Coturn CT-01 Portable record player review (Updated 20 Sept)

Coturn updates? I trust everything is getting better for you. 🤞

This is interesting, got to say you do a great review and I think they will sell plenty of them 👍🏻👍🏻

I love this thing, I've ordered it - you're an expensive subscription, when the extraneous items are taken into account. You're right about high tech turntables - there's nothing that's preventing their return. The technology is rather simple, and is much improved these days. The cassette player problem is harder, in my opinion. I don't see how to have a production run of advanced cassette tape heads. My assumption is that adapting a crap cassette tape head assembly line to making great heads isn't possible. Maybe I'm wrong. Possibly more practical would be the mass scavenging of head from old units. I've been doodling about the idea of some sort of modern equivalent of a cassette head - HDD heads do perform a similar function. It's definitely not my area of expertise but I think someone with creativity and knowledge could design a cassette player that works on different principles which could be easily manufactured today.

Very cool video. If they get the issues with the speed sorted I’d consider one. The design is simple yet elegant.

That test record is really useful, I use the anti-skate band a lot. The reaction you get when you play people the beginning of Side 2, with the piano being dropped out of the window, is always priceless!

As much as I used to love vinyl, and had been collecting it since 1968, I hated the wow, flutter, and warped records. So, once the CD came out I stopped buying records and never looked back. Still, I loved the video... it was great fun, and really well done, as is usual for you.

Nice one this video. Had to watch it in 2 chunks but loved it. It’s a beautiful product and very glad it became a real product. Still remember backing the ‘wheel’ record player…. Seeying this one in real life kinda raises my hope ever so slightly ….

After my dad passed, I inherited his Garrard Zero100C and found a broken tonearm wire under the chassis. Now I’m no genius with a soldering iron, but I found this beyond my skills. I tried higher wattage and quick heat, and a very low wattage pencil, but it defeated me. It’s still packed away.

I'm boggled that there have been two mentions of the Panasonic SL-N5 here. I sold mine in 1988, prompted by reading in Gramophone magazine that some record labels had stopped releasing LPs. I didn't own many records at the time and decided it would be short sighted to buy any more. I own far too many CDs now. It was a neat design with the tone arm at the back. This made it narrow enough to sit on a little chipboard stand on top of the boombox with which it was sold.

🤩 What a lovely-looking item! I'll be following COTURN on social media now with great interest. Many thanks for another informative & entertaining review, Mat, and many thanks for the extra time to create the update when you probably thought you'd earned yourself a nice wee break after posting this initially!

I was probably at the other end in terms of placing my order. Very disappointing. This is a major design flaw. Eventually, even if you don't have a desire to use a different cartridge, you will need to replace it every so many years. I'd rather not destroy such an expensive device to do minor maintenance.

Great video. Nice to see such lovely design. Hope they fix your snapped cable issue. Shame about the speed issues but not unknown in modern turntable design even from the big manufacturers. Bought myself a new turntable this year, a Pro-Ject Carbon Evo replacing my Panasonic SL-N5 which had served me well for about 35 years. Ideally I would have liked some sort of auto stop or lift but physical space dictated the type of deck I could buy from the current crop. Very pleased with the sound quality though. If it lasts as long as the Panasonic I will be pleased. If I last that long I will be even more pleased.

Self-appointed consumer electronic marketing expert and Big Turntable apologist here ... Regarding the speed, it will be interesting to see what they do with that. If there is a Pi running the thing and *if* there is a speed sensor of some sort, maybe the CPU can act as "quartz lock". As for the cartridge wiring ... well ... #32? I hope? They seem to have put a LOT of care into the design and even if I'm not actually not that much into music, I really hope they can address both issues and incorporate changes to the production line!

Yikes; that looks more like a filament than a wire. I do like seeing the inner workings of the machine, though. Will you edit again if the Coturn folks contact you? I need to learn more about raspberry pi, because I had never been exposed to the subject before watching your channel. Seems to be a good method for pre-formed circuitry. But I can't figure out how Muppet Mrs. Moan could use it in her hair dryer?

The days have gone when you asked the Sony Rep how many units had been sold. They often wouldn't tell you but they would tell you how many they brought into the country. From that you could get a fair idea how how well a product was selling.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to produce the update. And thanks for putting it in a positive, helpful context for buyer and seller.

The angle at which the cartridge is mounted with respect to the tonearm seems too small to me, indeed it is definitely too small for proper tracking of the record. Am I wrong?

Thanks for showing the inside on the updated video! Well, that tiny spindle on the motor explains why the speed control sucks. The diameter is so small that the rubber of the belt pretty much has to fold around it, with all the side effects of stretching and contracting. If they would have made the diameter of the pulley 3 times bigger, and combine it with a small balanced flywheel, the speed would be rock solid. And it would use less power because the motor would have to run slower (unless they reduce the size of the pulley under the turntable too of course).

