Sony PS-LX250H fully automatic turntable

Manufacturer: Sony Part number: PS-LX250H

Zoom Compare with most popular

$79.00 - $119.99 at 4 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.0 stars Good
Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 3 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: Sony's nifty PS-LX250H turntable is a great way to get into vinyl and can be used with any receiver, HTIB, or computer sound card.

Where to buy

store	customer rating	inventory	tax & shipping	price
Store profile \| Buy now Savings, Selection & Service since 1971	Rate this store See store profile	In stock	Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price	$109.05 Shop now as of 09/07/2008
Store profile \| Buy now PREMIER SOURCE of cutting edge electronics since 1973.	Rate this store See store profile	In stock SHIPS IN 24 HR. Auth Sony dealer w/ warranty		$89.75 Your best price Shop now as of 09/07/2008
Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$91.00 Shop now as of 09/06/2008
Amazon.com Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$119.99 Shop now as of 09/06/2008

*Total price for the Sony PS-LX250H fully automatic turntable are estimated and may vary slightly based on exact tax, shipping, manufacturer rebate or any sale/promotion on the merchant site.

show

CNET editors' review

Sony PS-LX250H fully automatic turntable

price range: $79.00 - $119.99

Sony's nifty PS-LX250H turntable is a great way to get into vinyl and can be used with any receiver, HTIB, or computer sound card.

The good: Two-speed automatic turntable; push-button controls for start, stop, and arm lift; cast-aluminum platter; premounted phono cartridge, built-in phono preamplifier.

The bad: Sounds decent enough but not up to audiophile standards; phono cartridge isn't replaceable.

The bottom line: Sony's nifty PS-LX250H turntable is a great way to get into vinyl and can be used with any receiver, HTIB, or computer sound card.

Read full review

Maybe you have a stash of old records in the attic. Perhaps your favorite band started pressing vinyl. Whatever the reason, if you're ready to pick up a turntable, the Sony PS-LX250H ($100) is a great starter model you can use with any receiver, home theater in a box (HTIB), or computer sound card.

The Sony PS-LX250H's plastic look and feel is what we expect from a $100 turntable, but the platter's cast-aluminum finish adds a touch of class. The PS-LX250H's automatic operation makes playing records almost as easy as playing a CD. The lower front edge of the turntable has three buttons, labeled Start, Stop, and Up/Down. After you've placed a record on the platter, press the Start button; the PS-LX250H will automatically lift the arm from its rest, move it over the record, and lower the stylus into the LP's lead-in groove. When the record ends, the tone arm returns to its rest, and the PS-LX250H's motor turns itself off. The Up/Down button raises and lowers the tone arm, which is useful if you want to manually skip ahead or back. You can select 33.3rpm or 45rpm speeds with a knob on the front of the turntable base.

You can replace the cartridge's needle when it wears out or breaks, but as far as we can tell, you're stuck with the phono cartridge built into the tone arm; it's not upgradable. The turntable is a little smaller than average and measures 16.5 inches wide, 13.25 inches deep, and 3.6 inches high with the dustcover in place; it weighs 6 pounds.

The Sony PS-LX250H's built-in phono preamp allows you to use the turntable with any receiver, HTIB, or computer sound card by plugging the turntable's cables into any line-level input, such as auxiliary or VCR. If your receiver does have a dedicated phono input, we recommend using it instead of the turntable's internal phono preamp (which can be turned off). Chances are, the turntable will sound better that way.

Unlike CD players, turntables require some assembly and adjustment. The Sony PS-LX250H is pretty undemanding in that respect; all you have to do is place the metal platter on the spindle (the part that fits through the record's hole). The underside of the platter already has a rubber belt in place, so you just need to reach in and slip the belt onto the turntable motor's pulley. Then place the rubber mat on the metal platter and hook up the red and white cables to your receiver or HTIB.

With the Sony PS-LX250H's built-in phono preamp turned on, the sound was a little weak, with soft treble detail and a lack of dynamic punch--pleasant enough but slightly boring. After that, we hooked up the turntable's cables to the phono inputs on a Yamaha RX-V2600 A/V receiver, which produced a more alive and engaging sound.

We couldn't resist a CD vs. LP contest, so we used Nirvana's Nevermind to settle the issue. In this case, the turntable didn't completely crush the CD player--the bass was punchier and definitely tighter on CD, but the PS-LX250H produced a bigger soundstage and made the band sound better overall. Digital music sounds more mechanical, so you feel less involved with it.

For those looking to dip their toes into the world of vinyl, the Sony PS-LX250H is a sufficient starter turntable. True music aficionados may want to spring for a higher-end turntable, such as the Goldring GR1.2 ($430), which offers a distinctly clearer sound and delivers more of the music's energy.

show

User reviews

Write Review

Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 3 reviews

Showing opinion 1 to 3 out of 3

Sort by:
7 stars

Does the job

by rosest on February 24, 2006

Pros: Adequate sound, semi-automatic tone arm

Cons: Some rumble

Summary: I decided last spring that it was time to copy my 350 or so albums onto my computer so I could have them on my iPod. I started by hooking ...

