The love/mostly hate here for Crosley

That has not been my experience.

 

This a great point. Crosley is far from being the first company to manufacture poor quality tables, they may however be the last company still doing it.

I think the biggest difference is that vinyl was the only consumer media available and it was not though of as "precious" as it is today. Like many, my first table was a toy that was manufactured for a child. I believe the brand was fisher Price. Crosely is really in that same category and it would be fine if they marketed themselves in that way. But today new records cost $30, old ones (that people want) are in shorter supply and vinyl is far from common, it is almost the exclusive domain of the most rabid music and equipment fanatics.

 

The record companies who love Crosley because it bumps LP sales here and there, are the same companies that had their heads up their butts for years and years during the cassette tape years, the CD-R years and then the advent of digital. Finally, FINALLY, the labels started to get it when a handful of companies sat them down and said, "Negotiate with us or watch the rest of it just slip between your fingers." This Crosley junk is just a fad - a retail transfer of re-manufactured and recycled raw materials into vaguely operable products that end up where all the other cheap crap from the mall ends up - in our landfills. There was a hipster-ish 'cool' factor when the Crosley fad ramped up, but it is fading rapidly.

As much as I love vinyl, I still have to admit that the financials aren't great even though vinyl has grown significantly over the past 10 years. But while it's a big enough business, again, to sustain profitable turntable, phono stage and cartridge manufacturing, record sales are still not where they have to be to create a even brighter future. Artists have to push vinyl harder, labels have to push vinyl harder. But digital - that is getting better all the time - is easier to deal with at the business level and less costly.

From my perspective, Crosley got heavily into its portable record player business because it saw a highly profitable but time limited opportunity. IMO, there's nothing more to it than that. More cheap crap with a direct pipeline into our landfills.

 

That is it right there. Even if our old GE record players were 'abusing' our old records, I beg anyone to put one of those side-by-side with a crosley. That tonearm would snap right off in your hands. That turntable? Put your palm on it and I bet that crap wobbles side to side. My old GE was solid. Lots of metal despite the plastic pieces, and good old solid idler wheel drive, baby. I still have it in an old storage box. Runs slow from neglect but it has been through a lot and there is not a single broken thing on it. Drop that crosley onto a solid surface and it will bust apart.

It is garbage like crosley that is once again giving vinyl a very bad name. Those who buy it and listen to the dreck coming out of it will realize why they threw their records in the trash when CD came along. To them vinyl will still suck.

And what is really sad to many of us here is that there is now a really large gap between the crosley and something that plays back halfway decent without destroying the records. Even at a store like Radio Shack (or even Lafayette or Allied) you could find turntables in all price ranges and even some all inclusive systems with AM/FM and tape. It had an upgrade path in other words, since you could go from cheap to pretty decent mid-fi in their product line. They had something for everyone.

You know what would sell today would be a quality all-in-one system, maybe like an Orbit but with AM/FM, decent little power amp (maybe one of those T-amps everyone raves about), small but musical speakers (hopefully separate), and a modern touch with aux input and bluetooth. Build efficiently, maybe list price around $199 or $249? Give people a better built and higher quality option and they might consider it.

 

People walk into a store and by their first record and need something to play it on. How long will that Crosley be their go to playback system? I'm guessing not long. They'll upgrade or give it up. But they could be as happy as a pig in 5h1t for years to come.

 

The guy who runs the record store that I haunt blames the Crosley's on the amount of younger customers that have lessened in the store. He has noticed that they return a lot of new vinyl that hasn't been tracking well on what they have and plays the record for them on his turntable to see if the same problem happens on his machine. When he asks what kind of turntable they have, a majority say it's the aforementioned brand.

