U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus OR Gramovox Floating Record Turntable?

Before I knew better, Crosley was my gateway into the church of vinyl nearly a decade ago. I've since learned the error of my ways and am now ready to upgrade to a better, entry level, somewhat audiophile turntable. I have too much vinyl amassed that I can't or won't listen to on my Crosley, and haven't for years, that the time to take the plunge is now.

Thanks to a (targeted) ad on Facebook, I came across the Gramovox Floating Record turntable and sort of jumped on the bandwagon over at Kickstarter before thinking things through. I liked that it was an all in one unit, nothing additional to buy, and would fit on the stand where my current Crosley resides. However, with a little research, I also discovered the U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus turntable and all its favorable reviews.

Unconventional as it might be, the Gramovox Floating Record turntable looks like it was designed and engineered with a lot of thought and concern. It's more than a gimmick and could be a serious contender for those of us not wanting to spend $500 plus on equipment. Check out this extensive report from PDT: http://www.pdt.com/gramovox-floating-record.html

That being said, the U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus turntable is clean, conventional, and more user friendly - with a few hands on reviews to back up the product. The Gramovox Floating Record turntable has yet to be proven and all I have to base my purchasing decision on are aesthetics (which range anywhere from "I love it!" to "I hate it!" depending on the time of day) and the marketing info being fed to me by Gramovox on their Kickstarter page.

I have five days to make my decision and my worry is if I cancel my Kickstarter pledge now, this Floating Record turntable will turn out to be the next big thing - as wonderful as promised - and I will have missed out. So, loyal Steve Hoffman Forums members who know better than I, what would you advise?

I know based on the few threads regarding the Gramovox Floating Record turntable that most people here think it's less than impressive. However, I urge you to check out the PDT report. Then, weigh in with any thoughts you might have.

Which would YOU choose? U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus OR Gramovox Floating Record Turntable?

 

U-Turn, easily.

 

I kind of feel like the Gramovox Floating Record turntable has a lot of unnecessary engineering to correct problems that arose from its unconventional design. Why not just make a flat turntable?

 

Plus, what about warps, alignment.... It is neat, but not for real listening. Having said that, I Have a uturn and am super pleased with it. I was getting tired of issues I kept having with vintage tables and wanted something new. Real nice design and engineering choices without sacrificing quality.

 

I bought and set up a U-Turn basic table for an elderly friend, but played it on my system first. I was very impressed with how good it sounded, especially at $200 delivered. That said, there are now many choices in the $200 to $350 range, you can but a Project a Carbon Debut from Music Direct right now for $299.

If you haven't already, read Michael Fremer's review of the U-Turn on his Analog Planet blog, he was very impressed with it.

http://www.analogplanet.com/content...-turntable-crosley-killer#Y10zjK6fFCfcEhd2.97

I watched the floating turntable video, and it certainly is an interesting device, but it's a gimmick IMO. I could see it perhaps as a secondary table for fun, but for day in and day out play I think a conventional design would serve you best (and what about dealing with dust?!!!). So if it's strictly between the Floating table and U-Turn I'd go with U-Turn.

 

Think I would go for the U Turn. While this vertical table looks interesting, it's nothing I would ever buy.

 

The Gramovox thing is really limited in terms of its speakers and amplification.

If you'd like, PM me and I will give you gear recommendations that will seriously get you into the game for around $500.

 

I just received my U-Turn on Tuesday. I've spun a handful of records on it. I won't pretend to know much about other TT's, but it seems great to me. It's only $179, and supposedly approaches the quality of the $300-$400 audiophile TT's. It's a very simple setup. Also, supporting a startup American company started by recent college graduates feels better than helping established companies (although I do see that the floating one is also a kickstarter campaign). The floating one looks a little gimmicky. Built in speakers is not a good sign. As someone said above, dust would be an issue. Is there a dustcover? How would you even use one on it?

 

Look at what Beet did for less than $300 including amp and speakers. Plenty of room to upgrade later.

 

Yeah, that's from my thread I posted including what I bought. I did buy the cue arm and carbon fiber brush which put me slightly over $300, but neither are necessary. For my table and sound system, I did go below $300. It's a fine setup for a beginner, like me. Plenty of room to upgrade the speakers, amps, etc. as Jasonb said. If you're looking to go cheap, this is the way to go in my opinion.

Edit: I see you're looking at the plus which would cost more than $179 of course, which is what I paid for the basic.

 

Gramovox Floating Record Turntable........ I'm not so sure about a left handed turntable with a tonearm that sticking straight up..

 

Yeah, the tonearm placement is one of the main sticking points for me. Being right handed, I don't like that I'd now have to set the tonearm with my left. I can't figure out why Gramovox flipped the tonearm placement. Wasn't the vertical platter/floating record illusion gimmick enough?

 

I don't see any great advantage to spinning a record vertically instead of horizontally.

 

I'd be panicking something was going to fall over or the arm would float off. Gravity is easier.

 

it's not flipped, it would have to face down to be on the right side and still play records correctly. or flip the cartridge in the headshell or something, which would probably be hard to align. If you think of the "floating record" laying flat like a normal player you will see the tonearm is on the normal side. Also, I'm pretty sure you can still use your right hand to adjust the tonearm, simply by stepping slightly to your left and uh, using your right arm.

That said, the floating record seems dumb to me. A fun design challenge I guess, but definitely not addressing any of the actual problems of LP playback and for sure introducing a ton more.

 

Mitsubishi in the 80's with vertical linear tracker

 

What color U-Turn Audio turntable did you get? Much as the black one is fairly standard, I'm thinking of buying the red one.

 

That looks way more sturdy!

 

oh snap.

 

U-Turn. I was skeptical at first, but I think it's proven itself to be a winner. This aspect of it is nice

Made with love in Boston
Every Orbit is assembled by hand in our Woburn, Massachusetts workshop. Prior to shipping, each turntable goes through comprehensive listening, wow & flutter, and rumble tests, as well as a 15-point performance evaluation. Every Orbit comes with a one year warranty.

The majority of our parts are sourced within the US. Our acrylic platters are turned in Ohio. Our plinths come from Minnesota, and our dustcovers are from Maine. So when you buy an Orbit, you are supporting American manufacturing.

 

Anything Made In USA is hard to come by. I like to buy American when I can and if I had known about the U Turn several years ago that is what I would have purchased.

 

Try Sota.

 

Just down the road from me...

 

There are lots of American made turntables. Nothing else but a UTurn for a base price of $179.00 though. It's easy to buy American if you have buckets of disposable cash.

 

And there is a used market. I bought my Comet III for less than $900, and I've never had buckets of cash. It is still running strong at 14 years in service. At this point I've spent more keeping a fresh cartridge on the table than I spent on the table itself, and I know who my money has gone to.

UTurn is a nice table at the price point, but it does not have a Rega arm, it has not much of a plinth or platter. How much would you pay for a used Moonbeam?