About Mat's positive attitude: Just watch his video about the Rollie Eggmaster from a couple years age, then compare it to the scathing roast of the thing by AvE. Very different approaches ;-)

Re Update: Uh oh... I haven't seen the video yet, but in classic YouTube tradition will comment anyway ;-) Is it another one of those mono "stereos"? If so, that's a massive oversight, even worse than the fast running speeds.

To address the update: Shame on that flimsy cable! On the positive side, opening the device clearly reveals a photodiode (the transparent component labeled D1 just left of the big wheel visible at 15:32) and an encoder on the turntable (those holes in the big wheel), so assuming the motor driver is up to it, this hardware should easily be able to hold perfect speed and quartz lock might just be a firmware update away!

Very surprised they are using a raspberry pie, there should be no reason to be running a Linux OS just for audio, but I suspect it is required for the Wi-Fi option and they are using it for that. Also you can see on the turntable where the belt goes around it has holes in along with what looks like an LED (infra sensor/transmitter) so it can read the rotation speed, so that explains why no adjustment pots, however it doesn't explain why it is so far out, so that should be fixable in a software update.

I like your positive attitude here. These people are trying. They're part of the community and have an obvious love for audio products. The community should support each other.

Very interesting that they use a raspi zero-w in it. Perhaps only for the WiFi Connectivity, seems a bit oversized (and powerhungry) for steering the rest only.

Great video and I love the quality of this turntable. I wonder if there is a service manual for it they could supply on request?

I know what you mean about Kickstarter. I doubt that I’ll ever back another Kickstarter project. I consider myself a reasonably patient man. But I am still waiting on a bike helmet that was supposed to arrive last November. And it is now the following September.

Mat. You keep saying, your an old man. But your enthusiasm is like someone who is way younger. Your as old as you feel. But inside, your still young. I'm 64 and love new technology. Play games and create YouTube content. The work you do is just amazing. Keep producing this for us whether we be young or old.

A few years ago my dad got a Pioneer PL30K. A reasonable quality fully auto turntable for under $300. I think they discontinued it. I have no idea what goes through the minds of the folks at electronics companies.

1) What a nice turntable! I don't have any doubt that the makers will make your speed issue "right". 2) The money people long ago infiltrated places like Sony. If a new product isn't expected to make "revenue targets", they will never put it out. It's volume volume volume so that they can maximize their own revenue (revenue unlikely to be shared with either the people that designed the product or those that make it). 3) Despite that, I think there may be a general overestimation of the "vinyl revival". From what I've seen (mostly on a channel that I like very much called "Techmoan") it appears to be mostly nostalgia-based. Not sure if the market is big enough to support very many new, quality turntables. That said, this product is made by people who certainly have a better idea of the size of their likely market and how many unit they need to ship to keep their head above water. And holy cow, they've done a fantastic job based on what you've shown. That it's an extremely modern device playing music recorded using 100-year-old tech probably just makes it that much more exciting! A run-of-the-mill digital music player would provide far superior music reproduction but has almost zero Gizmosity Factor compared to the CT-01. Another superb video, Mat. Thanks.

Just wanted to say that new content from you really brightens up any day. Your style and humour are sooo appreciated!

That really is a beautiful piece of hardware. I'm not one who would notice the speed difference- and I am someone who will pay a higher price for exceptional design (Apple). May pick one up in the future when the lead time shortens up a bit. Thank you again for the great work you do.

For that price I would have expected the speed to be spot on, and with less wow and flutter. 4% is two-thirds of a semitone, quite enough to make somebody with perfect pitch tear their hair out. Also, 4 g tracking force is rather high. I hope they address those issues in the next revision

You can sort of see why Apple designs nice looking products, then people forgive any flaws it has :)

Beautiful little turntable. That tonearm looks sooo fragile, though. My 70 year old assistant broke 2 new industrial Swingline staplers in 2 weeks, and watching her change the toner on our copiers is cringeworthy. I don’t know how the plastic panels survive. She’d have this thing in pieces in minutes.

Strange that it has a speed issue considering it must be direct drive. It must be trivial to build in a 'lock' for the speed, or even just manual speed adjustment through an app. I've got a beat up Aiwa DD from the 80s that holds it's speed better. It does look beautiful though!!

Thanks for the video Mat. I hope the makers get in touch and offer a solution to the speed error. 4% is naughty. You would think Eric in QC would have checked the speed with a incandescent lamp and a strobe disc. I used to help in a electrical repair shop and they had one. We sold lots of idler wheels and belts because of that test disc. Best wishes.

What a fantastic bit of design, it’s not something I’d ever buy though, never liked vinyl when I was growing up in the 80s and still don’t now. All that faff just to listen to music, which is the bit I want to get to.

