Pro-Ject T1 Phono SB

Great sound, some quality components, but oddly cheap feeling, and poor performing – Of all the turntables I've had, this is the one I disliked the most. In so many ways it couldn't perform it's basic functions. Starting with the good: Sounds great, the built-in preamp is convenient, and it has some quality components, in particular the platter, tonearm and cartridge/stylus. But the bad. Having only three legs, it's unstable. It would routinely tip over when I lifted the lid. Being a built around a single piece of MDF, it is also very light and cheap feeling. The finish is also not up to par with what I expect for the price. The vinyl applied to the top has a roughly cut edge, and glue has seeped out from underneath it, resulting in a rough, spotty line across the front of the unit. It skips easily and routinely. There were quite a few records I couldn't even play without it skipping, and I'm not talking about old, trashed records here. This is even after making sure it was sitting somewhere stable, and level. Worse, it would skip out of the run out groove on records, and run the stylus on the label. Which is … about as bad as it gets.

There is a lot I like about this turntable, but over all, for the price I don't think it's good enough.