Side by Side Comparison of: ION Audio vs Banpa vs Sony vs Amazon

Very impressed with this turntable. It's nothing fancy, but has brought great satisfaction to both me and my 15 year old son, who is discovering dad's vinyl collection from college! While it does have speakers that sound fine in a pinch, they are obviously lacking in the bass department. I would strongly recommend connecting it to a decent pair of powered speakers to really experience your music as you remember it from before.Side note: I have not tried the included record software yet.

Worked perfectly for the project, I am restoring a 1946 floor model radio/record player combo. I have the radio restored and working. This replaced the worn out/broken old 78 RPM record player in the tilt out front 1946 cabinet. Works and sounds great, plays 33 and 45 stereo records and fits in the area the old one sat. I of course still have the old 78 RPM player and may be able to restore it too.

I bought this for my Dad's birthday and Father's Day in conjunction with my other three siblings. He and my Mom loved it!! It made them smile from ear to ear! Seeing that nostalgia in their eyes was priceless! I bought The Eagles Greatest Hits record to pair with this gift. It was just a great family moment all around.

This turntable is just perfect for my present needs. Basic & simple. You can hook it up to your receiver stereo as usual, also you don't even have to do that at all if you just want to play the Lp's through the 2 small stereo speakers in the top forward section of the unit just by itself anywhere in any room, all speeds with nice non- receiver radio style stereo playback, small platter only but excepts Lp's & 45's, 78's and it also gives you software to download to your computer to record your records to MP 3's-what more do you need. It is a manual not an automatic press a button which would return & turn off- It has a manual lift and stops & stays on the end of a record when it finishes playing & stops the record at end of play leaving tonearm on the record- which you have to manually return with the tonearm lift tab & simply turn the on/off switch of the turntable . There are many other extremely expensive & overpriced turntables out there with all the bells & whistles but for what this one does you will not be disappointed- great sound & style. Ion makes a very very nice stylish & crisp clear rich sounding turntable & they have even more alternate brands that are just as impressive- I'am very pleased. Thankyou Ion-high marks from this satisfied customer.

I REALLY like this player, largely because the sound is great and it's a good-looking unit. Everyone who has seen it immediately likes the look, which should work with any decor. The dust cover can be put down while the record plays, which I verified before ordering. There are only two things I didn't like: (1) The on-off button is at the back of the unit, and there is no light indicator to show when it is on. (2) Occasionally (VERY occasionally) the needle would skip. I solved that by scotch-taping a quarter above the needle: problem solved. My albums all the way from the 50s to the 80s now play perfectly. As for the first "problem," I've gotten used to the on-off issue, and am barely bothered by it now. I haven't tried the speed adjustment because as far as I can tell, my LPs play exactly right. I haven't tried 45s or 78s yet. Oh ... I did transfer some music to my computer (iTunes) with only a minor glitch in naming the songs, which sound good when played through iTunes. I highly recommend this record player.

I am an old audiofile from the days of (1980's) records, so firstly this isn't a top of the line DJ setup, but not what I wanted. I wanted something cheap that I could bring to work to just listen too....I am really surprised by the tone that comes out of these tiny speakers... Loud enough for my office.... Even on really cheap records, the sound is amazing. I cant get over the range and the lack of hiss or pop noises.If it doesn't last i will drop it down,but so far really pleased with it! Really glad I picked it up!

It's a nice turntable for the price and the wood finish makes it unique. The speakers do not put out great sound but very few turntables even have speakers. The USB cable hook up is very convenient. It actually does a pretty decent job of reproducing the record sound for burning to CD

A decent record player for the price. I wasn't thrilled with the speakers on the player, but I didn't expect much and it's nice to have them there just in case. I hooked up some external media speakers with a subwoofer and it sounds much better. You can definitely get better players, but for the price range, this does its job just fine.

Love this!!! Perfect look and works great. We purchased diamond needle to swap vs the ceramic.

