With Crosley turntables, you do not need a preamp. It is often stated that analogue technology hasn’t had any major technological breakthroughs since the 70s/80s, but music lovers’ disdain for ceramic cartridges has been alive and well since they were introduced. Ceramic cartridges were popular 50 years ago because they were cheap. Crosley turntables’ all in one solutions for a hundred dollars are not up to the job. Paying this sort of cash will immediately turn some interested parties off of vinyl, but the sound is absolutely worth it. The best new entry level turntables are $200 or more. Crosley turntables are built on the cheap, and with turntables and turntable equipment you get what you pay for. When combined with a ceramic cartridge, they are guaranteed to destroy your collection. Some users have reported audible screams coming from their rare records before they are even placed on Crosley turntables!Ĭrosley turntables have a poorly calibrated, plastic arm that drags on the surface of vinyl. Rare, irreplaceable records should never be placed on a Crosley turntable. Crosley turntables, though cheap, will result in you paying more than they’re worth when you have to repurchase your favourite records. That is 4.5 grams going through the tip of a needle, which is a lot of tracking force. This added weight can come at a cost: a DJ’s vinyl becomes damaged more easily due to the heavy weight.Įven though 4.5 grams may not seem like much, and the 3 gram difference between a standard turntable’s and a Crosley turntable’s tracking force may seem like very little, remember the concept of surface area. To give some idea as to just how heavy that is, cartridges on DJ turntables track at around 3 grams to allow for scratching and better tracking in an environment with a lot of vibration. The ceramic cartridges on Crosley turntables track at about 3 times the weight of a decent quality magnetic cartridge, which can cost as little as $20. Ceramic cartridges, to use a bit of vinyl-elitist hyperbole, are the devil. This is not something that unique to Crosley turntables, but it is a terrible bit of technology. 1950s Technology on Crosley TurntablesĬrosley turntables use ceramic cartridges.

The beginner who knows nothing of record player technology may be duped in to buying a Crosley turntable, but they are not suitable for anyone’s needs. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that in our mind, since that’s what attracted a lot of us. Crosley’s target market is people looking to get in to vinyl because it’s cool. Cheap and faux-retro are usually a terrible combination, and Crosley turntables are no exception. Crosley turntables are very cheap and look retro chic.

Crosley portable turntable