U-Turn Audio - Orbit Turntable Reviews

yeh , if you are spinning something like jazz with a held out note you can hear it fluctuate when that drop-down happens ....
they are shipping me out another new belt & hoping that fixes this , great people to deal with , super on the Ball in getting back to you

 

Did the new belt solve the problem?

 

Any word on what happened with this?

 

Nope tried a few different belts (4 in all same thing) I live about an hour from the Company so they had me out to figure out the problem ...... thankfully the table acted up there ...they tried more belts , new bearing drop in all the same problem so i asked if it could be the acrylic platter .
Seems that was it , maybe it was not cut down properly when made or someting , the edge may have been just a little off ...... so they put on a new Platter & it worked fine , so she is back home & trying it out for a few days , but all seems good

In even cooler news you can "build" your own table & get the colored base in the cheaper model !! & it now comes in white ...
I will say amazing guys at the company , great to deal with through all this & the table sounds really good .

new options
http://store.uturnaudio.com/pages/build-your-own-orbit

 

That's great news. Glad you're enjoying it!

 

Baby powder worked a charm on mine.

 

Interested in hearing cartridge recommendations for the Orbit. Mine shipped with an entry level Ortofon. What would be the law of diminishing returns?

 

I pulled the trigger on a green Basic model yesterday, with delivery expected in May. I don't really need it, but I feel an obligation to support my local economy, and my curiosity got the better of me. The U-Turn factory is about 15 miles from here.

I plan to immediately upgrade the cartridge. I have a few choices available here already... I'm leaning towards either a Shure M91ED or Grado ZC+ w/ 8MZ stylus. Or I could put a Shure M44-G on it and use it for vintage LPs and 45s, but I'm not sure the presumably low mass Orbit arm would be a good match, compliance-wise.

 

Fremer has a review up:
http://www.analogplanet.com/content/u-turn’s-remarkable-179-orbit-turntable-crosley-killer

 

Yeh i had tried the Baby powder & it did not help , they just Cut my platter wrong in Manufacturing so every spin it was throwing the belt off a bit ..

 

U-Turn is located closer to me than I thought, just 8 1/2 miles away:

 

I just received my U-Turn Orbit yesterday. It replaces a 10 year old Technics SL-BD20, which replaced the SL-B20 I got for Christmas in junior high 32 years ago. (I've never been crazy about spending money on equipment.)

The only upgrade I added was the AT95E cartridge, which brought my total up to $204. I played two albums on it last night: Talking Book (early US Tamala) and Odessey and Oracle (early US Date) and they sounded fantastic. It was an improvement over the Technics/Stanton P-Mount cartridge. How much and why? I can't say.

For a few years I debated between getting the Pro-ject Debut Carbon or the Rega RP1. The main thing that turned me off about each was the lack of a 33/45 RPM switch. I play a lot of singles and albums and don't want to hassle messing with the platter to change the speed. Plus there was the price. My Technics sounded great to me and money spent on equipment is less money for new music, so why upgrade?

Once the Orbit became a reality and started shipping it became the top contender, but I still wanted a 33/45 switch, a cue lever and an auto return mechanism. I figured I could live without these and add on either a Q UP tonearm lifter or the upcoming cue lever (the Orbit will not be able to use both) based on which I wanted more.

Equipment:
The equipment and set up was as expected with three exceptions:
1. Moving the belt on the pulley to change between 33 & 45 RPM is easier than expected. Almost as easy as having a switch.
2. I was surprised there was no ground cable. Has this been incorporated in the shielded part of the RCA connectors?
3. The dustcover feels flimsy and cheap. This is my only real complaint about the equipment based on my expectations.

My experience in playing two albums:
1. The sound was fantastic. I can't really comment beyond that.
2. So far The lack of a cue lever is worse than I could have imagined. Twice I accidentally rubbed my finger against spinning vinyl to lift the tone arm. I'm hoping my skills get better in this area.
3. The lack of a tonearm lifter may be more of a problem for me than I realized. Music listing is often passive for me at home. I have kids, which leads to distractions and last night one of my albums was spinning for about 20 minutes after the music stopped before I realized it.
4. The spindle and felt pad are both black. This is something I did not even consider, but I always look through the spindle hole of an LP to guide the spindle up through without touching/marking the label. This isn't as easy to do as it was with the Technichs silver spindle/black mat setup. I may need to get a cork mat, but I really like the look of my all black set up.

Conclusion:
I love the sound, need to figure a few other things out and think this is a great value for the price.

