REVIEW: JBL Spinner Turntable! Is It For Audiophiles? 

Save another $100 and get a Fluance RT-85 for $500. It comes with a $250 Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge.

This may just be the convenience spinner to get me back into vinyl, but I don't think so because the cost of rebuilding a vinyl collection is a daunting prospect. Thank you as always for time and introduction to this product. I am sure it will suit some needs. All the best, my friend.

Bob, you brought back so many memories. I remember going to the Navy Exchange in Japan in 1978 and spending hours looking at the monster receivers and drooling over the JBL Century L100 speakers that I couldn't quite afford. Good memories.

JBL is a hype for several years now and they charge for it. Your videos are getting better, keep up. Greetings from Sofia, Bulgaria.

I agree with you. The most confusing thing about this product is the price. It looks to be in the same league as the Audio-Technica LP60x BT and the Sony PS-LX310BT; however, both of those are around $200.

Watching this video from Zagreb, Croatia!! 😃 Can't believe this thing is so expensive, when you can get so much better turntable for 349! Unfortunately, they don't sell Fluance tables in Europe, but I got myself an Audio-Technica AT-LP5x for €320 so also about $350, and it's so much better in quality than this cheap orange thing from JBL.

Hi Bob, Hi from Leigh-On-Sea, not a million miles from RAF Lakenheath. Found your channel after the Naim Atom review. Love your reviewing style, funny and direct. Wish you every success with the channel…

Small world, listening from the uk. I am a little older than you . After college I was in land survey and I worked on a survey at lakengeath base. Enjoying your channel.

Good spin on the review (see what I did there). Got my daughter an RT80 on sale for about half that price for her first turntable for Christmas. Excellent for the intro to her own lp collection, although I did sincerely apologize for starting her on a lifetime of crate-digging, expense and inconvenience in acquiring her music from here on out 🎶

A friend of mine has this turntable as part of a secondary system running through a vintage Pioneer receiver from 1979 into a set of 3-way JBL speakers. The turntable was a gift. He added the acrylic platter as demonstrated here and switched the cartridge to an Ortofon 2M Blue. While I agree the exterior looks cheap, I thought the turntable sounded very good. The music had nice detail, the soundstage was immersive. No sound quality issues that I could notice. However it has the look and feel of a turntable about $100-$150 cheaper in my opinion. Even the orange color looked a bit cheap for some reason. For me that was distracting. If someone is on a $400 turntable budget, I'd still recommend either Fluance or U-Turn. What JBL did wrong is the price. They're charging for their name. It's a nice turntable but not a $400-Nice turntable.

Poland Sandomierz. I like you channel you very honest with you reviews.Keep that way

Hello Bob, new subscriber after your guest appearance on Cheapaudioman!! I'm from West Yorkshire, England. Can't believe the bad quality and price of the turntable. For the same price over here you could get much better quality and performance turntables. A.T LP5X,Denon dp400,Fluance 83, equivalent prices of project,rega,etc. Of course,if this turntable is sold here,it could be more expensive.

Hi I’m Leo , always checking your videos! From México City 🇲🇽, thanks and congrats

The only bad thing about turntables is the cost of vinyl to put on them.

Hi Uncle Bob from Liverpool, England. Keep up the great work.

Watching from Chartres, France. Thank you for this analysis of the product !

Hello from Red Deer, Alberta Canada. Love your channel! Been subscribed for a while.

Ol Uncle Bob knows all the tricks.

Plastic is what I look for in an audiophile turntable. I love the sound it makes when it resonates. Just like that platter that rings like a bell. Magic to my "full of crap audiophile" ears. Besides, this is JBL, built by Harman. A trusted audio company. Owned by that pillar of quality, Samsung.

Nice review. Greetings from Istanbul, Turkey.

Hi from Istanbul Turkiye 🇹🇷 nice vid, already had it as a starter. Cartridge is very low quality, connectivity is satisfactory with my Samsung home theater system. Definitely will replace it with a real Turntable after watching some of your suggestions.

From New Zealand , love the channel

I’m warching this at Slovenia,Maribor. Keep up the good work!!!

Hey Bob, saw you at Ed of an Ear today. You looked busy so I didn't want to bother you. Hope you picked up some col records.

Watching from Dubai, UAE

I grew up in Upper Heyford. I knew the hobby shop well.

Thnx for the review! From The Hague, The Netherlands

Hi i am watching your videos from Europe, Slovakia ...

It's a blue tooth turntable McFly , by definition the compression used in blue tooth sound is not audiophile. it's a beginner turntable , factory priced to be discounted , and asking if it is an audiophile product seems to intentionally misunderstand the product. However, since human hearing is so subjective, if you think something is audiophile, it is, if you hear it that way.

Want to see our favorite youtuber do the Vinyl Tag 2024!

Hi, from Houten- Netherlands.

tuning in from the Philippines

Hi I'm from England Broughton-in-Furness in the Lakes

Pairs nicely with Cerwin Vega speakers. Safety orange. What good is harsh without volume?

