SHOCKING $25 Record Player from Five Below - Unboxing & Review!
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- You have GOT to be kidding me!!! I’m speechless over this one! $25 record player from Five Below…full unboxing, review & teardown!!!
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I appreciate how fair you are when you review a record player. When it's bad you let it be known. When it's cheap, but surprisingly good, you let that be known too. Thanks for being a positive voice out there in the world of modern record players.
Thank you!
Agreed.
This is a great entry level Record Player for someone who is looking for something to play their old Records that been laying around in the Attic .The sound is good and it' has good sound with Two speakers built in .I like it . Very simple to operate .Thumbs up
Five Below caters to middle school kids. Many, like my daughter, are discovering their own musical tastes. This seems like a great way for kids to explore their parents or grandparents vinyl collections and their own yardsale finds. Thanks for the review!
As Techmoan explained, the turntable mechanism itself can be imported from China for all of £10 including shipping. With that in mind, I am glad they kept the price of the final product down. Those Crosleys and Victrolas with the same mechanism are just not worth the prices asked!
Umm, you're absolutely right. They're so mass produced and yet all of them use the exact same cheap, low quality plastic parts. The turntable in this video clearly uses that same familiar build, but the justification is far more welcome at the lower cost when you consider the more substantial surrounding area.
This should be pinned! So many turntables, with wildly varying prices, use the exact same "guts". Once you recognise it, you see it everywhere!
Yah it doesn't try to be what it's not. No glitter no fake leather or wood. What you get is good build quality inside as in actual connectors and a shell that complements what it is. A decent cheap and usable record player.
@@shiroshine7227 l'd still prefer to pay 25 more dollars for it to slather nsync over the shell uv it.
Techmoan's video was titled 'PSA - The cheap record player mechanism to avoid', if anyone is curious to see what he had to say about it.
I purchased this for my 8 year old cousin to get into vinyl, since I was about her age when my fascination began. I was pleasantly surprised with how solid it is, and it’s truly such a great introduction to newbies. I’m glad you approach these things with such care and understanding!
This would be a great record player for the pre-teen who wants to play around with records. I would happily get this for my grandkids to help them into the collecting hobby, and I love that it runs at 33, 45 and 78 rpm. I started out with a Fisher Price player and would have loved to upgrade to this when I was starting out.
Fisher Price music box record player?
To play 78 records you need to buy a different stylus (needle)
I thought everything at Five Below was $5.00 or below, hence the name. But it's been a while since I've been in one of their stores.
They have a section in some stores called five and beyond but I rarely see them
The one in Humble is Five Below...and Beyond.
When they first opened, they where only $5 or less, but now they are becoming more like a general store now.
Now it had a “Ten Below” section when I was last in there. And now dollar tree following suit and raising prices
In the UK these days £1 stores (such as Poundland/Everything's £1 etc) are the same. It works both ways though, some items can be 50p, others £8 or £10, etc. I think £25 for a portable heater is the most I've seen in a store. The majority of prices have to be £1 to not false advertise. (Pound Stretcher is different, though a lot of the same products can appear). Products in all these stores are made mostly by the same manufacturers, I believe.
The Bass Jaxx brand is owned by Zeeva International Ltd. out of Hong Kong. The vacuformed plastic packaging spacers, the lack of wall wart or audio output are obvious cost saving measures. Also, it isn't advertised as USB because the USB port is used purely as power supply and it has no actual USB functionality.
Poor Basement Jaxx
I'm actually impressed with this record player...for $25, this might be the best of all the "Beginner" turntables...if I'm at a Five Below and this is in stock, I'll definitely get one...great review!!!
The other day, I was in Big Lots and they had Crosley Cruiser record players for $50, but I suspect this $25 record player may be just as good, if not better. The fact that this cheaper record player does not have all the "bells and whistles" may be a good thing because that's less to go wrong and many people don't care about those extra "bells and whistles" (all they want is something to play records). On the subject of needles and cartridges, I've learned that no matter if it's a brand new record player or an old one, always test the unit with some junk records. I've seen these modern record players visibly damage the record as it played and that was generally due to a QC issue (defective needle, too much pressure, etc.).
"It doesn't advertise as a USB record player."
