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Is Crosley a problem for Vinyl revival?

Arthur Smith said:
A lot of vinyl survived some pretty brutal playback systems, from decades ago. I think this myth of Crosleys carving up vinyl is simply that- a myth. I would not purchase one myself, but that's just me.
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I would not call it a myth. Much vinyl from my youth was carved up by cheap cartridges that I should have replaced sooner. Keep in mind that when I was a kid ... records were thought of as disposable ... if it wore out ... you just bought a new one.

Key factor is that I played this vinyl all the time.. every day in some cases. It makes a difference.

Are the young doing the same thing today? Probably not ... they have alternatives. My guess is that most young people are not playing the LP's they are buying all the time ... once or twice & then listen on some other format (streaming?).

Side note: The records that I did not play all the time as a kid ... survived just fine and sound good .. not NM- though.
 
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Condorsat said:
I would not call it a myth. Much vinyl from my youth was carved up by cheap cartridges that I should have replaced sooner. Keep in mind that when I was a kid ... records were thought of as disposable ... if it wore out ... you just bought a new one.

Key factor is that I played this vinyl all the time.. every day in some cases. It makes a difference.

Are the young doing the same thing today? Probably not ... they have alternatives. My guess is that most young people are not playing the LP's they are buying all the time ... once or twice & then listen on some other format (streaming?).

Side note: The records that I did not play all the time as a kid ... survived just fine and sound good .. not NM- though.
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I get very frustrated when I see zealots like Michael Fremer (his poor wife), say that the entry level Crosleys will "Destroy your vinyl after FIVE plays", with nothing to base it on. Does that mean if I have a Crosley, and play Zepplin 2, for four spins, and then put it away, I'll be OK? It's just irresponsible, at best.
 
You know what destroyed my Zepp-2?
Frisbee'ing it to the bottom of a deep rocky canyon without its jacket (back in "the day"). Then the jacket followed it.
 
It sucked.
Tinny? that definition was created for that player. The plastic cabinet shell, and the plastic fins covering the speakers resonated in a tinny tone. The stacker mechanism chewed the center holes. You needed to run two to three discs deep in order to achieve a properly pitched attitude with the arm, (not that I even knew about that).
My folks console stereo sounded way better, and louder, without the plastic box tinniness. So, I'd play records on that, until my mom put her foot down, ending my use of the record player; you see,... it was in her living room, and, she worked hard at getting that perfectly mowed shag carpet texture, sort of like a scallop-look. I'd go in and roll around the floor, and mess that all up listening to records. The living room was to be looked at, not used. Her insistence on ending that is what got me and my brother our first qualified component bedroom stereo system in the early 70's.
 
The only thing this thread is good for is to add to your ignore list. Five members in just a few pages, I might go back to page one.:rolleyes:
 
needlestein said:
View attachment 696177 View attachment 696163 I found it!!!!

From a German eBay auction and another site

I always thought the tone arm and 45 adapter were cool looking. I actually thought that they would make it sound better than my dad's HK.
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I bet that wouldn't ruin your records (my nan had a similar one,but made by Philips in Holland). It wouldn't ever ruin your 45's and it was far better built than any crosley chinese crap would be nowadays.
 
4-2-7 said:
Crosley’s First Direct Drive Turntable Doesn’t Disappoint
http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/29/crosleys-first-direct-drive-turntable-doesnt-disappoint/

View attachment 696422
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This definitely looks like a step in the right direction for them. It needs to be cheaper though. At a price point $50 higher than the Audio Technica LP120, its going to be a tough sell to their market.

All Crosley needs to do is provide an entry level turntable that doesn't destroy records. Trying to target the enthusiasts will be a big fail.
 
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To the original thread question.

After collaborating with Record Store Day in 2007, Crosley has driven record player sales back into the mainstream, carried in stores like Urban Outfitters and Target.

source: Wikipedia
 
Daunia 70 said:
Call me old fashioned,but I often look back at music and hi-fi from the 70's (and even 80's) when there was real talent and quality (but that's another story/thread that often gets closed).

If you like the way so-called hi-fi and music has turned out in today's world then that's fine,but surely you must realize there was way better years ago...
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Yes it was 1090% better my friend!

Analogue is georgeous :)
 
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I'm thinking of getting into records/turntables and in my search for info I find AK. Low and behold what do I find but the same comments I'v read on Amazon and various blogs that I'm good to go with a Crosley. Boy are we (AK) making progress in lifting the analog medium to a higher level.
 
Let's begin with the fact that I grew up with tabletop luggable phonos and later on consoles. First one in the family was a 1950's Zenith, later upgraded with newer VM changer with a Stereo cartridge, then came the 1967 Philco console. Then my MusicMaster kiddie phono (which got upgraded with a Stereo arm wired for mono). Most of these provided they were serviced, didn't chew records. The first phono I had which was murder on records, was the short lived GE Wildcat portable. It was finally ended in a refund of Mom's money, and GE paid to replace a lot of damaged records. The Philco consolette I got at a yard sale, I overhauled the VM changer (2 gram tracking, high compliance Tetrad like in the 1967 console ) I bought it a new stylus, and new electrolytic caps. Never damaged or quickly wore a record. My brothers had a Magnavox console which also was gentle on records. I still own a console (currently a 1966 Fisher Electra VIII with Dual 1010 and Pickering V15F magnetic cartridge). So, bear in mind I am no snob. Crosley phonos are save for a few models, junk. Better BSR changers (especially the 510 and 610 I respect), and I love the VM changers a great deal. In spite of the fact that I own far nicer, several times over. Mistracking damages records. So does poor care of records. And not maintaining your equipment.
 
Well, I guess we now officially have the answer to this question...

This thread was originally posted five years ago, almost to the week. And here we are, with more new record titles and turntables to choose from than any time in the last 30 years! Safe to say, Crosley hasn't posed much more of a threat to the vinyl revival than Taco Bell has posed to taco tuesdays.
 
Makes no sense to buy a Crosley when you can pick up a rebuilt Technics SL-1200 from the Guitar Center and sell it for the same price when your finished with it. The sound is noticeably better even for a first time buyer and the Guitar Center can fix whatever gets broken. The SL-1200 has an archive of upgrades and many are low cost.
 
illini said:
See above. Crosley products are a disgrace to the hobby and an insult to humanity’s intelligence.
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Almost 9 in 10 new turntables sold cost below $200, and the top two best-selling brands are Victrola and Crosley. So if your dream came true and these brands were discontinued, the entire "vinyl boom" would collapse due to the near 90% loss of market share.
 
Djcoolray said:
Makes no sense to buy a Crosley when you can pick up a rebuilt Technics SL-1200 from the Guitar Center and sell it for the same price when your finished with it. The sound is noticeably better even for a first time buyer and the Guitar Center can fix whatever gets broken. The SL-1200 has an archive of upgrades and many are low cost.
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IF you can find used SL1200 for the same amount of money as Crosley ... sure! Otherwise, what makes you think that someone can afford to buy SL-1200 in the first place? Heck, I can't even afford a "clone", not to mention the real thing.

Just sayin'...
 
Good luck finding a "Needs work" SL-1200 for this price. Add $150 minimum for a "Needs Work" example in the USA or even higher. And this is if you can repair one, I often can. Big problem with the ceramic cartridges of today, quality is still nowhere close to the better ones of say, the 1960's. And nobody's dared to build a new take on the CBS Laboratories/Zenith "Micro-Touch" or the Tetrad similar version, as those would be major improvements. But would involve more gain stages, need a considerably better simple tonearm, with much more precision. Which again, would cost more money.
 
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