Check out the new Crosley Eclipse entertainment system! 3-speed turntable / record player, tape / cassette, am/fm radio, cd, sd, usb, aux in WITH speakers!!! Snag one here... amzn.to/3f5l42O
I'm a collector of different types of media, so having something like this would be so convenient. The only change I would personally make would be to upgrade the turntable elements (full-size platter, better cartridge, counter-balance, etc), and perhaps give it a way to output sound to a computer. I love units like this one
To Crosley's credit that's not a bad looking music system. I think it's definitely good enough for someone who doesn't want to spend too much money on a stereo and for what it is it don't sound too bad. The speakers could be a little better I suppose and I've never really liked the idea of the record sticking out at the side. It rather defeats the object of having a dust cover if the record is exposed and I prefer a full size turntable that properly supports an album while it's playing, but all in all not a bad system really. Great review. Thank you.
Okay, I bit the bullet and actually picked this up off of Amazon. Early thoughts: 1) Speaker sound quality pleasantly surprised me. I was expecting them to be very much like a tin can, but they had more clarity than I had anticipated. Are they top of the line? Of course not... but I honestly don't feel like I have to dig my Bose speakers out of storage to use with this. 2) Contrary to what a reviewer on Amazon told me, you CAN record from vinyl, cassette and CD onto a USB stick or SD card (just make sure they're under 32 GB in size). Another pleasant surprise for me: they recorded into MP3 format (I know, I just opened up a potential hornet's nest with that admission), meaning I could digitize numerous albums onto one card before I filled it up. (I can use a program such as GoldWave - or, if you wanted freeware, Audacity - to clean up the clicks and pops and divide the file into individual tracks... a little extra work, yes, but especially for records which never were released on CD or digital media, well worth the effort and time.) 3) Only negative I've seen so far: it seems like the tonearm is far too sensitive to any dust, debris or imperfection on a record, and it skips with annoying regularity. I was just trying to digitize a record I've had in my collection for a few years, and on a side which has *never* been played, the needle skipped. Perhaps it's because I'm still using the ruby-tipped stylus and not a diamond-tipped. However, I wish there was a way (other than jerry-rigging it) to give the tonearm a little additional weight to plow through the minor imperfections of a record. (Perhaps Record-ology knows a trick or two, especially with this unit?) Overall: yeah, you get what you pay for with this, but I'm extremely pleased with my new toy so far.
I've noticed this with heavy modulation (i.e. bass drops on pop music etc) and a weight modification may be needed but even one penny adds 2.5 grams more to the already 5.5 of the stock cart. So you get dangerously close to the 9 gram MAX limit of vinyl.
I just got one, for the most part it is pretty good for the money. However, at least with mine, there is a feedback hum during playback on anything going through the shipped passive speakers. I don't notice it as much when I listen to it through a headset. I do wonder if active speakers will help any through the RCA ports in the back. As well, the turntable mechanism (at least on mine) is rather audible....like, even a Victrola suitcase player does not sound as loud as this one. But I dig it for the convenience of everything in one unit.
I always wanted to have one of those, something that has everything in one place, cassette player and recorder, a vinyl turntable, CD player and has FM and AM radio
Pretty accurate comparison. This thing reminds me a lot of the Auna all-in-one systems advertised on german home shopping TV channels. Pretty cheap materials, low-end components and weak speakers with almost no low end. The fact that it comes with RCA line-out is a huge bonus though, as the audio quality will significantly improve when plugged into a higher end amp and then played through decent speakers.
IMHO this was a really good video review. You were good at describing what you liked, diligent at testing the functionality, and articulate in describing the Eclipse's strengths and weaknesses. With YT's scrutiny of any potential copyright claim, you obviously avoided staying tuned on a specific FM or AM radio station for more than a few seconds, but you should be okay if the station is running commercials, religious preaching or (probably) a local news broadcast. I might also suggest (for testing CD and cassette playback) that you record your own cassette and CD-R copies of music from the free RU-vid royalty-free music library. As always, thanks for sharing!
