Marantz TT-15S1 Turntable

Great affordable turntable

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jan 24, 2007

Pros: Quiet, sonic, full featured

Cons: Manual, trickly pulley assembly

I have used an Aristan Audio R-11 for twenty years and thought it was time to try sometihng else. Once assembled, the Marantz is a solid, good-looking, easy to use table with all the sound, richness, clarity and openness of turntables three or four t...imes the price. The whole assembly gives the appearance of an older model solid turntable, while the white glass look (it comes with the pair of white gloves so you will not scratch it while assembling) gives it a 21st century update. The motor/pulley assembly is tricky. The almost incomprehensible manual, badly translated as many of them are, has directions for mounting the capstan 1mm off the surface and then screwing it down tightly. If you do that, the belt will work at 45 rpm, but will slip off after two rotations at 33 rpm. You need to look at the addendum and move the capstan up to 3mm off the surface. Once you do that, everything works like a charm. The motor is quiet, the sonics are open and clean, and after about 200 hours, I am entirely happy and would recommend the table without reservation. Being paranoid, I intend to buy a couple of replacement belts early, since the openness of the belt makes me nervous but so far so good. Read more Less