It looks like you can get them on Alibaba for $0.10 USD... but it requires a 3000 min purchase... So in a certain wait you're def getting a deal, and avoiding too much of a good thing.
Benjamin D Minor -- Agreed. Not every project (or Kickstarter) is successful but that's often when we or the audience can learn the most. But I imagine Techmoan was probably tempted to quit this before he was finished wondering if it was worth his time especially since it takes longer for him to document/film the process and there's no "wow" at the end. Did I learn much here? No. Do I applud him for finishing this and uploading the video? Definitely.
@@glassyxanderplaysminecraft8340 if you will ever read this: don't cry, just watch VWestlive's Video that is called:"are crosley recordplayers really that bad"
You sir, are without a doubt. The most fair, honest, and modest, reviewer I have ever seen. The simple fact that you take a portion of the blame for such a obviously junk record player; proves it to me. I always enjoy your videos and appreciate all the hard work you do.
Well then it's horribly overpriced, isn't it? If I wanted a cheap plastic turntable I'd just buy an old Tesla one for an eighth of the price and enjoy the retro look.
This is hilarious. The nicest bit about those cheap portables are the nice wooden box. This is the same internals in a cardboard box. It’s seriously like someone was looking at a 25 dollar Polaroid turntable and said, how can we make this worse? I could kind of at least understand it if it was super cheap.
cat meows the grass Yea same here. I found a cheap portable with the same mechanism inside for 25 bucks, still new in the box. The wood case is pretty nice too for being fake wood and it has a battery in it. It definitely isn’t a great player but it’s fine for my kids to play with, I doubt a cardboard one would fare very well with kids.
The internals are not the only thing that's the same. It's just a random kit they put in a cardboard box and sold. You can find the same system in the Ion max lp. Which is cheaper and has a better housing.
I bet you can find those same turntable parts from ebay and make your own player... Only thing they did was packaging, instructions and precut cardboard parts
Yeah but they could have at least rolled off the lower frequencies at the speakers and not botched the line out. It seemed thin even when he connected it directly to the camera. No redeeming features to this pile. Very well done video as always though.
The smart(er) thing to do --- on that point alone anyway --- would have been to decline to make the world's only turntable with speakers in it but that would require knowing in the first place why that isn't done.
It's not that, what actually happens is that these cheapo mechanisms don't match correctly the impedance that these ceramic cartridges need, which causes the tinny sound and the lack of bass. Ceramic cartridges are quite hated because of their poor sound quality, but in fact a ceramic cartridge can sound fantastic, it's just that manufacturers are too greedy and lazy to match the impedance.
I agree, 25 bucks max for garbage you'll toss after 2 hours. For $110 that should at the very least be a 2pc vacuum plastic shell (probably come shattered). Red/White, Blue/White, or Black/Grey, or a choice of 4 colors for top and bottom you mix/choose.
Slaughter Round Yea, if it was laser cut wood that would at least be kind of nice looking. This is a joke really. I bought my 6 yr old a cheap Polaroid branded turntable and I think I paid 30 bucks for it. It is basically the same mechanism as this one but it has an 18650 battery in it and it’s in a decent looking wood(ish) box. I got it to play some children story books we found at a flea market. It’s junk but at least it’s priced accordingly, this thing is way worse and way more expensive.
This reminds me of a note on the back of the Tubular Bells sleeve - Something along the lines of 'This record cannot be played on old tin boxes no matter what they are equipped with. Anyone in possession of such equipment should hand it in at the local police station' :-D
It exists purely to make money for the creators. They had no interest in making a quality product. They just wanted to make as much cash as possible from gullible buyers who thought it would be interesting or "fun".
+Fraser McFadyen I wouldn't even dignify it by calling it shite. This is literally (and very blatantly) engineered for an expedited trip to the landfill. I honestly doubt it'd last more than a few months at best. Last Christmas, I saw actual Crosley players on sale for about $85. Cheaper and no assembly required, and probably the same (or very similar) mechanism and electronics. And you could return it if it was defective. PT Barnum was right. There really are suckers born every minute. The fact that they raised a quarter of a million dollars to 'develop' this product is proof.
Because it's a brand new product, if you compare it prices of used turn tables or mass-produced ones of course it'll be higher. But if the concept caught on these things would drop in price drastically easily reaching like $20 maybe. But obviously they're not going to catch on because everyone here seems to hate the idea.
''Great for professional scratch DJs.'' What a claim! It does not look to have the integrity to scratch an itchy back. They should have scratched the back of their head before writing that.
I’d only buy vintage Turntables from the 1970s and early 1980s probably go for something like a nice Pioneer with a wooden case, Toshiba, or even one of the Beograms by Bang & Oulfsen.
Thinking about it, I think this was designed to be something like those expensive educational toys from Japan that Techmoan occasionally looks at. But for some reason they decided to market it as something else.