It will end up in a highschool kids room. Because it (sort of) looks cool. But it will (edit) never be used. 2 yrs at RAFL, hobby shop no longer there lol. Just the bx. Or px.

Hi from New Zealand

Bob, I’m mid video right now. $399 is too much doh rae mee for that plastic piece when you can get Fluance RT-8X which are really good. There’s an AT turntable for $129 might be just as good.

Appropriate for Halloween

Damn... looks like Harmon is trying to cash in on the JBL name with that price point. Too bad because like you said JBL has "stuff" for pretty much every market segment and life style TTs have a place so a different price would really change how people perceive this thing.

Younger people don`t know how a turntable have to perform and sound, so I think this unit will make a lot of money to a JBL corporation. One unit (designed in Taiwan and assembled in China) costs them nothing. I have seen these models in electronic store and comparing to all other modern crap, they look to be the most seriously designed and sturdy. I was thinking to buy one, because my old japanese DD from sony has an integrated cartridge into the headshell. But most probably I would be disappointed even with a better Sumiko cart on it.

I am curious how the jbl compares to the house of marley stir it up non bluetooth. They seem to have similar build and specs, but the stir it up is only $129.

I wonder if the tt350 is also junk?

If you want to do USB and a maybe Firt Time TT ok. And don't get me wrong I have their L100 Classic 75s and love them! Their speakers are Awesome. But this thing is Dead Ugly and even on their upper end TTs they use that dust cover that doesn't help its Looks, Performance wise it's OK but there are Many TTs in that price range That are Better Quality and you mentioned all of them! There is Better Looking also. It's a No Go! Especially without a good Cartridge!! I was really kind of Disappointed you would even think about putting an Awesome Allen Parsons Album on that to get Shredded by that Cartridge - LOLOLOLOL

Silliness. An audiofiler rating a purely digital starter BLUETOOTH turntable. Let's get real.

I am from Treviso Italy (near real 😉 Venice)

Just to look at that thing is a turn-off The first turntable that I owned as a young soldier in Germany was the Technics 1200 MK3 and yes I did save up and get the BOSE 901 speakers, which ended up being mostly hype, My roommate purchased a pair of Infinity Quantum 5 speakers that put the 901's to shame. But this turntable is probably OK for someone that just wants to play some records, and not a serious audiophile. I currently use the Technics SL 1500C, the Ortofon 2M red that came with it is OK, but I prefer the Nagaoka MP-110 and Nagaoka MP-200 cartridges' for most of my listening. I am trading up soon for the Technics SL -1210G

I am watching you from .... next door.

Found out it's about £380.

Uhhh... Bob did you plan on that mic. Placement? Had me laughing like a 12yr old.

Whem the young marketing junior comes out the high school and give a oerfect example how t ruin a great eshtabilished brand!😂😂😂

$400 down the drain.

Im from Scotland, land of fine malt, ginger beards and irrational belligerance. What's it tae you, anyway, pal ? Eh ? EH ? That JBL is truly a piece of shite, in purely technical terms. The entry level turntable market is crowded with pretty good products these days. This isnt one of them.

So for da money what’s the best turntable to buy

Pingy-Ringy AND Loosey-Goosey! Abby Fabby video AGAIN.

Well,JBL is pretty late for a slice of the turntable market. And starting with a heavily overpriced asian made consumer class deck simply doesnt cut it nowadays. Make you think what they think how dumb you are that you wanna buy this. Because it says JBL intrusively big on the front ? C`mon,realy ? Anyway,years ago JBL discovered that they can sell anything that just oozes quality with a lovers price tag. Simply because of the good name a older generation of engineers made for this brand - which are all now a long time in retirement. Now the suits there just try to cash in.....and obviously with decent success.

I was a little shocked when you said $399.. $125 maybe 🤔

Hi there US of Analog. I’ve left you a couple of messages before. (Not stalking you though). I’m in Hingham UK, half an our down the road from lakenheath. In fact my eldest daughter is married to a usaf service man from Colorado (he’s lovely which I really wasn’t expecting),she met while he was based at lakenheath. There’re in Japan for now. Abraham Lincoln’s grandad was born here in my little village. All the best, Giles

The orange platter would match my JBL Speaker grills but it looks very cheap low end. But I'm curious about all the other new JBL Amps, Streamer, the and CD player as well as the better turntable model TT350

I am from Graz, Austria (NOT Australia! ;-)

Nice to see a complete pan once in a while. Puts a little reality in the RU-vid audiophile world. Not afraid to irritate the Man!

I'm watching you from Walsall west Midlands United Kingdom 🇬🇧 ❤❤

Hello, I'm watching your video from São Paulo Brazil. Thank you for your video, I gave up buying the JBL record player after your criticism. It would be my entry-level product, I think I'll buy the Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB

Man this sucks I love harmon, but that ring, the plastic, etc. Priced appropriately, this would be amazing for a beginner/B setup. I kinda want it to collect, but will wait for 2nd hand prices, possibly.

Hi I am watching you from Istanbul Turkey and I agree with you with that money spent you can easily get a Fluance or Project or even a Rega Planner 1 which will all be better choice for sure than this JBL.

