The last record changer ever made - Crosley Stack-O-Matic 

The Stack-O-Matic is in fact a very late BSR changer design, a C-503, which the Taiwanese OEM that bought the patents from BSR used to manufacture Crosley's Stack-O-Matic. Still trying to investigate who the OEM is.

I was caught off-guard by the wave of nostalgia this video created for me. Nearly all of the record players around me growing up were changers and I was fascinated to watch them work. Thanks for this wonderful video!

I think audiophiles will piss themselves when they see not one but two copies of Dark Side Of The Moon next to that record changer

Damn, Crosley found a way to make even the BSR cheaper.

What I enjoy about your videos is not the products you go over, but its your passion for them. :-)

I am from the 40s, never would have imagined records in the XXI Century. Cheers from frozen Patagonia Argentina

Many thanks Kevin, for allowing me to relive my childhood memories of the mid-sixties, with my Marconi portable BSR record changer AND it's flip stylus, playing Mantovani and other great orchestras Great video, thanks again.

Those Living Stereo records are the best!

UPDATE: I recently won a stack-o-matic from an Ebay auction. I thoroughly enjoy the record player and am proud to have it in my collection of record changers.

I have one of these in my kitchen. I love it. I have high end turntables as well, but this puppy gets the most time.

Great video and a good complement to the Technology Connections video! As someone who has used record changers for a long time, I still really enjoyed watching this. Thanks for covering the Gruve Gard!

My parents had the giant furniture one when I was a kid!! Love the memories of it.

I bought the "traveler" stack o matic in 2009 to use in my office. It's actually not a bad sounding unit for a Crosley. I think it was built better than those little single players they put out now.

this is FAR better than what they offer today

Fantastic posting! I listen to my CR-89 stack-o-matic to this day. It sounds great & works perfectly. It was one of the models Crosley manufactured around 2005. So glad I have one.

I love record changers!! Even in 2020 I continue to buy and use them!! My favorite is Magnavox, but I would gladly give the Crosley stack-o-matic a try...if I could fine one!!

I don't know how it was in the USA, but when I was a kid in Britain, in the 1960s, singles were made with raised edges around the labels, with little teeth to grip the one above and below. All very well if all your singles were from the same company. However, some had teeth that didn't fit others, and some didn't have teeth. Sometimes the record that was playing just slid on the one below, instead of turning. Some narrowed at the edge, and when the stylus landed, it just slid off, despite the absence of anti-skate, so you couldn't play any more records until you went round the record shop and bought a new stylus to replace the one that just got killed. The worst thing I ever saw an autochanger do, was when I stacked up some shellac 78s, and they all decided to drop at once, and smash!! But, as they say, nostalgia isn't what it used to be. P.S. re: the raised edges of old LPs - even if you have your antiskate set well, sometimes due to Isaac Newton and his pesky gravity, the stylus slides into the LP and jumps a few grooves in the process! On a modern manual deck, you have to cue up the stylus as close as you can to the start of the first track with some LPs!

Crosley should've kept making these instead of those pitiful suitcase players. (although they may or may not be as bad as some people think.) ps I still use my late 70's Panasonic SL-504 record changer daily and it sounds great.

The sound of the vinyl dropping really takes me back :)

We can always count on you for interesting content....

The thing I hated about 70's BSR turntables were the ones with ceramic cartridges were very hard on styrene 45's. I had a lot of problems trying to set the right stylus weight. Too light and the record would skip, too heavy and it would chew them up. I was very happy to get rid of it.

Those record changers fascinated me as a kid I used to love watching the record go down then the next one drop.

Thanks for sharing this. I remember my father's record changer though I don't recall the brand. Strange there there have been no new ones introduced.

I figured you watched the Technology Connections video! The timing was just too good. Glad to see that you enjoy his stuff.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you!

