U TURN TURNTABLE HOW TO
U TURN TURNTABLE UPDATE
U TURN TURNTABLE PLUS

I encountered one slight problem that had nothing to do with the Orbit Plus itself.

U TURN TURNTABLE HOW TO

“And maybe sometime soon I’ll show you how to make fire with two sticks.” He seemed really intrigued by that. That done, my seven-year-old son blurted out, “That’s like the ancient music-making machine my teacher showed us in school.” Minor assembly is required: placing the platter on the spindle, looping the drive belt around the platter and one of the motor’s two pulleys (a small one for 33 1⁄ 3rpm, a larger one for 45rpm), and plugging in the wall-wart power supply. Tonearm and cartridge are factory-installed and configured, so few adjustments were needed. Setting up the Orbit Plus took me five minutes. Other than that, the turntable and tonearm of my review sample seemed identical to what he reviewed, right down to the blue plinth (it can also be ordered in white, red, green, or black). When Thom Moon reviewed the Orbit Plus package, the MM cartridge included was a Grado Labs Black1 these days, it comes with an Ortofon OM5E. Surprised they can offer so much for so little without having it made in Asia? You might be more surprised when you see an Orbit Plus in real life. “U-Turn Audio’s Orbit Plus is a fabulous effort for a new start-up,” Thom wrote, “and worthy of consideration by anyone who wants a good, very basic, but very capable turntable for getting back into vinyl or for trying it for the first time.” And U-Turn makes its turntables in Woburn, Massachusetts. U-Turn Audio was founded in 2012 through a successful Kickstarter campaign, but I didn’t hear about them until September 2014, when Thom Moon reviewed the Orbit Plus on our SoundStage! Access site. U-Turn also offers the Orbit Special, with a plinth of solid hardwood and other improvements - but at $459, it would have far exceeded my budget.

I could’ve gone cheaper - U-Turn offers the Orbit Basic, for $179 - but I liked the Plus’s better features, and especially its acrylic platter (the Basic’s platter is MDF). (A phono stage can be added to the Orbit Plus for $70, but I didn’t need it.) And the Orbit Plus comes factory-direct with a 30-day return guarantee and a two-year warranty. It didn’t take me long to find U-Turn Audio’s Orbit Plus, which costs $289, including all of the above and a dustcover. I wrote last month that I’d budgeted $300 USD for everything to do with playing vinyl - the turntable, tonearm, and cartridge, and phono cables to hook it up to the moving-magnet phono stage of NAD’s D 3020 V2 integrated amplifier ($399).

U TURN TURNTABLE UPDATE

The turntable shouldn’t be a surprise - I mentioned last month that I was thinking about adding one - but as you’ll read below, for this system update the turntable and footers go hand in hand. In this month’s photos of the system I wrote about last month in “ A Feature-Rich, Fully Modern Hi-Fi System You Can Begin, Live, and Grow With - for $926.95,” keen-eyed readers will notice two additions: a turntable, and footers for the speakers.

2018-2019 EISA Awards Video Introduction.

U turn turntable