Soundork
Super Member
This is a review of the U-Turn Orbit.
I was on a quest to upgrade a Sony PS-T3 deck from 1979, which I bought few years back from a Goodwill equivalent store located in Southport, CT.
I grew up pour, but now enjoy the ability to live comfortably and be able to occasionally buy a new thing or two and having a long life experiences with second hand items that wouldn't work as advertized, it was natural for me to ignore the advice given here on numerous occasions that the used route is the way to go if you want to spend less than $1200.
I bought and returned, because of quality issues the following turntables:
Fluance RT81
Akai Professional BT500
Denon 300F
Uturn Orbit Red with Acrylic Platter and Grado Black
The Uturn was the worst, while the Denon was at least a league above the rest in terms of performance.
I also listened to the Project Debut Carbon and Sony PS-HX500, but felt that the only thing they had more to offer than my Sony was a marginal improvement in looks.
Back to the Uturn
I was excited upon seeing the package waiting for me in the kitchen. But this did not last long as upon opening my first impression was: "Ugh, this base doesnt look anything like the pictures on the website". The red was a coat of very flat paint with a pinkish tint to it and it looked like someone sloppily splattered it all over with a roller. I was still an optimist at this point in time and was thinking that from few feet away, under the dim light no one would notice neither the pinkish tint nor the roller marks.
Second disappointment was when I saw the cover hinges. "What a joke" I thought, but then quickly dismissed it with another thought that the manufacturer had to cut costs somewhere in order to bring superior performance at a reasonable price. I was really glad that it was the hinges and not something really important.
Finally, all was up and ready to go. I did like its proportions, but that feeling soon vanished, when I realized that I am having more success placing the needle on the record by hand than by the cue lever. It would skip the first few grooves about 95 % of the time:
Then there was the platter wobble:
I wasnt seriously concerned, as I knew that Uturn provides great support. They responded to me the next day asking to provide the videos I just showed you. The plan was to tackle an issue at the time, so I was being sent a new platter and spindle as they acknowledged that the platter has at least couple of mm deflection and their own standard is no more than half a mm.
While I was waiting for the replacement platter and spindle to come, we worked on the second issue where the needle skips the first few record grooves and apparently someone decided after watching my video that it was a cartridge issue, so they sent a replacement cartridge couple of days after the platter and spindle were sent.
At the day of the arrival, I immediately exchanged the defective parts with the new ones and what a disappointment that was: The replacement platter was even wobblier than the one the turntable originally came with. I did some creative parts exchange and found out that the least wobble occurs when I use the combination of the new platter and old spindle (still way above the 0.5mm they strive for).
How did it sound? If I were conducting a blind test, no one would differentiate the Uturn from the Fluance and the Akai when listening at low levels. Then my attention turned to the massive hum the turntable produces. The video below compares the plastic fantastic Sony to the Uturn. The amplifier is a Denon DP 1060. The speaker is two feet behind the phone.
And this was the moment I decided to say "I've had enough".
I understand how people want to like it, because of the story of how it was conceived, but what Uturn delivers is a subpar product that deserves to be forgotten by and with time. And if I were Steve Guttenberg..well never mind...
One would think that this was the end of the story: Yes, they took the turntable back, but did not refund shipping charges and it was explained to me that it is per their return policy, and "because I was having issues with the turntable". At that point I was happy that it was over and wasnt going to argue over $20. But I do take offence by the statement, because I gave them a chance to fix it, but they failed short of delivering a table that meets their specs.
I was on a quest to upgrade a Sony PS-T3 deck from 1979, which I bought few years back from a Goodwill equivalent store located in Southport, CT.
I grew up pour, but now enjoy the ability to live comfortably and be able to occasionally buy a new thing or two and having a long life experiences with second hand items that wouldn't work as advertized, it was natural for me to ignore the advice given here on numerous occasions that the used route is the way to go if you want to spend less than $1200.
I bought and returned, because of quality issues the following turntables:
Fluance RT81
Akai Professional BT500
Denon 300F
Uturn Orbit Red with Acrylic Platter and Grado Black
The Uturn was the worst, while the Denon was at least a league above the rest in terms of performance.
I also listened to the Project Debut Carbon and Sony PS-HX500, but felt that the only thing they had more to offer than my Sony was a marginal improvement in looks.
Back to the Uturn
I was excited upon seeing the package waiting for me in the kitchen. But this did not last long as upon opening my first impression was: "Ugh, this base doesnt look anything like the pictures on the website". The red was a coat of very flat paint with a pinkish tint to it and it looked like someone sloppily splattered it all over with a roller. I was still an optimist at this point in time and was thinking that from few feet away, under the dim light no one would notice neither the pinkish tint nor the roller marks.
Second disappointment was when I saw the cover hinges. "What a joke" I thought, but then quickly dismissed it with another thought that the manufacturer had to cut costs somewhere in order to bring superior performance at a reasonable price. I was really glad that it was the hinges and not something really important.
Finally, all was up and ready to go. I did like its proportions, but that feeling soon vanished, when I realized that I am having more success placing the needle on the record by hand than by the cue lever. It would skip the first few grooves about 95 % of the time:
Then there was the platter wobble:
I wasnt seriously concerned, as I knew that Uturn provides great support. They responded to me the next day asking to provide the videos I just showed you. The plan was to tackle an issue at the time, so I was being sent a new platter and spindle as they acknowledged that the platter has at least couple of mm deflection and their own standard is no more than half a mm.
While I was waiting for the replacement platter and spindle to come, we worked on the second issue where the needle skips the first few record grooves and apparently someone decided after watching my video that it was a cartridge issue, so they sent a replacement cartridge couple of days after the platter and spindle were sent.
At the day of the arrival, I immediately exchanged the defective parts with the new ones and what a disappointment that was: The replacement platter was even wobblier than the one the turntable originally came with. I did some creative parts exchange and found out that the least wobble occurs when I use the combination of the new platter and old spindle (still way above the 0.5mm they strive for).
How did it sound? If I were conducting a blind test, no one would differentiate the Uturn from the Fluance and the Akai when listening at low levels. Then my attention turned to the massive hum the turntable produces. The video below compares the plastic fantastic Sony to the Uturn. The amplifier is a Denon DP 1060. The speaker is two feet behind the phone.
And this was the moment I decided to say "I've had enough".
I understand how people want to like it, because of the story of how it was conceived, but what Uturn delivers is a subpar product that deserves to be forgotten by and with time. And if I were Steve Guttenberg..well never mind...
One would think that this was the end of the story: Yes, they took the turntable back, but did not refund shipping charges and it was explained to me that it is per their return policy, and "because I was having issues with the turntable". At that point I was happy that it was over and wasnt going to argue over $20. But I do take offence by the statement, because I gave them a chance to fix it, but they failed short of delivering a table that meets their specs.
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