vinyl

Turning the Tables

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Yeah, I know, that’s a cheesy title for this blog entry. Wouldn’t you have done the same?

If you follow me on social media or are a subscriber of the Nick & Greg YouTube channel then you already know that I sent the U-Turn Orbit back and got another turntable instead. If you want the short version, here is the vlog:

I wanted to get my expanded thoughts out there as to why. Why did I do that?

First off, let me say that the U-Turn Orbit was not a bad product. It was well made, simple, and didn’t take a lot of fuss to operate. For an ordinary individual, it would perform well.

Problem is, I am not that ordinary individual.

My hands are not the best, most reliable things in the world. If it involves something small, I am more than likely to futz it up and get angry at it. This belt was no exception. The more I kept trying and not getting it on, the more frustrated I would become with myself.

Greg is a saint. He had to put up with a lot of audible cussing from me and he would keep trying to calm me down and work with me. You, as the reader, would have to be there to understand just how much this was an issue. I have no shame in talking about it now.

At the same time, I was looking at lots of reviews and videos talking about the Audio Technica AT-LP 120 and all of its versions. The more I looked at that turntable and its features, the more I liked what I saw. Several times over the course of a week together that we had off of work, I kept regretting the decision I made to get the Orbit.

So, one night I decided to pull the trigger and buy the AT-LP 120XBT-USB from Best Buy. I got it home and the setup was very simple. I carefully balanced the tonearm (which is something I didn’t have to do the last time).

So, it’s been a couple of weeks since I put it in and have been listening to a lot of material of varying genres across the scope of what I own. What do I think?

I think I made the right decision. I just want to put a record on with no fuss and have it sound good. This turntable does that and I couldn’t be happier. I have fallen in love with my vinyl yet again and even deeper. As a matter of fact, at the time I am writing this post, I haven’t listened to an album in a couple of days. I think I might do that when I get home tonight.

My Love Affair with Vinyl

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The evening of this blog post, I am going to receive a nice, new, spiffy turntable that we bought over a month ago tomorrow. Details on that to come.

It got me to thinking why I love vinyl so much. I’ll just give you the bullet points.

  • It has a warm, pleasing sound.
  • It has a nice, physical feel.
  • Lots of rare things that haven’t been released on other media, like, ever
  • It just looks good
  • I love a good used record shop, and there are plenty of them in the ATL and other cities
  • I always find a good super-rare bargain!
  • The format has always fascinated me since I was a kid

I distinctly remember that I probably was the only kid in school that would check out LPs from the local library. This was in the mid-90s and they probably didn’t hold onto them much longer after that. One title I loved to check out was the Return of the Jedi soundtrack (RSO Records, 1983). Alas, I don’t think I have that particular pressing myself. I have a Polydor repressing from later in the 80s (date unknown) and a gold vinyl 180-gram repress from 2016. But I digress… (BTW, if you want to see my vinyl collection, you can go here and filter it down by LP, 7/12″ Singles, and for that matter look at my CDs too)

Me and Greg bought our first turntable, a Sony PS-LX250H in 2005, not long after we became a couple. It has served us well for these last 16 years and has never given us a problem. It sounds great.

But there are reasons why I wanted to go with a new, middle-range turntable. Details on that will be in a video on the Nick & Greg YouTube channel in the coming days. You see, I am going to do an unboxing video of the new one! (What, you thought I was going to spill all the beans here?)

Needless to say this purchase has been years in the making. Not on account of affordability, this turntable was always very affordable. It just felt like the right time to do it.

Plus, a 16 year old belt drive turntable has had a good run.

Stay tuned for more!