Review on Yamaha TT-S303 Hi-Fi Vinyl Belt Drive Turntable – Piano Black: Experience Unmatched Sound Quality by Kendrick Barron

Replaced my Technics SLQ-300 bought new in 1976. The cartridge supplied is of very poor quality. This table deserves so much more. Now Ortofon Red and albums sound amazing. For example new records. Of course, defects (scratches, bangs, etc.) are also highlighted. The phono stage seems to be very good. Recording on a computer using the Audacity software (free) allows you to create files of very high quality. Initial arm balance setup is a bit fiddly, but once mastered it works well. The anti-skate setting is vague but works very well when dialed. Suggest using the tonearm scale for final adjustment. My table was running fast (over 35 rpm) at the time of delivery. The adjustment screw on the bottom allowed me to adjust the speed closer to optimum. This is a trial and error process and is not recommended for those who are new to gamers. There are online apps for the iPhone that use the accelerometer to determine rotation speed. Overall this is a high quality unit as expected from Yamaha. The piano's black finish is spectacular, while the silver and black presentation is elegant. It should be noted that this is a fully manual device; there is no automatic setup and the tonearm has to be raised manually at the end of a recording.