Experience the nostalgic sound of vinyl with this fully automatic belt-driven turntable that supports 33-1/3 and 45 rpm record playback speeds and features a USB output for importing your favorite records' tracks to a PC.
Customer Rating
4
Excellent Entry Level Turntable
on April 29, 2012
Posted by: RHEDTH
from Nashville, TN
I recently picked up this turntable at my local Best Buy, and I was extremely happy with my purchase before I even walked out the door. The cashier rang it up and after sales tax and everything it was about $140 -- and I began to hesitate. The cashier asked why and I explained I had seen it online for a LOT cheaper. She asked me where, I told her on Amazon's website.. and she immediately had a manager come over and look it up and they matched the price for me. They did this all on their own as I not only didn't force the issue or even ask, but I didn't even know they did that in the first place. So I was incredibly thankful that they took the time to save me what would end up being about $40.
I got it home, opened the box. Item was packed well. The consumer is responsible for putting the belt and plate on but it was very, very easy and I had the thing together in less than 2 minutes. Brought it to the living room, plugged in my Bose Companion II speakers with the RCA output cord built into the turntable. Put on a 12" LP and was immediately happy.
If you don't have a separate pre-amp -- no worries, the built in pre-amp is perfectly capable of filling up a room. I would certainly suggest at least decent speakers. You can plug these into 2.1 computer speakers, but if you're going cheap with those, you won't be fully utilizing the sound quality this turntable is pushing out. The Bose speakers I mentioned earlier are at least 3 or 4 years old and I swear by them. Best $100 you could spend at an electronics store. I use them with my TV, Computer, and now my Sony Turntable.
My only complaints; The software to make mp3's from your records is for Windows only.. and I use a Mac. It's still possible to perform the task but if you're a Mac user the included software is only useful as a beer coaster. The turntable is pretty much all plastic.. and therefore feels somewhat fragile. Other than that, my only other complaint is the hardwired RCA output -- it works perfectly fine but the cord is extremely short.. so unless you plan on having your setup be very compact.. you'll need to grab an RCA extension cord.
If you're just getting into turntables, or need to replace your old one without breaking the bank -- this offering from Sony should be on your shopping list.
What's great about it: Easy, Great Sound, Size
What's not so great: Output cord, a bit 'plastic-y', Software for PC only