Very nice!

In sad news, I had some unexpected expenses come up and have to sell my VPI. I'm thinking of going for a U-Turn myself so I have something quality to play my records on. I emailed them to see if I make a custom order and send them my preferred cartridge (a Denon DL-103R) if they would install it for me or if I have to it myself. Did the included cart come installed on yours?

Nice! I have his first album. I do want to get Wolf, but don't want to pay $40 for it.

Yup. Fully installed.

Cool, hopefully they'll be able to install mine for me.

Aaaand they can't. They suggested buying the table with the included cart and swapping the cart out myself, which I can do but is a pain I was hoping to avoid. Oh well.

Just scored a SIGNED copy of a very rare vinyl pressing of one of my favorite bands "best-of" compilation for $40 - I would've paid triple that!
This band's vinyl releases are all very limited, rare and usually go for outrageous amounts.
Pretty stoked to have found this through a vinyl trading group on facebook, near mint too!

nice!

can you share the facebook site?

It's about $35 shipped from Denmark. Still not cheap, but likely the cheapest you'll see it get now that Mondo's not carrying it anymore. No copies available on Discogs.

I also listened to my re-press of Autechre's Amber. So damn good.

Sad to hear about your downgrade, Supermallet. Hope everything's alright. If I could afford that VPI, I'd make you an offer on it. Or a switcheroo + cash (note: I can't. Wife would kill me...)

I understand Dan, the WAF (wife approval factor) is real!

In the interest of saving costs and hassle, I'm just going to go back to my Technics SL-1800. It's not a bad table and the arm is already configured for my current cartridge, so that's half the battle right there.

good luck man, positive thoughts headed your way..

I found my 35 year old Pioneer TT for my basement set up, I actually really love it.. not as good as the base orbit I got in January that got me re-ignited, but great fun to spin it nonetheless.. has some features like auto return and arm raise that the orbit does not have so it's a fun experience in it's own right..

I used this one, but there's all kinds.

Thanks!

On a more positive note, The Warriors Waxworks vinyl release is great. The first disc is all the songs played on the radio station in the film, and the second disc is the score. Looking forward to The Thing when the repress orders get shipped.

I sold my Audio technica player that I replaced my Orbit with today. Sold it to a co-worker for $40, so not a bad little rebate. I got it as a bday present 4 years ago, so no money out of my pocket and he already has some vinyls to play, as well. Everyone wins.

Got replacement discs for the Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me soundtracks from Mondo. They were very nice about it, I told them all three discs had playback issues and they immediately sent me replacements, which is especially nice since I bought TP through a retailer and not directly from them.

Just played the Twin Peaks TV soundtrack. It still has issues, pops and surface noise. However, it's quieter than the first disc I had, and since these issues are clearly with the pressing, I could get 1,000 replacements and none of them may be perfect, many of them will probably be worse. So I'm keeping this one.

Going to test out the FWWM discs later.

Sorry dude, that sucks.

I love my custom U-Turn player, too, but the lack of a groove for the belt does get a little annoying. Once that thing slips off it can be a bitch to get back on.

My Buddy who has an Orbit says the trick to that is simply to place a finger under the belt as you turn it off, and that way it won't slip off the platter if the belt drifts.

It is a pain, and I was going back and forth with the 45 RPM an 33 RPM belt - haven't quit mastered it, but it's coming along. I will say that if you guys are using the included felt mat -- then you guys should try the cork mat -- it is great. U Turn's cork mats do not stick to vinyl records unlike some of the ones offered on Amazon. It's definitely worth the $20. I'll probably spin some 45's tomorrow and use the aluminum 45 RPM adapter I got from them, too.

Indeed, but I said fuck it, and I ordered it direct from Denmark for $35. I used the PayPal 2 weeks to pay feature, so that should take the sting out of the whole thing. Now that I think of it, it would have been $11 more expensive through Mondo since they charge $6 for shipping now.

Much to my surprise, the FWWM were much cleaner than the previous ones, and less noisy than either TV soundtrack disc.

I can't imagine the Orbit belt being worse than a Funk Firms turntable. That was ridiculous. I was messing with it at a store and it steered me away entirely.

Interesting. I've never ever had the belt slip off the platter when I turn it off. At 33 or 45, once it's on, it stays on. His belt might be a little too big. I make it a point to not leave it in the 45 RPM groove when I'm not using it to avoid stretching it out.

For me, going from 33 to 45 is easy. It never comes off. Going from 45 to 33, though... I've resigned to just taking the belt off and re-installing it. My 'trick' if I can describe it well, is to install it front-to-back instead of trying to get it on the platter or the spindle first. So I make sure it's in the spindle groove for 33, and make sure it's pulled nicely along the backside of the platter. I hold the platter still with two fingers while I gently pull the belt towards me until it goes over the front-side of the platter. The trick is to make sure it's not manually spinning anything by holding the platter in place with my extra fingers.
Not sure that makes much sense... but it's been getting easier, I think.

As long as no one's doing this (I saw this on reddit...)



I might consider it. I'm going no-mat on the acrylic platter for now, but I'm using the clearaudio clever clamp mentioned in this thread. Sound quality seems to have improved in that regard.

Jeeze, what a pain in the ass. I switch between 33 & 45 all the time. Glad I never got an Orbit.

Just get an Audio-Technica direct-drive and save yourself the hassle.
Fluance makes a great belt-driven turntable as well.

Doing a little research, I believe it would be possible to use a Music Hall Cruise Control 2.0 with the U-turn Orbit to change speeds, so that you don't have to ever move the belt. It should work with any belt-driven turntable that uses a 120V AC synchronous motor, which the Orbit has I believe. While it might seem like an expensive upgrade just for convenience, it would also potentially improve pitch stability/reduce wow & flutter as it is providing quartz-locked speed control to the motor.