Read more

Summary: I decided last spring that it was time to copy my 350 or so albums onto my computer so I could have them on my iPod. I started by hooking up my old Dual turntable with Shure V15 type V cartridge to an unused receiver and hooking that into my sound card. Playing and labeling the records is a time consuming operation, but it was going along OK. I was really enjoying playing some records that I hadn?t heard in 20-25 years. And then the turntable died (I guess 25 years was enough to expect out of it!). It was more than just a broken belt (I had replaced that at the start, when I found that the original belt had dried out and broken). I was now really into converting the records to MP3s, so I decided I would buy a new turntable. Since this would likely be that last time I would use one, I didn?t want to go overboard. The Sony PS-LX250H seemed to fit the bill.

I have now recorded about 200 records with this unit. It seems to have good rotational stability, although I haven?t put a strobe on it to confirm this. The pop, jazz, folk, comedy albums, etc. all sound fine. I am now near the end of the project, about a third of the way through my 22 Time Life Classical record 4-disk box sets. I?ve noticed with these records, records that have many more quiet passages, that there is a low level of rumble. I don?t have my former audiophile unit available to which I could compare it, but I am pretty sure it is there if I turn the volume way up on a quiet cut. It seems to be gone after post-processing in the Roxio sound editor, which I use for capture and filtering of pops, scratches, etc. The general frequency range of the unit is fine. I did change the stylus about half way through to be safe.

Show less

10 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 stars

Maybe good for teens

by review guy on April 22, 2006

Pros: Works with my receiver

Cons: Sounds horrible

Summary: I had an old Sony turntable from the 80's and it sounded and worked wonderful. My new receiver required a turntable with an amp. The Sony was the only ...

Read more

Summary: I had an old Sony turntable from the 80's and it sounded and worked wonderful. My new receiver required a turntable with an amp. The Sony was the only one Best Buy carried. After connecting the belt drive, why did I have to do it, I started spinning away. The sound is tinny and distorted. It?s not how my records sounded 20 years ago. Save yourself and don?t do it. Not usre what else is out there but this is not the one for audiophile which I don not profess to be.

Show less

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
6 stars

Good starter turntable at a great price.

by ctaylor257 on January 24, 2008

Pros: Descent sound quality and affordable price.

Cons: Unreliable automatic functions and cheap design.

Summary: This is a great example of getting what you pay for. I bought the Sony PS-LX250H in the fall of 2004, just as I was getting into vinyl. I'm ...

Read more

Summary: This is a great example of getting what you pay for. I bought the Sony PS-LX250H in the fall of 2004, just as I was getting into vinyl. I'm still not an audiophile so I don't need flawless sound quality. This unit will satisfy many casual vinyl listeners and non-audiophiles.

I have not used the built-in pre-amp, but I get pretty good results with the pre-amp off and the turntable running through my Sansui R-411 receiver and 200 Watt Technics floor speakers.

The turntable is made of cheap plastic and does not feel very solid. The needle has seemed to wear out pretty fast with about 3 years of normal use. The biggest problem I have had with the unit though is its ridiculously unreliable automatic controls. After about a year of use the Play and Stop buttons would not work correctly and the tone arm would often pick up randomly and return to its resting stand. It seems that if the tone arm is pushed even a little bit outside of the limits of its axis then it will seriously begin to malfunction. I opened up the unit and manually disabled the automatic functions. The player now operates properly (without automatic functions) 95% of the time. The Up/Down button has continued to work consistently.

The unit is good enough for casual play and set at a nice price. There are enough comparably priced (under $200) turntables available though that I would avoid this one unless your budget is very tight (as was mine).

Show less

Showing opinion 1 to 3 out of 3

show

Specifications

Manufacturer: Sony
Part number: PS-LX250H

General
Product Type Turntable
Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight Turntable : 16.5 in x 13.5 in x 3.9 in / 6.4 lbs
Width 16.5 in
Depth 13.5 in
Height 3.9 in
Weight 6.4 lbs
Enclosure Color Dark gray
Enclosure Material Metal, Plastic
Audio System
Sound Output Mode Stereo
Radio
Type None
Turntable
Type Turntable - Full automatic
Speeds Supported 45 rpm=33.3 rpm
Drive Type Belt drive
Cartridge Type Moving Magnet (MM)
Stylus Type Diamond
Features Hinged detachable dust cover, Metal platter
CD System
CD system type None
DVD
Type None
Cassette System
Cassette system type None
Digital Player (Recorder)
Type None

MD System
MD system type None
Headphones
Headphones Type None
Microphone
Type None
Remote Control
Remote Control None
Miscellaneous
AV Furniture None
Power
Power Device Power supply - Integrated
Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support 1 year warranty
Service & Support Details Limited warranty - Parts and labor - 1 year

show

Manufacturer info

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Reddit
- Facebook
Print

Similar products

Stanton T.90 USB Turntable
- CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews
Ion iPTUSB USB Turntable $99.99
- CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 1 review
Audio-Technica AT-LP2D-USB LP-to-Digital Recording System - turntable $69.99 - $229.99
- CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
- Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 1 review
Ion TTUSB10 USB Turntable
- CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good
- Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Shopper.com strives to provide the best price, review, user opinion, and product information on the Sony PS-LX250H fully automatic turntable. Shopper.com updates pricing for all products multiple times each day. If you find a price, link, product specification, review, user opinion, or any other error for the Sony PS-LX250H fully automatic turntable, please notify us through our support form.