Amazingly, the makers of the SpinBox appear to have broken one of the fundamental laws of reality. Because putting this thing together looks to be about as much fun as assembling flat-packed furniture, but the end result is even less satisfying.
@@Kelvin5378 I bought for 30 EUROS Crosley clone, its ok, unfortunaly one of speakers doesnt work but otherwise its fun toy, i can run it from battery pack
For $25, I went to a GoodWill store and picked up a decent stereo turntable/dual cassette deck/amplifier and two speakers. The unit even has an aux input. And I didn't have to assemble it myself. I can appreciate the novelty of the SpinBox, but not for $109. Thank you for throwing yourself on this grenade, Mat.
No man, the Crosley has a radio in it that can actually DX on am. What you're getting is a sub Crosley in a Asterix can Asterix some assembly required but not nearly enough.
Great video! Hilarious, I like hearing techmoan being cordial and polite! Spin box is a ridiculous piece of shit! There I said it! Seriously though it should be 19.99 usd at the most
Without trying very hard, I found the exact same thing on Amazon (Entirely pre-assembled in a genuine particleboard cabinet!) for US$39.99 with free shipping. It's the Pyle 3-Speed Stereo Turntable, just in case you're in the market for something to bash to bits with a hammer. :-)
This whole product perfectly encapsulates the Millennial Generation. They like to think they are doing something nerdy, but it's really just like lego jr. building, and they don't care about the quality of sound or what it does to their records, the "I'm trendy!" points are earned on aesthetics alone.
It would have been nice if they actually used good quality cardboard instead of this crap. Most electronics come in better quality boxes and you throw that shit away. Even Nintendo Labo uses better cardboard.
If it shipped in a wooden box, it would be the same as any of the existing competing products using the very same player module, and most of them cost just a hair more than half of what this does.
Just keep the cardboard parts as model , take a few measures and make the Spinbox out of wood , it would be more solid than cardboard , and varnished it would be nicer than white cardboard , varnish is easier to clean too .
You know Techmoan, listening to it through your external speakers and directly through your camera input, it definitely sounds to me like the channels are out of phase. Probably the amp input is cross-wired in this... thing. :)
Great video on the bullshot that is available to crowd fund. My heart sank when you opened the box. Someone somewhere has made a pretty penny on that tat. How you kept your irritation and frustration out of the video is outstanding. Thanks for posting.
*wow, so much effort for a wibbly wobbly cardboard box* speechless 😶 Besides the all plastic player component it's very thin cardboard as well. Wow. Just... Wow.
As always, your reviews are great, even if the equipment is not. I, too, notice the whiners and cheesers in the comments, and love your little disclaimers throughout your videos, or the personally amusing puppet sketches. Overall, "The perfectionist takes criticism hard; and their own, hardest. Yet, appreciation is more valuable than gold." You, sir, are appreciated by me.
My daughter loves playing with my spinbox. She loves looking at old sleeves from 1970s Sesame Street records. Let's just say I'm glad I bought the extra styluses because she's probably going to break one!
I'm new to LP players and all that jazz and me and my dad were discussing expensive players and how it's better to have a heavier player and then this video appears... Fantastic
I fail to understand why anyone would buy this at the current price. If it was $30, maaaaybe, but not for $100 + shipping. I just recently picked up a Technics SL-D3 direct drive turntable from a local thrift shop in perfect condition for $120 (CAD, so more like $100 USD)... Only problem is it doesn't come with a plastic cat :(
Amazing what people back on kickstarter. Someone should should kick start a campaign of emptying out a rubbish dump. For only $99 plus shipping you will get a garbage bag full of garbage! Oh and a shout out!
Just take those rubbish bags and market them as personal assistant robots. That's basically what half of kickstarter is doing at the moment, anyway -_-
I'm guessing it's the "educational" benefit of having kids put it together. A lot of "educational" products sold as gifts are that, especially being overpriced.
landfill straight out of the box. How convenient. Now people can skip the boring "using it" stage of having a product, and throw it out immediately. Genious!
Great video as usual Mr Techmoan! Got my AT LP60 USB from Richer Sounds on black friday last year for £70. They regularly drop the price of this turntable so people should look out for a bargain. Sounds out of this world and I highly recommend it. Best wishes.
So basically, somebody has bought the cheapest turntable mechanisms they can find on Alibaba and thought "hmm, how can i milk this for as big a profit as possible?... i know! cardboard case!... and a kit!, i'll chuck in a stick on plastic cat to make it cool and edgy, kerching!".
Not even taking into account the actual mechanism, this is a piece of shit. Why wouldn't they make a build your own turntable out of plastic. *Cardboard wtf??* It's not even like industrial grade or anything, looks like cereal box cardboard.
