Victrola - Onyx Hi-Res Turntable - Black

I have a decent collection of old vinyl records that I don’t listen to often enough. In fact, the only turntable I have is an inexpensive “suitcase” style record player that my daughter uses. I do have a very good Technics stereo amplifier and a pair of Klipsch bookshelf monitor speakers in the den that I thought would be perfect for a turntable. I found this Victrola Onyx model and it seemed to be what I was looking for. The first thing I noticed was the weight. I took that as a sign of quality construction, and good for dampening vibrations. Using the Quick Start Guide, setting up the turntable was simple, and I had it playing albums within 15 minutes of opening the box. I like that the turntable has an automatic start/stop function. The cueing function of the tonearm works well, though the lever is small and close to the arm’s pivot point so fat fingers can get in the way of operating it without bumping the arm. The spindle adapter for 45 singles is a nicely milled solid metal cylinder instead of a cheap plastic “cap”. The tonearm lock is a neat mechanism. Instead of a simple clip or even a clamp that snaps in place, it’s a round partially open ring the rotates around the arm to secure it in place for storage. As for sound quality, I’d not say that it’s “great”, but it is good. It could probably be improved with a better pickup cartridge. I believe that Victrola may ship these turntables with cartridges from different suppliers, but mine came with an Audio-Technica model that is pretty much the lowest grade they make. It’s OK, but definitely not up to the lofty ambitions of this “Hi-Res” turntable. I used the phono-level output setting and let my amp do all the work. AC/DC’s “Back in Black” was my test subject and the unmistakable opening rimshots are sharp and clear. Lead singer Brian Johnson’s voice just sounds so appropriate with a little added vinyl “crackle” and the Victrola did not disappoint in reproducing that loud and clear. I did notice that in some of the most saturated sections, the guitar notes sounded a bit muddy, likely due to the low-end cartridge. Just to rule out any issues with my Technics amp and Klipsch speakers, I paired a set of Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra earbuds to the Victrola Onyx. Pairing was easy, and the sound quality was good – obviously more immersive, but with no major improvements that would have me doubting my amp/speaker setup. Also, I tried a few other records like an original pressing of The Bee Gee’s Greatest Hits album. With that genre of music lacking any heavy bass, it was a good test for the high frequency reproduction what was clear, but again, saturation creates muddiness. I really think I might look into upgrading the cartridge. Besides the middle-of-the-road sound quality, the other reason I only gave this 4 out of 5 stars is because of the cheesy plastic dust cover. Maybe it’s supposed to make it look more like studio equipment, but a nice clear plastic cover would have been better – especially if it could be left in place while using the turntable. Overall, I do like this Victrola Onyx. The price is probably a bit high for what it offers, but otherwise, it’s sold and well made. I do recommend this.

I’ve been looking to revive my dad’s record collection that’s been sitting in a basement for years and this stylish turntable with modern conveniences helped put them to good use. First off the looks - it’s an absolute stunner with a super clean, modern design that blends in perfectly with other modern components. The construction is also fantastic where the player itself is robust and it’s easy to tell that it's high quality. This turntable has both analog outputs (RCA) as well as bluetooth, offering flexible connectivity options but I was particularly interested in bluetooth connectivity with both headphones as well as speakers. Pairing is an easy process of toggling the player into Bluetooth mode with a single press of the control button and then placing your bluetooth headphone/speaker of choice into pairing mode. I tried this with a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones, Jabra Elite earbuds, a UE handheld speaker, and others. All worked great. It doesn't have volume adjustment on the turntable itself but you will be able to adjust the volume if your bluetooth headphone or speaker has those controls. Another review I saw mentioned that they could not adjust volume but that was not the case in my testing with numerous devices - I was able to adjust volume on the paired bluetooth device. The player will also remember your previously paired devices so all you have to do is turn on the player, turn on your headphones or speaker, and start playing after the initial pairing. However, what I discovered is that if you unplug your player it will forget the previously paired devices and you'll have to do the pairing process again. A minor thing that likely won’t come up but thought I’d mention it. I found the sound quality to be absolutely excellent when used with either bluetooth devices or the analog outputs. As expected, the higher the quality of your speakers the better, where with a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3s and Definitive Technology speakers I was able to hear all the subtle nuances that you come to expect. Couldn’t be happier with the sound it delivers. Setup was straight forward for the most part where you’ll place the platter down on the turntable, stretch the belt over the motor spindle, place the slipmat on top, insert the cartridge and counterweight and you’re basically ready to go. One note though is that the setup video on their website skips over the step of actually stretching the belt over the motor spindle - it mentions the silk thread used to do this but doesn’t actually demonstrate the procedure so if you’re following the video for exact instructions, that portion isn’t shown however it is shown in the quick start guide pamphlet. The tonearm lift lever provides a smooth operation allowing you gently raise/lower the cartridge onto your records but I found it to be positioned a bit too close to the tonearm itself where I found I needed to be careful not to touch the tonearm itself while using the lever. The cover for the entire unit while not in use feels out of place for this price tag. It’s a simple, black plastic cover that’s molded to fit over the components but it simply doesn’t match the elegance of the player itself. I actually like the fact that it’s not a hinged lid like what’s found on most players (so that I could place it inside a shelf and still use it) but would have loved something that matched the aesthetic better. One last thing I wanted to mention is that when you first plug it in, it seems to take a few minutes to “boot up” before you can actually turn on the unit. So give it 2-3 minutes after first plugging it in before pressing the control button to power it on (it turns on immediately with a short press of the control button as long as it remains plugged in). Overall I’m very happy with this turntable. The quality is fantastic. I also love the aesthetic with exception to the dust cover. It’s a fantastic blend of old school and new school.