That's because it's not. Only two wires from that USB port. It's only POWERED by USB. There's no capability for analog-to-digital conversion.
That's why it's this cheap. It is literally the most basic record player you can buy. Just a cheap skywin mechanism, a inexpenive little chipamp, and a pair of tiny speakers in an all-plastic cabinet. No A-D conversion. No AUX-IN or LINE-OUT. No USB. No Bluetooth.
None of that is necessarily bad. Something like this is perfect to experiment with.
David Schlessinger the founder of 5 below is a genius.
It is proof that you can make something cheap and well made with the same materials. The extra component is desire to do it right.
I got this player and officially got into vinyl. I currently have Bob Marley and Michael Jackson. Along with Saturday Night Fever from my dad. I gotta say, for $25 dollars. Sound very good. Despite the pitch changes in songs, not a very big problem since it doesn’t sound different. Definitely worth for its price.
I think the lesson to take from this very well done review is that companies are charging far too much money for far too little. This is an index for an entire class of inexpensive turntables.
Gosh, add the BSR clone cartridge, with a flip-over LP and 78 styli system,a tiny bit of counterweighting, some extra thick lithium grease on the cue mechanism and this would be perfectly OK for a casual listener. There's going to be a way to add an output jack, whether RIAA corrected line or straight off the speakers.
I think it may be possible to unplug the speakers and put better ones (or maybe another source of output in - but I'm no expert, so forgive me if I'm wrong). It does seem odd that there is no other output though!
A set of line-out jacks can be installed by tapping the signal at the input and ground leads of the volume control potentiometers. It's inexpensive and fairly simple to do. I wouldn't swap in a flip stylus unless you really expect to play 78s.
As for the cueing lever, I don't think grease is going to help that particular mechanism here. But there's an alternative - make an extension for the lever. Yes, you still have to do it by hand, but a longer lever allows for much more control. It could be as simple as glueing or taping a blunted toothpick to the existing lever.
But seriously. I know $25 makes this very attractive, but by the time you've done the mods and stuff.... A Target Heyday is still available NEW with a warranty for $100. Magnetic cartridge (which can be swapped out!), damped cueing, metal platter, built in preamp, truly adjustable tone arm. Yeah, you need an amp, but...
Just sayin'....
K, so I'm just getting into records. Where do I even buy records???
Do they make modern(todays music) as records,...where do I buy them . ?
I have cheap record player, but they said it would be ok as long as I replaced the needle stylus with a diamond one(crosely). ???
Help me out
@@BOBANDVEG yes they even make modern music on records I own multiple records of muse and gorillaz. You can look in thrift stores for cool older records and depending on where you live you might have some local record shops if you just Google. For me there is a normal music store that still cells CD's, records and cassette tapes.
@@BOBANDVEG B4 lockdown I would cross over to the American side of my city (my city is 3/4 Canadian, 1/4 American, The twin Sault's) and I found that the American Walmart actually had a good hundred maybe couple hundred or more records to choose from. From classic bands like KISS, Boston and Clapton to Modern albums like Motley Crue's Dirt and such. For contrast my Canadian Walmart has like 5 records and their like symphonic orchestra music from the 50s. Also we Canadians have a place called Sunrise records that while expensive actually has a decent assortment of vinyl that you can look through. I normally have my Mrs. with me so I try not to tarry too long thumbing through the albums, but If I'm by myself, I love to just flip through the vinyl looking. I'm sure there must be a big chain in the states similar. (assuming your from the US).
My unit wasn’t packed with the power supply. It also wasn’t packed with the USB cord! Other than that, it sounds better than the ‘more stylish’ Cruiser. And it’s ready for travel with a USB battery pack. 🙂 The impedance sounds matched too.
When you say ready for travel i just imagined pulling this out in the middle of a flight lmao
With a USB battery pack, this thing may be handy to take into thrift stores to test records with, although it would've been nice if it at least had a headphone output.
Great review, thanks. I find it interesting how many of us find the concepts of “head phones” a vital necessity. For most of its years, shellac / vinyl was designed to listen to aloud and more importantly shared with family / friends. But alas, I return to the modern world…yes, I’m old.
