Kickstarter - Turntable Station

[BayouTiger]

It sure seems to me that so many die-hardship here have little clue as to the habits of the younger folks this is targeted to. Yes there are lots of nice racks out there for similar dollars. Nearly all of them are geared towards holding gear, not records. This rack looks like a simple way to hold a couple hundred records and a TT, along with a compact headphone amp,DAC and other small components.

I'm always amazed how many on this board are happy to tell anyone that anything that doesn't suit their personal tastes or needs is just garbage. Shame its not something like my old Pioneer rack from the 70s that just completely fell apart yet would be beloved here!

 

[+48V]

It's clear to me that this venture is designed by hipsters for hipsters, NTTAWWT

Their pitch, kitch, and 54K in funding bolster that fact. And so what. Live and let live.

 

[BayouTiger]

Well, of course it is. Who besides hipsters would ever find something on Kickstarter?

 

[Vexing]

Ikea makes solid wood furniture, too. I'm just sayin' that some of that is pretty sturdy, especially if you toss on an angle bracket or two on the diagonals.

 

[BillyBatts]

Hey I found what looks like my center rack.
http://www.cymax.com/Bush-AD44840-03-Midnight-Mist-Audio-Tower.htm

Thanks 4-2-7. This is exactly what I am looking for in my Hawaii Condo. The S.O. wanted black leather lounge and sofa. Glass tables. This Black Accent Tower with smoked glass would look sweet!

I'm seriously considering it.

 

[dirtloves]

It's clear to me that this venture is designed by hipsters for hipsters, NTTAWWT

Their pitch, kitch, and 54K in funding bolster that fact. And so what. Live and let live.

Well yeah... who do you think is newly getting into vinyl and who do you think shops at the Turntable Lab, a brooklyn retailer of turntables?

Beards as far as the eye can see...

 

[Montycat]

It doesn't do anything for me. I won't comment whether or not it's priced fairly or not or even good quality, but Kickstarter? I dunno...

I like the concept of Kickstarter for seeding projects that have real capital costs to get design & machining and other capital costs out of the way.

U-Turn was a classic example of that. They had to produce (or have produced) a variety of parts that went into their finished turntable. They had to work with metals, plastics, MDF, paint. Machine shops, possibly CAD-CAM designers, audio test equipment, and electronic parts suppliers and so on. And then they had to test and assemble and re-test and package and market it.

I see some flat pieces of MDF with no finish on it at all. Looking at some of the joints I don't even see a high degree of accuracy, though maybe with production runs that will improve. It's cool in a 3D puzzle kind of way but once the basic shape has been decided on I don't see what Kickstarting this will do, other than let them go out and buy pallet loads of MDF. These guys are also already in business and have a storefront.

Anyway, I could back a U-Turn but not this project. Good luck with it.

 

[vinyl fiend]

It's probably made of ultralight MDF. MDF is not a resonant material. Depending on the joinery, it could be very sturdy, if the joints are locking. I was looking at the Salamaders, based on comments from this post. I would probably spring an extra buck fifty for a cherry Archetype stand, over the mdf Turntable Station. the 'station' Is a hip design that I am sure will appeal to many people wanting a turnable display solution. The quality of construction will be the make or break factor for whether it takes off in the market. You get what you pay for.

 

[Nutsfortubes]

Not for me

All I know is that my sofa sapphire vacuum weights as much as that rack

 

[Nutsfortubes]

Did not happen without photos.

 

[jcamero]

"A" for effort. "A" for design. "C-" for functionality.

 

[titanstats]

it's probably very do-able for a lot of "normies". :d

r9k?

 

[Son-of-Vere]

I hope they don't plan on keeping it raw MDF, talk about stinkin' up the joint!
My flexy I did stank forever until the day I got rid of it. Plus it absorbs more that vibrations, just about any liquid will stain it. Including skin oils.

Guys, this isn't for us, and as such it's kinda neat. What with the cable holes, on deck slots, and all. I'm going to wish them luck as they're gonna' need it.