Actually this does fill me full of hope that we haven't totally forgotten to make really interesting tech. As to the kickstater thing - I think there are 2 kinds of these. Type 1 - we've designed it and we just need seed money to get it off the ground. Type 2 - well its still a prototype and we need to use the money to get it developed. Type 1s generally deliver consistently, it's the type 2 that tend to go sideways in my experience. However sometimes I will fund a type 2 just in case it comes off. The way I see it, it's like betting on a horse. Sometimes you win and you get your money back, but more often than not you loose. What annoys me at the Type 2s that pretend to be a Type 1 as its an expectation management issue.

Q: With the USB C interface can you record from the turntable to say Audacity?

It looks like the Coturn people actually put a lot of effort into the CT-01. It's such an elegant looking machine and it sounds decent for what it is. As you rightly point out, it might seem a bit expensive on the surface... but good luck finding anything else with the same combination of quality and portability for the price. Here's hoping it does well enough to encourage Coturn to make a CT-02, with added accessible speed adjustment.

As always, thanks for making. Audio signal based auto stop. What a great idea.

Great stuff, Mat. Nice to a see a Kickstarter product that looks well-made and not an utter plastic piece of crap gimmick. It's a shame about the speeds being off although I don't think people that make these kind of products care because they are mostly novelty items and I doubt most of the intended market is that bothered about the speed accuracy. As for why no-one makes the kind of turntables mentioned in the vid: it's about economy of scale. The world was a different place in the 70s and early 80s: vinyl was king and turntables sold in vast quantities at all price points. Japanese manufacturers were the kings of consumer electronics (no real competition from Korea/ China back then) and there were still enough of them around to facilitate real competition. There was a huge desire for them to one-up each other which drove technological innovation and performance improvements. Yes, there's been a vinyl revival over the past decade or so, but I think people don't realise how small potatoes it is compared to the 80s and prior. You can't compare the market for record players 40 years ago when so many people a/ still bought physical media and b/ bought it on vinyl to now where comparatively few people buy physical media at all and a tiny percentage of people buy records. It's a tiny niche and way too small a market to invest in the kind of R&D and manufacturing processes that gave us all those amazing direct drive turntables with automatic features, biotracer arms etc. Besides, many/ most of the Japanese manufacturers that participated in the HiFi arms race have been merged, moved out of the consumer electronics space or gone completely.

Is this going to be progressively larger discs week?

I was going to make an outrageous comment like, "F**** it, let's all smoke p*t, drink absinthe, and listen to some Pink Floyd albums on the Coturn" and considered the wisdom of doing so ..and did it anyway. I'm going to have post-comment regret now. Here it comes... (Disclaimer: I've never smoked p*t or drank absinthe in my life)

This reminds me of Bang & Olufsen components: even when they're not in use, they perform the function of being a stylish and decorative static object in the room. I think there's really something to this compact record player idea, too. It's perfect for a listener like me who owns some discs but rarely plays them, and would like a player that takes up minimal room when not in use (or can be stowed away entirely). I owned a Sound Burger in college and I liked it for that exact reason. When I wasn't playing my "Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy" discs, it didn't take up too much space in my tiny dorm room.

Lovely machine but I’m worried about any buttons that are just sensors. Will they work in a few years? Too bad as I’d definitely buy this if it had proper buttons

The design is stunning! Truly beautiful. It’s a shame about the speed issues. I cannot tell you how happy I am with my Anabas GP-N3R which you featured based on the classic Japanese portable. Buying that was the BEST decision ever. My wife and I have to go to NYC for a bit and I don’t see me NOT collecting records while I’m there! So we will bring the Anabas! It may not have my Ortofon 2M Blue on it, but that little basic AT cartridge at the right tracking force sounds pretty dang good and keeps my records safe! Maybe the next version of the Coturn because they clearly have design down and Bluetooth and WiFi is great. It just looks so elegant too. Definitely a portable to watch! I hope we do away with the suitcase turntables and people really embrace on the low end scale at least putting the AT cartridge on it. Vinyl sales are up, but so many don’t even realize what they’re getting. I too am guilty of the occasional purchase of a remaster. My copy of “All Things Must Pass” had seen better days and The Beatles remasters have really been worth it. Taking the albums to the next level.

That was brilliant, Mat. It all got a bit too much for you at the end, didn't it? :-) But it's a better video for that! Great product, well reviewed with humour. Love it, well done. S.

After all the disappointing products lately I am glad for you as a customer and me as a viewer to finally see quality again.

I want that one….

No joke, while listening to the demo records I kept thinking "there's wow and flutter there 🤔" With those measurements of a test record, I'd send that back. Especially without any way of adjustment. Should Eric be fired? 😳 If it had motor control, they could even allow for adjustment via smartphone app over Wi-Fi..! That would be neat.