I feel like this would be an okay idea for something you'd pay 50$ for tops, just for fun, maybe as an educational tool for kids. But 109$? Please... I got a (modern) vintage looking radio with built in turntable and it cost me less than 50$.
Environmental friendly maybe? Biodegradable and lighter to post around the world? Hmm. Money grabbing friendly, more like it. The mould for plastic components is a bit more expensive than the cardboard cut out.
Those plastic Crosley turntables are great for recreational customs. Saw a fellow on reddit put one in his dead NES and it plays just as it should. It’s great for aesthetics less so for quality
Mat, based on your direct feed test, it seems the audio is playing out of phase. Not sure if this is due to the headphone output, or the cartridge wiring (possibly from the factory), but this would help explain the lack of bass and perceived volume. If the internal speakers are playing in mono (L+R combined) and the cart is wired out of phase, then there would be cancellation happening.
I instantly recognized that mechanism, it's the same general design used on cheap stereo tape deck record player combos since the 80's, mass produced and utterly garbage. Just type Yorx stereo record player into google images and you'll see many examples.
RTDragonCommand I've worked many years in an after sale shop : i know those Yorks devices , sometimes branded Alba or Prostar , depend of the place they where sold : very crappy speakers , maximum output 1,5 Watts RMS : those "stereos" where designed for children use . The hight end versions where sold with a cd player and a better amplifier and speakers .
Dear Mat, I remember some TH-cam reviewer using the scales to check tracking force of this type of tone arm at the point of stylus contact. It was apparently nearer to 2grams or so. I think that the spring applies downforce and that at the actual height of the lp it is correct. Thanks for a fascinating review. I suspect a conical stylus on this kind of arm would be less harmful than we think. My seventies records were first played on old BSR players and still sound fine on my better turntables. Thanks again. Shawn
You could try “cheap turntables are they really THAT bad” at a reviewer’s site. I’m into separate arm and cartridges on my record players from the early 80s and was a record player snob. However, I was surprised by this video where the reviewer weighs the tracking force at the record’s level. Apparently the spring applied downforce is dependant upon its height. Keep up the excellent work. I enjoy every video! S
Maybe if you shredded it, then melted it down into filament. You'd get something useful for your money. You'd be able to print out a small plastic cat! That'd probably break...
4:30 That screw is actually what adjusts the auto-stop. However, I found mine bottomed out and still wasn't enough so I had to add a small shim between it and the cut off switch
Just saw this video. For what it's worth, despite any frustration or disapointment there was here, seeing you find that little plastic cat made it all worth it. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
Definitely correct at the end on the lp60, hit a thrift store for a old receiver and some speakers and your set for your first turntable. Plus it’ll use a proper diamond stylus.
Being an owner of an Audio-Technica LP60USB, I can honestly say that for the money, it is a decent turntable. It works and it puts out decent sound. I can't wait to replace it with a better model or my step-dads really good turntable that only needs a needle. For the price, the LP60 does get you a conical diamond stylus and the upgrade to the elliptical stylus and beefier belt really makes it the best cheaper turntable out there.
Thanks for the review. You have alot of patience. Not me. Its like assembling. A smart phone or a brand new car to save money.. Keep the reviews coming. 🙃
That mechanism is the exact same one I have in my cheap, $30 turntable that I got when I first learned about vinylite records. I wouldn't be surprised if the speakers were the same as well.
Just a small point. The spring isn't what holds the stylus down on the record and applies the tracking force. Gravity does that. The spring is to reduce the weight, and adjusting the spring can reduce the tracking force
I've never realised how much bass your outro music had... It could probably shatter my windows at 25% volume when I turn the bass up to 100% on my computer speakers!
My Dad just got me a new turntable for my 30th birthday (which was on January 28). I haven't got a chance to use it yet, but I'm pretty sure it'll be in good quality.
Thats the opposite of what you want. You want a record player to be really heavy and have shock absorbers for stands. My record player weighs about 30lbs and still picks up vibration from the music when playing loud. Without this it picks up foot steps in the room.
I went onto eBay for a bit and found, at the time of writing this, a Technics SL-J92, a direct drive linear tracking turntable with track-skipping and a swanky LCD display for $128.94 ($89.99+$38.95 S&H). It's no SL-10, but it's quite good--for six cents cheaper! That said, this is a good video, it's like the opposite of that Technics turntable and bad speakers one; a crap turntable going through, at least for a little bit, your very nice speakers.
13:36 That's "Nice Work If You Can Get It" by George and Ira Gershwin, as played by pianist Art Tatum 14:18 That's "Fantasy on "Muskrat Ramble" by bandleader and trombonist Kid Ory, as performed by cornetist Doc Evans and company. 🙂
turntable value- $9
plastic cat value- $120
It looks like you can get them on Alibaba for $0.10 USD... but it requires a 3000 min purchase... So in a certain wait you're def getting a deal, and avoiding too much of a good thing.