This was a really amazing review. Good summary of what it does and your thoughts. The vibe of the video doesn’t judge an entry level system. I see so many videos that just trash anything that isn’t super expensive and Hi fi. Thanks for the review.
another crosley that is probably just so so , but it is attractive looking and plays all formats which i guess is a good thing more or less. nicely reviewed and another good video, thanks for sharing once again, take care
Another way you can tell if a cassette player has full auto stop is the absence of that little white "tab" to the right of the erase head. They rely on the rotation of the reels instead to stop in any mode when the cassette comes to an end. If it has the white tab, it only stops in the play/record mode.
The blue "erase head" at an angle is a permanent magnet, with DC bias recording. Which means recordings will be rather hissy, and probably distorted. AC erase and AC bias is much better.
I recently bought 2 Crosley all in one 40's look, The Lancaster & The Musician, one for the camper and one for the house. They have improved on sound quality since they added blue tooth to them. The only problem I have with them is that they don't make the other components as loud or as much kick or base as the radio. They can correct this problem very cheaply, by making the same cartridge with better insides and so on with the cassette head and so on for the cd player as they are all plugged into the same amp. They also need to make them with the pitch control knob for the record player as they play a little faster than they should and luckily I know how to take them apart and adjust the speed along with using my phone app to adjust them correctly to the right speed which makes a better sound coming from the vinyl. If they did that and maybe had the amp with double the volume, it would be more than just an entry level stereo system and could be considered for the whole house stereo system and not just for your grandma's one room listening pleasure. I also wish they would make an all in one with the stack o matic in them. The myth of stacking records don't hurt your vinyl grooves as they made them purposely with the middle of the vinyl higher than the grooves and the beginning before the 1st song starts with it slanting upward to keep your grooves safe from stacking. Thank you and sorry I wrote a long comment.
based on power consumption, I'd say about 4W/channel, and probably that is rated at 10% THD. To keep THD below 1%, the realistic rating is probably 1.5-2.0 W/channel. Not foundation-shattering, but not abysmal either. With efficient speakers, it should fill a room just fine without sounding too awful.
It's easier to unbox items by opening them from the bottom of the boxes..placing the box on a table & lifting it up, the item will fall safely over the table.
Frontpanel design looks nice and the display is well lit (in contrast to most entrylevel stuff), so it's probably their own design. Silver > black Generic Skywin looks on top though.
Very 1970s 'music center' form factor. As a teen I had one in my bedroom made by Sanyo and inherited from my parents when they upgraded to Sony separates, and it was a good solid performer. This doesn't look anywhere as well made, but I guess it's trying to capture the aesthetic of the era rather than that lovely warm rich sound you got with Seventies electronics. I'd probably rather thrift another old unit and add a BT adapter and / or Chromecast Audio, but then I rarely buy new anyway, and would be very unlikely to do so at this price given how much vintage kit that would buy. Btw, if you like old store Musak, there's an app that continuously plays the contents of the old Seeburg 1000 background music system (as featured by Techmoan a while back).
The speakers look like their about 3 inches i hope the tweeters aren't fake like on some other systems but in all its alright for someone whose getting in to vinyl or those that has a small place and need some type of sound system to get them started
Almost bought one of these for Christmas, a gift for myself, since I'm looking to consolidate my current set up but I might hunt around for something else or hit up a local shop that I can piece a system together. I like the look of this Crosley but it does sound a little disappointing. Just found your channel and I'll have to check some other videos. Appreciate the honest review.
The needle replacement I think is a good idea. When you have those sapphire/ruby styluses go bad and you're not necessarily experienced in hearing the deteriorating sound quality, then that's where records get damaged. That turntable sounds like the stylus is good on it for now. The diamond stylus lasts a lot longer and there's less of a potential of ruining the groove on the record with a diamond stylus. I've damaged many records as a kid with inexperienced ears with a bad needle that I didn't know that I had on an inexpensive record player. It definitely looks like a good starter unit, but just replace stylus and it makes it that much better.