Agreed! By the way, I picked up one of those heavy platters with a rubber band off of Kickstarter. Great sound, but I do wish it had all the 80s track technology!

Half-Brit, know what the phrase means, but appreciate the detailed answer. 😉 I don't see an equivalence between the goals of a large multinational that has to answer to shareholders and a small devoted team. Don't get me wrong, I love that teams like this are out there and are making this type of device, and maybe they will be successful enough to make a multinational notice, but my experience with KS has been the companies barely scrape through production on their costs. Niche doesn't require an investment in a manufacturing line for 50,000 units, but audiophiles willing they'll make enough going forward to release new products.

Mat you hit the nail on the head when you said (in essence) "It's not that they can't, it's that they won't". This is where people with good ideas about quality and the tools to make things and get them made come in. People that don't care about quality take the cheap mechanism that everyone uses and puts it a fancy package. The quality people think "if I design this in CAD and order this Bluetooth chip and put a little thought into it, hey now I have something". Writ large you can look at Space X and say, it's not that people couldn't be a reliable and reusable rocket, they just didn't. That's my take on this.

Today I learned "not profitable" can be translated to "can't be arsed".

Ha, I work at Sony developing those camera sensors! I wonder if we can do something about them not "arsing" it anymore... However, I really do think the reason is that there isn't enough money to be made for such products to be interesting for the big guys. If you can't sell millions of 'em why bother?

First thought: Hey that's a nice design! I wouldn't have minded having one of those if I still had vinyl Second thought: Well, I guess the design comes at a price. With a tiny platter, tiny DC motor and a mechanism that has to be as light as possible to keep it portable, speed control is probably off the table as a design priority. Thanks for posting!

Gorgeous turntable! I came very close to backing this early on, but given “the event,” my pocket money for something like this dried up. But thanks for posting - wonderful to see it up close in action!

Yay, a modern 'retro' device that isn't totally crap! Also, I'm sure I haven't sunk as much as you into Kickstarter, but the number of no show products I invested in put me off using the service again, and this was before the pandemic!

Hey, another sound burger! Just in time for dinner too..!

Woah nice, I just got the shipping notification for mine the other day.

Great video just right length. Case reminded me of my switch case. Out my price range but would like one.

That certainly is a thing of beauty; and it's not entirely made of cheap plastics like so many products these days. That is also a beautiful sequence of editing at 3:56; and please don't reshoot the end, I like it just as it is. In the 80's, our record player was a harvest gold G.E. Wildcat similar to this one: https://ibb.co/X8ZyPVb. I wore that thing out; but of course as a child I had not yet learned from you 🤓 how to clear the crackle when I cranked the volume. Products like this (thanks for funding) should hopefully give quality to other people of all ages who may just be discovering the joy of records. 👍

Very cool little device! The days of good portable stuff is dead! I am looking for a good MD player as I think my MZ1I have had it since it was new in high school my parents bought it for me as a gift at like $900. So to me those days are long gone...

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I was unaware about it and I'm happily suprised to see that someone is willing to put in the work to produce a new and exciting design that wasn't just thrown together with plastic and no care.

I like the design of this little thing, yes, it has something very surprising! But I'm not impressed by the sound quality, I don't know if it is the records here, but it sounded to me very wowy, and, am I correct, mono?!? And I agree with the difficulty of finding a mid-range record player that has auto start and stop functionality... When I was in desperate need of a new record player a few years ago, I ended up with a Pro-Ject. Decent quality, definitely, but all manual. But I'm still happy with it: it's robust and it sounds very well, much better than the plastic Philips I had before.

Oh while I'm here - I should perhaps have mentioned, in passing, the Braun TP1 from 1959 - if you haven't seen one, do a Google search. It's an (unobtainable) beauty.

If I was in the market, this would be one I would pick.

I'm so happy they didn't do a bad job with it. I've been following since I first saw the kickstarter. I decided not to risk - since they had no trouble reaching their goal - and wait until they deliver. I'm ordering one as soon as they reach reasonable shipping time.

Goddammit I just bought a PS-F5 because I wanted a portable record player...

That is gorgeous! Reminds me of the quality and finish of the Toc vertical record player that never was: https://www.prodeez.com/post/2016/11/03/toc-vertical-record-player-by-roy-harpaz

Now I'm curious on what those kickstarters that you lost hope were lol

Good lord, that turntable is absolutely stunning… Great to see.

I have to say, once I heard you mention it was a Kickstarter I expected the worst. And yes, the timing isn't amazing at 45 rpm, but this is genuinely a decent product. This has restored my faith in the possibility of a good Kickstarter! It's a sleek design, good quality of materials, new concept (!) with the tone arm power button, and as you said, not trying to just steal your money. Great product and great video, thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially the in-depth analysis of the 45 rpm speed, not only taking the data from the wow flutter meter, but also double checking it against the Denon. Great job Matt!