Crosley CR8005A BK Cruiser Portable 3 Speed Turntable

This is a review of the Crosley CR8005A BK Cruiser Portable 3 Speed Turntable. It is a very popular piece of new technology with old world feel on Amazon It is a belt drive turntable that could see you enjoying the warm analogue sound that comes from vinyl records. Whether you love those old albums from way back or the new wave of vinyl discs released by current artists that are becoming very popular, this portable record player has a lot to offer.

The aim of this review is to make it easy for you to know whether the Crosley 3 Speed Portable Turntable is the right one for you.

GO TO THE Crosley CR8005A BK Cruiser Portable 3 Speed Turntable

Main Features

Belt-driven portable turntable.
Easily replaced NP6 stylus (needle).
Manual return tone arm.
RCA and headphone jack outputs.
Plays 3 speeds: 33 1/3, 45, and 78 RPM records.
Dynamic full range stereo speakers.
Fully portable.

Belt drive technology – it’s great !

Belt drive turntable technology has been around for a long time it is tried and true reliable and simple. Belt drives are mechanically more complex that direct drive turntables but usually give a better reproduction at a lower cost than Direct drive turntables.

The belt drive turntable will need replacement of the belt periodically but with modern materials the belt can last for many years before that has to happen. Replacement of the belt is quite simple and will not need complicated mechanical skills or tools in fact it should only take a few minutes.

The NP6 Stylus – easily replaced

The stylus or needle will over time wear down and once it has worn sufficiently will affect the quality of the sound coming from your record player. The way to recognise this is when you hear that the sound is becoming muffled or perhaps distorted one of the first things you can check is how much wear has occurred to the needle. This can easily be done using a magnifying glass to check how much has worn away. Don’t worry about having to do this very often it can take years before it becomes noticeable. New stylus are very reasonably priced I think Amazon has the NP6 for around 10 dollars.

The stylus is very important to the quality of the sound and should be checked periodically for cleanliness. The needle will help to keep the grooves in your records clean as it goes round in the groove if there is any dirt the needle will pick it up but eventually become clogged and may not sit in the record groove correctly therefore affecting the sound.

Manual Return Tone Arm

The tone arm is a manually operated this is true old time feel and operation. The tone arm determines how the needle tracks in the groove and keeps the needle in the correct location and vertically situated over the groove to give optimal sound from the outside groove through to the innermost. The pitch changes as the needle moves toward the centre and the tone arm has the job of keeping the needle inline all the way from start to finish on your disc.

There is one problem with the Crosley CR8005A BK Cruiser Portable 3 Speed Turntable. You will have to “get the knack” of gently landing your tone arm on the record surface. The good thing is it is not a hard skill to learn if you know an older person they will probably be able to show you how it is done.

Once the record has finished you will need to pick it up and swing it back to its normal resting post. This is very easy to learn.

Auxiliary Input, Headphone & RCA Output.

The Headphone out allows you to connect your favourite set of headphones and quietly crank up the volume while not disturbing anyone else. You will probably find though that the sound quality will be better listening this way than through the built in speakers. More about that later.

The auxiliary input gives you the option of using your Crosley Portable Turntables as a music system to power your IPod, IPhone, Smartphone or any other portable device for music. You can with the aid of an adapter plug in and blast you digital music through the speakers in your record player. This is a very cool option that makes it a very flexible and useful device.

The RCA output allows you to plug your portable record player into a home music or stereo system all you need is the adapter to go from this portable unit to your home unit and blast your favourite records out through your powerful home system. You will then be able to hear all the warmth and superior sound that is synonymous with the vinyl record technology.

3 Speeds 33 RPM , 45 RPM & 78 RPM

Three speeds for all the different types of records what a great little player! You’ll be able to play the 33 RPM for 12 inch LP’s or 45 RPM for the little 7 inch singles or the 10 inch EPs and 12 inch single discs or the 78 RPM for the much older Bakerlite 10 inch discs. When playing your records make sure that before you put them on the turntable that they are straight and wobble free. Too much wobble can cause tracking problems for your tone arm and may cause speed variations as well. Usually records that are not straight have been incorrectly stored for long periods or during storage have been subjected to excessive temperature. Sometimes they can be straightened but a small amount of wobble may not caused any problem at all.