Honestly the only time I ever use headphones / earbuds are at work. At home, especially when its just myself and my husband, we listen to music outloud. If we're gaming we go to our den so as not to bother anyone. Maybe I'm old too, ha ha.
Pretty much this. I'm playing records to fill the room with sound; if I want to listen through headphones (and I do, a lot), streaming and FLAC files are more than fine for that.
Perfect for auditioning vinyl at old record shops. To power it as a portable, just use a usb power bank.
Jerry Spann - It’s great to check out records in stores…if they let you play their records on that thing
I exchanged mine, because I hadn't used it for about a month, and couldn't even get it to power on. Same goes for the new one- it was DOA right out of the box. I was willing to overlook the audio cutting out issues, because for the records it would play all the way through without problems, it sounded pretty good. Time to give up on these and just get my money back.
Ok. So I went ahead and bought one of these and its absolute JUNK! The amplifier cuts out constantly on moderate to loud songs at any volume. I tried 3 of these units with the same results. It also seems to have a gated output to where the amp cuts out when there's no sound going through it, i.e. between tracks, and it tends to clip off a quarter of a second of the beginning of the next track.
Same here. I thought the first one had a bad cartridge, because after about 5 to 10 seconds of okay play, the audio would drop out. Lift the needle and place it on the record again, and get another 5-10 sec. Exchanged it, and with the second one, finally realized that records that were not as loudly mastered would play great, but as soon as any other record got too loud, I could begin to predict with accuracy when the audio would drop out. Keep and tinker with it, accepting the fact that without some kind of modification, it will never play the more loudly modulated records, or take it back and get a refund...
Perhaps needs a beefier power supply? But players like this sadden me for they are bottom of the barrel junk that will probably be clogging up the landfill before next christmas.
There's more than enough power being fed into the player. It's that the cartridge overloads the amplifier circuit. I don't even get near turning the volume all the way up with the records it will play all the way through. It definitely gets sufficiently loud, at least to my worn out ears. lol
I’ve replaced 5 of these thinking it was bad luck… I posted a warning in the comments. Good to see I’m not the only one…
No bueno senor
I always checked the speed with a record on the turntable. To me, it sounded a bit slow on the playback.
I can imagine taking it picnic with rechargeable LiON battery. If you were a bit mechanically and electronically inclined, you could install a jack for headphones.
For effect (and overkill) you could tap the preamp for an output to plug it in a boom box.
We did this the other day !!!! It ran right off the battery get the from Walmart portable battery charger. We mixed for hours and hours in the park but we modified ours with RCA out jacks to the mixer.
7:00 The last time I checked, the whole point of having a dustcover was to protect the turntable, platter, and stylus from DUST. ;)
I loved The Plant of the Apes movies .All of them. Cool picture 🤩😍
Dust covers also block the amplified record from causing feedback at higher volumes. I've gotten feedback on my system before. Closed the dust cover, no more feedback.
@@philipgapske2206 Haha! Thanks. Yes, the new ones are okay, but my first love will always be for the classic 'Planet of the Apes' movies with my favourite being the first original one and 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes', the latter of which had Ricardo Montalban. :)
@@porcelainthunder2213 That's a good point and a good tip regarding the benefits of turntable covers.
This was very interesting. My roommate and I wanted a record player for all the terrible Christmas records we buy at thrift shops and yard sales. First I bought one at a thrift shop which was a fiasco, then my roommate bought one on Amazon that isn’t very good.
Bought this for my nieces boyfriend. Upon the first use, the volume kept turning itself down and if you turned it up, it sounded like the speakers were under water. Second use, the knob for the volume no longer works. You have to find a sweet spot on the knob to try to attempt to adjust the volume. I know that you get what you pay for and it may just be defective but it’s going back asap. I already ordered a Victrola elsewhere. I wish that this worked for him though.
A top down lid that still lets dust in from every side. Ingenious.
I love how it's such a mature technology that you can design something right at the bleeding edge of functionality and the only thing you miss out on is fit, finish, and features; the performance is still adequate. I appreciated hearing Samba De Uma Nota Só in the demo. AUX outs would be simple enough to add if you've got a bit of electronics know-how. Thanks for a great review!
