I’m wanting an all in one record player for my old vinyl ( speakers etc. built in ) .
I like the look of the Ion Max lp or the Crosley cruiser …so does anybody know if these are OK ( or alternatively steer clear )?
Other suggestions welcome obviously , but I’m looking at £100 max .

I think they are all much the same at that price point – go for the colour you like best! 🙂 A few friends have crosleys. They seem OK. They don’t sound amazing, but our mates seem happy enough with them.

Secondhand. Some old Jap thing with a new pattern stylus on a decent MM cartridge.

All the new ones will be shite in comparison.

I’ve read a few reviews & buying an old one might be the way to go …otherwise it’s silly money .

I tried one of the Ion ones in my system when converting some digitising some vinyl for my brother-in-law. It really did not sound very good at all IMHO. I’d definitely be looking 2nd hand at that price point.

One of my turntables is an old Thorens TD160 and I don’t think that cost me much more than £100 or so via Ebay.

If you can push the budget to £150 + postage you can have my Rega Planar 3 + RB300 tone arm. Will blow anything new at that price clean away. Email in profile if you’re interested in further details.

Secondhand. Some old Jap thing with a new pattern stylus on a decent MM cartridge.
All the new ones will be shite in comparison.

70s and 80s consumer audio stuff is generally great quality. Stuff from folk like Pioneer or Technics, and you won’t need to spend anything like £100.

2nd hand Systemdek 11x – not expensive but an absolute gem. I’ve tried upgrading to more expensive Regas and Pro-ject but keep coming back to the 11x.

Obviously all these suggestions are for standalone decks so you’ll still need an amp with an appropriate Phono input (MM/MC depending which cart).

I’m just wanting an all in one job simply because I’ve all my old vinyl stuck upstairs doing nothing. It’d obviously be better to spend a few bob on something decent , but I’m not really looking at collecting or anything ( at the mo anyway !) , so just want something to play them back on – they might be scratched to hell anyway .
I’ll try & drop on something on eBay – although that’s usually collect only & in Devon ….or somewhere else miles away from Wakefield!
Thanks for your help though everyone.

Wakefield?

I’m bd1, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for you.

Good man !

I bought an Ion Max recently. I really like it. Good looking player. Speakers are fine. Mp3 conversion software is easy to use. My only gripe is when converting the track split option is not great. You can end up with tracks split into 2 or 3 if they have quiet sections. Minor thing though and well worth the money.

They’re the only Ion one’s that seem to get a good reviews tbh ( & the one I was swaying towards ) – god knows why they seem to be ok & all the others get slated ?

They’re the only Ion one’s that seem to get a good reviews tbh ( & the one I was swaying towards ) – god knows why they seem to be ok & all the others get slated ?

Maybe because it has built in speakers it doesn’t typically get stuck on the front of a better hi-fi system that’d show its limitations?