 

The "record player" in my profile pic was one of many kiddie players I cut my teeth on back in the 70's. I had a little white and red GE player, then the one in my pic. My big step was was an Emerson around 1980. In the late 80's my first real turntable was a Technics P mount from Circuit City. They all did what I wanted them do to which was play my records. For a kid in the 70's a cheapo record player was the norm. The problem with Crosley is that ADULTS are buying these things! I can forgive a teenager for starting out with one but if you're over 40 and own a Crosley I have a real problem with that. Common sense should tell you that this won't sound good. LP's are not for those who want convenience and portability. CD's and MP3's were invented for you. I enjoy all formats. I just prefer records. It's what I grew up with. But as I type I'm listening to the new David Gilmore via Rhapsody on my phone with earbuds and it sounds great! In closing, silly rabbit - crosleys are for kids!

PS - I loved that GE record player in my profile pic. Even bought one for my kids when they were about 5 or 6.

 

My starter turntable is an 85" pioneer with a p-mount cartridge and it sounds way better than a Crosley ever could.

 

True

 

***repost*** Because I feel this message needs to be put out there. The original owners of records sometimes purchased backup copies they did not play, and/or well cared for records that received minimal play on a decent turntable. Records have become collectibles, not user replaceable items. Certain 1st press records in NM to mint condition are irreplaceable.

"I see it (The Crosley) as a tool of destruction in the hands of the unknowing! It's not as if records in (2016) are consumer items meant to be used up and worn out; They are collectibles! Can we just head to the record shop to replace a mint 1st press copy of Light My Fire? It seems that no amount of money can replace certain records. Some original master tapes that pressed them no longer exist!"

 

Friends don't let friends buy Crosley

 

Couldn't agree more. It sickens me to see those garbage tables all over retail. What Crossley is good at is marketing. I can't think of a better example of putting lipstick on a pig. Beautiful looking record player, functionality is pure crap and destroying people's property. They should be ashamed. How much harder would it be to make them just a little better? And shame on Best Buy for selling those really crappy Sony tables that I really think are no better. These companies are taking advantage of people being uneducated about the technology. Selling crappy products that are only successful for the company selling them is not usually a good thing, and it will really indermine the comeback of vinyl imo. I agree with those that think it might be a way to get people in, and then they may upgrade, but I just don't think most ever will. The question really is whether these are better than nothing, as many folks just won't spend anymore for a turntable. I really don't have an answer for that, but if these things are still selling five years from now than I clearly don't know what I'm talking about!

 

My first was a GE Wildcat. Loved it, but didn't know what it was doing to my records! Finally got a real turntable when I was around 14..,,thanks dad!

 

Crosley to open vinyl pressing plant »

 

Anything that results in more people enjoying music is good.

 

I heard very similar stories when I visited Ear Wax records in Brooklyn. They can't resell many records that have been returned as 'defective' after being played on Crosleys.

 

I just pray that the majority of Crosley users are sticking to new records. It makes me rather anxious to think that they are destroying irreplaceable vintage discs. My only hope is that the music I like is considered irredeemably uncool so it doesn't come into their crosshairs.

 

Yes, the Wildcat! I had one when I was 12. Which was an upgrade from my Gabriel, which was an upgrade from my Sears, which was an upgrade from steel-needle acoustic record eater. But in those days, we didn't worry about record wear. We just listened to music on the only medium available to us.

And my grandfather drove a Buick Wildcat.

 

I saw the Crosley Disney Record Store Day suitcase model. Cute looking, but what a piece of absolute junk! My local store actually had at least three of those things in stock in the middle of RSD...don't think they were selling!

 

They dont do anything to your records.. (As long as you dont press the needle down) - -- WHAT THEY DO HOWEVER IS NOT SOUND VERY G00D!!

I have been stuck on a crosley player for months as my cartridge went bad on my 1968 micromatic player... I am grateful to have my crosley or I wouldnt be listening to squat!!

78s sound EXCELLENT but most 33s/45s do not sound good @ all...... I do think the needle is cut for 78s as they sound incredibly good.....


Some 33s/45s sound OK but not like on my 1968 player of course...

 

Crosley coming out w/a decent TT?? »

 

I still have my GE Mustang portable turntable. I chewed up a handful of records, but have great memories doing it.

 

Perhaps U-Turn will recognize the need for a portable somewhere around the $250-300 price point. I'd love to drag some records outside this Summer.