Customer Ratings & Reviews

I've been looking to upgrade my current turntable and the Marantz TT-15 looked like a significant upgrade. It is designed and built by Clearaudio and has extremely positive reviews for audio quality. The high end tonearm and cartridge alone make this a great value. Build quality is top notch. It really is beautiful; a real work of art. That brings me to my great disappointment. I REALLY wanted to like this turntable. The biggest drawback of this turntable and what ultimately made me return it was how fiddly and fussy setting it up was. I was expecting it to put some time into this (the reviews say as much), but I wasn't expecting to be as frustrating of an experience as it was. I took my time assembling it, adjusting the tonearm and cartridge, and getting everything aligned and leveled. The last part I installed was the floating motor and the belt. I turned it on and immediately the belt came off the platter. This was a common problem other owners have had, so I figured no big deal I just have to adjust the pulley on the motor until it's in the right position. I made adjustment after adjustment trying to get the belt to stay on with no success. Even more troubling, when the belt would slip off and I turned the motor off, it would send a surge to my power center and trip the breaker, shutting off everything connected. A motor from an $1800 turntable should not do this. Finally, I started the belt on the 45 cog and then moved it down to the 33 and it stayed on the platter. However, my success was short lived. The power switch is located on the motor itself. With it being a floating motor, that means it can move around each time you turn it on or off, and the tension on the belt will change slightly if the motor moves. Of course that meant the belt slipped off once again, the breaker on my surge protector tripped, shutting off my entire system. I sat quietly in defeat for several minutes before boxing up the Marantz and returning it to the store. I'm sure there are many happy owners that could put up with the quirks and drawbacks of this turntable. I'm sure it sounds great and it certainly looks the part, but it was far too fiddly and frustrating for me. It's a shame, I really wanted to like it.