New vs Vintage Turntable. Both the Same Price. Which One Should you Buy?

In this video I compare a U-turn Orbit Plus (a new turntable) to a Vintage Pioneer PL-540 from 1978. Both cost about the same amount of money right now. Should you buy the new record player or the vintage one?

There will always be exceptions, and you always need to do research. A turntable will not be better or worse just because it is newer or older, this is one example of what you can get for your money.

[AllenCross]

YouTube should mark this video as a perma-tip for newbies: How to make a simple yet effective demo/comparison clip. No shaky cam, no chatter about your life, no background noises from the kids or pets, and no wandering down rabbit-holes on w/e shiny thing catches your attention during the shoot. Just give the viewers what it says in the title, neat & clean. Yes, this might require some pre- (scripting) and/or post-video (editing) work, but so do most things that are worth doing. Bravo! :-)

[Recordology]

Ironic. A silent video about audio equipment.

[brianfields]

I have a DUAL 704, purchased it in 1978. Still works like magic. Crazy thing with this turntable, you can, for fun, put it at any angle and it will play. I've had it perpendicular on it's side with the arm tracking up. Great pieces of electronics made back then. Very hands on.

[mericet]

Who else checked their sound was still working at the start of this?

[euroshark]

Yamaha YP-D6. Quartz locked, direct drive. 43 years old and still perfect.

[spandy]

I have an original PL520 I inherited from my father, one of my most treasured possessions. I still feel a strong connection to him when I put an LP on. I’ve thought about a new player now and again but love the fact that some of the older products outdo their modern counterparts for the money. Thanks for the comparison.

[mcu]

I like the vintage because you can get it fully automatic. It starts and starts with a press of a button. When the side is over, the arm returns to the arm rest and shuts off.

[dimitrisouzounis]

i have a Pioneer Pl 112D vintage manual TT from the seventies and i love it!! wooden base, suspension, beautifull s shaped tonearm, robust feeling switches and totally a machine that plays music very well and makes me happy :)

[johnnybgoode]

New turntables are often stripped down and spartan skeletons with little esthetic appeal. Vintage tables are more often like works of art, and the build quality had to be there for the thing to still function after so many years.

[HeretixAevum]

I picked up a Technics SL-1350 in fantastic condition last week, I think it's better than anything I could've got new for the price. These 70s japanese direct drive tables have such rock solid reputations and I can see why now.

[jimgardiner]

I have bought 2 or three vintage turntables over the years and put new cartridges on them ( last being the Ortophon 2M Red). They sounded great. They did however show their age in various ways. I got tired of fiddling with them so I bit the bullet and bought a new Clearaudio Concept turntable and it sounds fantastic. Not cheap but worth it.

[rogerbarrett]

I have a PL 540 and it is brilliant. It's good to see new decks, that are well thought out being marketed in a resurgent vinyl market but I love the gear that was made in the 70's and 80's

[johannesbutz]

I got a '74 Telefunken w268 hifi, and what you need to add to this video is that playing a record over a vintage turntable also adds a unique experience to the music, because of the vintage vibes😂

[hi-fidude]

Turntable technology has not improved since the 80s, they just got way uglier. Same with cassettes, a 90s Sony machine with Dolby S and 3 tape heads is almost as good as it can get. Or a Tandberg TCD 3014 that rival Nakamichi Dragon, it is an absolute monster that came out in the 80s.

[autisticrebel]

I have always preferred older turntables, the one we have was made in the 1980s and it is a Technics SL-B210 and was found in a skip in 2000 and it has been working perfectly ever since.

[rwl-pjkh]

I was given a realistic lab 420 a while back, put a new cartridge in it and it sounds great, same features as all the higher brand names and it does repeat, whole lot works perfect for a 40 year old machine, the price was perfect too lol

[ejcheck]

The Orbit is grounded through the left audio channel. No ground wire is necessary.

[patrickmoore]

Excellent, no-nonsense video. Loved it! On a side note, I prefer non automatic return. I took the return gear out of my Pioneer pl-518. Sometimes a record has some cool stuff in the dead wax that I can't miss. (Listen to Peter Gabriel's "White Shadow" and hear the synth go on forever. Or an old Sgt. Pepper, side two.)

[mcu]

I own several vintage direct drive turntables. The reason why I like the vintage ones is the automatic start and return. Also a lot of the newer ones lack a speed adjustment on top and anti skate. Last but not least, the build quality, less plastic parts.

[pcallas]

I'll keep the vintage. Turntables were made well back then because it was the main format. Even the cheap BSR changers were very complex with their mechanisms. They tracked better than the first one. Thank you for sharing.