This very attractive and nicely designed new record player from Mersoco can be used as a stand-alone way of revisiting your old discs using the built-in speakers or with an existing audio system connected either through the standard 3.5mm headphone jack or using the rear stereo RCA Phono ports. The unit comes with RCA and audio cables supplied along with a UK plug power supply and a well written and easy to read User Guide. The body of the device is well made, stylish and robust, although the turntable itself feels a bit lightweight.
The damped turntable has a decent quality belt drive inside and a soft touch tonearm mechanism on the outside. It supports 7, 10, and 12″ discs at 33, 45 and 78 speeds. Unusually for a retro player it also supports Bluetooth audio in, so you can play music from your phone or tablet on it. Annoyingly, there is no Bluetooth Out, so external BlueTooth speakers cannot be used. Although there is a blanked off USB port on the rear unlike with some more costly rivals this player does not export digitised audio.
It has built-in speakers and although the sound is loud, bright and well defined it does lack bass.. The integral speakers are fine for monitoring use or when top audio quality is not needed. For serious listening, external speakers or a HiFi system can be attached. When connected to a good quality external system the sound quality is perfectly fine . The device does look good, with a 1950’s retro feel to it and can play almost any form of record thrown at it, including shellac 78’s, old jukebox 45’s missing the centre spindle and more modern 12″ 45rpm singles.
For the £33.99 this is an excellent buy and an inexpensive way of breathing new life into an old record collection.
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