As a person for years liking quality sound and quality electronics, I always looked at the low end stuff since it was what I could afford, or the used market. If I would have bought this for myself I would have either tapped off the volume control area for a line level out, or directly from the cartridge wires and ran it to a real 20 watt or higher stereo amplifier and a decent set of speakers. Changed the needle at least to a real quality brand or better type. However if I was giving it to a new user it might just get the needle upgrade for it, and a separate power adapter. I hate the idea of the speakers down firing but for a new user or a child it is a good idea so that they don't poke a hole in them or spill something on them. Now 40 years ago this size speaker was very poor sounding but I'd say since the designs for smaller speakers and computer speakers improved, size is not as much of a quality thing, and much larger ones in a case with the record player would have the needle skipping.
I believe the slots missing on the lid is used to play LPs with the lid closed.
The tracking force may be closer to 5g. The force should be measured from the same height as the record. If If you place the scale between the platter and tone arm lock you will get a more accurate reading.
Thanks for letting us know about this turntable. It is well worth $25. Better replacement needles are available.
An audio out jack can be added. A DPDT switch can be used to isolate the speakers from the jack.
Great video!
the spaces at the bottom of the dust cover are there to allow the cover to close when you play ax12 inch lp.
And that’s exactly the same as a Crosley and Victrola, at least the price is what it’s worth unlike the Crosley and Victrola’s.
Love your technical descriptions and limitations of the product.
I would've loved one of these as a kid. I had a rinky dink one I used to listen to my Star Wars scores on as I fell asleep. Great job here. You're always pretty straightforward and unbiased. Thanks!
Mine was Fisher Price.
I love that this machine doesn't have Bluetooth like a lot of entry level players do. I've got a cheapie turntable that I use for 78s, and it makes this annoying beep every time I turn it on to tell me Bluetooth is ready. I don't want that. I just want to play a record.
23:50 Wow, a budget record player that actually works properly (What a concept) and works better than some other entry level or all-in-one record players. That would be great for a kid or novice starting out with an interest in vinyl records and it doesn't break the bank. :)
Too bad most vinyl costs more than the damn player itself. OOF!
Oh well I guess the early 00s when albums could be found for $12 on wax are long gone.
@@sgtcreasegrease Yes, the prices are insane, but novice record collectors out there should check out thrift stores, antique shops, garage sales, etc. first to amass an affordable collection. Most of my 2,500+ records were found at thrift stores, antique malls, eBay, etc. and I acquired them over a 25-year period or more, but never at the absurd prices we see these days.
The tracking force isn't the issue with the stylus. It's the sapphire stylus. They wear down quickly (probably about 50-100 hours and then you have the issue of a worn stylus damaging records. But replace the stylus regularly and it's all good. Especially for $25
For all these BSR players with Chuodenshi cartridge clones, it's worth buying a pack of the diamond styluses for it and just switching it out as soon as you get them. You can get them cheap
That turntable is surprisingly good for $25. I would have thought it would be junk. Pleasantly surprised. Buffalo Gal approved?
I suspect Buffalo Gal will, indeed, be coming out tonight.
A $25 dollar record player for beginners? Yes! Better than a Crosley Cruiser which to me it's a toy.
Just to let you know 1616 holdings is the company that supplies most of 5 below's stuff
Just picked one of these up because I remembered the review and I was by a Five Below, gifting it to my little sister because she's getting into vinyl. Impressed with this unit, it's portable and it works well for the price!
Try playing a 45rpm on it with an aggressive groove. It seems as if the amplifier circuit can't handle the energy created by loud passages and mutes as a result. Kind of like the clipping that occurs if overdriving while recording digitally. If you have only soft/easy listening records, it's great out of the box. However, to play all records, the output from the cartridge will need to be attenuated somehow.
That's pretty amazing for $25; though it would have been interesting to hear it with a more bass-heavy demonstration record. It would be a simple matter to connect a line-output jack directly to the wires from the tonearm, possibly using one with a built-in bypass switch. I was particularly impressed with the frictionless optical end-of-record sensor, a feature many more upmarket vintage turntables lack.
Then you would need a pre-amp with riaa eq. Or amp with phone input..