Douglas Frantz , you can never have too many of those plastic cats.
@Round like a Ball no it's not. It's not all made out of cardboard just the case..
300 likes
Even though the turntable is rubbish, thank you techmoan for taking the time to make and upload the video
Benjamin D Minor -- Agreed. Not every project (or Kickstarter) is successful but that's often when we or the audience can learn the most. But I imagine Techmoan was probably tempted to quit this before he was finished wondering if it was worth his time especially since it takes longer for him to document/film the process and there's no "wow" at the end. Did I learn much here? No. Do I applud him for finishing this and uploading the video? Definitely.
My 25€ turntable has the same plastic mechanism. I wanna cry now.
He doesn't get paid enough for this one 😂 thanks for taking one the team
@@glassyxanderplaysminecraft8340 if you will ever read this: don't cry, just watch VWestlive's Video that is called:"are crosley recordplayers really that bad"
This is painful to watch... It's like being scammed in slow motion.
You are not wrong...
If it is 10 or 20$ it might be worth getting not 109$
"But moving on...."
lol so true.
It's a 40 dollar record player 3 times the price in a cardboard case that you have to assemble
You sir, are without a doubt. The most fair, honest, and modest, reviewer I have ever seen. The simple fact that you take a portion of the blame for such a obviously junk record player; proves it to me. I always enjoy your videos and appreciate all the hard work you do.
Wowzers.... they out-Crosley’d Crosley.
And you pay double the price of a Crosley for the privilege of assembling your own cardboard enclosure.
Dude, everyone knows. You don't need to keep spamming the same thing over and over again.
The Cardboard Crosley Cruiser TM
Why are you so invested in this idiotic pedantry?
I never thought a Crosley would look appealing.
The Nintendo LABO looks great
SeireiART labo, labo!
A LABO turntable would actually be pretty cool, maybe a DJHero style game could be made?
>tfw replying to 2 year old comments
L
@@moeta486 a LABO turntable? 🤔 is that possible
@@theprocooker8951 possibly... i have ideas just don't know how to word it (story of my life 🙂)
oh dear what pile of s*** , i feel sorry for anyone who purchased it
But still a piece from charity shop paid 5$ is better than this crap.
Well then it's horribly overpriced, isn't it? If I wanted a cheap plastic turntable I'd just buy an old Tesla one for an eighth of the price and enjoy the retro look.
Jakub Klimczak Of course not, this is strictly for the people who hate sound.
SomiTomi Never heard of a Tesla turntable. We didn't get them here in America.
I don't. I always supported taking money away from idiots before they do something stupid with them.
This is one device that's not going to see a "Techmoan Bump" in cost to acquire.
You're a better man than I.
The black plastic cat makes it all worth it.
Scott Plumer NO
Scott Plumer Cats are always worth it! :P
The cat is supposed to attach to the top of the stylus to stop it from skipping. Good lord how many grams would that weigh?
Marty Moose Well my cat weighs about 4-5 thousand grams.
That's absolutely correct! Forget the turntable and tell us where we can get our hands on one of those cats!
This is hilarious. The nicest bit about those cheap portables are the nice wooden box. This is the same internals in a cardboard box. It’s seriously like someone was looking at a 25 dollar Polaroid turntable and said, how can we make this worse?
I could kind of at least understand it if it was super cheap.
Bmac 814 haha yea I found a broken ion turntable with the same mechanism but at least it had a really nice fake woodgrain fiberboard stand
cat meows the grass Yea same here. I found a cheap portable with the same mechanism inside for 25 bucks, still new in the box. The wood case is pretty nice too for being fake wood and it has a battery in it. It definitely isn’t a great player but it’s fine for my kids to play with, I doubt a cardboard one would fare very well with kids.
The internals are not the only thing that's the same. It's just a random kit they put in a cardboard box and sold. You can find the same system in the Ion max lp. Which is cheaper and has a better housing.
I bet you can find those same turntable parts from ebay and make your own player... Only thing they did was packaging, instructions and precut cardboard parts
You can get a portable Crosley for cheaper and it probably sounds better if not the same lol
1 minute in and I'm already wondering how this can be a 100 bucks... Kickstarter truly is a marvelous place.
Hipsters will pay anything
Judging by the weedy output, I suspect that they've deliberately filtered the low end to stop the bass feeding back into the lightweight construction.
Not going to get much power from a 5v supply anyway. I suppose the feedback suppression takes care of itself...
Yeah but they could have at least rolled off the lower frequencies at the speakers and not botched the line out. It seemed thin even when he connected it directly to the camera. No redeeming features to this pile. Very well done video as always though.
The smart(er) thing to do --- on that point alone anyway --- would have been to decline to make the world's only turntable with speakers in it but that would require knowing in the first place why that isn't done.
It's not that, what actually happens is that these cheapo mechanisms don't match correctly the impedance that these ceramic cartridges need, which causes the tinny sound and the lack of bass.