Dynamic full range built in speakers.

The Crosley CR8005A BK Cruiser Portable 3 Speed Turntable has front facing wide range speakers. Now they are a small speaker and although they do a good job for the small size when it comes to speakers size does matter! These are not going to perform well if you take your Crosley portable turntable to a party and try to hear it over a room full of party goers. But at home in a quiet room they will seem quite loud.
In saying that the speakers could be better it would take away the convenience and the portability of this player. If you want to improve the sound an adapter to connect to your home system would be very inexpensive and give great results. Given the price and the size of the Crosley CR8005A the speakers are adequate.

Conclusion

The Crosley CR8005A BK Cruiser Portable 3 Speed Turntable is a nice unit that gives good value for money. The convenience of have a record player in such an easily transportable single unit that looks attractive in the leatherette case is amazing. With such a well know brand support for this player will be very solid and in fact the written warranty states that if the unit is not repairable it will be fully replaced. This unit comes with a trouble shooting guide and stylus and belts are easily available through Amazon. Crosley have made this player available in a range of 10 different colours all in leatherette from serious Black through to seriously funky Orange.

People that have purchased the Crosley CR8005A BK Cruiser Portable Turntable have made many comments about the quality and usability of this portable record player. If you have expectations of buying a high end turntable for under $100 this player will not be for you. There have been a few comments where people have not been happy with their purchases. The vast majority of people have been very happy and have talked about how convenient it is to have the portability and be able to play those old records again or even record your old records to digital and keep the records for posterity.

Purchase Crosley CR8005A Portable Turntable From Amazon Click Here

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1Byone Belt Drive 3 Speed Portable Stereo Turntable

The 1Byone Belt Drive 3 Speed Portable Stereo Turntable with Built in Speakers is an excellent Portable Turntable that has all the features you could ask for and a beautiful nostalgic look and feel that will urge you to play your vinyl again and again.
Amazon has been selling heaps of these and no wonder given the value for money that 1Byone has packed into this turntable. There is a movement back to Vinyl. For many people the old albums aren’t that old anymore they’re new – and they have new music on them

We will have a good look at this briefcase style player and check out the quality of the sound reproduction, the features and explore its capabilities. You will see how it can perform at its best and at its worst. There are comments and opinions from real users who have actually purchased and used the 1Byone portable turntable.

After reading this review you will be able to make a really informed decision about whether this portable turntable is really what you are looking to play your vinyl records.

Main Features

Selectable 33 / 45 / 78 RPM speeds settings.
Dynamic balanced tone arm with soft damping control.
Front-facing built-in stereo speakers provide great sound.
With RCA and headphone jack outputs / line in port mounted on the side, easy to operation and support multiple music playback modes.
Wooden cabinet with PU leather wrapping, the briefcase-styled turntable is lightweight, easy to store and transport.

Check out 1Byone Portable Turntable at Amazon HERE

Belt Drive Portable Turntable

This is a Belt Drive Turntable making it much quieter than a direct drive and the belt drive tends to smooth out any fluctuations that may occur in the drive motor. It tends isolate the drive motor from the tone arm. This isolating of the tone arm prevents the tiny vibrations generated by the drive motor from being transferred to the tone arm to be amplified and make a humming noise in your speakers that will spoil your listening pleasure. No-one wants hear their favourite music along with an audible humming noise this is not what pleasurable listening is about.

Belt drive turntables have another advantage as well they are mechanically much simpler than direct drive turntables and therefore more reliable and easier to maintain for years longer. Usually the only part that may have to be replaced is the belt. The belts after many years of use will lose tension and cause the music to sound like it is running slow. Belts when they finally do start to fail are very easy to replace. Usually someone with even the most basic of mechanical skills and usually no tools can replace a belt in just a few minutes. The 1Byone Belt Drive 3 Speed Portable Stereo Turntable is no different.

