Wax on, Wax off: I bought a turntable
A few weeks ago my wife and I were at a friends house hanging out. We were listening to music and talking. The Classic Rock group, Eagles came up. My friend and I have a running joke about me and the Eagles. We were talking about them one time (many moons ago) and I (a self-proclaimed Classic Rock aficionado) boasted that I knew all of their songs. My friend challenged me to start naming some. For whatever reason, I was only in that moment, able to come up with two song titles. His sister was with us and from that moment on I was known as “Tony 2 Songs.” That story came up in this recent get together which prompted my friend to leave the room for a moment.
He came back in with an album, yes an album. He went on to tell me that he’d recently visited his sister. His sister was out and about shopping and came across “this” album, the 1979 classic; The Long Run. She thought of me, that moment we shared years ago, bought the album, and asked my friend to give it to me when the time was right. We called her and I thanked her and told her how happy her random act of kindness made me. On the way home I thought about what I should do with the album. I could just accept the gift and put it on display somewhere in my office. Or, I could use this event as an opportunity; an opportunity to bring more music into my life. The next day I started looking for, you guessed it, a turntable.
I “settled” in on the Crosley CR631D-GR Sterling Portable Turntable with Aux-in and Bluetooth, Green and Cream (for those of you interested in looking for this on Amazon). Let me be clear about what I mean by “settled.” I’m not looking to go “full blown audiophile’ on this new adventure; at least not for now. I just thought it would be cool to find something retro looking that would be fun to play the wonderful gift my friend’s sister gave me. This blog post will document what it was like to set the turntable up as well as my first impressions of the listening experience.
Out of the box
The turntable was packaged very nicely. So nicely I wasn’t sure where the legs were as I took things out of the box. Upon further inspection I found them within the styrofoam, in the back. I almost didn’t find the power adaptor either as it too was packed snuggly under another piece of styrofoam. As I took the turntable out of the plastic wrap I noticed that some of the faux leather casing was not glued securely on the front cover. Oh well, one of the reasons I bought this was for its retro look. The back of the cover is held together with a series of 4 tiny screws on the left and right. The cover is meant to come off if you like. While getting things together I noticed two tiny screws on the floor. It didn’t take long to figure out that they were supposed to be secured on the back of the cover. They don’t screw back in completely but I guess that’s ok too. My wife says that we can keep them in place with a little bit of nail polish...if need be.
Opening the cover I noticed that the adapter to play 45’s, the tonearm, and the needle were secured nicely. Quality Control seemed to be at least trying on this particular turntable before it went out the door. After acclimating myself to the “On/Off-Volume Knob,” the “Function Knob,” and making sure the “Speed Switch” was set to 33, I was ready to put this piece of equipment to the test while simultaneously answering the question; would I have fun listening to music using this turntable? I put the Eagles album on, side 1, and “dropped the needle.”
Sonic Experience
My expectations were not very high for the sound quality. Remember, I promised myself I would not go “full blown audiophile” on this experiment; I just wanted something that looked cool, sounded ok; ensuring an overall fun listening experience. My first impressions, after listening to The Long Run are that the sound is in fact a notch above ok. It actually sounds pretty decent for what it is. And, most importantly, it was fun!
Where I’m listening: Location does Matter
As I listened to the Eagles album, on our first floor, I wondered if the turntable would provide me a more intimate experience if I changed its location. I went ahead and moved the turntable from the first floor to our second floor “middle room.” Here’s a picture of the set up.
The turntable has found its home!
I thought it would be cool to put the turntable up in this “middle room” because it’s smaller; more intimate. This smaller, more intimate setting gives the speaker, in the turntable, a chance to “fill the room” in a way it can’t in a much bigger room. I also thought it would look better in this room and in my opinion, it does. As you can see, it’s a relatively small piece of equipment and it seemed a bit lost aesthetically on the first floor. It’s size is more proportionate to the “middle room” I have it in now. It looks like it belongs in this room. Finally, I imagined the experience, in this room, to be more private; providing me the opportunity to get away from everything, when I wanted to be more intimate with the music I enjoy listening to. I’m really glad I did this. I’ve purchased 3 albums; Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush, Paul McCartney and Wings’ Band on the Run, and Carol King’s Tapestry. I’ve listened to all 3 albums on the second floor, in the “middle room” and the experience has been really nice! Exactly how I imagined it would be. I actually caught myself smiling at the end of Band on the Run, while listening to Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, as the song builds to its conclusion; a beautiful moment in a beautiful song!
I’m glad I bought this turntable. As I’ve said throughout this post, it’s not going to be the best sonic experience and I’m ok with that; for now. What it is going to be is; intimate and fun, and that’s what I’m looking for right now.