Overall this Victrola Onyx Hi-Res turntable performs well playing LPs wirelessly. It lacks some features but if you are only interested in playing LPs wirelessly then its worth checking out. Pros: - Supports aptX Adaptive and HD Audio - Built in Bluetooth - RCA outputs with ground - Able to Connect with Denon receiver, several sound bars and BT speakers - Easy set up if you ignore the QR code which is incorrect Cons: - Difficult to replace cartridge due to the lack of info on the counter weight - Does not raise tonearm at the end of a side - Pairing had to be close to be successful - No indicators on the quality of the connection – HD or otherwise so its difficult to know how much compression is being used - No USB connectivity - Not compatible with Victrola’s app The wireless sound quality is good but not great and I am not sure if its due to the quality of the cartridge or the quality of the Bluetooth connectivity. The build quality of the table feels solid and looks nice. Your ability to adjust the counter weight and anti-skating is limited due to the lack of indicators on the counter weight and this will be an issue if you ever want to change the cartridge. The belt drive motor is quick to start and the platter does stop at the end of a side but the tonearm does not raise up so it stays on the record until you return it. When pairing I found the turntable and the speakers or receiver had to be close. I could not pair devices with the turntable when they were about 10 feet apart. Once they did pair I did not experience any drop outs or issues with connectivity when they were about 15 feet apart. Also this turntable is not compatible with the Victrola app so you have to rely on the led indicator on the front of the table to know whether its pairing or connected. This turntable supports aptX and HD audio over Bluetooth but you have no indicator whether the pairing with the speakers are connected using HD or lower quality audio. Lastly, many turntables these days include USB connectivity but that is not supported on this table. Setup: The turntable comes well packaged and the setup of the hardware is relatively straight forward. You have to install the platter, connect the belt to the drive motor, install the counter weight and the cartridge. If you follow the video on YouTube the steps are well demonstrated and easy to follow. Once you get the turntable set up you have to pair a Bluetooth wireless speaker or receiver to it. I have found that the pairing needs to be relatively close for the pairing to succeed. Once I figured that out I was able to get the turntable to pair with my Denon receiver to play wirelessly with my home theatre. I was also able to connect to different soundbars and Bluetooth speakers that I own. Each time I had to reset the turntable so that it would pair with the new device. The included dust cover fits nicely and it has a low profile which is nice if you are putting the turntable on a shelf. Install issues: The issue with the install was tied to incorrect documentation and me thinking I needed to install an app to get it to work. When you first open the box there is a card that shows the basic set up of the turntable. On the corner of the card there is a QR code that you are supposed to scan to watch a setup video. The problem is when I scanned it the browser showed Victroal.com which doesn’t go anywhere. A simple typo on Victrola’s part so I opened a web page and browsed to Victrola.com. At the very bottom of the Onyx Hi-Res web page there is YouTube video that explains the setup in detail. Note that the Victrola mobile app does not apply to this turntable and if you go down that path you will be wasting even more time – learned from experience!

While there are some nice features with this turntable, I feel it fell quite short – especially for this price range. I will say setup was super easy and straight forward – but again, some of the simplicity came at the cost of possible future cartridge upgrades or change. First, unbox all the components and put platter on turntable, pull the string and slip the drive belt on motor pulley, place mat on platter. Remove tome arm packing, attach headshell / cartridge and counter weight, placing the counter weight at farthest back mark. Be sure to remove stylus guard – it pulls forward, not down. Now plug in cables and it is ready to go. First, I tested this with Bluetooth headphones. The Bluetooth feature is nice if you have a powered Bluetooth speaker or similar, but forget using headphones. The sound was harsh, volume is not adjustable, and way too loud. Next I tested sound quality, using both pre-amp (line) out, and low level (phono) out. I concentrated on pre-amp out, as many receivers lack the low level phono input. I auditioned with tracks from albums “Jefferson Starship”, “Foreigner”, “Hiroshima”, and “1812 Overture”. The cannons in1812 overture came through with nice “punch”. But on all album tracks, I felt the mid-range was slightly more pronounced. Also, using pre-amp output, the treble seemed a little more recessed than using low level phono output. As to the downfalls..... The counterweight has two grooves for different tracking forces, but does not show the actual value. According to setup instructions, this sets stylus tracking force to 2 grams. Should someone want to upgrade or change the cartridge in the future, you will need a stylus force gauge to set set proper tracking force. Should have been a numbered threaded counterweight using the “0” tonearm float method, so exact tracking force could be accurately set. The cuing lever is damped, and works well, but is very close to the base of the tone arm. Although the drive motor is servo controlled, there is no strobe to check - or adjustment to turntable speed. And to anyone wanting to save their vinyl digitally to a computer, this lacks a USB output for that purpose. Overall, the sound quality is reasonably good, anti-skate works well, and assembly is a breeze. Separation was not the best. Although this may work well for some, I feel in this price range, it fails in numerous areas. Consider the intended use and see if it will be a good fit for your needs. Do not expect audiophile performance.

The record player boasts a sleek, modern design with a matte black finish that not only looks stunning but also feels premium to the touch. The build quality is exceptional, with a sturdy construction that gives a sense of durability and longevity. That being said, the Bluetooth connectivity can be a bit complex to set up initially. However, for those who prefer a simpler connection, the player also offers the option to use an audio cable. This flexibility ensures you can enjoy your music without any hassle, whether you're a tech-savvy user or prefer a more straightforward approach.