Thank you, I've been telling people this for a while now, and it usually falls on deaf ears. I am about 80% certain the 'cheap needles' that are often supplied with these from the factory are responsible for the majority of complaints of 'damaged records' with this type of turntable mechanism. I'm not going to lie, these things do not treat your vinyl particularly well, and I'm not particularly enamored with those Skywin mechanisms, but they're not as bad as I hear a lot of people say, and with a proper diamond stylus, as you say, should go a long way toward keeping record damage to a minimum.
The thing about the radio mode on these sorts of systems is that they cannot seem to pick up the weaker stations. There is an LPFM station in my area that can only be picked up by an old 30 year old deck that I got from a charity store.
Nice review. I have two questions, can I remove the speakers and other ones in, and can I record from LP to CD. Does the CD player also functions as a burner?
Its cute, the stylus should have been a metal type instead of plastic for Less noise. Also I noticed lately that the belts get stretched out quicker on newer Crosley units, then the older ones. Hmm 🤔 great review dude
I bought the Roadstar music centre , it is almost identical to this one they also have another thing in common they're both made in China! I wasn't expecting much from mine , before it came I watched this video. I can say my one doesn't have tweeters in the speakers it has no tone control either!. The Bluetooth , CD player and USB play pretty loud , obviously not proper hi fi loud. I bought it for the tape recording side but it is a hit or a miss! The USB recording part is fine , but without recording level you get crap recording off some records. I've managed to tape a few great copy's off my phone though. I'm going to link my one up to a sub woofer for better sound!. Cheers for the video man!.
You're reviews and presentation are improving...not here for the gear (a bit curious about the brand though). Cassettes at their best on good vintage decks etc. can sound so very good. Keep on.
Thank you for showing this,I was curious. Doesn't look like a winner to me. Price is too high for the quality. I'd like to see you put together a much better sounding system for first timers so they stay with the vinyl resurgence. Thanks again and stay safe.
I don't think that anybody makes DC bias circuits anymore. Either way there's no level control or meters, so it's "automatic level control"..in other words it's not worth the effort of using it as a recorder. I'm not trying to be an audio snob. It's just that ALC decks usually make not so good recordings.
After listening to it during your review, I'm guessing the Crosley is about 3.5 watts per speaker, for a total 7-watts system. It could be as high as a 10-watt system, but it sounded a little weak for that. My Victrola is only a 10-watt system, but it sounds more like a 15- or 20-watt system. It's sound is pure, clear, full, and impressive.
I recently started to grab a few of my favorite albums here and there on vinyl, initially to collect and display as I really love the artwork. But watching these videos about vinyl is making me More and more interested in actually opening and playing them and eventually expanding my collection. I have a rather modest CD collection as well from when I was a kid that I was considering getting rid of but as I get more into physical media, I decided to keep them. I was looking into getting this for the CD and Vinyl player combo. But I keep seeing people say that all in ones aren't really good for vinyl. Do you think that it would be a good idea to grab this or would you recommend I grab a better stand alone vinyl player and maybe grab a boom box or something to play my old CDs?
@@Recordology Thanks for the advice! yeah, I think that I'll just save up and wait until I can afford a proper setup. May as well really enjoy the sound on those records if I'm going to go ahead and open them up.
The idea of this unit is ok just the execution is a bit iffy, I guess a better record player etc. takes away the entry level cost. I'd love a company to really nail one of these units but I suppose the target is kids bedroom appeal impulse buy.. you'd be better off thrifting. I enjoy the channel mate :)
@@Recordology TEAC LP-R line is pretty good. VWestlife was extremely impressed by it when he reviewed the LP-R550, and I am strongly considering the LP-R660 since I don't have space for a full hi-fi component setup.
Crosley I've always believed, aim for the birthday/ happy holidays (or not) market places. Where someone in the family ie Gran or Grandad get the record player that mimics their record eras.