I would love to see a follow up video! I don't understand the technical specs required, but it does look like a very hackable unit. For instance, with some mild soldering and $2 in connectors, could this drive some inexpensive bookshelf speakers (many of us still have laying around powered speakers that came with most desktop pcs back in the day). And what could a cheap amp board from ebay do for this? The author also made it sound like there are better replacement styluses for this type of cartridge. Etc, etc etc!
A shame it has no RCA Jack provision, nor conventional AC power hookup. That's a deal-breaker for me.
This little thing actually turns-in a half decent performance for what it is!! And at that price?
Sounds like the cartridge output has been somewhat impedance matched, as there was some very clear bass coming out!
It's amazing to me to see that this is what has come of the old 'classic' BSR design, which has been so used and abused by so many 'cashing-in' on the vinyl resurgence, and yet this one..... this one actually does a pretty good job, and actually manages to sound 'decent'!
I would sat that this would be a definite contender for a Banpa cartridge upgrade..... ;-) It would benefit from that.....
A year or so ago I bought a cheap Bush suitcase player just to mess with for £30... it's not impedance matched in it's amp, but with an external speaker, it sounds pretty decent - with the Banpa cartridge... ;-) I've been surprised how reliable that ultra-cheap mechanism actually is - and it's never 'destroyed' any of my records... some I've had for the past 50 years!!!
Love the ethos of your shows Mr Ology: Give everything a fair chance, and certainly with this one that paid off! If this player ever becomes available here in the UK, I'll buy one like a shot!! :-)
So much empty space in there. You could definitely mod that thing to have an internal battery pack and probably even wire in some RCA jacks, if you're handy with a soldering iron
perhaps
3:53 Turntable of this caliper? lol
14:46 Don't forget stylus alignment! If it's not nicely squared into the groove, it will grind into one of the walls.
16:15 Tracking too light is even *worse* because it causes mistracking. The stylus will be so light that it'll start to bounce around in the grooves causing heavy damage!
I started vinyl because of some old records my dad picked up from a job site that someone was throwing out. I had nothing to listen with, and honestly, if this was available at the time, I probably would have got it at $25!.... and then get tired of it... I would definitely end up upgrading!
Buy a turntable that looks like a real player. . there is no point in buying a new player that sounds worse is a hi-fi player in the 80's or 90's
You didn't start vinyl. You became a part of it...lol.
Mount a 5 volt battery pack in that huge empty space, and you’ve got a rechargeable battery powered turntable. Perfect for taking to flea markets and rummage sales. :) I would probably change the stylus first though.
I just bought one. That cheap plastic case is a great thing if you plan to mod it with RCA jacks, charge ports, headphone jacks, etc. The stylus is awful, but replaceable. True stereo separation on the speakers. This thing is not made for expensive discs. It’s for hacking. And for that, it’s perfect!
Todd Jenkins Absolutely swap the stylus - and that's true of virtually ALL record players featuring that type of ceramic cartridge, and while you're at it, purchase spares. Shippings usually the same whether you buy one or ten.
I would keep the rechargeable battery separate just so it can be used for other things. But, with the low price of battery packs, sure hot glue it to the inside.
Sounded pretty good, gotta admit I was pleasantly surprised.
I just worked on a Califone record player that had been dropped and this popped up as recommended viewing so I had to watch.
Regarding the record player there was no visible damage to the record player from outward appearance but the bushing for the spindle had been bent just enough that the turntable was scraping the speed change control. There's also lever to fine tune adjust the speed and I like the clever method they use,
There's an aluminum disk on the motor shaft, the fine tune adjust arm is attached to two magnets that move over the aluminum disk, one above and one below the disk, and since a conductor moving through a magnetic field generates electricity and an electric current creates a magnetic field the motor will slow down as the magnets are moved over the disk. I've seen this method used to dampen a balance scale but this is the first time I've seen it used to control motor speed.
Great review and the unit does sound really good over RUclips. The price is very good especially given that it has some level of quality to it. Thanks for the video!
I went to 5-Below and picked up the record player unit. It’s my first record player ever.
I collect records for the art work and needed something simple to play some records. I have to say I was shocked at how great this unit was until….
Until the speakers went out after one day. I Will be exchanging it at the store and hoping for the best.