When I was a kid in the 80s it was a snap to go into a "Salvation Army" second-hand store and find a stereo AM/FM 8-track turntable system from _Zenith_ that still played! As a matter of fact, I found one in the mid-1990s and it worked, as far as the record player, the radio, and the cassette deck! I made mix tapes from stacked 45s! I didn't bother with the 8-track. When my brother, 2 years my junior, made a big show of trembling while asking, "What's that?" pointing to the 8-track slot (which he remembered having been born in 1974) I played along and said, *_"That's a typo..."_* I'm so silly that I just figured I could *_still_* go into a second-hand/thrift store and find one of these kinds of record players. *I should've held on to that "Zenith" like it was a classic car!*

For some reason With you and Technology Connections posting videos about these things very recently, it actually makes me feel like record changers will make a comeback soon!

This brings back so many memories. I grew up with tube amp console stereos that had changers in them.

Love this video!! As you can tell by my profile pic... I absolutely love me some bsr decks.... used them all my life... if ya keep them lubed up,, they will literally last a lifetime... and that Crosley model you have there ,, I also have ,, when I took it apart I was shocked by how well built these crosleys are... imo the best line of products they have ever made.... I just wish they had put these changers on their 1975 model .. lol.. and made it authentic...

DUDE!!! I have that Sears Clock Cassette 8-Track Radio to the left of your turntable! I've had since I was a kid back somewhere in the 70's and everything still works. It was a treat to see someone else having one. :)

Great video love them old record changer.

I remember seeing ads for these but this is the first RU-vid video I've seen about them.

This sounds pleasant for something that has a ceramic cartridge as you say. My cheap $40 Victrola suitcase sounded like junk before I replaced the stylus with an $8 diamond cartridge, which was a bit long and made it sound slightly quieter but much better. There are two ways to go with records. You can go for the audiophile component system with mint records or you can go for the quaint old style of listening that these portables offer. Even though I have a decent turntable, I regularly find myself wanting to listen to the suitcase player because it's easy to set up and not overbearing. It also makes me care less about the imperfections of some of my records. It's like the difference between reading a book over candle light vs high tech entertainment.

I don’t know why crosley stop making these but I wish they would make them again 😢

in fairness that looks a bit better than the usual offering from crosley and has reasonable speakers

About idiots thinking the dropping of the records can magically damage them. Besides the tops of the groves not having any music on them, plus some records having a higher edge and center section, finally you aren't dropping the records in a vacuum. The presence of air means the fall creates a bit of a "ground effect" cushioning by pushing the air down along with the record. This air cushion helps gently lower the falling record onto the lower one.

I was thinking about the raised edge and label while watching the Technology Connections video, Glad you brought it up here! (I didn't know that that was a "system" design with a brand name!). Also the concept of keeping the holding arm up to repeat a record: I had "Bicycle Race" ("Queen",1978) as a single and used this technique to play that tune about 5 times in a row the day I bought it (I did, and still do love that track!), My Mother offered to shoot me and/or the record player if I kept playing "That damned bicycle song"..,, LOL! OTOH, Today, I work at a restaurant and naturally they play contemporary music (real recordings, "big hits" of today.). As much as I would have been against it in the 60's,70's or EVEN 80's... I WISH they would play "Muzak" type "elevator music", as I can't STAND the Pseudo Hip-Hop, Autotuned crapola that's out now!

9:30 when you were demonstrating the mechanism I kept saying “hey! I was listening to that!” Thanks to you and techmoan I’ve found it’s enjoyable to listen to this music! I’m 42 and strangely enough realized I’m the demographic for this music! Maybe I was born in the wrong time? Furthermore, as far as audiophiles go, my Sony LX300 turntables has been just fine for me! It’s been hooked to my surround sound and is magnificent for me! I usually tell people to go with what suits them best

Your channel is so therapeutic!

7:44 I'm sure that missing disc 5 was left in some other record player that was also given away to the thrift store.

What was the name of the box set you stack up. Was it one of then Reader Digest sets? I still use my BSR record charger. Its from 1974/75. I use it as my main player. I do have Technic 1200s that i had since my dj days. But sometimes, i like to stack some albums and set back and enjoy.

Was there a bit of Technology Connections inspiration here? Edit: Ah, I see you've talked about this. My mistake.

It's like a BSR without the 16RPM and the flip needle. Wonder if that ceramic will last long on a 78RPM disc. They should at least had an inscription on the speed selection to change the cartridge. Nice Review!