This looks like a an okay system. This is for some one that doesn't care much about sound quality or those that don't want to spend a lot of money. I wouldn't play any of my records on this thing. Neat all in one system.
I bought the exact same unit one year ago, with a 'looptone' logo instead of Crosley. I hacked the turntable, added a preamp and swapped for a magnetic cartridge (with a counterweight). The cassette player is okay for playing, but don't even try to record with it. The quality is abysmal! The speakers sound great and are rated as 15 watts (although tweeters are fake) and it sounds wayyyy better with a magnetic cartridge.
I need your honest opinion on which is the better turntable since you reviewed them both. I'm about to make a purchase. The Crosley C8 belt drive or The Crosley C200 direct drive? Thank you.
I have this system and it's very good, though the USB player is a little random in the way it works. If your thumb drive has multiple folders with many MP3s, it's hard to get it to start at the beginning of each and play through. It wants to jump around a lot.
At Aliexpress, the same set (or its twin with built-in speakers in a wider "wooden" enclosure) sells under Imedgin (sic) brand. Different vendors, same branding (well, same photographs to be precise). IIRC, it certainly was on sale at least three years ago, so it's not a fresh Crosley exclusive. But also not something that each and every Chinese store will keep in stock.
I am so sick of this late 1980’s cheap turntable mechanism... they were done to death in the 90’s..... why won’t they change the design?? Why not a record changer?? Why not a dam automatic on these??? Good lord... there is no excuse at this point for at least auto return with a magnetic cartridge... come on crosley... great review as usual buddy.... I just wish these companies would develop a imagination.
A low retail price is how these things are sold, and that doesn't leave a lot of room for a more elaborate record player mechanism. These Skywin things are probably supplied to Crosley in large quantity for like $15 apiece; I see them on Banggood for individual sale for like $30. The last effort Crosley made at an automatic 'table was their Stack-o-Matic, which evidently did not sell as well as they'd have liked. I would like to see an Automatic mechanism with a magnetic cartridge, but I don't think Skywin makes such a thing, meaning Crosley would have to go to Hanpin, and their automatic tables (like the LP60) are doubtless more expensive.
Well keep in mind, Crosley does use Hanpin for various products such as the C100, C200, and others. They also arent buying individual parts - they are sourcing complete systems sometimes with design input (in the case of the 1975.)
@@Recordology Oh, yeah, I forgot about that! Thank you for reminding me. Though the C100, etc. are their more 'upscale' products. Like Ralph, I would love to see one of the better mechanisms in a full system.
Hermoso estéreo estilo vintage felicidades aunque no sean tan buenos como los de antes de buenisimos pero se tiene en que tocar los discos y cassettes saludos desde Guadalajara jalisco Mexico
I'm considering picking up one of these for my home office, just so I have something to play background music (as well as digitize a crapload of vinyl and cassettes). Did you ever test to see if different speakers improved the overall sound quality of the system? I have an old set of BOSE speakers I could easily hook up to this (and even stretch past the three-foot mark, with enough speaker wire). Thanks in advance!
I used to have a much better stereo but this was ok sounding as far as the video goes. Tip--- if you don't like the speakers you can connect computer speakers t I the headphone jack. It just needs the 3.5 jack input in the speakers. I've done this for years .
that`s an interesting unit....i think if the stylus was changed to the diamond and metal one it would be a lot better....my one at home that sounds awful,..i bet it has the ruby/plastic configuration....just become so lazy lately that i have still not looked...now where`s my bed..nice video,well enjoyed..ade
The price is about $159.95 on Amazon now. Would you say this is still a good system to buy for someone who wants to transfer their CD and vinyl collection onto cassette?
