This is the Orbit Theory turntable, it’s widely regarded as the best sub-$1,000 USD turntable that money can buy, having received fave reviews in Wired Magazine, and on CNET, Digital Trends, and many other publications.
The Orbit Theory is built around a solid hardwood plinth (body), made from your choice of rift cut walnut, ebonized oak, or white oak – all harvested from sustainably managed forests in the USA. Each one sits on vibration-isolating Iso-Level Feet, and they use the OA3 Pro Tonearm – made with a one-piece magnesium armtube.
The Orbit Theory is built around a solid hardwood plinth (body), made from your choice of rift cut walnut, ebonized oak, or white oak – all harvested from sustainably managed forests in the USA.
History Speedrun: U-Turn Audio
U-Turn Audio started out due to a very specific annoyance shared by three longtime friends – the fact that the cheaper turntables they could afford to buy in college didn’t sound great, and the models that did sound great were priced way outside their budget.
Company founders Ben Carter, Bob Hertig, and Peter Maltzan decided to build a stripped-back, all-analog deck that put playback quality ahead of gimmicks, and then turn it into a real business rather than just another dorm room experiment.
The company’s public starting gun was a crowdfunding push on Kickstarter for the Orbit turntable in late 2012. The campaign was built around a pretty simple value proposition – they were offering a high-quality, US-made, entry-level record player without the plastic USB-turntable compromises that were everywhere at the time. The team started their Kickstarter campaign with a $60,000 USD target and soon passed $100,000 USD, with hundreds of backers, while offering the Orbit for pre-orders at the $150 USD mark.
This early success let them move from prototype to production and set up operations in Woburn, Massachusetts. The brand used in-house design and engineering and direct customer contact as core operating choices from day one, and they still operate this same model today.
Over the intervening years the company has significantly scaled assembly, broadening the Orbit into multiple trims and configurations, and building a wider catalog around their turntable ecosystem.
Company founders Ben Carter, Bob Hertig, and Peter Maltzan. Image courtesy of U-Turn Audio.
By 2019 the company had sold more than 70,000 turntables, showing just how quickly the Orbit platform became the business’s backbone, and a caused a major shakeup in the turntable world at the same time.
The company now offers a wide range of turntables to meet a variety of different budgets – to less-costly units for college students making ends meet with part time jobs, to more expensive models for those who might have graduated and started making decent money.
The Orbit Theory Turntable By U-Turn Audio
The Orbit Theory is U-Turn Audio’s top Orbit model, built around the OA3 Pro tonearm with a one-piece magnesium armtube, a dial counterweight, and adjustable anti-skate. It’s sold with your choice of Ortofon 2M Blue, 2M Bronze, or 2M Black cartridge options.
Drive is via an ultra-quiet AC synchronous motor paired with a motor controller and electronic speed control, allowing you to switch between 33/45 RPM by turning a knob in the lower left corner. U-Turn also claim performance figures of -72 dBA rumble and <0.1% wow & flutter for the model, for the uninitiated, these are very good numbers.
The platter is a grooved, one-piece frosted acrylic design intended to keep the belt located securely – it spins on a precision aluminum spindle and an inverted main bearing with self-lubricating polymer bushings. The deck sits on adjustable-height aluminum feet layered with Sorbothane for vibration control, and the plinth is solid hardwood offered in walnut, white oak, or ebonized oak.
The Orbit Theory is U-Turn Audio’s top Orbit model, built around the OA3 Pro tonearm with a one-piece magnesium armtube, a dial counterweight, and adjustable anti-skate. It’s sold with your choice of Ortofon 2M Blue, 2M Bronze, or 2M Black cartridge options.
An optional built-in phono preamp is available, it uses Pluto 2 technology and includes a subsonic filter, dual gain stages, and a bypass switch, aimed at letting you run straight into an amp or powered speakers – simplifying you set up.
Each Orbit Theory turntable comes with a 3 year warranty, 30 day returns, and each one is designed and assembled in Woburn, Massachusetts. In the box you’ll find your Orbit Theory, as well as a dust cover, a felt mat, RCA cables, and an AC adapter. If you’d like to get one you can visit the store page here.
Images courtesy of U-Turn Audio
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
