Monoprice Monolith Turntable Review | Trusted Reviews

Verdict

The Monoprice Monolith is the proud exception to the rule that claims piling up the options on a product that’s constructed right down to a value should certainly finish in tears…

Introduction

Monoprice, for the uninitiated, is an American on-line retailer that has completed slightly properly for itself promoting varied gadgets of audio/video gear below its namesake non-public label. Monolith is the mannequin title hooked up to fairly an in depth vary of amplifiers, cables, headphones, audio system, subwoofers… and turntables. 

This Monoprice Monolith turntable is specified, and priced, to compete with comparable merchandise from the likes of Crosley and Home of Marley – nevertheless it’s honest to say my expertise of this type of factor hasn’t been all that inspiring so far. Is the Monolith the product to alter all that?  

Availability

The Monoprice Monolith turntable sells for £249 in the UK, tops. In the US it may be had from the Monoprice web site for $249. It’s been tough to determine a value in Australia, to be completely trustworthy – but when it’s not as aggressive because the UK or US value, I’ll eat my hat.

In order for you an equal(ish) product from a model with, let’s say, a little bit extra hi-fi credibility – like Professional-Ject, for instance – it’s going to price you fairly much more cash. However there are equally specified designs from Crosley, from Home of Marley and from Lenco at more-or-less the identical value – so it’s apparent who and what Monoprice’s competitors is.  

Design

• Amped MDF plinth
• Vibration-absorbing toes
• Clear dustcover

Once you’re making an attempt to shoehorn in as a lot performance as attainable, and also you’re making an attempt to take action whereas preserving the prices right down to a minimal, there’s nearly definitely nothing left within the kitty for design. And apart from, who of their proper thoughts has the time to reinvent the wheel? So so far as design goes, the Monoprice Monolith seems to be precisely as you’d anticipate – with a dustcover on prime.

Thoughts you, simply because not a lot design has occurred right here, that doesn’t imply the Monolith is carelessly constructed or completed. The plinth, which is accessible in gloss black in addition to the walnut wrap of my overview pattern, is constructed from damped MDF and feels each sturdy and fairly substantial. It sits on three pretty pliant, vibration-absorbing toes, and on prime there’s a hinged clear-Perspex dustcover. 

The usual of construct and end is every part you can realistically hope for given the asking value. The whole lot is correctly put collectively, there aren’t any seen seams or sharp corners, and all of the controls function as they need to. In fact it’s tough to know what extra may moderately be anticipated.

Options

• Audio Technica AT-VM95E cartridge
• Built-in phono stage
• RCA, USB, and Bluetooth outputs

The Monoprice Monolith has all of the options you’d anticipate from a turntable – nevertheless it additionally has just a few extra for good measure. And even these options you’re anticipating to see are specified past what you is likely to be anticipating.

It is a belt-drive design, and the branded felt slip-mat sits on a low-mass aluminium platter. The tonearm is a really acceptable carbon-fibre design – it’s straight, 219mm lengthy and comes pre-fitted with a confirmed and very succesful Audio Technica AT-VM95E moving-magnet cartridge. You’re anticipated to suit the basic fishing line anti-skate weight, and match and modify the counterweight – however after that, operation is automated (up to a degree, a minimum of). 

There’s a cease/begin management simply beneath the cartridge when the tonearm is in its cradle, and there’s automated speed-change – on the alternative facet of the plinth is a management for choosing between 33.3 and 45rpm. If the Monolith had an auto-stop function, it could be as painless to function as this stuff ever get.

The rear of the plinth lets you recognize that is, by prevailing turntable requirements, a feature-rich system. Studying from left to proper, the rear panel contains a grounding submit, stereo RCA outputs, a swap to allow or disable the built-in phono stage, a USB-B output, a socket for mains energy, a Bluetooth indicator mild, and an influence on/off swap. Which, I believe we will all agree, speaks of performance past that provided by your common turntable.

The built-in phono stage means the Monolith can output by its RCA sockets at both line-level or phono-level – which suggests, in flip, it must be attainable to attach this turntable to just about any sort of system with out an excessive amount of problem.

The USB-B output means the turntable will be linked to a pc, and with using applicable software program (Monoprice recommends Audacity, which I’m not about to argue with) it’s attainable to make digital copies of your vinyl. The Bluetooth indicator mild flashes whenever you first energy up the Monolith, after which shines steadily as soon as the turntable has paired with the wi-fi system you’re utilizing. 

Sound High quality

• Poised, fairly articulate and organised sound
• Tonal consistency throughout all outputs
• Not essentially the most dynamic hear

Any smart reader has tempered their expectations by now. In any case, when a turntable prices as little, comparatively talking, as this one, and when it’s so extensively specified, properly… there’s obtained to be a trade-off someplace, proper? And positive sufficient, there’s – however what’s placing is simply how gentle and acceptable a trade-off it’s.

A giant, heavyweight reissue of Tough’s Maxinquaye permits the Monoprice to exhibit its skills properly. Outputting to my reference stereo system through the RCA outputs, and with its inside phono stage switched on, this turntable is a decently balanced, fairly detailed, and correctly organised hear.

From the deep, convincingly formed, and well-controlled low frequencies to the well-behaved prime finish, the Monolith extracts a good quantity of element from the groove and arranges every part right into a confidently unified complete. The midrange enjoys a little bit little bit of house on the moderately open soundstage, so the 2 very contrasting vocal types throughout the document are each given loads of expression. 

There’s a good quantity of influence and straight-edged assault on the backside finish, so rhythms are dealt with naturalistically, and if the treble response is simply barely rolled off then that’s preferable to a skinny, arduous, or sharp prime finish. General tonality is simply barely on the nice and cozy facet of impartial, however not fatally so.

Switching the turntable’s built-in phono stage off and letting a (comparatively costly) exterior various do the identical job will increase the drive and assault of the sound, in addition to sharpening up treble response and taking a little bit of the haziness away from the format of the soundstage. However on the identical time, it demonstrates that the Monolith’s onboard amplification is greater than succesful sufficient within the context of the kind of system this turntable is more likely to be a part of.

Unhooking the turntable from the system after which making a wi-fi Bluetooth connection reveals fortunately constant efficiency – the character of the Monolith doesn’t alter in any significant means whatever the means it connects to your system. The slightly full-on means of analogue-to-digital conversion, wi-fi transmission and digital-to-analogue conversion takes its toll on element ranges and the outright scale of the presentation, and a few of the low-frequency positivity goes astray too – however the place general tonality is worried, the Monoprice doesn’t alter its stance. Which is nice information if you happen to fancy exploiting the comfort of wirelessly streaming your vinyl to a speaker, or to headphones.  

Utilizing the USB-B output to make digital copies leads to barely much less compelling sound, it needs to be mentioned – however, on the identical time, in order for you digital copies of your favorite data then it is a easy sufficient strategy to get them. Copies are made in actual time, in fact, after which there’s observe separation, metadata and all the remainder of the mandatory admin to be completed – however though the ensuing copies are slightly flat and undemonstrative by the requirements of the Monolith’s different outputs, they’re nonetheless completely listenable.

About the one space by which the Monoprice Monolith isn’t a assured, value-for-money performer is dynamic response. Irrespective of the type of music you hearken to, and irrespective of the tactic you utilise to make it audible, there’s a set stage of depth the Monolith performs at and from which it is rather reluctant to deviate. It doesn’t actually matter how gently and tenderly, or how raucously and vehemently, the musicians in your document are taking part in, nor how repeatedly they could swap between these two states, the Monoprice can’t or received’t give a lot expression to these variations.

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