Thanks for sharing a great review! I know this was from a year ago, but I’m searching for this type of entertainment system and this model came up in my search. Can you recommend something else like this that is better quality and not an entry level unit? 😊
@@Recordology plus you gotta look at the price point. You're not getting a Yamaha or Harmon/Kandon (might be misspelled) or a Marantz at the price of this unit. Im talkibg about a complete system
$169 on Amazon and probably worth half that. I won a similar unit in a raffle in the 70s, I don't recall the brand. Over a short time the tape drawer broke, the CD transport failed, the FM radio stopped working and the am radio never did. I'm sure this one is fine for a kid's room but I don't think it will last very long.
Question: Did you do any pitch-checking to tell whether the turntable was spinning at correct speed? Having seen Identical-looking Boytone, Looptone, and other names at Amazon, I wonder if they're all from one OEM. The Boytone branded version I bought a few years ago fit in the same space as my 1980s Magnavox, but physical shape is perhaps Not the best purchase-determiner for audio equipment. :-( The surprise problem didn't turn up for months because I was mostly using it for cassette, CD and radio. But when I finally tried to play along with an old LP on my mandolin, I discovered the speed was off enough to change the pitch slightly. Then I explored all the comments on an Amazon page for the unit, and saw one customer saying the turntable speed problem was because the tt motor was built to a different electrical standard in the country of manufacture, and that the company had refused to correct it. Is this true and a known problem with any other Asian- made turntables?
VERY INTERESTING! Does it play 33, 45s? Does it record from usb to cassette, or just record from cd, album, and cassette to SD & USB ? I subscribed. Thank you...
The tape mechanism with an Actual AC-BIAS Erase Head & AC-BIAS Stereo Head makes so much difference when recording on tape. It will sound just like the original source and there's especially None of that horrible, Thunder-Like background noise which that blue permanent erase magnet in this system is equipped with will produce, while erasing the tape when recording. I definitely prefer ones with actual heads, not those cheap permanent erase magnet version. They need to make an improvement on that, and start installing actual erase head into tape mechanisms instead of the permanent magnet, it will make tape recordings sound allot better!
If you were to buy a pair of JBL monitors which are only 99 dollars, change the ruby tip on the turntable into a diamond tip and add a slip mat for your records this unit would be pretty good, thank you for the review.
Ok you never said how to undo the remote. I got my mom this for Christmas but I need to know how to undo the remote. Can you Please post a video explaining that. Thank you
I've been getting so many mixed signals on weather or not crosley turntables damage records! I want to start a collection but don't want to damage my brand new vinyls. I'm mostly buying new albums.
I got one of these for Christmas. My q is can you update this stylus easily? Or do you recommend just using this for cassette and CDS and to upgrade my turntable?
Dunno why it's always been the industry standard to make all-in-one units EXTREMELY cheap. What if I want something made with high quality parts, but just don't have the space for separate components?!
My Crosley Eclipse unit has a humming sound that is in all audio modes of play. The only way to overcome the humming sound is to increase the volume do drown it out. I contacted Crosley tech support and have tried their suggestions(re-connecting wires, plugging it directly into a wall outlet, keeping it away from other devices such as microwaves) to no avail. They wanted me to ship the unit back to them for repair. I've had the unit for all of two weeks and I really don't want to have the unit shipped out for 3-4 weeks of "repair". Has anyone else experienced a humming noise?
So, if someone wanted to use the FM radio, how do you attach an amplifier antenna? I have this old Sony stereo (CMT-NEZ30) that lets me plug in a Terk amplified antenna. I got bored one day, and thought oh these radio stations out there are random entertaining. Sure I could Bluetooth any streaming music from online but this is fun, so I want the AM/FM option using an antenna. That little mini stereo has a cassette, CD, AM/FM, and that blessed AUX input to attach anything (like a Bluetooth adapter). Ah, it has a remote too. If you can get one, this one is good. I think it was released around 2006. Mine looks never used. The remote is excellent. It just does NOT have an LP turntable. I love all of your music samples. Variety! Yeah! What the heck was that 21:57 background music 😀 ???
Which cassette mechanism do you consider better quality, this one that opens an closes or the one on the Victrola that slides in. I want to take one of these multimedia systems to the Caribbean so I’m trying to pick the right one