The thing that I'm catching is if you added many more records than what you already have now, it doesn't look like the needle would be able to handle more than one more because the needle would drag across the record in return mode, possibly bending the cantilever to the point of no return. The other thing to be mindful of is the tracking azimuth and zenith will be off as well. The record changer sounds pretty good. Thank you for sharing.

These changers were great for multi-record sets. Back in the day, those sets (and even some modern multi-record albums; "Wings Across America" comes to mind) were made with this in mind. Take the "Wings Across America", which I mentioned already. Record one was sides 1/6; two was 2/5; and three was 3/4. This way; when you played through one side of all of the records, you'd just flip the whole stack, and it would be in proper album order.

Great video

Great record player. Amazing the technology they used on record players.

10:16 - "This is perfect kinda music for having at your mid-century dinner party playing in the background," then hits the Auto switch and the special shroom soup kicks in.

I have happy memories of being taught how to use my family's record player (back in 1969 as a 3 year old !) And less happy memories of constantly being 'told off' for leaving the control arm up and letting the record repeat endlessly !

Great video great memories

My first turntable was a Garrard 40B which was was identical in features and operation, but was a rim drive unit.

Get a proper 78 needle for that thing on ebay and you've made yourself a great playbackdevice for your 78 albums. Technology Connections got me here.

I miss these

I used to own a Magnavox record changer that operated differently. The tone arm would rise and swing over to bump the edge of the loaded record, to feel the size before dropping. After finishing playing the record, the tone arm would rise and return back to it's cradle but before shutting off it would do a final sweep to see if there were additional records to drop. If not it would then return to it's cradle and then shut itself off.

I have the British version of this, it has a radio & takes a usb stick. Bought it around 2011 for playing 45s on. When playing a single record you can just pull the arm down to "play" without having to manually put the needle on the record,either by putting 1 record on the spindle or as you did and put the record directly onto the turntable and keep the record arm back . A lot of people knock these record players but it does sound better than the Bush record player from 1972 which I had from new

That looks nice :)

We had a record changer when I was younger and I remember doing all these things with it. I did find that if you added too many records to the stack the playing record would slip. Also, great dun was putting on an LP and then switching the speed up to 78, probably ruined a few LPs doing that. I think it was made by Grunding and the stylus had a lever on it which would flip it over to play 78 records.

I remember such a thing at Southpoint Mall in 2k. Record changers (Minus being portable like this 1 here) were the norm in my childhood in the 70's & started to wane in the coming mid-80's, loved being able to play records on repeat with the change arm up. Ahhhhhhh, they just don't make'em like that...anymore.

I'm glad it used a crystal diamond. I hate those non-crystaline diamonds.

There’s one interesting fact that at 11:25, RCA did put out Groove/Guard (or Gruve/Gard) to protect their records from scratching and scruffs. That was in 1954 and continued right up until 1969. Prior to Gruve/Gard, RCA Victor started putting out LP records in 1950, just two years after Columbia introduced the LP format in 1948. Both Columbia and RCA started a war for LP records. And during the Gruve/Gard process, RCA introduced the Dynagroove records in 1962 where they try to make the record sound better than the usual one. That lasted a couple of years until 1969. By 1970, RCA started the Dynaflex process to make the records thin and wobbly where it continued right up until 1976. The record you see here is “Music For Reading” from 1958, but the label is a reissue from about 1965-68 due to its label design. BTW, nice changer!

This looks and sounds like a good record player. Im considering getting an all in one player with speakers for when i get my own place. I already have a new sealed in box Audiotechnica LP120. Very good review.

The audio information may be inside the groove, but only a hyperelliptical stylus (they aren't cheap) will sit perfectly inside the groove. A cheap stylus will pick up surface noise. What Technology Connections said was they just didn't care that much about about their records. People started to get sick of surface noise in the '80s especially when CDs came out. I personally will never use one of those record changers at least on any records I care about. It's not like there really is a need for such a thing today anyway. Records are just a novelty. There's nothing really novel about making records that automatic. We just don't need hours of music from records anymore.

Thanks to this video I had to get a Stack-O-Matic. I have the Model CR89, which closely resembles one of the Dansette suitcase models. I'd really like a Dansette with a Garrard changer, but they are expensive, shipping from England is expensive, and then you have to convert it from 220V-50Hz to 110-120v-60Hz, which adds even more expense. Crosley does sell a Dansette clone, but it's no fun without a changer.

