Need advice on a second TT - deciding on U-Turn Orbit or Pro-Ject...

I currently have a McIntosh (vintage) setup at home with a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit, love it! Just bought off the bay a Bang & Olufsen Beomaster 5500 and Beogram CD 5500, since it was cheap and has a small foot print. Really cheap. This is for my lake house so I'm not terribly concerned with fantastic sound quality, just want it to sound nice. Will most likely use my Canton Karat 100 speakers - oldies but goodies. And yes, I know B&O has all that weird connection crap but I can deal with that. So...do I just get the U-Turn Orbit or go with a Pro-Ject again? This will sound odd but I need a white plinth and an acrylic platter - it's a "look" thing - the lake house is very beachy, lots of blues and white and don't want a big black circle or square sitting on the console, so acrylic and white it is. Pro-Ject is at least $200 more it seems than the U-Turn. Anyone with one or both have an opinion on the U-Turn? Is it crap or good enough is my question...

 

With respect, there are *tons* of threads on U-Turn. A quick search will reveal a lot of great info. Literally a 10-sec search.

 

The Pro-Ject Essential II comes in white and is less expensive than the Debut Carbon. The Rega Planar 2 comes in white with a glass platter.

 

Thanks. I did do a search, good reviews on the U-turn. just debating. do I really need a carbon fiber tone arm again? have it now and what do I know re: the difference? guess that answers THAT question...but even the essential II, once I add the acrylic platter, it gets up to at least $550. $200 less for the orbit. may have just answered my own question!

 

If coolness for a shore house is what you are after, I saw (and heard) a completely bamboo turntable at the New York Audio Show. No worse than any other entry level, and what a conversation piece! Would be perfect for a shore house.

The Pebbles Series

 

Having used both at one time or another, I now use an Orbit Plus. Save the 200 bucks and buy some great records. The differences between tables at this level are minute and a matter of personal taste. I find the customer service from U Turn to be the difference for me, it is fantastic.

 

I see your point. $350 isn't awful. spend less than that on the b&o stuff. can't believe the cue lever is $40 extra! jeez...and I use it all the time actually. clearly I can't drop a needle drunk...

 

U-Turn Orbit, if for no other reason than their customer service is unparalleled. I also see you're in Chicago, and the Orbit is made by Americans in Boston. Easy choice.

 

I think the U-turn in maple would look great in a white room.

 

found a u-turn orbit plus, white with acrylic, and tone-arm cue on ebay and made a deal for $25 under the u-turn website price.

 

I would recommend not buying a used Orbit. The original Orbits had a unipivot tonearm, which was changed to a gimbaled arrangement last year. I would not recommend the unipivot model.

 

Nope. Brand new in the box

 

As long as it's not NOS with the old tonearm you should be good.

 

I'll second that urging on the new tonearm. I have a white plinth with acrylic platter and like the look too. Mine was purchased before the release of the new arm in the autumn of 2016 and my arm developed a skip forward issue in a consistant spot. As I was under warranty U-Turn replaced my arm with the new one (thanks to the timing), as well as giving me new dustcover hinges, mine weren't holding steady in the upright position. All was handled really well by customer service, the whole back and forth took six days.

You didn't say which cartridge is coming with the Ebay bought table. If it's an Ortofon OM5e I highly recommend an immediate swap for an OM20 stylus, makes a huge difference, but it's another $155.

 

all I can tell is that it's "new" in the sealed box from the pics on ebay. And yes, it is the OM5e. was thinking of putting my Ortofon 2M red on it, not sure if that's even an upgrade, it's from my pro-ject which I upgraded to the blue.

 

not sure I can tell the diff b/w the tonearms, any pics?

 

it does say uni-pivot tonearm in the description

 

You know, I was in your shoes a few years ago. Bought a Pro-ject Debut III on sale from Audio Advisor. Even after upgrading to the Ortofon Red I still get some sibilance. I don't know maybe it's the cartridge (never heard a Red before) or maybe it just compares poorly to the 2M Black I have upstairs on my Technics. Either way I don't use it much.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, even though it's a second system, it might not pay to cheap out. A while back I read some great advice here that was along the lines of "don't shop for audio equipment based on the price, buy it on the basis of what you want". Too bad I didn't read that sooner.

 

valid point of course. I wasn't about to spend what I spent on my home system for a lake house. I just want to be able to play vinyl and have it sound pretty good. I think the u-turn will do the trick. or hopefully. It's all dependent on the other components - haven't heard the B&O setup yet and using old, old old Canton Karats, which I think still sound good, but haven't used them in a year or two once I upgraded to bowers CM6s

 

just checked, uni-pivot is the older tonearm. I will reach out to u-turn once i have the serial number to see if they'll replace it for free. The seller on ebay is allegedly an authorized dealer, so that might help, not sure.

 

they're selling u-turns off the shelf at my local Fry's electronics. seems like a safe but but they look really cheap.

 

Agreed. However, they seem to pull off the "whole is better than the sum of the parts" thing.

I immensely enjoyed a brief Orbit cameo when Ian from YouTube was evaluating the AT-LP120 and ripping the tonearm of the AT and showing that the Orbit arm was smooth as could be.

I still think that the Music Hall MMF-2.2 is a better deal, but wouldn't much argue the point with a happy Orbit owner.

 

The Pro-Ject Debut III can be very good with the right cartridge. My wife has one. I put a Dynavector 10x4 MKII on it and it sounds great. I probably could've been happy with that turntable in my own system.

 

I have a Grado Black on it and am happy with it.

 

I too have a Debut 3 with a nagaoka 555. its quite nice! but I think if this is for a beach house where you just want some nice background music.. the Orbit would be a cheaper option and sound just as good in those circumstances.