 

Just got mine last night - initial efforts to secure the belt around the platter and pulley were a little bit challenging, as I have mine on a hutch with low vertical clearance. Once I got it on there everything seemed to go well. Got the acrylic platter and by the second LP there was a goodly amount of static affecting it. Added the mat and that seemed to take care of the problem. Switching the belt to 45 RPM from 33 1/3 can be a bit tricky, but is manageable.

This is my first ever manual table, though I've been using turntable going back to the 1970s. Debating the Q UP option to add it on. I've decided to negotiate the lack of cue lever by not turning on the platter until I've put the needle down on the record. Please tell me how many kinds of heresy I'm committing by doing so or at least a heads-up if I might be damaging my LPs.

Tested it on a pressing of Boxer by the National, and it sounded terrific. Stayed up way late on a school night playing some tunes. Really loving this so far, and am surprised at how different it sounds compared to my old Dual.

 

I upgraded my stylus from the stock Ortofon OM 5 E to an OM 20 (not the cartridge, so technically not a Super OM)...good results so far.

Slight hum despite the table being internally grounded...only very noticeable when I crank the volume.

U-Turn had to send me a new spindle, as I had speed issues with my old one at the beginning of the summer (it was too tight and not spinning freely enough). The replacement has worked just fine so far.

 

None, in my opinion. It's easy, once you get used to it and the arm. I cue up inside tracks on LPs all the time with the platter stationary, even though my Rega has a cueing lever. I give the platter a little help, and turn it on.

 

Congrats to those who are new owners !! mine is still running great & i have been using it a lot .

 

It's wonderful to know that if I do feel the need to break out the vinyl, there is actually a decent sounding, affordable way to play them- huzzah!

 

I just placed an order for a Grado-blue from the company , they just ran out so hopefully it will ship in about a weeks time , the Ortofon that came with the table is just not good enough for me so gonna try the Grado ...
I have never owned a Grado cart so it will be fun to give one a try

 

Why wait? You can just go to the Audio Lab in Harvard Square and buy a Grado Blue.

 

That's over an hour from me & between tolls , gas & parking i'd Honestly rather wait ............. I don't mind & the U-turn guys have been A++ with me .

 

Just set up my son's table in his room ,no problems what so ever. took it straight out of the box, put the platter on ,put the belt on next. Put on the dust cover and plugged it into the preamp. than slapped on led Zeppelin 4. Sounds much better than his hand me down sony.Very good value for the money.

 

I ordered the basic model for an elderly friend who's turntable no longer worked and connected it to my system to check it out before bringing it over. Bottom line: This is a very nice sounding turntable. While it certainly didn't prevail over my Music Hall MMF-7, for a fraction of the price it sounded very good; I'm sure with a few of the upgrade choices offered by U-turn it would be even better. It's definitely the table I'd recommend to young newbies wanting to get into vinyl or anyone who can't swing jumping into the $400 plus range. I'm always sure to tell people looking at Crosleys in Urban Outfitters about it, I consider that a public service!

One note: When it arrived it seemed to be DOA. A quick correspondence with U-turn solved the issue, the power cord from the supply to the motor had come undone during shipping. I just had to reattach and it worked perfectly.

 

talking to a guy on another forum and he's looking for a good entry table. I pointed him to the Orbit, which I heard last weekend at a local shop but did not listen to critically. He replied with a link that slammed the Orbit as having huge speed stability issues. Reviewer claims "3 examples tested with $30K worth of equipment" and all had it. comments?
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-turntable/

 

It is a flawed review. Also, they are partners on amazon if you buy the AT table. I have an orbit and i love it. I have some audio samples here of it: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2lz5yr382s0tbc8/AACkWQZ6lrOgUF051L7156WMa?dl=0

 

Nice thorough review. F0r $220, those AT do look decent. Guys here have also recommended it. I like his round up of reviews in this price range. And he obviously cares and knows what hes talking about, even getting into dynamics and compression. I think the point of the article is "What is the best buy in inexpensive tables" -- sweet and simple. It's not "What is the be-all, end-all best-sounding turntable" and I think he weighs all angles and his summary is a fair assessment. I'm honestly at the stage in my 40 years of audio gear obsession that I don't get upset if someone write some table is better than mine. It may well be in some ways, so what? I know there are millions of people with better clothes, cars, and homes than me. Do I let it bother me? No. Last night I was watching "The Last Waltz" on a little Sony TV and my hair was crawling on the back of my neck from the MUSIC being performed. Nearly moved me to tears. Playback is fun, but music is what it's about and I'm sure these are all competent at sounding better than a tv.