Ceramic cartridges are quite hated because of their poor sound quality, but in fact a ceramic cartridge can sound fantastic, it's just that manufacturers are too greedy and lazy to match the impedance.
Might be fun for $15
I agree, 25 bucks max for garbage you'll toss after 2 hours. For $110 that should at the very least be a 2pc vacuum plastic shell (probably come shattered). Red/White, Blue/White, or Black/Grey, or a choice of 4 colors for top and bottom you mix/choose.
it would be good for £20-25 for custom 3D/laser-printed projects or something, but that's only because 3D printers and laser cutters are fun
If I got to build the tonearm and platter assembly, I would probably pay fifty for this.
Slaughter Round Yea, if it was laser cut wood that would at least be kind of nice looking. This is a joke really. I bought my 6 yr old a cheap Polaroid branded turntable and I think I paid 30 bucks for it. It is basically the same mechanism as this one but it has an 18650 battery in it and it’s in a decent looking wood(ish) box. I got it to play some children story books we found at a flea market. It’s junk but at least it’s priced accordingly, this thing is way worse and way more expensive.
Might be fun for 30 to 50 if it wasn't made out of cardboard i can see it being usable
This reminds me of a note on the back of the Tubular Bells sleeve - Something along the lines of 'This record cannot be played on old tin boxes no matter what they are equipped with. Anyone in possession of such equipment should hand it in at the local police station' :-D
i want that record!
So if it's not fun, it's not educational, and it doesn't sound good... oh, and it isn't cheap... why does it exist? Looks like total shite.
It exists purely to make money for the creators.
They had no interest in making a quality product. They just wanted to make as much cash as possible from gullible buyers who thought it would be interesting or "fun".
The term for these abominations is made by hipsters for hipsters.
+Fraser McFadyen I wouldn't even dignify it by calling it shite. This is literally (and very blatantly) engineered for an expedited trip to the landfill. I honestly doubt it'd last more than a few months at best.
Last Christmas, I saw actual Crosley players on sale for about $85. Cheaper and no assembly required, and probably the same (or very similar) mechanism and electronics. And you could return it if it was defective.
PT Barnum was right. There really are suckers born every minute. The fact that they raised a quarter of a million dollars to 'develop' this product is proof.
Because it's a brand new product, if you compare it prices of used turn tables or mass-produced ones of course it'll be higher. But if the concept caught on these things would drop in price drastically easily reaching like $20 maybe. But obviously they're not going to catch on because everyone here seems to hate the idea.
It's mind boggling how many backed this thing
''Great for professional scratch DJs.'' What a claim! It does not look to have the integrity to scratch an itchy back. They should have scratched the back of their head before writing that.
I saw that... lol as someone who has done a bit of scratching before... a cardboard turntable would fall apart instantly.
David Guetta would fall in tears if he reads ...."Great for professionnal scratch DJs " :-(
May not be any good for a DJ, but you can't deny that it WILL scratch....and tear-up, any record played on it!! Ha Ha!!
My cat might like to scratch on it....
@@muddysledge Now we know why the plastic cat is included...
$100 for a cardboard record player? You can get a real Technics one on ebay for about $50
I’d only buy vintage Turntables from the 1970s and early 1980s probably go for something like a nice Pioneer with a wooden case, Toshiba, or even one of the Beograms by Bang & Oulfsen.
have you seen how staggeringly cartridges & styluses for Beograms can get?
The Rolling Troll ...NO WAY... probably you listen a defective one
Thinking about it, I think this was designed to be something like those expensive educational toys from Japan that Techmoan occasionally looks at. But for some reason they decided to market it as something else.
Amazingly, the makers of the SpinBox appear to have broken one of the fundamental laws of reality. Because putting this thing together looks to be about as much fun as assembling flat-packed furniture, but the end result is even less satisfying.
Referring to nuts as bolts is still a more accurate description than calling this thing a record player.
Read through all the comments looking for someone to call him out on this...thank you, sir.
The actual mechanisms, or at least something similar to the one used for that player were on eBay for about £8.🤣
Well yeah it's basically the same as a Crosley
@@Kelvin5378 I bought for 30 EUROS Crosley clone, its ok, unfortunaly one of speakers doesnt work but otherwise its fun toy, i can run it from battery pack
@@Kelvin5378
He too Victrola
For $25, I went to a GoodWill store and picked up a decent stereo turntable/dual cassette deck/amplifier and two speakers. The unit even has an aux input. And I didn't have to assemble it myself. I can appreciate the novelty of the SpinBox, but not for $109. Thank you for throwing yourself on this grenade, Mat.
"Spinbox plays all sizes and speeds of vinyl records..." Funny, I didn't see a 16 2/3 rpm setting on the speed selector. :(
So basically you get a more expensive unassembled Crosley that you put in a cardboard box.
