The love/mostly hate here for Crosley

What scares me: I went to the record fair last year with my buddy, and for 'play testing' a number of vendors had these little micky mouse sized record players made of plastic. 'Oh, sure, we can play test that $XXXX record for you.'
I'd pay them not to play it on the thing! Made the Crosley look like a serious record player.

 

Makes you wonder if they'd already play tested them on the machines. One thing I'm finding is many sellers of used vinyl are only in it for a profit and couldn't care less about records otherwise (there are exceptions)

 

The other thing that's mind boggling, at least to me: buying old records, currently a lot of UK late 60's psych- you know that the people who bought these records, for the most part, didn't have fancy gear. Yet, with a few exceptions, the records have survived, clean up nicely and most play quietly (sure, i've gotten a few that were trashed, and among the ones I own that play well, it wasn't groove damage, but just crud and sludge that had to be effectively cleaned out of the grooves after 50 years). But, my point is, these records for the most part survived what I assume to be kludgey record players and, I gotta believe, owners who weren't observing record handling, cleaning and care regimes as we know them today. Maybe older records, like people, were just 'tougher.'

 

A lot of them have already concluded vinyl 'doesn't sound good.' They are the ones you see here who literally race into the digital vs. analog threads trying to convince people who already know better than 'records don't sound that good' compared to the digitial file format du jour. Whatever. I'm quite happy to have people lose fad interest in vinyl so prices drop on things I want.

 

They were.

I once saw a notice on a 50s or 60s record sleeve recommending that you not play the record with a tracking force of greater than 6 grams as that could damage the grooves.

 

i went to a store that was new for me last month....they had a Numark thingy as the house player. My comment to the clerk was "you let people play test on that crap", he just said (without looking up) "yes". I then said - hope these were not played on it (pointing to my stack}. Unbelievable for a record store....unbelievable!

 

There were a lot of crappy turntables back when vinyl was king. If a kid wants one of these and it helps them to form a love of music, it's a good thing. My first was a Close 'n Play, remember those?

 

The way they are made now had me steer away from them. Pretty much made of cardboard or particle board and poorly made. I saw this video and decided I would stay as far away from them as possible.

 

They don't need to get better. The market is not getting smarter.

Regrettably.

 

Thanks for posting that. I've been saying that for eons. And the price is so high for what it is. I hate that stuff...

 

So sadly true.

 

But there are also millions of cheap non collectables easily available records to those people very cheaply.

 

Our local FYE has these and some AT-LP60's. The Crosley's they have are priced from 70 bucks to 149. I think one even has an S-Shaped tone arm, but still I would stay away from them. I'm sure the components on the inside aren't much different from the video above. He does a good job of showing the "guts" and even the side edges are coming off. Informing video, if you can get past his Hank Hill type talk.

 

For me, there is no question about whether or not they are junk, I don't think anyone believes they are anything other than that. I did not need a video for that deduction. I see their popularity as a sign that there is a market for something in this price range, just need something that does no harm. It does not need to last much past a few years IMO, it is a stepping stone, nothing more. I mean, come on, a do it all player under $150......what do ya'll expect...tubes/point to point wiring?

 

I was under the impression that urban outfitters also sold rega and project turntables too. Not that I have seen them there or been in a urban outfitters.

 

I'd forgotten about the KLH systems. That's exactly what is missing from the market now. I think the $300 price point is right too.

 

They Had some Projects too. Didn't see Regas

 

Well, a Pro-Ject is an upgrade path. Good-o!

 

By the way, I've tried now a couple of times to explain to people with Crosleys that they were likely damaging their vinyl. Both times the users were women, and both times I was accused of "mansplaining" why their decision was wrong. "It's cute and records are supposed to be crackly," one of them told me. Goddamn.

 

Just went to their online site and the only two I saw besides the crosley over kill were the audio technica and music hall 2.2.

 

Well as I said earlier maybe they should skip new and Classic issues. There are plenty of cheap old records that are already well played. Shop the 59 cent and dollar bins.

 

The two owners I know are also female. They also stated how they liked the "crackly" sound of records!!!

 

I think I 've read on this forum some time ago the story that a young listener was throwing her records on the floor and then she was stepping on them to create that "authentic" rice krispies sound.

 

No that was the photo thread of all the 60s rock Stars and their records.

 

???