Still a great starter unit for someone starting out or just wants a unit to play a record every so often.
UPDATE- second unit does same thing. These might just be garbage. Besides it’s all highs and no mids or any bass. I can see someone getting this and not collecting anymore.
Update again- replaced the unit again. Three (now 4 units) times and all have the same issue. They play fine for 3-5 minutes and then the sound cuts out in the middle of a song.
Sorry but these are garbage.
Speaker wires might have come loose. Easy fix with a soldering iron. Did you get a chance to open it up and take a look?
@@StevenS757 just exchanged the first one and the second one does the same thing. Plays for a minute and then the speakers cut out and then come back on.
Will have to admit this is garbage. When it works it’s all high end and no mids or any bass. Makes the record sound like garbage.
Did it turn out to be stereo, and can you close the cover with a 12” record on the turntable?
Right away I admired your taste in music, from your having a picture of Glenn Miller, America's greatest band leader, arranger, and composer on your wall. Excellent choice!
Thank you! 😀
I received this model today for my birthday and I love it. So far so good! Thanks for the review, it’s good to know it’s a solid piece. Great job.
Older (1940's) Philco console radio/phonograph players had a crystal cartridge on their single speed (78rpm) turntables. Usually the cartridges in these vintage players are dead and folks will try to use a modern ceramic cartridge to replace them with. Problem is the old cartridges required something like 3 volts to work properly and the modern ones usually only have 1.5 volts making the volume very low unless you modify the tube amplifier to compensate for the lower voltage. A friend of mine (Buzz1151 on youtube) decided to try and rebuild an original cartridge using the ceramic from a piezo tweeter cut down to size and it actually worked and sounded pretty decent. At least that's what I remembered him using if I remember it right. Currently I have a Philco 48-1262 console with the 78rpm changer in line out in my shop for restoration. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the cartridge is still good as it seems to have seen very little if any use in it's day but if it doesn't I will try to rebuild the original cartridge like he did. Wish me luck, lol.
Good luck!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
interesting, though honestly i'd be a lot more interested if it had an aux out instead of speakers, an aux out has got to be cheaper than two speakers doesn't it? i would guess it an aux out would cost about a dollar and the speakers probably cost 3 or 4
Very thorough analysis! I'm wondering if the USB connection is solely for power purposes or if this can be converted to data (and maybe amplified). Have you tried connecting it to a computer to see if it's recognized at all?
Only 2 wires for the USB, so power only.
Given your favorable review, I went out and picked on of these up today. Opened it up and tested it out... and I have to say that I am extremely impressed with this thing, considering how cheap it is. I think you might have gotten unlucky with yours, because my tone-arm cue lever works great and is very gentle.
I'm going to bring it over to my parent's tomorrow to play some of their old Christmas albums while we celebrate the holiday. I think this is just perfect for that sort of thing.
Thanks for this review, you definitely got my sub!
I’ve have bought and returned 5 units already. Each play a record for 5-6 minutes and then the speakers keep going in and out…
Thank you 😊
@@crisbwilliams That's a shame! I must have been the one to get lucky, then. I've already gotten more than 3 hours of use out of mine. Maybe there is a bad batch of them out there?
@@crisbwilliams it may be your power brick. Some have a built in safety that will shut down if it isn't pulling enough power. Try a different, or cheaper one.
@@crisbwilliams Your experience adds a valuable perspective to this review. I imagine the dumpster behind 5 Below is filled with these things.
I think it would be easy to tap into the audio from the speakers and add either a 3.5mm stereo jack or RCA phono connectors.
That is awesome information. What a great gift for a young person, to get them interested in records. Thanks.
I bought the last one today at local shop. It sold out in two days. Thanks for an interesting review.
I’ve got some old unmarked 78s that I inherited and they look a little rough so I never wanted to try them on my good equipment. I might try and pick one of these up just as a test machine.
I love when cheap things work well!👽
This unit doesn’t work well. It clips out on loud records … I’ve replaced 5 units and they all have the same issue.