Surprisingly, I actually still have, and use, that old Realistic 8-track player! A lot of great music never made it to cassettes and much of it would be lost forever were it not for a few tapes that somehow still survive in thrift stores and garage sales. I also have two TEAC reel-to-reel recorders that get a lot of use. Like the 8-tracks, a lot of really good music (not the hip slop and rap crap they try to pawn off today as "music") never made it past their original format on reel to reel tape so these machines are priceless now. The one thing I never liked about the crash-o-matics was the fact that if people didn't know to maintain their records you'd get all of the dirt and dust from one record deposited onto the record below as it fell and over time that got pressed into the grooves of those records. RCA's invention of the raised edge records helped save a lot of good music from that era.

I wanna watch some video about the early Crosley because this is so interesting.

On one hand... I wanted to hear what that thing sounded like... on the second hand... I was worried about what was going to happen to Anders's record... I still want a copy of one of his records... I gotta remember to try to get one...

It might be worth modifying one to have phono outputs, it would be nice to have it on a full size sound system. Record changers are still my favorite way to play 45s and 78s, no constantly having to jump up to change the music after each song.

WOW it sounds great

Hey VWestlife, thank you for sharing your review, just got a hold of a 2005 model. I wanted ask if there was any chance to upgrade the cartridge with a Banpa with the lever stylus. Please let me know if you’ve had a chance to make this upgrade. Work.

Wow I remember my mom having one like this one. But it I believe was like what they had at schools. Like a auidotronics I think she had and they did I think a good job on this good video never clicked so fast lmao. However I have one complaint they did . My bsr. Changer has screws that hold the cart to the tone arm. Which would allow for changing the cartridge and make it user friendly.

Although these types of devices are nifty, I don't really see the point in them. For me, part of the fun is getting up and close with the vinyl, you know? As for audiophiles thinking that they're absolutely horrendous, well... that's audiophiles for you. Haha. I'd love a record changer like an old jukebox though!

i have a old record changer that has two motors so one controls the tone arm and one controls the platter and it does not lose pitch when it changes records

No word of a lie, if I ever saw a Crosley 1970s style Music Centre (complete with not just record changer but also LW/MW/FM and DAB+ radio, casette recorder, CD player, Bluetooth, and USB) I'd probably be tempted, my first HiFi was a hand me down Fidelity music centre.... which had a record changer Also, reel to reel tape players are so cool!

The Best record changer ever made was probably the Technics SL-1950. It was essentially the 1900 turntable but allowed the optional use of a multi-stack spindle and it obviously needed a very tall dust cover to accommodate it.

Technology connections also said that record changers are easy to find. Not in my experience. I had to go halfway across the country to find one. But in the end, I got a good deal on an early 50s RCA record changer. Only catch is that it was a rare model, making it’s documentation hard to find. I had to repair it based on a 60s voice of music repair video because it happened to have the same changer mechanism.

+Westlife It's cool because both Panasonic RX-D55G-Ck boom boxes can play Mp3 discs as well. SO, if you have CD's with 100 Mp3 files on them. You are in luck. These boom boxes can play mp3 CD's just fine! That's one of the best highlights about this boom box. That is why I chose the 20 watt version!

They really don't make them like they use to. Wonder why they stopped making these amazing turntables.

I just scored one of these this weekend and set it up in our kitchen area for listening while cooking/eating. It's pretty great. I do have issues with the newer reissues on heavier vinyl though. I know you said the spindle is replaceable. Should I be looking to buy a single record spindle for it or work with the existing spindle to play individually? Advice?

In some ways, this is actually better than a BSR changer. The biggest improvement is the use of a belt instead of an idler wheel, which really is a horrible drive mechanism for maintaining proper speed and motor noise.