No man, the Crosley has a radio in it that can actually DX on am. What you're getting is a sub Crosley in a Asterix can Asterix some assembly required but not nearly enough.
A cardboard box - is there anything it can't do. ~Solid Snake
You're pretty good.
💕💕
Snake, try to remember the basics of CQC
Great video! Hilarious, I like hearing techmoan being cordial and polite! Spin box is a ridiculous piece of shit! There I said it! Seriously though it should be 19.99 usd at the most
I bet the chinese could sell one just like it for under $10 lol
It sure sounded like quite an effort for him not to let the sarcastic tone of voice out... :-)
+ BertyFromDK, and free shipping.
Without trying very hard, I found the exact same thing on Amazon (Entirely pre-assembled in a genuine particleboard cabinet!) for US$39.99 with free shipping. It's the Pyle 3-Speed Stereo Turntable, just in case you're in the market for something to bash to bits with a hammer. :-)
@@BertGrink 10 is probs way too much, the components costs 3-4 bucks at most.
This whole product perfectly encapsulates the Millennial Generation. They like to think they are doing something nerdy, but it's really just like lego jr. building, and they don't care about the quality of sound or what it does to their records, the "I'm trendy!" points are earned on aesthetics alone.
it would be nice if they shipped it in a wooden box or MDF instead of cardboard
It would have been nice if they actually used good quality cardboard instead of this crap. Most electronics come in better quality boxes and you throw that shit away. Even Nintendo Labo uses better cardboard.
MDF is pretty much cardboard when its thin enough
If it shipped in a wooden box, it would be the same as any of the existing competing products using the very same player module, and most of them cost just a hair more than half of what this does.
Just keep the cardboard parts as model , take a few measures and make the Spinbox out of wood , it would be more solid than cardboard , and varnished it would be nicer than white cardboard , varnish is easier to clean too .
Cletus Spuckler and Siana... you guys r missing the point- the componentry is crap
Videos like these are strangely addictive!
Ah kickstarter, where shit that should never get made is born.
You know Techmoan, listening to it through your external speakers and directly through your camera input, it definitely sounds to me like the channels are out of phase. Probably the amp input is cross-wired in this... thing. :)
Excellent observation, I agree
I'm a simple man.
I see a Techmoan video.
I watch.
I like.
Great video on the bullshot that is available to crowd fund. My heart sank when you opened the box. Someone somewhere has made a pretty penny on that tat. How you kept your irritation and frustration out of the video is outstanding. Thanks for posting.
Sometimes you just got to take one for the team... Great work
*wow, so much effort for a wibbly wobbly cardboard box* speechless 😶
Besides the all plastic player component it's very thin cardboard as well. Wow. Just... Wow.
As always, your reviews are great, even if the equipment is not. I, too, notice the whiners and cheesers in the comments, and love your little disclaimers throughout your videos, or the personally amusing puppet sketches. Overall, "The perfectionist takes criticism hard; and their own, hardest. Yet, appreciation is more valuable than gold." You, sir, are appreciated by me.
As much as you hated building it, I enjoyed watching you build it. It was worthwhile by me!
Ok, yeah, it was fun to watch.
Needed muppets, though.
2:02 "ITS MY DECK IN A BOX" ... way to use that expired meme
Nice to see you held onto this mechanism and used it to make that PSA.
They raised $250k for this?! Laughing all the way to the bank encumbered with sacks of notes I imagine
My daughter loves playing with my spinbox. She loves looking at old sleeves from 1970s Sesame Street records. Let's just say I'm glad I bought the extra styluses because she's probably going to break one!
*it's my deck in a box*
Step one: cut a hole in the box
That sticker was probably the single best part of the record player.
Maybe that is the source of the trademark dispute, not the name Spinbox.
brilliant! you genuinely got a loud laugh out of me, my good sir doge!
Step two: Put a Crosley in that box
EXACT turntable assembly as a Crosley I stripped for parts. Parts I deemed worth keeping......the 45 spindle adapter
You didn't do this properly.
Gotta connect it to the Nintendo Switch's controller for it to function properly!
I'm new to LP players and all that jazz and me and my dad were discussing expensive players and how it's better to have a heavier player and then this video appears... Fantastic
I love how this is way more complicated than building a computer, yet it's a simpler machine than a computer is.
I fail to understand why anyone would buy this at the current price. If it was $30, maaaaybe, but not for $100 + shipping. I just recently picked up a Technics SL-D3 direct drive turntable from a local thrift shop in perfect condition for $120 (CAD, so more like $100 USD)... Only problem is it doesn't come with a plastic cat :(
Amazing what people back on kickstarter. Someone should should kick start a campaign of emptying out a rubbish dump. For only $99 plus shipping you will get a garbage bag full of garbage! Oh and a shout out!