Great Review! My teen is just started to show interest in vinyl and ask me to get this but I wasn't sure if it was worth it. But after this video I will get him one. Great way to start!! Thanks :)
Really great review ! You are comprehensive in your analysis. I used my $25 player to upload a couple 1940's *party records* 78's to my channel. I'm thinking of using it to upload some rare blues albums. too
This is the same turntable mechanism made by TEAC / TASCAM and featured in some of the CROSLEY radio phonographs. TEAC used to make open reel tape recorders back in the seventies. This mechanism is "Belt Drive" and is extremely fluttery. You will regret playing any vinyl records with this tone arm as it weighs 12 grams and will tear the hell out of the record grooves. I ordered a special stylus from Crosley to play 78 RPM shellac discs. I also stacked several quarter coins together with adhesive tape and taped them in place on the back end of the arm as a counter balance to lessen the weight at the stylus. If you place a 10 inch disc on the platter and then a circular piece of terry cloth on top of that, you can place another disc on top of the terry cloth. The weight of the two discs provides enough torque to eliminate some of the flutter from the belt drive. But save your disc collection from damage and buy an Audio-Technica turntable. Certain ones are also 3 speed and will track your discs at 1 gram (which is proper for long-playing vinyl). These TEAC turntables are junk and are only suitable for playing 78 RPM discs.
So I picked one up and like your review, was surprised at how well it took a record. The problem was the sound would only play about 5 seconds then cut out. Tried a few power supplies. Same thing. Oh well, back it goes. Might try and get another one and see if I lucked out like you did. Either way this one is going to a landfill.
I’ve replaced 5 of these… they all suffer from over;padding the amp and cutting the sound out. Some one said that “loud” records will do that to these amps. Oh well.
Records with a less aggressive groove play all the way through without cutting out. This is a perfect player for tinkerers and DIY project people. I play a game with the collection of 45s I've ended up with over the years. Play a record. If it plays all the way through, I've enjoyed it. If it cuts out, I don't. lol
Maybe that's why Crosley cruisers and other variations of them and that record player mechanism don't have the impedance matched correctly if the amplifier can't handle loud bass heavy music that their younger targeted market will most likely play on it. The trouble is that type of music sounds terrible with the bass almost completely removed. Any music doesn't sound good with the bass removed imo.
I wouldn't call it an immersive experience, sounded a little thin over the microphone (but you wouldn't want woofers mounted in the base of your turntable anyway), but I didn't hear any distortion or high frequency slurring or smearing that low quality needles / phono preamps often create.
I could see buying this for my mom, honestly, if she hadn't moved on to CDs.
I don't especially want it, but I'm glad it's not going to destroy records or give you horrible sound quality. Sounds like a win to me!
I saw this at Five Below today, and I thought there’s no way it could be any good, but I decided to check out the reviews and ended up here. Thanks for this video! I might go back and pick one up!
This would be great for a little kid. Another good video there Record-ology dude. I enjoyed this review very much. 😎👍
First video I have watched from this creator. I’m hooked, can’t believe I went this long without seeing it
You could cut the speaker wires and connect external bookshelf speakers. The small amplifier inside mostl likely will be able to put out good levels of sound. I have tested less than 1 Watt amps with bookshelf speakers and they sound quite good.
The vinyl you played def gave me Action Bronson vibes.
I’ve been eyeing this since I first saw it at Five Below. Thanks for the great review!
Wish I would have seen this before xmas! My wife has a stack of old records from her childhood shes been wanting to listen to.
It looks like you're playing One Note Samba form Enoch Light and The Light Brigade - Future Sound Shock (Project 3, 1973) PR 5077 QD... the quad version. (?)
Nailed it
Nice review, the earliest thing I remember taking apart as a kid was a portable record player. I remember it because I left it plugged in and got my first (of many) 120v shock. I must have been about 7-8 years old.
You randomly popped up in my feed with this video. New subscriber here.
Thank you for bringing this device to my attention. I have some old records I haven't heard in ages. I'll be looking for this unit it's perfect for my listening habits.
Thanks to you, I am going to buy it! I was skeptical at first, but five below has sold me!! 😁
The amp keeps cutting out on “loud’ recorded records… so yeah it’s junk.
This is pretty cool. While I’m not big into Vinyl , I am into radios, and I like to see a cheap radio that is better than expected. In this case ,a cheap record player.
