Dave M.
Excellent record player
Verity Ferguson
I have old vinyl records from my late grandfather and now I can play them! The sound is very clear and set up was pretty easy. It’s a great record player, I highly recommend this!
Steve B.
Nice player but wish it had a USB port..
Grant T.
well designed and engineered. looks great with my other HIFI gear. also Easy to use, with the pitch AJD and the arm adjuster I get a great sound.
Richard Wilson
sounds good
Gregory N
Very happy with this turntable. I love that it can connect with bluetooth, so you can use your headphones or a speaker. It was a bit tricky to set up, as the instructions were a little difficult to understand when balancing the tone arm, but youtube is very helpful here. (One thing to note: the belt is already installed on the bottom of the plate and it is very thin, so it is easy to miss. I was very confused when assembling it because I could not find the packaging that contained the belt. I thought they had forgotten it.) I really like the auto return button that returns the tone arm. As a whole, this turntable looks sleek and sounds good. A solid option for someone who wants something better than those all in one consoles.
Regan Lindsay
A very solid and practical turntable,It was easy to connect to my amplifier and speakers. However the Bluetooth stubbornly would not connect to my new Bluetooth speakers. Thus I had to connect it with the RCA jacks. The turntable has a nice design and is good and heavy, with easy to read functions.I keep wondering why the power switch on the snow turntables is in the back. I like the fact that you can increase or lower the speed of the moving record if that is a necessity. The automatic works at the end of the record so that the record doesn’t keep spinning with the needle being misused. There is a hole in the record evolving plate that allows you to fasten the belt while observing it through the hole. It has an interesting attractive simplicity that would fit with almost any room. The sound quality is excellent. I am very happy with the turntable.
Kevin Pugh
It sounds great. I've got records ranging from the 1940s to the 20-teens and they all sound the best they ever have. I have really been enjoying listening with my ANC bluetooth headphones and not be tied to my turntable.
Gary
I am very impressed with this turntable. I am by no means an audiophile and have only owned one other record player in my adult years, but this turntable is very high quality and sounds great. There is no audio output from this turntable, so you will need an audio source to play it. It is Bluetooth capable (it will pair with an audio source and play out of that device). Regarding the installation/set-up, there were two parts that tripped me up, so hopefully by reading this review, you will save yourself an hour and much frustration. First, the instruction manual refers to a band that needs to be connected. You will search all over for this band and will probably think you are missing this piece. You are not. It is on the underside of the actual turntable. The other step that confused me was that the player doesn't start spinning when you flip it to start and press the on/off button. You actually need to move the arm/needle toward the turntable for it to start spinning.
The system plays very well. It is well made, with good quality parts and is very nice looking. Highly recommend.
Rachel Harvey
This is a high quality, real turntable, not a toy. The first thing that struck me was the weight - this is a substantial piece of equipment. Fit and finish are excellent.
It has a number of other "pros:"
Audio-Technica Moving-Magnetic Cartridge.
Cast aluminum platter.
Built-in pre-amp removes the need for a separate amplifier for recording or playback direct to speakers, though there is also a phono setting if connection to an amplifier is desired.
Adjustments for both tonearm balance and anti-skating.
Lever to lower and lift the tonearm - with damping.
Auto-return of tonearm and shut off at the end of the record (can be disabled if desired via a button).
Instructions are generally excellent.
USB and Bluetooth connectivity in addition to RCA.
Phono and Line-Out (using built-in preamp) settings for output.
No issues with my windows 10 machine recognizing the turntable via USB. Audacity saw it and was able to record no problem as well.
There are a few "cons:"
There is some motor noise that can be heard when the turntable is rotating. I don't hear it through the playback, just when the platter is spinning and the volume is turned all the way down. At normal listening volumes, I don't hear it.
When using the lift lever for the tone arm, it places the head too high. High enough that it is difficult to tell exactly where it is relative to the edge of the record or the start of a particular track and high enough that the cartridge hits the cover when it is closed.
The automatic power off after 10 minutes of no audio output is nice, but, with the power button on the back of the turntable, it is inconvenient. I can understand why some of the buttons (line vs. phono for example) are on the back of the turntable, but it would be more convenient for the overall power button, and maybe the Bluetooth related buttons, to be easily seen and accessible from the front.
It would be nice at this price point if they had included timing marks on the platter and a strobe to calibrate / check the speed.
What happens when the belt stretches? Are replacements readily and affordably available?
No instructions for replacing the stylus / cartridge.
Overall, I am happy with this turntable. My main purpose in getting it is that I have a number of vinyl albums that are not available either on CD or streaming, so with this, I was able to convert my albums to digital so that I can listen to them when I am not in my home.
Christine K.
Lovely to hear my records on a smart new record deck.
James White
I want to preface this review by telling you that although I grew up listening to vinyl, I know very little about stereos, or how to discuss their capacity and specifications. I know how to put an album on and listen to it. So, this review is probably best for people whose audio and electronic understanding levels are similar to my own.
