the poweramp, and play at least in descent soundquality! So, when you co,pare this with a cheap sounding bad TT, then you have your dealbreaker immediately! When I was young, I had nothing to compare but another expensive TT...and I told myself: OK, there is the pricegap to hear....my bad! lol.
I have found several Monoprice turntables under the name “Monolith”. Can you provide the precise model number so I know I’m looking at the correct one? Thanks.
Just thinking what about the Vinyl Video Phono Preamp with a HDMI output so you can enjoy those LPs that also have some video encoded into the grooves.
Been using 2 of their thx subs (10 inch version) of monolith since they came out with them.
That brand is putting high end to shame on many areas ..
Morning uk time hope everyone is safe and well 😁 how does this compare to the rega p1 plus, I used to own the rega p1 not the plus and for the money it sounded fantastic 😀
Nice review and I put an Email alert on the TT and need to check it out for possible upgrades. Speaking of Vandersteen, I picked-up a pair Model 2Ce 8-10yrs ago at a garage sale ($175) and if you search at AudioKarma "Vandersteen: Model 2Ce Upgrade and Refinish" you can see what I have done to Upgrade/Re-Build that speaker (Vandersteen either would cry or be impressed). I will send a picture of my gear (Viewer System). hey you never know.
Thanks Joe, put "Vandersteen" in the subject line.
It would be great if you could put links to the musical artist talked about.
Where they made?
John Mayall was The Best ! Got 2 vinyls
Reminds me of --1966 AR Xa turntable
I have heard Steve talk about Fluance, U-Turn, Music Hall and Rega turntables, and a few of the Pro-Ject turntables, but I haven't heard his opinion on the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, which I bought before I discovered this channel. Does anybody know what he thinks of it?
Don't know what Steve thinks of it, but every other review I've read loves it.
Forgive me, but I fear any turntable that offers bluetooth, USB and a phono preamp. Plus, my opinion is that those add-ons cheapen the product. I also worry there is some serious signal interference that's likely audible even when not using bluetooth, preamp or the pc output. That said, I wonder how good this turntable is when fitted with an even better AT cartridge?
But will it play my 78s??? 🤔
It tickles me when you refer to features on turntables as if they were a new source of technology. I know it's for the uninitiated, but still. 😁👍
Oooh, speed control knob!! Wow, damping cue.😁
Btw , my first turntable was a 1963 black and Decker with a John Deere cartridge. You could see vinyl shavings fall to the floor.
It wasn't discussed..... but is that top made of solid wood (mahogany?)??
Solid wood, for $249? I don’t think so! But it did look like real wood veneer., Not vinyl.
@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac Hey thanks my man...... oh boy I was dreaming again 😆
Worth using for USB out? I have a (technically) preampless system
It's mainly to be used for recording (digitizing) an album to a PC or Mac using the free Audacity program. If you don't have a preamp you might get one of the passive ones by Schiit Audio so you can have a volume control for safety.
RIP John Mahill
Hi Steve check out Michael Hearst’s ‘ songs for ice cream trucks’ as a speaker demo album
I bought a Project George Harrison TT it was only 250. Acrylic Platter om10.
Who sells these? I did a search on Ebay, for both "Monoprice" & "Monolith" turntables, with no results.
The. Monoprice website
Thanks, but what are the compromises in this unit? It looks pretty good, but there must be compromises to achieve this price point. Made in China, I assume.
I’m sorry, I forgot to check, but yes, it’s likely made in China. If that’s a problem, U-Turn audio makes all of their turntables in the United States, prices start at $199! I reviewed your top model which is about $1000 here on the channel a few months ago. And I reviewed their affordable turn tables when I worked for CNET
Does anyone know what the replacement belt size is for the monoprice turntable?
Steve why no thanks button to support the channel?
Happy to contribute but not up for another subscription.
Thanks for a great 2022.
Thanks, a thumbs up button under each video!
@Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac Steve I meant the button to make a one-time contribution to the channel. Some channels have this.
For all "unbeatable for money" equipment, there is a question - how much more money is needed to beat it.
My Maggies amaze me on this album……
Entry level better off getting an old Hitachi direct drive off the internet. Even the most minimalist of those from the late '70s still cruise the right speed and they are better than they should be. Should be able to get one for $20-60 on the bargain sites. Put an updated AT cartridge and compete with the best for pennies.