Planning to buy a record player

[Guest]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for letting me join this forum.

I have just started collecting vinyl records and planning to buy a record player from either victrola or Crosley.

Can anyone suggest which one is better among crosley cruiser deluxe and victrola jouney?

Thanks,
Nat

[Arpangel]

Simply, neither of those will do you any favours, avoid like the plague, they are very badly made and will damage your records in the long term.
If you’re into vinyl, do it justice and get something decent that will give you years of pleasure, the cheapest way in to a decent deck is something like this,

https://www.hifix.co.uk/product/projec ... gKRZ_D_BwE

You will have to budget for an amp and speakers, but honestly, this will be a door into the world of "records" that will really show you what vinyl can sound like. A dealer will help you choose an amp and speakers, and put a system together for you, best of luck, but please forget about that Crosley, they are the Amstrad of today, but that would be insulting Amstrad.

[tacitus]

Neither! Both will ‘regroove’ your records and sound dreadful in the process. If you want a record that’s not going to gouge the vinyl out of your discs, get a proper turntable at least somewhere near the bottom of the hi-fi ladder. If you want to look at an old-fashioned record-player while you hear music, you can get a music centre that looks like one but has a cd player built in, or a socket for your phone.

If you must collect vinyl and insist on a retro-style player at a price that allows no quality, use cast-off, easily-replaceable LPs.

In the days of 78 (shellac) records, serious buyers bought multiple copies of 78s to allow for the wear. With a Crossley-type player, you’d be in that situation. Please don’t go there! That said, getting vinyl playback with new gear isn’t particularly cheap. I’d suggest a used turntable (assuming you have something to plug it into). Have a look round the Vinyl Engine website to get some idea of what’s well regarded. It’s rather a rabbit-hole so don’t get carried away too far!

[Wonks]

They look to be the same basic player, with slight cosmetic differences.

Both use the same very common Chinese deck mechanism, common to almost every record player at this price point. There is a tremendous amount of wow and flutter with these. It has a ceramic (piezo) cartridge and a very rough stylus, which will damage the grooves of your records (which is why others have warned you off them).

Do you need a stand-alone record player with speakers, or do you have an existing sound system you can plug a record deck into? And is your maximum budget around the price of these units, or can you stretch further?

If you want to get into vinyl, unless you are planning on listening to an existing record collection, then with albums around £20-£30 new, you don't want to ruin them within a few plays by using a very cheap deck.

[Dynamic Mike]

New vinyl is too expensive to ruin on a cheap record deck. If you do decide to go for separates be sure either the amp has a phono input or the record deck has a built in pre-amp. Many modern amps won't accommodate a record deck without a separate pre-amp. Even secondhand it probably won't be cheap but there are still a few of us left who think it's worth it.

[Arpangel]

Project, and Behringer do preamps for well under £100, the Project Phono Box sounds very good. And yes, no point in spending money on cheap rubbish that's going to ruin your expensive records, I feel very sorry for those that have bought things like the Crosley, and also, I think some people that weren’t brought up in the age of vinyl, don’t realise how good it can sound, and maybe don’t think it's worth spending that much money on.

[James Perrett]

A friend of mine has the Audio Technica ATLP120 and she seems very happy with it. It has a preamp built-in and also a USB connection to hook up to a computer. I would say that you should be looking at that kind of price if you want something that won't damage your records.

Of course, there are also used options but avoid anything all-in-one like a Crossley or an old Dansette if you value your records.

[Wonks]

Techmoan does a good appraisal of the player mechanism I mentioned.

https://youtu.be/AXV8tXrPOR4?si=s0r9KVzERVRJY6S_

[Martin Walker]

Techmoan does a good appraisal of the player mechanism I mentioned.

https://youtu.be/AXV8tXrPOR4?si=s0r9KVzERVRJY6S_

Yes, as he says, run a mile (in the opposite direction)

[ajay_m]

My goodness, everyone will have to re-learn all the stuff we knew about in the 70s.

1. You need a good quality direct-drive turntable (or failing that a good belt drive turntable). Idler drive turntables have pretty miserable rumble and wow and flutter. Names like Thorens were revered back then. More modestly, Audio Technica would be a pretty good choice these days.

2. You need a good tonearm with an adjustable counterweight that will track at around 1.5 grams. Normally there would be an antiskating weight as well.

3. You need to use a good moving coil or moving magnet cartridge, with an elliptical diamond stylus. The stylus needs replacing every few thousand hours of playback. (can't remember expected lifetime off the top of my head)

The cheap stuff you see now, with ceramic cartridges, flimsy turntables and so forth, is a rebirth of what used to go into what we called 'radiograms' which were all in one entertainment systems with two 'stereo' speakers about 2 foot apart and around 10-15W if you were lucky of amplifier power. With a record deck often with a changer, that could take a stack of records, and a ceramic stylus that would chew them out in short order.

[resistorman]

I got a repair reference from Guitar Center, customer said his records sounded dull and skipped a lot. I asked him if he ever cleaned or replaced his stylus. A moment of silence then "oh"...

[Dynamic Mike]

IIRC the seventies were more about music centres than radiograms. They had a record deck, tuner and cassette player integrated with separate stereo speakers. I had a Bush music centre with a Garrard record deck built in which is possibly why my records still sound okay. The eighties were all about tower systems which where essentially vertical music centres. I was down the Technics/NAD/Mordaunt Short route by then so still budget gear but slightly less compromised.

[Eddy Deegan]

Please be aware that the OP wasn't asking a genuine question and will not be returning.

However as usual there have been several helpful and informative replies so I'll leave the topic open as it may be useful for future readers.

[resistorman]

Please be aware that the OP wasn't asking a genuine question and will not be returning.

However as usual there have been several helpful and informative replies so I'll leave the topic open as it may be useful for future readers.

We’re so easy

[Hugh Robjohns]

Yeah, saw that one coming.... but I'd rather share experience constructively than live as a troll...

[Arpangel]

Yeah, saw that one coming.... but I'd rather share experience constructively than live as a troll...

It’s always the same , one post, and then nothing, easy to spot.