Just take those rubbish bags and market them as personal assistant robots. That's basically what half of kickstarter is doing at the moment, anyway -_-
I'm guessing it's the "educational" benefit of having kids put it together. A lot of "educational" products sold as gifts are that, especially being overpriced.
This thing puts that 'keep from moisture' warning on a whole new level.
You did a really great job with the scripting, presentation and editing as usual.
landfill straight out of the box. How convenient. Now people can skip the boring "using it" stage of having a product, and throw it out immediately. Genious!
Great video as usual Mr Techmoan! Got my AT LP60 USB from Richer Sounds on black friday last year for £70. They regularly drop the price of this turntable so people should look out for a bargain. Sounds out of this world and I highly recommend it. Best wishes.
Because of this channel, I have the urge to put together a vintage record/cassette stereo system together including vacuum tube amplifiers :)
Why would someone want this over a normal player?
As a novelty or for a kid, mostly.
As Techmon said on video, it can be learn how the mechine work
More like a novelty to hipster man-children hyped up on soy.
I guess you wern't paying attention dude, He said it can't be used as an educational aid, it's all pre assembled :)
ParasiteX Don't disrespect the wonder plant.
So basically, somebody has bought the cheapest turntable mechanisms they can find on Alibaba and thought "hmm, how can i milk this for as big a profit as possible?... i know! cardboard case!... and a kit!, i'll chuck in a stick on plastic cat to make it cool and edgy, kerching!".
Mrcento nailed it!
Not even taking into account the actual mechanism, this is a piece of shit. Why wouldn't they make a build your own turntable out of plastic. *Cardboard wtf??* It's not even like industrial grade or anything, looks like cereal box cardboard.
Maybe this was the inspiration for Nintendo Labo?
+SNARCast Productions Nintento Labo seems like way better than this.
I feel like this would be an okay idea for something you'd pay 50$ for tops, just for fun, maybe as an educational tool for kids. But 109$? Please... I got a (modern) vintage looking radio with built in turntable and it cost me less than 50$.
Environmental friendly maybe? Biodegradable and lighter to post around the world? Hmm. Money grabbing friendly, more like it. The mould for plastic components is a bit more expensive than the cardboard cut out.
I think "out of a cereal box" aptly describes everything about this, other than price.
A record player in a cardboard box. That pretty much sums it all up.
$110 + shipping for a crosly cruser you assemble your self... ouch... that's gotta sting.
Kickstarter is basically the modern equivalent of those ads for X-Ray glasses you used to see on the back pages of comic books.
so basically what you (we) got here is a hipster version of the Crosley player
That first record was great. Art Tatum, the best jazz pianist ever.......
Should have called it the 'scambox' - doubt that would have attracted an intellectual property claim ;)
Those plastic Crosley turntables are great for recreational customs. Saw a fellow on reddit put one in his dead NES and it plays just as it should. It’s great for aesthetics less so for quality
Mat, based on your direct feed test, it seems the audio is playing out of phase. Not sure if this is due to the headphone output, or the cartridge wiring (possibly from the factory), but this would help explain the lack of bass and perceived volume. If the internal speakers are playing in mono (L+R combined) and the cart is wired out of phase, then there would be cancellation happening.
This video makes me appreciate my old Heath Kits which I still have & still works to this day. :)
Matt is having sooo much fun...
World Record Club!
It was quite exciting getting deliveries when I were a lad.
I instantly recognized that mechanism, it's the same general design used on cheap stereo tape deck record player combos since the 80's, mass produced and utterly garbage. Just type Yorx stereo record player into google images and you'll see many examples.
Ah Yorx, and its shitty cousin, Candle.
Don't forget GPX! :-)
What's really bad is,, you can buy just the record player module new for about $11, to $15.
RTDragonCommand
I've worked many years in an after sale shop : i know those Yorks devices , sometimes branded Alba or Prostar , depend of the place they where sold : very crappy speakers , maximum output 1,5 Watts RMS : those "stereos" where designed for children use . The hight end versions where sold with a cd player and a better amplifier and speakers .
Omg I have a Yorx turntable combo! Yes! The turntable is cheap plastic but it still works!
Techmoan- the only man in the world who could make this trash entertaining.
The Nintendo Labo of turntables.
Except the Labo isn't an enormous crock of shite.
Thank you for spending both your hard earned money and time for our enjoyment!
Dear Mat, I remember some TH-cam reviewer using the scales to check tracking force of this type of tone arm at the point of stylus contact. It was apparently nearer to 2grams or so. I think that the spring applies downforce and that at the actual height of the lp it is correct. Thanks for a fascinating review. I suspect a conical stylus on this kind of arm would be less harmful than we think. My seventies records were first played on old BSR players and still sound fine on my better turntables. Thanks again. Shawn
You could try “cheap turntables are they really THAT bad” at a reviewer’s site. I’m into separate arm and cartridges on my record players from the early 80s and was a record player snob. However, I was surprised by this video where the reviewer weighs the tracking force at the record’s level. Apparently the spring applied downforce is dependant upon its height. Keep up the excellent work. I enjoy every video! S
Makes sense. F=kx
This seems like something that only those that don't know better would buy.
its a shame the mech is so crap, a bit better quality and those cards would have made nice templates to make a wooden case.
