matozoa Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I'm looking to purchase this turntable, which I may upgrade from to a proper turntable within a few months time. Essentially the reason why I'm purchasing a new one is because I recently invested in a new set of speakers - Audio Engine A2's. Now, these are much higher quality than my old ones, but not anywhere near as powerful, so now a good portion of my records sound awfully quiet. Already has a preamp built in to it, and I just put the player through straight to my speakers. Had no need for an amp with my old speakers, and this player seems probably cheaper than purchasing an amp. The turntable I have now is a bit worn out anyway. Only a USB one like the Steepletone, but of less quality I believe, and I've had it for about three years. It's an ion profile pro, I think it's called.Now, since this TT seems to have volume control on it I figured this might solve that issue. But will the volume control on the player actually work with my external speakers or is it merely there to control the built-in ones? Thank you.Like I said, I may upgrade to a proper turntable soon. But for now, considering this is only £38, it feels like I'm certainly getting my moneys worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Read the beginners guide and don't buy it whatever you do Anything with a name like Steepletone, Crossley, Pyle, Ion etc etc. and anything with USB in the name should be used as a door stop at best and not be allowed near any records. They and all their ilk are the worst sort of plastic crap rubbish, only fit for landfill, they sound rubbish, you can adjust nothing and in extreme cases they wear records so buy a half decent vintage turntable and amp for 40 or 50 quid and your records and your ears will thank you. The Steepltone is the same deck as your Ion or a variation on it and the volume control is for the rubbish internal amp and speakers. Look for something with an s shaped arm, an adjustable counter weight, adjustable anti skate and a removable headshell, something like a Pioneer PL12D or a cheap DJ copy turntable like a Gemini PT as there are loads about for a few quid and will do a far better job than any thing with that sort of arm and cartridge on it. Buy right and you won't need to upgrade for a while and if you don't want to do it properly by using a proper amplifier and speakers you just need to add a phono stage (sometimes called a phono pre) and a passive volume control to drive your Audiogenies. matozoa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matozoa Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 Read the beginners guide and don't buy it whatever you do Anything with a name like Steepletone, Crossley, Pyle, Ion etc etc. and anything with USB in the name should be used as a door stop at best and not be allowed near any records. They and all their ilk are the worst sort of plastic crap rubbish, only fit for landfill, they sound rubbish, you can adjust nothing and in extreme cases they wear records so buy a half decent vintage turntable and amp for 40 or 50 quid and your records and your ears will thank you. The Steepltone is the same deck as your Ion or a variation on it and the volume control is for the rubbish internal amp and speakers. Look for something with an s shaped arm, an adjustable counter weight, adjustable anti skate and a removable headshell, something like a Pioneer PL12D or a cheap DJ copy turntable like a Gemini PT as there are loads about for a few quid and will do a far better job than any thing with that sort of arm and cartridge on it. Buy right and you won't need to upgrade for a while and if you don't want to do it properly by using a proper amplifier and speakers you just need to add a phono stage (sometimes called a phono pre) and a passive volume control to drive your Audiogenies. Appreciated. Hmmm. I was obviously aware they didn't sound the best. But as for in worst cases damaging your records? Reallly? I've never really known that problem to occur. A couple of records in my collection to tend to skip at the odd point but I never thought this to be the player at fault. The vast majority play fine. Would you even go as far to not recommend this merely as a placeholder for a few months time? Understandably, the volume control may not be the best. But it will work with my external speakers? (I am not familiar with a lot of vinyl terminology, so it may be required to simplify some things.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 does that thing have speakers built into the sides? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matozoa Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 does that thing have speakers built into the sides? Yeah, but I'm not intent on using those. That's what I mean, I wondered if the volume control on the TT was only for those or if it'd work with my audio engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Yeah, but I'm not intent on using those. That's what I mean, I wondered if the volume control on the TT was only for those or if it'd work with my audio engines. they should have built a bottle opener into the front. that would be sweet. castaway and agaetisbyrjun 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 The volume control is just for the internal speakers and any other output it has would be at a fixed level so that you can record from it. Really all this sort of thing are absolute rubbish with woeful quality control. The problem here is that there is an amount of engineering and geometry required in a proper turntable which these get nowhere near to, it's nothing new there was similar record wrecking crap all through the heyday of vinyl. All these things are pretty much the same two or three very poor quality turntables in different boxes and with different names and what someone in China is doing is making a copy of the last rubbish turntables made toward the end of the 90's badly. The basic problems are that you can't adjust anything on the tonearm and the cheap ceramic cartridges in them need a very high tracking force to work so if it's out they either run way to light and skip a lot or way to heavy and or out of line which can eventually wear records, as I say this is in extreme cases but I wouldn't take the risk as you can do nothing with them. If someone loaded one of these things in a clay pigeon trap it would be a waste of a shot gun cartridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matozoa Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 The volume control is just for the internal speakers and any other output it has would be at a fixed level so that you can record from it. Really all this sort of thing are absolute rubbish with woeful quality control. The problem here is that there is an amount of engineering and geometry required in a proper turntable which these get nowhere near to, it's nothing new there was similar record wrecking crap all through the heyday of vinyl. All these things are pretty much the same two or three very poor quality turntables in different boxes and with different names and what someone in China is doing is making a copy of the last rubbish turntables made toward the end of the 90's badly. The basic problems are that you can't adjust anything on the tonearm and the cheap ceramic cartridges in them need a very high tracking force to work so if it's out they either run way to light and skip a lot or way to heavy and or out of line which can eventually wear records, as I say this is in extreme cases but I wouldn't take the risk as you can do nothing with them. If someone loaded one of these things in a clay pigeon trap it would be a waste of a shot gun cartridge Yeah. You're probably right in all honesty. May just hold it off until I can purchase an actual player. Gonna look in to the model you recommended, could you possibly recommend an amp, or a phono stage/passive volume controller? What's the cheapest/best for my money of these things that wouldn't be total garbage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 You can get some cheaper phono stages that have a volume control or you can just use a cheap DJ mixer as it will do the same job. Look around for one of those DJ starter packs even as that will get you going. Have a look round boot fairs and charity shops and of course ebay and gumtree, it is a bit of a minefield and I understand why people buy this sort of thing but with a bit of patience and research you can get a very nice vintage system for no money. Ask older members of the family if they have their old hifi in the loft you never know. In the 70's and early 80's when vinyl was at it's height there was an enormous range of turntables and amplifiers about in the middle ground and people just throw them out because they are old and people in the know clean them up and put them on ebay etc. As I say have a good read of the beginners thread on this site pinned to the top of this section (otherwise known as the don't buy a crossley ever thread), the guy who put it together has done a superb job and it will answer a lot of questions. The other key thing to remember is that nowadays it's not difficult to build up a valuable record collection so why would you play it on a cheap piece of rubbish like that? We all have to start somewhere and all have different budgets but with everything there is a minimum standard and these things don't even get close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 The PL12 is an example by the way there are quite a few similar looking turntables around plus lots of decent enough amps from that period as well. Have a look for one that has sockets marked pre out on the back as these will drive your audiogenies, some have pre out which is hard wired to power in and you just remove the links and then are just using the pre stage of the amplifier. The beginners thread will also answer all your questions about the different types of amplifier and speaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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