Excellent review.
📻🙂
Lol.... honestly I’m shocked.... was excellent for what it is..... great review buddy
Fantastic review. I was astonished at the sound coming through my headphones. I have two portable turntables with built-in speakers, and it sounded like this one had better audio! You know what you could do with this thing? Get a replacement stylus for 78 rpm. I just got one from Amazon. Imagine if this deck were used only for 78 records. That would be awesome.
Great review, thanks! This is probably the best of the cheapest entry-level turntables I've seen reviewed, and as you mentioned, the sound is not that bad! The down-firing speakers help get a little more bass and a less harsh high frequencies. Probably a needle with metal cantilever would sound even a little better, but not bad at all for what it is! Thanks, Recordology!
Conceivably, you could re route the speaker cables to a pair of RCA sockets or a headphone jsocket. and diode/switch them to cut off the speaker output, drill the relevant holes, and you could make it more connectable for under $5
That branding on the box is used for a lot of five below speakers and headphones.
I like buying weird records from thrift stores (Pickwick 'sounds like' records, advertiser pressings, weird vinyl ephemera, etc), and I could see a device like this being a way to play them without wearing down the stylus on the 'main' record player. Sadly, the nearest Five Below is hundreds of miles away (I live on the West Coast, and FB seems to be more of a midwest/East Coast chain) - but for the price, I could see a lot of use for something like this, even for people who have higher end turntable setups.
Think of the mod-ing potential here. Add in a high end Grado cartridge, put cork on the platter, use a high quality 5V linear power supply, do some rewiring to bring the signal out on a pair of RCA jacks, hook up some Nordost cables...
Thank you so much. I've wanted to start getting into vinyl for a while and saw this in my near by store but was worried it would be garbage. Thank you this will probably be my first record player.
Thank you for a thorough review. It helped a lot.
Amazed. This actually would be a nice inexpensive gift for several people I know who own vinyls but have no player. Awesome ❤
Hey Record-ology. A very Merry Christmas to you & your family. I hope it's special for all of you.😀
Thank you sir!!!! You too!
Don’t forget to check out our Vlogmas shows going on right now at ruclips.net/user/BeyondThePurpleSuitcase
I wanted to see it playing with the lid down and see how the record sticks out
I know….I forgot to show that
agree
I bought this exact same record player at Five Below. If it's set to auto stop, the wheel stops turning before it reaches the end of records. That sucks, but luckily the wheel can be made to turn continuously without stopping. I don't like the volume. I think it isn't loud enough. But because it can play 33, 45 and 78 RPM records, I believe that it's well worth $25. I've played record players on and off since the late seventies. This is not the best phonograph I've ever seen but it doesn't suck either.
This seems much better than the phono I bought in 1977 at age 14 with saved allowance money, about the same price.
I love that Elevator music, lol, gotta love that stuff! I actually like easy listening, think of the Ray Conniff Singers, lol!
Awesome I get a hoot out of 5 below . Most doesn't last but for 5 or 10 bucks u can't go wrong. It's like a close and play we got as kids
This is like the analog version of a Sony Minidisc Recorder. Sound checks in, but it only checks out through acoustic sound vibrations through the air. (With the Sony Minidisc, sound would check in at high quality, but only check out through an analog connection in real time, or upscaled through the SPDIF output for one generation only).
Would have been nice to have the speaker mounted any direction but down, forward would have been perfect
That's pretty much the simplest turntable that one could make.
I got this for Christmas. Mostly works great except at times audio fades in and out. I've always had vinyl but starting to get back into it and had albums I bought years ago and haven't listened to until now.
I'm wondering if there is a 78rpm stylus made for that cartridge? For $25, I'd be fine using it as a dedicated turntable for common, less-than-great condition records. (I'd keep the stylus that came with it for late 78 era records, and children's 78s that were pressed on plastic or vinyl-lite.
Also, would that motor be able to handle the extra weight of shellac records?
I enjoyed and appreciated this video! (I gave the thumbs up and subscribed!)
Reminds me of the old kiddy record players.
So cool they did this, cuz the 35-45 dollar crossleys are not as affordable as they seem, after they start damaging vinyl
Kinda really want one of these now as a spare.