Uturn Orbit Review

I bought a new Orbit Plus when they first came out and were being hyped. I experienced the same poor quality and overall impression as the OP.
I kept it to myself then, as they were a start up and I did not want to crash the party.
Now it's different and I can't in good conscious ever recommend an Orbit to anyone, even a noob.

I am sure there are satisfied Orbit owners out there.

The poor excuse for dust cover hinges, honestly just terrible. Sorry for the rant.
 
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I am a very satisfied Orbit owner. Apart from the crappy dustcover hinges I have had none of the issues expressed by the OP. I bought the Orbit custom. Black plinth, acrylic platter, cue lever, Ortofon 2m Blue cart, and cork mat. Everything works well and the sound is excellent. IMHO it punches way above its price point. Others that Have heard it in my system are amazed at how good it sounds. So, until I can afford that VPI that I lust after I will enjoy spinning my vinyl on this one.
 
We bought the Orbit a few months ago and loaded it with our famous Grado Gold1 Longhorn, fitted with an 8MZ-V stylus. We had to add 4 oz. of extra weight to the counter balance to achieve our desired 1.6 grams tracking force. Cuing works flawlessly as does the tonearm drop, no skipping. That issue could be from the OPs stylus (perhaps it has an issue). Platter is flat and we did not care about the inexpensive dust cover hinges, as they work and are not part of the audio chain.
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All is well.

Wayner
 
@Soundork Man sorry to hear that. I have an orbit custom and the hinges do bother me, but I haven't had any of the problems you discribed. I went with the Ortofon OM 5E. I built my own phono preamp and its dead quiet, so is the Orbit. Recently I had to replace the rca cables on one of my sons TT's. And like the Orbit, has no ground wire. His table had a bad hum through my system when I was done. With the system I set him up with no hum. Could be a grounding issue? Still, if I had the issues you did I would have sent it packing as well.
Hey, thanks for the reply. I dont think with the Uturn was a grounding issue as I could hear the motor whining.

I was also curious if you would share with me your phono preamp schematic with me.

Thanks

Best
 
[QUOTE="Soundork, post: 10577984, member: 213030it.]Hey, thanks for the reply. I dont think with the Uturn was a grounding issue as I could hear the motor whining.

I was also curious if you would share with me your phono preamp schematic with me.

Thanks

Best[/QUOTE]
I'll dig through my file cabinet. I should have It.
 
FWIW: My Grado Black stopped humming when I moved my TT a few inches further away from my amp.

This was after correspondence with with Grado about the issue.

Problem solved.
 
FWIW: My Grado Black stopped humming when I moved my TT a few inches further away from my amp.

This was after correspondence with with Grado about the issue.

Problem solved.
Good point. And different pieces of electronics will behave differently; for example, my Linn LK1 preamp could not be placed on the shelf below my turntable without causing hum, but my Audio by Van Alstine preamp worked just fine there.
 
Ever since I got to lay my hooves on an Orbit, I have said it was pretty underwhelming. This table is not an entry level table that offers meaningful upgrades from any of the other entry level tables out there. From a build quality standpoint, I think I would still take a Rega Planar1 over it., but it does cost more. And I was told I was a crazy pig for having this kind of opinion. Go figure.

After that, I did decide that a well restored vintage table is a better choice for anyone looking to get into entry level vinyl playback. Yes there are risks going that route to, as it is not just a mouse click away in finding a well cared for or restored vintage table. But the performance level ceiling is so much higher, that those who care about vinyl playback and want to keep things affordable, this is a preferable way to do things. The table can be belt drive, direct drive, idler drive, there are good examples of each category that are affordable. But even then it way not be as cheap as an Orbit. I am not sure you can get good vinyl playback at that price. The Orbit listed by the OP is $349 trimmed out that way, and if you put those numbers and go back to about 1984 the net value in the "final days of analog" is $151. Even then, when vinyl was still king, there were not a huge number of tables to choose from. But those entry level tables, like the Onkyo's I remember, were far better then what I seen from the Orbit. In my opinion, its still a better choice to find a vintage table in good condition and roll with that.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Ever since I got to lay my hooves on an Orbit, I have said it was pretty underwhelming. This table is not an entry level table that offers meaningful upgrades from any of the other entry level tables out there. From a build quality standpoint, I think I would still take a Rega Planar1 over it., but it does cost more. And I was told I was a crazy pig for having this kind of opinion. Go figure.

After that, I did decide that a well restored vintage table is a better choice for anyone looking to get into entry level vinyl playback. Yes there are risks going that route to, as it is not just a mouse click away in finding a well cared for or restored vintage table. But the performance level ceiling is so much higher, that those who care about vinyl playback and want to keep things affordable, this is a preferable way to do things. The table can be belt drive, direct drive, idler drive, there are good examples of each category that are affordable. But even then it way not be as cheap as an Orbit. I am not sure you can get good vinyl playback at that price. The Orbit listed by the OP is $349 trimmed out that way, and if you put those numbers and go back to about 1984 the net value in the "final days of analog" is $151. Even then, when vinyl was still king, there were not a huge number of tables to choose from. But those entry level tables, like the Onkyo's I remember, were far better then what I seen from the Orbit. In my opinion, its still a better choice to find a vintage table in good condition and roll with that.

Regards
Mister Pig

I'm still in complete agreement with you on this. To me where something is made is irrelevant. It's all about how something performs for a given price point. That's why my table is from Croatia, the arms from Japan and electronics and speakers from China. Cartridges are from all over the place though predominantly Japanese.

When deciding what to spend your hard earned cash on the only considerations are really:

1. Performance
2. Build quality
3. Price
4. Ascetics
 
I will second the comments of Mr Pig. I'm that guy that has tried to love the Orbit, (I've had 3 of them). Made in America and all that very much appealed to me. I will admit that I am lazy and love my automatics. For the money you're better off getting a vintage table. The performance and build quality is just not there with the Orbit.

Mike
 
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