“Never Knowingly Undersold”
John Lewis is currently enjoying a big spike in turntable sales, with the upmarket UK department store reporting a 240% increase in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year.
The store stocked just one type of turntable during the 2000s but with rising demand in recent years, John Lewis now sells six models – although the majority on offer are manufactured by (the rather infamous) Crosley, and are therefore of the briefcase variety.
When you consider that vinyl sales are sailing at a 20-year high, and given the recent manifestation of that growth in the UK’s first ever official vinyl chart, a turntable resurgence slots neatly into the overall landscape. People need turntables to play all those records their buying, right?
Interestingly a recent study found a third of people don’t actually listen to the records they buy, either because they don’t own a turntable or because, for some unbeknown reason, they don’t bother using a turntable they own. The new John Lewis figures certainly point to more people buying turntables, let’s just hope it’s indicative of a wider pattern of turntable use.
From Vinyl Factory
I own eight turntables purchased durin the decades. I have also purchased some new ones connectable to computers, but true enough the older models from the seventies and eighties seem to be stronger, more durable than the later models. Does anyone agree with me?
Regards to all.
Well perhaps but in 1972 I purchased a Sony belt drive 331/3 & 45 speeds change at the slide of a robust lever fully automatic and when the record reaches the end run out it automatically goes back to the tone arm rest and switches the turntable to ha halt ready to turn the record over, this turntable is still in complete running order today and is in exceptional condition today. The model should anyone be curious is HP 511 A a heavy polished aluminium plater around 3/4″ of an inch thick and a substantial mat made from rubber that shows no evidence of perishing or cracking and a hinged lid which is detachable, oh and quite heavy. Roll on 2017 and the direct drive Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB is exceptional. However, no automatic cancellation of the tone arm , has to be done manually which is a drawback, also the cover isn’t hinged just lifts off but, has excellent shock absorbing feet and is as solid as the rock of Gibraltar, plays any speed 331/3 45 &78’s probably more suited to DJ’ing but for the cash great , with a felt mat. Not sure if the new belt driven manual speed change and MDF platers are seriously worth bothering with. Summing up old machines were probably engineered well with the odd number of shortcomings, there’s the ultimate turntable out there somewhere hopefully at an affordable price.