When I first opened the box, I was dismayed because there was some assembly involved. Mercifully, the setup was a breeze with a tiny glitch that I will detail after my review, so if you purchase this turntable, you don't waste a bunch of time looking for a piece that isn't in the bag of parts.
As I read the instructions, I got a bit worried while reading how to use the Bluetooth transmitter to pair with speakers. The instructions were a bit vague, and they concluded by saying, "Since there are numerous Bluetooth solutions, we do not guarantee that this can support all Bluetooth speakers . . . if you can't make it work, try using it wired or try a different set of speakers." I was worried because the Bluetooth function is the ONLY reason I got a new turntable. My expectations for what a turntable with Bluetooth is capable of were probably unrealistic.
I initially tried pairing the turntable with my Echo system from Amazon. Now, I'm a bit of a Luddite, so keep in mind that my skills with electronics are very limited. I was almost instantly able to get it to pair with ONE of my Echo Studio speakers. After several hours of trying to figure out if it was possible to get the music to stream through more than one speaker at a time (i.e., "Alexa play Tom Petty everywhere!), I could not come up with a method. If you can figure it out, please let me know.
I then tried pairing the turntable with my Sonos system, hoping again to get the music to play throughout the speakers in my house. I first tried to do this using Alexa as a control. Again, I was able to get the music to play through ONE Sonos speaker but not all of them. I tried for quite some time to somehow pair the turntable with the Sonos 1 app directly, and that wasn't possible.
The idea of listening to music from one speaker is not particularly enchanting to me. I really like the whole house experience that both Sonos and Alexa provide. I was hoping this turntable's Bluetooth capabilities would afford me that experience.
After a bit of research, it seems as if the whole house experience is impossible with Alexa and Echo. I think to do it wirelessly with Sonos, I'd have to buy a pricey component. However, from what I understand, I can achieve it by connecting the turntable with one of my Sonos Play: speakers using an RCA to 3.5 cord (about $8 -$10). So, that is the option I'm going with. I'm not thrilled about it, but I can't hold this turntable responsible for the fact that technology can't get me where I want to go.
I look forward to the arrival of my RCA to 3.5 cord coming so I can listen to my album collection on speakers throughout my home.
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The sound is nice enough. Probably not the best you've ever heard but certainly very solid. If you are an audiophile and looking for Bang and Olufsen quality, you aren't going to get it here, but the sound is great for casual listening.
Hint: if you purchase this, the second step of the instructions asks you to "carefully slip the belt over the motor pully." Don't spend an inordinate amount of time looking for "the band' it isn't one of the things included in the bag of parts; it's a rubber band sort of thing that is stretched around the underside of the turntable. Once you've located it, the rest of the setup is pretty straightforward.
Tuan vu Nguyen
I remember saving up money from one of my first jobs when i was seventeen to buy two turntables thinking i was going to be a dj. I purchased two Numark direct drive turntables and am still using one of them currently more than twenty years later. I have been using them constantly until i was reduced to a single one. The need for a second player is surfacing in a big way and is what led me to order this nice turntable from the Donner brand. I wanted also to try out a Bluetooth option so i can walk around with wireless headphones on. The reason for this one was not to be able to do dj mixing but rather fading one track into the next. I am such a music nerd i like to lead one track into the next like it was a live performance for myself because i like to always hear it like that if i can. This Donner unit is a belt drive which differs from the direct drives i have been using. There is no difference besides the fact that eventually the belt will need replaced. There is less strain on the motor though so i may learn to like the belt variation better in time. As for this Donner turntable i am very impressed. I was excited right away when this arrived in the mail because the box was super heavy which is the first sign of a legit turntable as both of my others weigh about twenty pounds or so just like this one.
I love the thin but sturdy base with the nice dials that control the speed and power. I am happy to see i can speed up or slow down the records because there is a significsnce with playing a record slower than it was intended or faster. Try listening to "Because" by the Beatles slow and with the new master- strange things begin to happen about midway through. That is something you can experience with this turntable that showcases why there is not comparison to the vinyl experience.
I am very satisfied to see there is an Audio Technica stylus and also that it is of the moving magnet type. That is great because although the included needle is a decent one you could easily put on on there that is hundreds of dollars.
I am happy with the tone arm and the adjustments that are available. I sometimes struggle with calibrating the anti skip dial and the arm weight with my Numark so i found this setup a bit more user friendly and in turn modern.
The Bluetooth function is what makes this player special and it works nicely.
In conclusion i am very happy with this turntable and for the price it delivers the goods. I recommend this turntable as well as the Donner brand in general because they offer affordable instruments and accessories that are well made.
Harry Naylor
Decent sound, decent looks
3600L cartridge provides good sound and is rugged
Auto stop/return
Has Bluetooth 5.0
Piotr Pacych
I have listened to records for almost 50 years, and somehow have never owned a "real" dedicated player that is a step up from the entry-level cheapie players that have built-in speakers and are most definitely not made for audiophiles. As I have expanded my vinyl collection the last few years and really gained an appreciation for listening to an entire album from start to finish, I was thrilled to get to try out this player which is a big step up for me.
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