 

[4-2-7]

Thanks 4-2-7. This is exactly what I am looking for in my Hawaii Condo. The S.O. wanted black leather lounge and sofa. Glass tables. This Black Accent Tower with smoked glass would look sweet!

I'm seriously considering it.

I like the hight of the top with a TT on it and I'm only 5' 6"

 

[soundmotor]

It sure seems to me that so many die-hardship here have little clue as to the habits of the younger folks this is targeted to. Yes there are lots of nice racks out there for similar dollars. Nearly all of them are geared towards holding gear, not records. This rack looks like a simple way to hold a couple hundred records and a TT, along with a compact headphone amp,DAC and other small components.

I'm always amazed how many on this board are happy to tell anyone that anything that doesn't suit their personal tastes or needs is just garbage. Shame its not something like my old Pioneer rack from the 70s that just completely fell apart yet would be beloved here!

So what you are saying is that it is good enough for them. And, maybe it is. Or, maybe they've just not been made aware of alternatives that may actually be less costly but just as functional. I've not seen the stand in person nor am I likely to buy one but I do not understand why it was made from MDF as opposed to plywood? That would at least have strength at the edges to resist loosening up over time plus allow painting without Herculean prep. Even OSB would have been a better choice for strength in that regard. If I had to guess it was an engineering choice for low resonance, MDF is quite dead. But, with all the albums on it, it will be pretty well mass-loaded and that not likely a factor. The whole thing is a conundrum for me but if anything shows there is often a great opportunity right out in the open which Line Photo saw and took advantage of.

 

[dirtloves]

So what you are saying is that it is good enough for them. And, maybe it is. Or, maybe they've just not been made aware of alternatives that may actually be less costly but just as functional. I've not seen the stand in person nor am I likely to buy one but I do not understand why it was made from MDF as opposed to plywood? That would at least have strength at the edges to resist loosening up over time plus allow painting without Herculean prep. Even OSB would have been a better choice for strength in that regard. If I had to guess it was an engineering choice for low resonance, MDF is quite dead. But, with all the albums on it, it will be pretty well mass-loaded and that not likely a factor. The whole thing is a conundrum for me but if anything shows there is often a great opportunity right out in the open which Line Photo saw and took advantage of.

Well, in theory these guys (Turntable Labs) know what their existing customer base is looking for. The MDF is interesting to me, too, but it's 100% not intended to be painted... look at the badge, which would be covered if you painted without some annoying masking work. They even talk about it developing personality over time as it absorbs stuff (aka, MDF absorbs everything) and the resonance resistant part.

And clearly they're right if they sold ~800 of the things sight unseen so far. Taking a step back, a company could sell a turntable **specific** piece of furniture without much trouble in 2015... that's pretty great even if the furniture isn't.

 

[Condorsat]

Well, in theory these guys (Turntable Labs) know what their existing customer base is looking for.

True that. As was stated in an earlier post ... different demographic.

 

[kowalski]

Looks like something that could easily be built with minimal woodworking skills...

 

[Condorsat]

Looks like something that could easily be built with minimal woodworking skills...

Woodworking skills ... what's that? Putting together a Ikea POÄNG chair was a challenge for me.

I could get the Amish in my local area to build me an genuine wood audio stand (built like a tank). They just don't work as cheap as they use too since they figured out the city folks from up North will pay top dollar for "real" wood furniture.

I would have to give them all the dimensions ... they would not have any concept of what it was used for.

 

[robgmn]

Woodworking skills ... what's that? Putting together a Ikea POÄNG chair was a challenge for me.

I could get the Amish in my local area to build me an genuine wood audio stand (built like a tank). They just don't work as cheap as they use too since they figured out the city folks from up North will pay top dollar for "real" wood furniture.

I would have to give them all the dimensions ... they would not have any concept of what it was used for.

If I only had Photoshop on the PC I'm working on now...