My anti-Crosley video

radiotvnut

radiotvnut

Super Member
After seeing the number of people who foolishly buy this modern reproduction junk and as someone who knows first hand how junky this overpriced crap is built; I decided to make a crude educational video about these reproduction phonographs. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo6y2S-MTpo

I know that most of you here wouldn't play your records on anything less than an older component TT w/ magnetic cartridge; but, you'll have to admit that a '60's VM, BSR, Collaro, or Garrard record changer, combined with a console or portable stereo in which said changer was mated with, is far superior to any of this plastic junk made today.
 
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Been seeing that model style everywhere now. WalMart, Target, Fleet Farm Really is to bad just thinking of all the records being destroyed by those.
 
From user reviews, this type of product seems to satisfy most of its purchasers. One member of a book-reading group I go to bought one that could record vinyl to a compact disc. He's very happy with how the thing operates and has been working on recording all the records he remembers from his youth that he received from his late mother. I don't know how long it will last, but he's a very satisfied customer so far. I'll have to ask him to demo the thing for me next time we meet at his place. I think I have a few old kiddie records that my current turntable won't play . . .
 
A girl I know has one of those, and occasionally asks me if I want to play some of my records on it. I don't have the heart to tell her it's a POS and damages the records, another issue is that she's really cute... :o
 
My local record shop uses one of these Crosleys to play background music.

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The distortion is enough to drive you out of the store. Apparently, they don't understand the poor impression they're projecting. I hope they don't use it to audition incoming used records.
 
I viewed your video, and am curious as to why the turntable portion would be immediately harmful to your records. I know that the sapphire stylus on this will wear out within 50 hours, which would then start to cause damage. However, even though it's of all plastic construction for the most part, as long as it's not abused it should maintain enough dimensional stability to keep the geometry of the platter and tonearm within acceptable limits. Also, while the weight of the tonearm is likely to be fairly heavy, how much does it actually weigh? And, given the weight, is the stylus conical or elliptical? IIRC, if it's conical wouldn't that actually make it safer to use at that weight? I ask as I believe (again, IIRC) that the old broadcast TTs used conical styluses for just that reason. They wanted the tonearm weight to be heavy enough to enable it to track through any damages in the groove that might have otherwise caused it to skip, all without damaging the record.

BTW, having said that I really wouldn't buy something like that if I could afford not to, nor would I encourage someone to buy one either. However, given that there are predictable geometries involved in the manufacture of TTs, as long as the manufacturer didn't intentionally design their TT outside of those limits, the results should at least be merely adequate to the task.
 
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Tom Brennan said:
No attitude, eh? [Regarding the OP's video on the abysmal quality of the Crosley turntable and others of its type]
Click to expand...

As Peter Schickele said during one of his P.D.Q. Bach concerts, "Truth is just truth. You can't have opinions about truth." :D
 
I'm no audiophile by any sense of the word; but, after reading the online reviews for these things, I've determined that most of the people buying these have tin ears and it doesn't take much to make them happy. I did, however, read the reviews on one Crosley that were not that great because of it's cheap build quality.

They used the same turntable and cartridge in many "all in one" stereo's from the '80's and '90's and I have seen the grooves of records that were played on these change color as the stylus tracked the groove. I don't think it's so much the fault of the cartridge/stylus. I think it's because the cartridge is mounted in a cheap tonearm that tracks way too heavy. These use a Pfanstiehl P188 ceramic cartridge that outputs .35 volts and is supposed to track in the 2-4 gram range, according to www.thevoiceofmusic.com. I've never measured the tracking pressure in one of these reproductions; but, I can tell that they track heavier than 4 grams. That cartridge also comes in a 1/2" mount version (P190) and a version to replace the "tail" mounted cartridge in late '60's/early '70's Magnavox record changers (P191).
 
Later this afternoon, I will measure the tracking weight of a Califone school record player I have that I believe uses the same TT assembly as the one in the video. I was using this unit for a short time, and while the sound wasn't anything to write home about it was adequate, and did not do any damage as far as I can tell. I'll post later with the results.
 
The broadcast TT's that I've seen used either Stanton 500AL or Shure SC35C cartridges that were fitted with a conical stylus and tracked in the 3-5 gram range. The reason these TT's didn't cause excessive record wear is, IMHO, because they were actually running the cartridges within their specified tracking range and they were mounted to "real" tonearms. The cartridges in the repro models appear to be tracking way too heavy and they are mounted in a cheap plastic tonearm that is not very smooth in operation.
 
I used a Crosley for a while when first starting out in the hobby. It sucked compared to a good system, but it blew my iPod out of the water.

Compared to other tts it sucks, but most people buying this haven't heard a good tt. Also I doubt they'll use it on many quality LP's. If its your first tt, chances are your going to use it on crappy Led Zeppelin records you got out of the 50 cent bin at a thrift shop or the Englebert Humperdink and Olivia Newton John collection your aunt left you.

Its of no quality at all, but if it gets more people into the hobby, thats a good thing right?
 
I know a few folks (customers) who own Crosley and similar cheap players. They play their beat up old Readers Digest and Montovani records on them and they're happy. However, when I transfer those same records to CD-R using high quality gear, and clean up the clicks 'n pops, they're invariably amazed at the sound quality.
 
I know a lot of folks on here make fun of BSR changers, but they sound like pure gold compared to one of these pieces of **** and are nowhere near as hard on your records. I know. I had one for a while. I gave it away because I couldn't stand how terrible it sounded. I should have just thrown it away, though.:uzi:

I agree. If one didn't known any better, and thought that was the way records in general sounded, I would have given up on them, too.:no:
 
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