ThinkPad X200 Tablet Save Extra 5%Sony PS-LX250H fully automatic turntable
Manufacturer: Sony Part number: PS-LX250H
- 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.
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CNET editors' review
Sony PS-LX250H fully automatic turntable price range: $79.99 - $99.99
- Reviewed by: Steve Guttenberg
- Edited by: David Rudden
- Reviewed on: 02/06/2006
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.
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.
User reviews
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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 ...
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.10 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
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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 ...
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.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great starter turntable
by cogunderson on January 6, 2009
Pros: Decent sound.
Easy set-up.Cons: Feels a little flimsy.
Mediocre design.Summary: Nice turntable. I didn't have a stereo, so I ended up having to go out a buy one. Also, I had to get some RCA cables and barrel adapters ...
Summary: Nice turntable. I didn't have a stereo, so I ended up having to go out a buy one. Also, I had to get some RCA cables and barrel adapters for the outputs to fit in the phono input. Other than that, the turntable have nice sound. I have played new as well as older records on it, with just a few skips on certain older records, and absolutely no skips on the newer ones. I would definitely recommend this turntable to any vinyl novice.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great turntable for listening to classic records.
by lma111589 on January 22, 2009
Pros: I like that the 33/45 speed knob is very easy to access. I also love the aluminium finish on the pate. I love that the turntable is fully automatic. The sound is loud and clear as long as you select the right EQ switch setting underneath the plate.
Cons: The cartridge cannot be replaced with a new one.
Summary: This is a great-sounding player for not a lot of money. I recommend this to people who would want to try-out vinyl. This also improves the bass a lot in ...
Summary: This is a great-sounding player for not a lot of money. I recommend this to people who would want to try-out vinyl. This also improves the bass a lot in 80s music compared to the CD versions. The design isn't the best; however, this is a great product.
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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 ...
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).
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sony
- Part number: PS-LX250H
- Description: Sony's PS-LX250H is an entry-level belt-drive turntable that offers fully automatic operation. It's an easy way to get back into the vinyl game, particularly if your current amp doesn't have a phono gain stage. The PS-LX250H has an onboard phono preamp that'll boost the levels, allowing you to hook into any RCA jack on your amp. It can play back records at both 33.3 RPM (revolutions per minute) and 45 RPM, and comes with a plastic, hinged dust cover.
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 Metal platter, Hinged detachable dust cover
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
Power
- Power Device Power supply - Integrated
Miscellaneous
- AV Furniture None
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - Parts and labor - 1 year
Manufacturer info
- Sony
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Sony products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.sonystyle.com
- Address:
16765 W. Bernardo Dr., San Diego, CA 92127 - Phone: 1-877-865-SONY
- Email: contact@sel.sony.com
- Fax: 941-768-7790
