I Was Mad As Hell About My Lame Record Player Until I Finally Upgraded to This Vinyl Set-Up
Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.
I enjoy collecting old records. I’m a hipster, I’m vintage, I’m different—say what you will, but I love vinyl. There was, however, a certain missing quality in my curated music set-up until recently. Frankly, it’s sort of lame to have all the coolest records you could find at the flea market or vintage store and not have a decent sound system to play them on.
Until a month or so ago, I’d had my bottom shelf $50 Victrola record player for years. You know, the 1930’s looking one with Vinyl, CD, Tape, FM/AM, and Bluetooth capability—just like our grandparents had (OK, minus the Bluetooth.) I’ve actually bought the same one, twice. The first one broke almost immediately and the second one… well, she wasn’t looking like she was going to make it either.
I had a lot of problems with my standard, low-tier record player, but I put up with them because I figured it would cost hundreds of dollars to upgrade my set-up. After a while though, its audio quality varied tremendously from day to day and some of the most essential functions seemed to have worn away—two things that were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Oftentimes, the console record players try to stuff in as many functions as possible, resulting in a less prioritized vinyl sound quality.
After putting up with her “quirks” for what seemed like a century, I knew it was time for me to upgrade my setup. I wanted to build a quality system worthy of my impressive record collection, but it had to be within my budget. It turns out, you don’t have to sacrifice performance for affordability, and U-turn’s Orbit Basic Turntable is living proof.
U-turn’s catalog of high-quality sound equipment carries a range of prices and capabilities. The Orbit Basic turntable I use is a simple piece of equipment; it plugs in and spins your records. However, there is elegance in its simplicity. The spinning mechanism is designed to be silent, using a large band to turn the record, removing those grinding noises that lower-end record players typically have.
U-turn also offers speakers in stylish patterns with seamless connectivity to their turntables. The record player upgrade is nothing without some new speakers. The Ethos Powered speakers come in a variety of sleek colors and can optionally come with Grill covers, which I think give them a super cool throwback look.
Don’t forget to check out our coupon site to find more tech deals from Best Buy and Newegg.
Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.
Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
