The Official U-Turn Orbit Owners Thread

Have you considered emailing U-Turn about the motor clicking? Their customer service is fantastic and I would be willing to bet you'd wind up better for having made contact with them.


Hi,
I own an Uturnaudio for 4 years already.
this is a very nice turntable and sound great with the uni-pivot and grado cartridge.
MY only complaint is the motor. The motor is always pulled by the belt in one direction and cause too much stress to the bushing, making a klick noise after several hours of use. If you install and auxiliary belt that push the motor back, the load in the pulley will be zero and the motor life span will increase a lot.
beside that i love my TT.
 
Have you considered emailing U-Turn about the motor clicking? Their customer service is fantastic and I would be willing to bet you'd wind up better for having made contact with them.
Hi,
I wrote to Ben as far as I remember. Actually I gave him a lot of ideas like anti skating and color their acrylic platter as an option.
I am going to upgrade the motor soon because I'm playing my tt at least two to 3 hours a day so a stronger motor is necessary.
 
Hi,
I wrote to Ben as far as I remember. Actually I gave him a lot of ideas like anti skating and color their acrylic platter as an option.
I am going to upgrade the motor soon because I'm playing my tt at least two to 3 hours a day so a stronger motor is necessary.
Has anyone else had a problem playing their Orbit two or three hours at a stretch? I certainly haven't. I think what @DavidTT was suggesting was that you email Ben about your faulty motor because it shouldn't be doing that. Four years may be too long for them to do something about it but it's worth a try.
 
Has anyone else had a problem playing their Orbit two or three hours at a stretch? I certainly haven't. I think what @DavidTT was suggesting was that you email Ben about your faulty motor because it shouldn't be doing that. Four years may be too long for them to do something about it but it's worth a try.
Hi Docbronze, I did and they sent me a new one, now the new one is clicking. I am maybe overusing my TT, I dont know.

AG.
 
@docbronze was right on the money in interpreting my take. If you have a motor that clicks, like ever, I would contact U-Turn and ask them for help, even for a turntable at the four year mark. The worst thing that can happen is they ask you to pay for a replacement. They're likely to send a new one for free. I've played my Orbit for 7+ hours per day for stretches of weeks at a time. The motor should provide years and years of service. I suggest touching base with them as your next step.



Hi Docbronze, I did and they sent me a new one, now the new one is clicking. I am maybe overusing my TT, I dont know.

AG.
 
Hi guys,

I had a U-Turn Orbit last summer, but unfortunately had a bad experience with it: it hummed and buzzed with my Schiit Mani preamp, no matter what I did (it was a grounding issue; when I touched the tonearm with my fingers, the hum stopped). At the time I had no other preamp so I had no way of testing it with anything else. So I ended up returning it.

Now I have some more options and I'm thinking of trying it again. Is the built-in preamp the same as the external Pluto Pre-amp? Like it's the same internals and not any lesser quality? Do you think the built-in preamp is a good idea? If I get it, can it be bypassed?

Also, are the wood plinths too "resonant"? I've heard that can be an issue with solid wood plinths.
 
Hi guys,

I had a U-Turn Orbit last summer, but unfortunately had a bad experience with it: it hummed and buzzed with my Schiit Mani preamp, no matter what I did (it was a grounding issue; when I touched the tonearm with my fingers, the hum stopped). At the time I had no other preamp so I had no way of testing it with anything else. So I ended up returning it.

Now I have some more options and I'm thinking of trying it again. Is the built-in preamp the same as the external Pluto Pre-amp? Like it's the same internals and not any lesser quality? Do you think the built-in preamp is a good idea? If I get it, can it be bypassed?

Also, are the wood plinths too "resonant"? I've heard that can be an issue with solid wood plinths.
If the mani is within 3’ of a wifi router or other electronic boxes it will hum and buzz , move it to a different shelf location, until the buzzing stops.
 
I wrote to Ben as far as I remember.

Sounds like you're not sure if you did or not. Since he didn't make it right with you and/or you don't seem clear as to why he didn't make it right with you, you probably didn't contact him. Ben has been VERY proactive with me in resolving any issues I've had - even issues that weren't Orbit's fault.

For the record, the issues I had with an Orbit table were due to an Orbit vendor selling it as a brand new table when I believe it was actually a return the vendor was trying to pass off as new. It arrived to me poorly packed and with the stylus resting/bouncing directly on the plinth. In short, the table had several issues.

Ben didn't flinch. He paid to have the table returned to Orbit and they built me another table which was shipped inside of a week.

My new TT has worked great and I would say that 3 hours per day would not be a heavy load for it. I even neglected to turn it off once and it ran for a few days. :oops::dunno::no: ...Lesson learned.

At one point, shortly thereafter, Ben helped me trouble shoot an issue with my non-Orbit preamp to make sure the problem wasn't related to the turntable itself. It turned out to be the preamp which was purchased from a local shop, but Ben was helpful in making sure it wasn't an Orbit issue and something they might be responsible for.

Between the quality of my table and the customer service provided by Orbit, I can't recommend them enough. At this price point, I really don't think they can be beat.