Had better from a Kinder Supprise. Thanks for taking the hit for us Mat
would made a good project if you had a 3D printer
spot on :)
Even thou it is shit quality. Would look good if you used the cardboard as a template & used some nice timber..
Maybe if you shredded it, then melted it down into filament. You'd get something useful for your money. You'd be able to print out a small plastic cat! That'd probably break...
Nah it'd still look poor even with timber. The shit lowest-quality plastic and awful components would then be the worst part, not the cardboard.
4:30 That screw is actually what adjusts the auto-stop. However, I found mine bottomed out and still wasn't enough so I had to add a small shim between it and the cut off switch
This just seems like yet another sub-par product cashing in on the popularity of vinyl... it's not as bad as the RokBlok but then again nothing is.
Just saw this video. For what it's worth, despite any frustration or disapointment there was here, seeing you find that little plastic cat made it all worth it. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
The only good thing about this is the black plastic cat.
If you listen carefully you can hear buyers remorse kick at 12:02
what a rip-off
Unarcadia Arcadia most Kickstarter things are a rip off
n4thb4dc0 A damn shame too, because there's a very few diamonds in that rough.
Nah it's more of tear off and punch out
It's good you went for the corrugated cardboard plinth instead of the paper one!
A preview of Nintendo LABO!
Man... I might get this guy more subscribers... Great channel.
Definitely correct at the end on the lp60, hit a thrift store for a old receiver and some speakers and your set for your first turntable. Plus it’ll use a proper diamond stylus.
Being an owner of an Audio-Technica LP60USB, I can honestly say that for the money, it is a decent turntable. It works and it puts out decent sound. I can't wait to replace it with a better model or my step-dads really good turntable that only needs a needle. For the price, the LP60 does get you a conical diamond stylus and the upgrade to the elliptical stylus and beefier belt really makes it the best cheaper turntable out there.
Thanks for the review. You have alot of patience. Not me. Its like assembling. A smart phone or a brand new car to save money.. Keep the reviews coming. 🙃
looks like the perfect turntable !!!
when you hate vinyl ;-) lmao
Techmoan's informative reviews are tactful to a fault.
If you want to squeese something edcational out of it, what about a follow up video where you try and mod/ rebuild this thing for better preformance?
Alex Brohm it would need replacing every part, so like building a new TT from scratch.
That mechanism is the exact same one I have in my cheap, $30 turntable that I got when I first learned about vinylite records. I wouldn't be surprised if the speakers were the same as well.
Nope, no puppets in this one.
Just a small point. The spring isn't what holds the stylus down on the record and applies the tracking force. Gravity does that. The spring is to reduce the weight, and adjusting the spring can reduce the tracking force
At first i think: "well, buy some balsa wood and make a neat case for this..."
after the video i think: "No..."
I've never realised how much bass your outro music had...
It could probably shatter my windows at 25% volume when I turn the bass up to 100% on my computer speakers!
$25 and I would buy it for fun. But this is ridiculous.
Nonetheless: thanks for the video.
My Dad just got me a new turntable for my 30th birthday (which was on January 28). I haven't got a chance to use it yet, but I'm pretty sure it'll be in good quality.
Thats the opposite of what you want. You want a record player to be really heavy and have shock absorbers for stands. My record player weighs about 30lbs and still picks up vibration from the music when playing loud. Without this it picks up foot steps in the room.
The speakers are 2" from the platter. Foot steps will be nothing.
I went onto eBay for a bit and found, at the time of writing this, a Technics SL-J92, a direct drive linear tracking turntable with track-skipping and a swanky LCD display for $128.94 ($89.99+$38.95 S&H). It's no SL-10, but it's quite good--for six cents cheaper! That said, this is a good video, it's like the opposite of that Technics turntable and bad speakers one; a crap turntable going through, at least for a little bit, your very nice speakers.
Just what I've always wanted: a cardboard turntable. ;) smh I'm in no way an audiophile but even I can tell this is a bad idea.
13:36 That's "Nice Work If You Can Get It" by George and Ira Gershwin, as played by pianist Art Tatum
14:18 That's "Fantasy on "Muskrat Ramble" by bandleader and trombonist Kid Ory, as performed by cornetist Doc Evans and company. 🙂
You would seriously be better off with a 60s Close N Play toy turntable.
Actually, the Fisher Price players from the 70's & 80's would be audiophile quality compared to this!!!
12:02 That "yep..." was so brutal :P