Love these good crosley record players

Ok.. This is GREAT! Why? Because it means that BSR legacy will live on... Point two is: The design of the arm's 'cradle' or pivot point... which is pivoting excentrically... i.e. "off center". This will cause the stylus to 'crawl forward' as it goes inward, diminishing tracking error of the tip vector significantly. this makes for a weird radius starting in the middle of the spindle but the radius will end at the front of the spindle! In a traditional. center pivoted radius, the stylus will end up just at the back side of the spindle as tracking error grows towards the end of the groove. This all has to to with the arm's length... By pivonting excentrically this problem is overcome in a clever way. Take note however, the afore mentioned only flies for rounded, spherical cut styli. I wouldn't know what an elliptical tip would track like... My guess is that it would provide a mildy better sound quality, but elliptical styli are expensive!

Absolutely wish they would make them again Technics did some great models in 80 s but we never got them in the UK even the Crosleys were hard to get here except recent suitcase types. Back in them days were made to last with lots of metal parts

How do you calibrate the speed on this type of turntable?

These always seemed a lot less junky than most of the manual Crosley machines. I wonder why they discontinued then just as record player sales started to make a comeback. With today's cheap motors and digital controls, it should be easy to automate just about any turntable design, or even produce changer parts that could be used by various turntable producers. It would be nice to have them back on the market; vinyl is, for the most part, a novelty these days and having it drop automatically is a lot more novel than putting on each record by hand.

Like the very first to do so in 1927. (the Orthophonic Victrola 10-50), "Changes its own records!"

I really enjoyed reel-to-reel back and it stays till this day I still say it is my most favorite audio format. Vinyl is great it sounds good but of course records are vulnerable to scratches cassette tapes are vulnerable to getting jammed up by the cassette deck reel to reel is more of an open architecture I hardly ever heard of a reel-to-reel tape getting tangled up in the mechanisms but even if that did happen it was easy to pop off the caps and just pull it out without damaging the tape. Of course yes you do have the wrinkles Left Behind which will affect the sound but at least it was still playable. Reel to reel tape could also be spliced and repaired cassette tapes Cantu but the tape is a lot thinner and more difficult to work with reel-to-reel was a much thicker tape more durable. I actually had a record changer back in my days and I don't think it ever ruined any of my records.

Sad that this is the last changer ever made.

Slugbug must really appreciate you advertising his music for free.

How did you get your RETRO GROOVES VOL.3 - VINYL RECORD ? I loved the start of that but cant find any. And the website says sold out. Cant even find it on ebay

My aunt has a reel-to-reel similar to yours that I helped her to fix. It's an Akai, I think. It rewinds tapes so fast, it's scary!

Unbelievable that a decent record changer with an elliptical stylus and outputs does not exist today. I'd take the trade-off of the cons for the convenience of stacking.

that acts just like the old BSR changers. The speed drop when you change records and how it will just repeat the record when you leave the changer arm up and back.

I love all those easy-listening records and yes, i have boxes of Seeburg BMS records and two BMC players. LOL

I know this video is ancient, just a note you SHOULDN'T put more records on than the initial limit because the tonearm only lifts up so high...if you exceed that height by putting on more records than the limit, instead of the stylus being above the record when moving across it the stylus will scratch across the record because the stack height is higher than the arm is lifted!!!

A Crosley changer?! Oh, dear! May the audiophile gods of AudioKarma have mercy on your soul!

Crosley didn't make record changers very long, I almost wonder if a bunch of NOS BSR record changers, or at least parts were found in a warehouse, and then they discontinued it when the supply ran out.

What brand is that cassette/8 track player on the left of your table? Does it also record on the tapes, or is it just a player? Wonder if that unit I asked about is somewhere out thiere? I saw that unit on another video somewhere. Anyone know?

Hi, do you know someone in central NJ that could service my early 80's bsr? needs new cartridge & stylus, probably can use the tonearm adjusted. Im in the somerset area.

Does this have a built in preamp? Having upgraded a Centrex by Pioneer all in one unit, I know a Dual will fit in the same hole as a BSR. That could make for a sweet self contained record player.

My Neostar "does everything, just not very well" all-in-one job came with one of them cartridges with the plastic cantilever, one of the "Under $2" ceramic cartridges was quite the upgrade in comparison, but still didn't sound all that good, but then I am spoiled by my Pioneer PL-400 with an AT95e MM cartridge, which is why the Neostar resides in the shed... :P