Good luck to Andre. But contact Orbit so that you're sure what their answer is.
 
I have a Special Walnut version of the turntable, with the internal Pluto preamp. It has been excellent and the Pluto is not as configurable as the Mani but is an outstanding preamp in its intended application. The wood plinth look gorgeous and has held up well, but I cannot say that its density impacts the sound one way or another. I've had my Orbit now for what seems like a couple of years and it has simply worked, beautifully. @hbucker's comments about customer service are true as well. American company, incredible customer service, simple and well-made machines, I've been a very happy customer.

Hi guys,

I had a U-Turn Orbit last summer, but unfortunately had a bad experience with it: it hummed and buzzed with my Schiit Mani preamp, no matter what I did (it was a grounding issue; when I touched the tonearm with my fingers, the hum stopped). At the time I had no other preamp so I had no way of testing it with anything else. So I ended up returning it.

Now I have some more options and I'm thinking of trying it again. Is the built-in preamp the same as the external Pluto Pre-amp? Like it's the same internals and not any lesser quality? Do you think the built-in preamp is a good idea? If I get it, can it be bypassed?

Also, are the wood plinths too "resonant"? I've heard that can be an issue with solid wood plinths.
 
I have a Special Walnut version of the turntable, with the internal Pluto preamp. It has been excellent and the Pluto is not as configurable as the Mani but is an outstanding preamp in its intended application. The wood plinth look gorgeous and has held up well, but I cannot say that its density impacts the sound one way or another. I've had my Orbit now for what seems like a couple of years and it has simply worked, beautifully. @hbucker's comments about customer service are true as well. American company, incredible customer service, simple and well-made machines, I've been a very happy customer.
I had one for some time and never had a problem with it. Wood base, acrylic platter and OM5 cartridge. I recently gave it to my son after buying a new deck. I originally bought the Uturn to see if I really wanted to get back into vinyl.
 
Hi guys,

I had a U-Turn Orbit last summer, but unfortunately had a bad experience with it: it hummed and buzzed with my Schiit Mani preamp, no matter what I did (it was a grounding issue; when I touched the tonearm with my fingers, the hum stopped). At the time I had no other preamp so I had no way of testing it with anything else. So I ended up returning it.

Now I have some more options and I'm thinking of trying it again. Is the built-in preamp the same as the external Pluto Pre-amp? Like it's the same internals and not any lesser quality? Do you think the built-in preamp is a good idea? If I get it, can it be bypassed?

Also, are the wood plinths too "resonant"? I've heard that can be an issue with solid wood plinths.
Internal or external, you are getting the Pluto. So if that's the one you want, then that's what you'll get on the built-in. That said, the Mani is a superior phono stage for a similar amount of money. Not sure whether you contacted U-Turn or Schiit, but they are both, as many others have noted, incredibly helpful. Anyhow, hope that helps. Best of luck and enjoy!
 
The Mani is not the better sounding of the two, although it offers more flexibility for a little more money. Fremer did a blind comparo of the Pluto and Mani a year ago or so and the Pluto won handily, as in listeners chose its sound over the Mani. Not sure why people don't mention that very often. The Pluto is also at least $30 cheaper than the Mani.
 
Another reviewer I follow on YouTube reviewed them both and said the Mani was better, so who knows.

I'm not married to the Mani. Either way I've used the Mani with over ten different turntables and had no hum issues whatsoever, only with the U-Turn. That's why I'm a little hesitant, but I love the idea of the Orbit, so hopefully there will be no hum issues with the built-in Pluto :) I also did read on their website that the preamp is bypassable.

So I think I will give the Orbit another shot.
 
The Mani is not the better sounding of the two, although it offers more flexibility for a little more money. Fremer did a blind comparo of the Pluto and Mani a year ago or so and the Pluto won handily, as in listeners chose its sound over the Mani. Not sure why people don't mention that very often. The Pluto is also at least $30 cheaper than the Mani.
No kidding? I've not seen that @DavidTT. Could you post a link? I'd love to read it.
 
Sounds like you're not sure if you did or not. Since he didn't make it right with you and/or you don't seem clear as to why he didn't make it right with you, you probably didn't contact him. Ben has been VERY proactive with me in resolving any issues I've had - even issues that weren't Orbit's fault.

.

Not sure what you indented here, but I have good relation with him, and I always promoting his product if I can.
AG.
 
Also, are the wood plinths too "resonant"? I've heard that can be an issue with solid wood plinths.

Well if there was only one type of wood the answers could be yes, but for our luck there are many. The wood used by Uturnaudio is dense enough to do not resonate.
~AG~
 
Not sure what you indented here, but I have good relation with him, and I always promoting his product if I can.
AG.

My intent was to respond to your specific statement, "I wrote to Ben as far as I remember."

I read "As far as I remember," as a person (you) may have, or may not have written him. You didn't say, "I definitely spoke with him." or "When I spoke with him he conveyed this specific information to me..."

This was the intent behind my comment: Be sure you've spoken with him and be sure of what his response was.
 
Back
Top Bottom