Great turn table for the price. I use it in my office and it can fill the room with sound just fine. It looks great, worth the extra money compared to some of the cheaper brands that do the same the thing. I haven't used the software or conversion feature, I really just got it to have a turntable with speakers in my office so I can jam to my records while I work. It's very easy to use, the lever that softly lowers the arm is a great feature for first time turn table owners. Only criticism I have is the range of the speakers. They are low bass, which may be to keep the table from shaking. They do get pretty loud, with more focus on the high end. It has connectivity for external speakers if you need the extra power.

I waited until I'd had this and used it for several weeks before reviewing and will say I'm very pleased with its look and performance. As other reviewers note, the built-in speakers give a tinny sound (reminds me of the old transistor radios I grew up on), but I easily connected them to my stereo speakers and that works fine. I really like the wood look and I've had no trouble with 33 or 45 rpm speeds. One quibble - Why did they put the on/off switch in the back, next to the wires?

Overall this is a great first turntable for a newly converted vinyl fiend. After using my mother's old record player, it was time to get my own. From a purely aesthetic point of view, this record player gets five stars. It's a beautiful, modern-looking and sturdy piece of equipment, and I really liked that a full 12 inch LP can fit on the turntable and still be completely covered by the dust-cover. Assembling the dust cover took about 5 seconds. I also like that the dust cover is clear, so I can watch the records spin (something that is oddly entertaining and soothing). The tone arm is made of what seems like simple plastic, but it's pretty solidly put together so I'm ok with that. As for it's actual record playing abilities, it has so far worked extremely well. I almost exclusively play LPs, which sound and play smoothly. I have a 45 that also plays fine. Note: with 45's, the automatic setting on the turntable causes the 45 to stop before the song is through. Just switch to automatic and all is well. I haven't tried 78's. The speakers on the player aren't the greatest (tinny and like playing music from your laptop speakers or cheap radio), but when I put my headphones in, I was blown away by how fantastic it sounds. Full stereo. I imagine full-blown external speakers would make the unit sound even better. I play mostly old jazz records ranging from the 1950's to now and in varying condition from brand-new to scratched, and the record player's tone arm and needle didn't skip nearly as much as I thought it would, instead playing relatively cleanly regardless of whether the record was 60 years old or 6 days old. Even the newer 180gram records played without a hitch.I do have two hangups that knocked a star off the review. One of the cons is the needle. As great as it is, the needle makes an odd (grating, chewing?) sound as the record spins that's really only an issue on quieter sections. My second hangup is the fact that on occasion when I turn on the player and play a record after a while of non usage, the record seems to spin slower for a few seconds, as if the belt drive is warming up. It's not terrible, and seems variable, but it is a personal hangup just the same. Lastly, the vinyl converter software included is actually pretty decent and relatively simple to use. I've already converted two rare Brubeck albums onto my computer and into iTunes. Overall, this is a nice record player that does what it's supposed to do, sounds great, and looks beautiful and modern doing it.

Good player. Sound quality was a bit scratchy. The top was broken.

It looks real cool, and the built-in speakers does a fair job, if you have a small and intimate room. It's okay for casual listeners and for those who don't expect high quality sound. I had some issues with two of my brand new vinyl, they weren't playing good on it. I would go with a better turntable in order that delivers a better sound quality.

It's well made, does what it should, but, the quality of sound is not good, its over 25 years since I listened to vinyl records, but, it was on a really good system with amazing speakers, and apparently my ears remember, as I cannot get past the cheap tinny sound of these speakers. I was so excited to hear my old records but think I am going to have to return this and spend more money. Shame, thought would be a bit of fun.

If you're expectations are fairly low, you'll be more than satisfied.I started collecting records because I love the warmth, depth, and clarity of vinyl. I thought this little guy looked great, had some great reviews, and some cute little features that would seem just perfect for my needs.Eh. Not quite.Don't get me wrong, the built-in speakers are kind of cool and the fact that it's a 3-speed is really nice. But as I plugged this into my receiver, I noticed that there's a noticeable cutoff on the low and high ends when it comes to sound quality. Compared to my roommate's old Onkyo record player, this one just didn't hold a candle.Now, with that being said, if you just want a fun little record player and you're not picky on sound quality, by all means I would recommend this. It looks great, has some really nice features, and the price is just about right. But if you really want to enjoy the clarity, warmth, and depth that vinyl records have to offer, I'd recommend spending a few more bucks on the Audio Technica AT-LP60.

