RELOOP TURN X > Stereo+ Review

Many of the turntables on the market are direct driven, although many producers swear by belt drive. A belt between the motor and the plate ensures that vibrations and noise from the motor do not end up in the plate and are thus captured by the pin and pickup. Direct drive means that the normal bearing on which the turntable usually rotates is replaced by an electric motor which is connected directly to the turntable.
It opens up some challenges purely in terms of noise, but with the precision with which today's electric motors are delivered, manufacturers such as Technics of Reloop have shown that the challenges are certainly solvable.

Precision motor

To handle the challenge of vibrations, the TurnX is equipped with a powerful DC motor powered by a power supply that provides even smoother operation and greater speed precision. When we tested Turn 5 there was little to no noise and vibrations from the engine, and vertically. The bearings are more precise and have smaller tolerances, and what you buy in return is in the form of better and more precise tracking, which in turn provides better conditions for the needle's movement in the grooves.
The player's plinth is solidly well put together and heavy, and it doesn't look too bad either. It weighs in at a whopping 8kg, and together with the heavy plate, this becomes a rather heavy player.
The player stands on height-adjustable dampening feet that are adapted to the record player's weight. Here it is certainly possible to think about an upgrade of the feet to IsoAcoustic, or something else, if you want to extract even more details from the player.
Upgraded pickup
Players have a regular SME socket for the headshell, and can be delivered more or less fully set up with an Ortofon 2M Blue. It is a pickup that is decent enough, and from which you get many of the qualities of the driver kit. Nevertheless, I use an Ortofon 2M Black throughout this test. It is a significantly better pickup, and lifts the whole player up a class, and appeals to everyone who buys a player in approximately this price range and a little above. It is not very much more expensive, either. The increased quality of the pickup will also make it easier to reveal the quality and craftsmanship that has been done on the driver itself and the arm.

Assembly and setup

Reloop Turn X is quite easy to assemble. It helps a little that the player comes "almost" fully set up, and that all you need is a little caution and patience, because you can finally connect the player via the phono/RCA output on the back.
There are some whose profession it is to set up and adjust turntables.
This is done with precision instruments that are calibrated with very small tolerances. For most people, this is out of reach, and perhaps not quite worth the money for a player like this. You will therefore get quite far on your own, and there are several hours of video on YouTube should you be unsure of the progress measures.
Alternatively, ask for some tricks where you buy the player, and maybe you also buy a pin scale, a small spirit level (round spirit level) and a protractor disc.

The sound is good

I think a Technics SL1200G could serve as a reference point for a player in this price range. The SL1200G has a heavy and solid sonic foundation, and is almost silent in everything it does. How soon can you come up with a Reloop Turn X? What are you paying an additional NOK 30,000 for with an SL1200G?
It soon becomes apparent that the Turn X does not have the same solid bass as the Technics player, nor a sound image with the same focus, holography and insight. But it is still the case that you have already reached a quality class where even minor increases in sound quality are possible
adds significantly to the price. A "slightly" better pickup, arm and drive shaft and suddenly you've got rid of twice as much money.
I feel that Reloop has put together a record player that seems to have fairly balanced characteristics, and has settled on a price where you actually have to put another 20-30K on the table, so that it will be easy to reveal sonic differences.
The bass in the Reloop Turn X is relatively solid, heavy and deep, the midrange is satisfyingly open, clear and transparent and has excellent
namic properties. The treble is quite lively, energetic and has just the right playing style. Without it being too hectic. In sum, it will be a player you can have a lot of fun with, which creates engagement and listening pleasure, and with which you can really enjoy yourself when you play your way through your alphabetically organized record collection.
Perhaps there are players and combinations of pickups that are perceived as even more detailed and upfront, but there is not much in the vicinity of this price range that has the same place in the soundscape and an equally large and beautiful soundscape - and which hits just as hard on dynamically recorded vinyl tracks.
I think choir, orchestra and piano create the biggest problems for "reasonable" record players. There should be quite a bit of noise and resonance for the sound of the strings to be messed up, and the sound of the piano loses contrast and becomes a little gray and colourless. It's not perfect here either, and it's easy to hear that big brother SL1200G does this even better, but the differences are a little smaller than I initially thought. Especially in the midrange and treble, and especially with the piano spinning on the plate. The piano's touch is impressively well reproduced, and then it is easy to forgive that the following sound is not as colorful and nuanced.

Conclusion of Reloop TurnX turntable review

The HiFi department of the DJ supplier Reloop has been working well in recent years, and has brought out several really good models that haven't quite gotten the attention they deserve. For the price, in my opinion Reloop Turn X is a very sensible and good buy. It marks a clear distinction down to more affordable models, also against Reloop's own, while at the same time you get a generous bit of the sound quality for the market's even more expensive players.

Reloop TurnX
Stereo+