“I purchased this unit in December 2015. Didn't write review back then. This TT is made by Clearaudio and resembles TT Emotion. The following are my observations:
1. It is impossible not to move TT left or right over its life span - then you have to re-center the motor, thus small resin legs on the bottom of the motor are getting lost. Its difficult to find them and buy them
2. If motor doesn't have entire set of legs it sits under angle and the belt is constantly falling off because the platter doesn't have the groove.
3. From the very beginning of the use of the subject TT I had to find some kind of foundation to install under the motor because it was to low, despite the fact that I reinstalled supplied turning wheel several times.
4. Marantz somehow was able to get from Clearaudio quite expensive tonearm and cartridge and still sell it to us at a very low price!!!!! However from the very beginning hydraulic lifter didn't work properly. It was dropping tonearm instead of gently lowering it. I decided not to return TT and was using it till today. I have to say that I also have Ovation TT with Tracer tonearm and the lifter works flawlessly.
5. There is another pain in the but issue - TT has two separate ground cables. One goes along interconnects from tonearm and another one is a totally separate cable which you have to stick into the small hole located under the TT at the bearing location. Its constantly falling off. And you have to remove platter, remove belt, pick up entire TT, stick the ground in, then put everything back, put gloves on, recenter motor, find small resin legs. Eventually I've got really tired of it.
6. When everything worked I loved it. Virtuoso cartridge is very good. It was connected to vacuum tube McIntosh preamp and vacuum tube amp monoblocks to B&W 800 speakers.
7. Eventually I was fed up with its flaws and bought more expensive Clearaudio Inovation with TT-5 tonearm.
8. If all above referenced are small things for you then its a very good for the price TT.”
“I love this turntable. I've been listening to it extensively since it arrive a few weeks ago and I am extremely happy. There is no such thing as a perfect product and certainly there may things about this turntable that are not ideal for some users. The lack of integrated cover may be a deal breaker for some, the on/off switch location may be a bit challenging to some. For me these were trivial and I've worked around both. What is undeniable is the quality of this build and the quality of the sound this reasonably priced turntable can produce. The Clearaudio build quality is obvious the moment you open the box and start the rather fun build process. This is a turntable for folks who want a hands on approach to the process and have the desire, basic knowledge and tools to get the most out of it. This is a precision machine and not just a unbox “plug and playâ€� unit. I should mention that I'm not using the Clearaudio Virtuosos Wood cartridge that came with the machine, I'm sure it is very good but I'm using a Nagaoka MP-300 because I love the Nagaoka sound and had the cart on hand already. I's an excellent match for this turntable and I'm thrilled with the results. I suggest placing the record directly on the acrylic plate rather than on the mat.
Audio Advisor did a very nice processing and shipping the product it arrived right on time and in perfect condition. Well done.
In all this is one of the best deals going for an opening price point audiophile turntable that punches well above its weight. For me, at this point, I just don't see why spending more would result in an improvement that I would find a good return on the considerable investment it would take to out perform what I have the Marantz TT 15s1.”
“I purchased this item not at AA a year ago, and I don't like it at all. It does not come with a dust cover, which lets the white finish accumulate all sorts of dirt, and presents the very exposed stylus to all kinds of dangers. Once you break the stylus you are out of business, because the cost of the cartridge and its non-user-replaceable stylus is almost half the price of the turntable. In addition, the leveling method is stupid because there is no way to level the motor, so the drive belt slips off if you try to use more than a small amount of level adjustment. And you need to put on a pair of white gloves to put the belt back on or change the platter speed. For me, these practical difficulties outweigh the benefits of the fine sound of this unit.”