I was so excited to receive this product! It looks super nice and looks well made, however, the first time I used it one of the speakers did not work...and still doesn't. Which is why I would rate it 3 stars and not 4 or five. Not sure if I should return it or not because I had waited awhile for it and would be pretty bummed out to have to wait 2-3 more weeks for a new one :(

It works well enough and the sound is OK for what you pay for. If you're looking for the novelty of listening to Vinyl but you're not an audiophile, this is just fine.I'd rate it higher but the biggest complaint is that it smells like burning electronics whenever it's on. I don't have high hopes for it's longevity.

OK...you get what you pay for. Sounds cheap...no big deal. RPM not constant.....really big deal. Will spend a bit more money next time.

It works on 78s, 45s but not on 33s. The company says for me to adjust the spindle.I will try it, but the software that comes with it to digitize the records will not work on 33s. The company says for me to go to iTunes, sign up then adjust there. This is too much to ask of the user. You sell a product that does what it does. If it doesn't, you fix it within the company to make it work. Now, I am stuck. I am doing this to help a senior center listen to records. I gave it two stars because the playing, recording and logging in through the software does work on the 78s and 45s. I guess I will have to look for a different one for the 33s.

The sounds is pretty good for the price...but the needle stops several seconds before the record is over. Not so bad if you're playing 33s -- you only miss the last part of the last song -- but if you're playing 45s you always miss the ending. Disappointing!

Right out of the box, played an LP, and every 10 seconds the stylus would be stuck in a track. Tried several records including new ones, same issue. It felt like the stylus arm had some resistance to it preventing an easy glide. I could not even rate the sound because of the issue.

Too noisy. The cartridge feeds back what the speakers are playing, and the surface noise is REALLY loud.

Might be OK for a novelty, but I was not satisfied. Spend the extra money and get a Audio-Technica LP60

Don't buy. The stylus just skips across the records. Can't weight it down with coins.

Broke after 4 months of use. The top cover is not mounted to the housing and doesn't play like it should. Don't buy.

Not a bad product for something that was at a good price but wtf turntable doesn't spin and only one speaker worked. I had it for 1 week and now Im going to return it.

Abysmal performance. Had to return it. You get what you pay for and in this case, you don't get much. The turntable speed was not even and the music had a warbled sound. Listening to the built-in speakers is downright painful. I tried listening via headphones via the stereo jack and it, too, was awful. My goal was to ultimately hook up a turntable to my home stereo, but with the uneven rotational speed, this turntable never even made it that far. Too bad, because I do at least like this turntables look.

Total disappointment. Got no sound from any of the speakers (yes i did remove the stylus cover). Zero support from ION. To get support you need to register the product. Fine but after a hundred different tries to input the serial no. correctly (even with the cap. I instead of no 1!) got no joy. No tel no assistant or chat available.It's going back to sender.

First off, I bought this to archive my collection. I used to have technics 1210s, but sold them years ago. I am not trying to dj with this or pitch bend or anything, just run old records through the digitizing process. The Color of the player was darker than pictured, but, still looks nice. The good stops there. The tone arm is very thin and flimsy and skips constantly on clean records. The headshell and cartridge are not swappable with regular size / professional needles. As soon as the platter begins to move, there is a ground hum in the signal. The platter the record sits on is about the size of a 45, so, most of a regular LP is off the platter, making it impossible to use regular slip mats. The assembly where the tone arm lever, and tone arm sit is very cheap plastic and feels as though I could lift it apart with the slightest pressure. I don't think the level will last long. The speakers are ok, but I wasn't planning to use those anyway. Never opened the software, but have already ordered a different player. This one is going back. I wouldn't recommend this player for any purpose other than a prop. It does look nice.