We needed some music at the print shop and vinyl didn't seem practical but Jamie correctly pointed-out that listening to vinyl would force us to take a break occasionally. How could I argue with this wellness advice?
I wanted something compact and self-contained, but I've found most portables and all-in-one record players to be bad, not only from a sonic perspective but they are also hard on records. This is fine but I've grown picky and if it's something I'm going to spend hours listening to I'd need to find something better. After an exhaustive search I found one all-in-one player that I thought would be perfect (Andover SpinPlay) but at over $700 it's beyond what I could justify spending.
I considered restoring some vintage gear since you get a lot more quality for the money (especially when it comes to listening to vinyl), but given that I still havent finished restoring the yard sale turntable I picked-up last summer, I didn't think anyone would be happy with waiting an infinite amount of time for me to finish such a project.
So back to the Internet I go hunting for something that will fit the physical and budgetary needs and also not sound terrible and also not ruin our records.
I initially didn't consider component systems because I didn't want to waste too much space with a sprawling web of gear (we need the room for printing after all) but then I remembered that I had another (vintage) Model One that is mostly unused in the library. These little radios sound surprisingly good for the tiny amount of room they occupy, so if I could couple this with a turntable (ideally without needing an external preamp) that might be constrained to consuming an acceptable amount of space.
I still didn't want to spend a fortune on the turntable, which meant making some compromises. I'm very spoiled to have a restored vintage Marantz at home so I had to accept that I wasn't going to find something approaching that level of quality without creeping-up on the amount I already rejected for the all-in-one. After more searching I narrowed it down to two contenders which might not seem to be remotely related, the Teac TN-180BT and the Audio-Technica Soundburger.
The Teac had a few things going for it including a wood deck that would be a close match for the cabinet on the Model One. On the other hand, it's fairly large, and for a number of reasons I wasn't sure about the sound quality.
The Soundburger on the other hand was a complete wildcard. It was lacking almost anything I'd look for in a decent turntable but it was also tiny, and interesting, which made me more excited about taking a chance on it than the more traditional xyz.
Since I was compromising on quality anyway I decided it wouldn't make much difference in that department between the two decks, so I decided to gamble on the 'burger. Having listened to it for a couple days now, I have to say I'm happy with that decision.
Let me start by saying that from a sound quality perspective, I'm unable to hear the 'burger's limits within the limits of the Model One. That may be due to the Model One's sonic envelope as much as anything, but for the types of music we listen to at the shop this is a totally satisfying level of quality. I had concerns that it might sound as bad as some of the cheap portables I've had before and I can say that with this combination that is not the case.
The only audible deficit I could find was during the last track of The Crow soundtrack (side C) where it seemed like maybe the 'burger wasn't able to hold the playback speed constant and correct. I'm not sure what exactly the cause of this was (I thought maybe the battery was dying but that wasn't it), and I haven't noticed this on any of the other dozen or so records we've listened to, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
So it sounds as good as anything else I could have hooked-up to the Model One, and if I was going to take the Model One out of the picture the cost goes up about $500. That's a fair deal IMHO.
Now on to how the Soundburger is different from every other record player or turntable I've ever owned.
As you can see it doesn't have a normal 12" platter but instead a tiny (4 inch?) platter that the record balances on and hangs waaaay over on the edges. The player sort-of "clamps" around the record during playback. A small "open" lever is pressed to open the clamp revealing the tone arm and platter.
I put "clamps" in quotes because it doesn't actually apply any pressure to the top of the record but only surrounds it.
Before loading a record the tone arm needs to be swung out of the way. At the end of the swing the tonearm will "click" into a parking position leaving room to load an LP. The arm is small and light and feels fragile so the first time I did this I was overly-cautious, but if you persist you'll feel a solid "click" as the arm depresses a switch which disables the spindle motor and locks safely into place.
The tonearm rests on a round rubber "puck" when stored. This puck doubles as both an adapter for 45's and a record clamp for LP's. In either case it needs to be removed from it's storage place before a record can be loaded.
Once the arm and puck are out of the way you drop a disc onto the spindle like any other turntable. Then the puck is slid snugly onto the spindle clamping the record in place and finally the lid can be closed and locked back into position.
A press of the "power" button turns the LED next to it from red to white and moving the tonearm out of it's "parked" position sets the record spinning. At this point you drop the needle in the groove like any other turntable.
The 'burger is not an automatic so the record just keeps spinning when you get to the end of a side. Lifting the needle and moving the tonearm back to its parking position stops the turntable motor and you can open the lid, remove the puck and flip the record.
There are other features. It has two speeds, it has Bluetooth, but I haven't tested either of these yet and probably won't. The line-out is analog and fed directly to the line-in jack of the Model One creating a perfect analog signal path from groove to speaker, what else could you want?
It will be interesting to see how it holds up over time. It is sturdier than I expected it to be, but it's still pretty delicate compared to the Marantz. It doesn't have a removable cartridge but it does have a replaceable needle, so baring any major accidents I expect it will be around for awhile.
Jason J. Gullickson, 2026