3 Speed – 33 – 45 – 78 RPM

With 3 Speeds to play all your records you will spend hours listening to sounds from the past easily. One of the advantages of belt drive turntables is the simplicity of the mechanism that allows this portable Record player to have 3 speeds to play not just your 33 RPM but also your 45 and 78 RPM Vinyl Discs. Being able to play such a wide variety of records means that not only can you play all your old albums but also you’re Dads and maybe even you’re Grandfathers records.

What a bonus – being able to share the memories of years and even decades gone by with those you love and treasure.

Built In Speakers

Built in front facing speakers give can put out some pretty good sound. Now to be perfectly honest the sound is not going to be high volume superb quality that you can get from a large expensive audiophile speaker system. The speakers in a quiet environment are really not bad at all but this is not going to be a unit that you could take to a party and crank up the whole crowd.

However it is more than adequate and if you want better sound from this unit plug in a nice set of headphones and the sound quality will improve dramatically. The better the headphones the better the sound or plug into a big set of speakers and turn the volume up. I’ll tell you more about that next.

RCA & Headphone Jacks

The 1Byone Belt Drive turntable has inputs and outputs that allow you to use this as a music system for a portable device or to plug into big set of speakers. Along with the in and outs there is an On Off Volume and Headphones connect very conveniently placed on the right hand side.

You can use the Line In with an adapter to record your Vinyl Records to any recording device (IPod Smartphone or Media player. The Line In will with the correct adapter plug your IPod, Phone or Media Player to use the inbuilt speakers to play your other music on this very flexible record player. There is an RCA Out plug to allow you to plug the 1Byone into your home music system and blast out your vinyl discs to the whole street if your home music system had that capability. All in all this makes this a very flexible music machine.

Tone Arm & Damping

Balanced tone arm with soft damping is a very professional touch. This means that the tone arm has good control and is gentle when landing the needle on the record surface. It is an important characteristic in any good turntable and a rare thing to find in a portable unit at such a great price. 1Byone have also included an auto stop feature that will automatically turn the turntable off at the end of the record. The Autostop feature will in the event that you were to forget that you had you left it playing, save any damage to your record or needle.

To ensure that your purchase is justified and that you are buying a quality product the 1byone Belt Drive 3 Speed Portable Stereo Turntable comes with a 12 month replacement warranty. You can be assured that this Retro style portable turntable wrapped in PU leather will give reliable service and play your golden memories – or even your new ones very well. Another advantage of this player is that you can purchase new needles and stylus easily. This all adds up to your pleasure at being able to enjoy the warm sound of analogue vinyl for a long time to come. The player is fairly light weight and is really good at being portable without it feeling like it’s junkie. This is a really good package at an incredible price, so good I’m not sure how they can do it.

In conclusion

Best thing about this player is the good quality portability and ease of use. It has a relatively good tone arm which is really important in a portable turntable. What I didn’t like was the quality of the sound from the speakers but I did expect that to be the case. I have used quite a number of portables and sound quality seems to be the Achilles heel of all portables. This one’s no worse than any I’ve heard and better than a lot of them.

Pros

People that have bought the 1Byone Belt Drive 3 Speed Portable Stereo Turntable most liked

The flexibility that is available from the input and outputs on the side of the case to connect up to.
The “cute” nostalgic retro look and colours available and PU leather that felt good.
The 3 speeds allowing it to play all kinds of records

Cons

People that have bought the 1Byone Belt Drive 3 Speed Portable Stereo Turntable most disliked.

The quality of the sound was adequate they would have liked it to be better but most understood that given the size it was probably as good as could be expected.
One customer had an issue with a needle not working but this was resolved when 1Byone promptly sent her a new stylus.
The fact that there is nowhere within the player to store the power cables.

To check this Portable Turntable out on Amazon CLICK HERE

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