It wasn't meant as an equivalent decision just anyone would be expected to easily take.ġ980 was just before CD was introduced. My comments re: buying used was obviously a viable suggestion to someone like Ariel, who has the resources and collegues that could actually have helped him "5 years ago" to put together something good on the über-cheap. If it turns out that the Orbit is a reliable machine that's fairly flexible and sounds good we'll all be cheering its success.
#U TURN TURNTABLE FREE#
$150 isn't merely affordable for a turntable, it's not the starting point, it's below the historical starting point it's darn near free in that context of what normal, non-audiophiles used to pay years ago. It's not that I was spending "a lot", it's that I was spending it on audio and music and not on other stuff. It's not about the money, it's about the priorities and perceptions of whatever else you can spend it on - and today there's a lot more. I had very modest equipment from Junior High through college, and yet rarely knew anyone else my age that also owned hifi. No wonder it's considered expensive it's a sideline hobby to kids, like designer jeans.
Playing records because vinyl is "cool"? That explains a lot. Excuse me, I'll be back - there are some kids on my lawn. I understand that argument but don't necessarily agree it's valid. College kids didn't usually take turntables to school back then however, but apparently that's a growing expectation today: I should be able to own one, because they are available.
Sure, $110 would have been a chunk of change back then. Using the Consumer Price Index percentage increase from 1980 to 2011 for commodity items, $300 today would have cost you $110 back then. If $110 was a lot to spend on a turntable about 30 years ago then yes, $300 is a lot to spend on one today. (Thank you, Music Hall and Pro-Ject.) So, like you, I'm hoping that U-Turn Audio changes that. And they still want to know why they can't just spend $150 on that Ion or Crosley thing that includes speakers and a USB input.Īnd what if you don't want to buy used? The person who wants to spend less than $300 on a good new turntable has very few options. I've got older family members who consider $300 a lot to spend on a turntable. But what, really, are those hi-fi manufacturers doing for those young people?Īnd it's not just teens who consider $300 expensive for a turntable. And hi-fi manufacturers consistently claim they want to get those poeple into the hobby. They want to play their records on a decent turntable. And there are lots of college students - and, in general, teens and people in their early 20s - who want to get into vinyl. Especially considering that you can't just buy a turntable you have to also buy a phono preamp, an amp, speakers, and cables. But here's the problem: $300 is a lot of money for a college student to spend on a turntable. But "$300" for a decent turntable in 2012 isn't a ton of money in a hifi-historical sense, either.