[jtwrace]

You can now purchase an Orbit if you missed out on the Kickstarter project. I'm looking forward to it.

See here: http://gettheorbit.com/

[TheChairGuy]

Pretty commendable that they got a model to $179...I thought for sure they'd have to go to $200 to make the product possible. 

Hope it all works out for these guys

John

[rodge827]

They should do just fine.
Apparently TT companies like Project can't produce them fast enough according to the NY Times, found in this thread:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=117466.0

A friends' son has just graduated from Rutgers and was a DJ for the campus radio station. He will only listen to vinyl on the Ion USB table his father bought him a couple of years ago. A U-Turn table with an inexpensive phono amp would be a step up and something he can afford to take to grad school.

Chris

[jtwrace]

Pretty commendable that they got a model to $179...I thought for sure they'd have to go to $200 to make the product possible. 

Hope it all works out for these guys

John

I agree.  I couldn't help myself and not purchase one.  I got the plus version.  $299 shipped to my door.  I think I'll pair it with a Vista-Audio phono stage and rock on with all this vinyl I own.   

[neobop]

Interesting start-up.  No product evaluations and no user testimonials, yet plenty of money from advance sales and all that, to get this business going. 
I read that the table has no cueing or anti-skate, reminiscent of an old AR.

Those days are gone.  I'm not sure the vinyl resurgence kids care, about an inexpensive esoteric table, that is.  With internet direct sales only, they might have a slow time of it after the initial wave.  The target customer, those interested in something better for the money, tend to get disillusioned quickly or get enough money to upgrade.  How hard is it to put a cueing lever on, or a weight on a string for anti-skate?  If used ones become plentiful, it might be a long way back for U turn. 

Speaking of the vinyl resurgence crowd, they probably never heard of U-Turn and the table would only sell on Amazon if they give up some profit.  There is some competition you know, and they have a large presence.   It might not matter even if it's pretty good or pretty crappy.   Audio companies come and go.  Even if they have a good product(s) they often fail.  I wonder if they'll be around in a few years.
neo
 

[jtwrace]

Have you seen their numbers from the Kickstart project? 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/uturnaudio/the-orbit-turntable-0?ref=live

Supposedly the table is sonically crazy good.     I'll find out.   

[vortrex]

what makes this table crazy good?  I take it you mean crazy good for a $200 table?

[jtwrace]

what makes this table crazy good?  I take it you mean crazy good for a $200 table?

Yes, crazy good for $200 but has also been said it will compete with tables that are thousands of dollars.  We'll see.

[vortrex]

I guess it will be interesting to see, but the construction looks no different than a low end Rega.

[roscoeiii]

Yes, crazy good for $200 but has also been said it will compete with tables that are thousands of dollars.  We'll see.

Where have you seen these reports? Are there listener impressions out there that I have missed?

[jtwrace]

Where have you seen these reports? Are there listener impressions out there that I have missed?

On the net.  Mostly all from the founders of the company.

[wushuliu]

I guess it will be interesting to see, but the construction looks no different than a low end Rega.

Regas look low end in general up through the RP3. It's their tonearms that seem to bear the brunt of the improvement up the chain, exemplified by the fact that the RB300 costs $600, 2/3 cost of the RP3.

So if the Orbit made a winner of their tonearm they could have a very strong product. Could be the Philips 212 of modern turntables, who knows.

[jtwrace]

Precisely why I'm trying it. The measurements are pretty darn good..

[jackman]

I hope these guys make it!  Their products have a fun vibe and I regret getting rid of all of my records.  I hope they succeed!

[jtwrace]

I hope these guys make it!  Their products have a fun vibe and I regret getting rid of all of my records.  I hope they succeed!

+1

Glad I never did get rid of them.  I actually kept purchasing them.   

[wushuliu]

Precisely why I'm trying it. The measurements are pretty darn good..

I like that the father of one of the founders is an engineer and I believe has helped with the design process as well.

[jtwrace]

I like that the father of one of the founders is an engineer and I believe has helped with the design process as well.

[jackman]

+1

Glad I never did get rid of them.  I actually kept purchasing them.   

Every time I hear a good vinyl setup, like Roscoe's, I regret selling my records.  Hopefully, a DSD setup will make me forget about vinyl sometime. 

There are a couple recordings on vinyl that I was obsessed with and listened to all the time.  I have since ditched the vinyl and have the CD versions, and rarely listen to them because they don't have the magic.  One that comes to mind is Nat King Cole's, After Midnight Sessions with his trio.  No frills, just Nat on piano (he was a smoking Jazz pianist) and a super tight band, with lots of guest artists.  There is a guy named Stuff Smith (I belive that's his name) playing Jazz violin on some tracks and on vinyl, the sound is crazy 3D.  On CD, even the reissued remaster, it's much "flatter" without the magic. 

[jtwrace]

Understood.  I figure for the cost, this is worth the shot.  Why not?  I have all these albums, RCM so I might as well have a vinyl setup for when I get the bug.   

[neobop]

U-Turn started shipping tables, so I expect we'll start getting reviews. 

http://uturnaudio.com/orbit-turntable/

neo