On Starting With the Right Turntable

The most common mistake in turntable buying is not spending too little. It is spending in the wrong direction — on specs that do not matter yet, on features that add complexity without benefit, on a setup that requires expertise you do not have. The right first turntable is one that works, tracks well, and does not fight you.

The U-Turn Orbit Plus sits in that category. Belt-drive, made in Massachusetts, ships with a decent Ortofon cartridge you do not need to upgrade immediately. Setup takes about twenty minutes. You plug it in and it plays records the way records are supposed to sound. That is the whole point.

If you already have a setup and are thinking about the next step, the answer changes. The chain matters more than any single component. More on that in a future issue.