JBL was thinking: If vinyl records are made from plastic, why not a turntable!. BTW, isn't this the 1st turntable ever made by JBL?

Hello. If this JBL compared with Audio Terchnica 120X-USB which is the better choice? (I am from Kyiv, Ukraine)

I’ve been aware and owner of JBL products since the mid 1960’s and wouldn’t buy one of these tables for my shed. Yuch!

It looks like this table is aimed at the “starter” high school crowd. Non audiophile listeners that are into vinyl because it’s cool. In some ways it seems that JBL has lost their way.

Maybe a $150 turntable. $250 for JBL branding and nostalgic black and orange colors.

From the uk. Expensive rubbish I would not waste my money looks cheap sounds cheap rip-off 😡

We are in a world of brands,you stick the JBL brand and oops you can charge 3 times the real value What a shame

I’m a fan, given a difficult path you have to tread in reviewing product/s not worth their launch price. JBL will have better markets to serve, and that has been clearly established. Written in Melbourne, Australia!

Listening from France. Restarting my journey in hifi after a brake of a few years. Keep up the good work.

Hello from Cardiff, Wales. What were JBL thinking charging 399 for this? At half that it may be worth a punt for someone wanting to get into vinyl on a low budget, but that toy cartridge....! I like what you do, keep up the good work!

A good honest review. You've just saved someone 399.00 dollars.

Andrew Peter Collins Australia! The other land of the free and home of the brave!

It needs to go half price 400 is too much rather get the new atlp140xusb.

Morning, Southampton, England 👍🏼

I like watching your video's. I am from the Netherlands and living in Nijmegen. My turntable is a rega planar 3 50th anniversary edition.

"Pingy-Ringy"... love it. I quite like the orange colour but that it. JBL still makes great gear but they surf too much on their own brand name so they are getting sloppy. Watching you from a tiny village near Nantes in France. Your videos are very good, very entertaining and I dig your accent!

Thanks for the review. I had a feeling it was crap, but the orange platter has an interesting look. Is that a Thin Lizzy "Jailbreak" graphic behind you? If so, where is it from?

For that price I would buy a Fluance!

I'll tell ya this: I'd damn sure expect more and better for that price. I'm plenty happy with my Audio-Technica LP120XUSB, and that was $350. Is it "the perfect audiophile turntable?" No, but then, ask any audiophile what IS and you'll start World War III. I'd say for something that's trying to mimic an SL-1200 at less than a third the price, it's pretty close to being perfect for ME. At least when paired with a good external preamp (I don't like the sound of the one that's built-in; it's a bit too harsh for my ears). Seems to me that, with THIS unit, you're paying for the "cool" look and the big JBL logo on the front.

Bose 901's suck and always have. Nice imaging but zero bass and what there is - muddy as can be - zero dampening factor

Okay, that one looks fun, but I'll stick to my SL-1200G with SME V arm. Nice country you've got there - greetings from The Netherlands.

$400 are you kidding me? JBL you’re just making yourself look bad for an otherwise excellent brand. This is horrible and I wouldn’t pay more than $120 for it. that should be in the same class as the ATLP 60 which you can get for less than 120 bucks.

you can drive over it with a car and dump it in the wheelie bin. that's fun too. Gr from the Netherlands.

Hi kid! I’m from the early 50’… As long as you wanna know here is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Munich Germany

Weep weep as a vintage Jbl fan im puzzled by this unit too. For kids or beginners yeah certainly. Their higher priced turntable looks far better .. waiting for a comprehensive review. Its over $2000 here in Australia. I too had the L100 dream as a kid ... got a second hand pair for $500 plus a trade in for memory then had to do some work on them and found another pair in a roadside ckeanup ....no joke. Anyway they are good. The L112 that came along early 80s fixed up some of the flaws in the L100. Better tweeter and better woofer for much higger power handling. I use my pair regularly. Today Jbl have the L100 classic that retailes for ready....$8500 Australian Dollars.... not Usa made sadly. Its only pushed up the value of the real Jbl stuff. I did buy their first Synchros 700 headphones at $400....alloy backed and of decent quality.. the later over ear headphones they made were not to my taste. You are right a big company not always doing their research . Many high quality companies go way down market to get sales but does it add prestige to a once mighty company built on the highest standards. Again i agree on your comments on the cartridge and the terrible lid. The $4500 Denon DP3000 has a terrible lid that looks very similar to this lol....only bigger. Made by Hanpin in China. Many products made in China are good its how they are made .. everyone worldwide deserves an income and these people only work to the standards set by the company they work for. Look at Topping and SMSL great DAC components for a good price.

You're so kind not to just call it junk. What is JBL doing? Lordy...

JBL let us down. :(

Toronto, Canada 🍁

Hereford UK 😊

Austria here

I was about to buy this, thank goodness i listened to this video first, so i can aim to get something much better.

Stockholm, Sweden...

Im from New Zealand. First time viewer

Greetings from Bogotá, Colombia 😊

Watching from the Netherlands.