The STR8-60 is Stanton’s lower model Direct Drive turntable. It features a straight tone arm, which provides better tracking, and skip resistance than a standard S-shaped tone arm. They also feature standard 33 ½, and 45 RPM platter speeds, as well as a +-10 pitch adjustment.

The STR8-60’s are priced nicely at just under $200, and of course, prices are falling quickly. Unpacking the turntable was the usual fanfare, everything taped tightly to the side of the Styrofoam table insulation. Included in the box were short, simple instructions, a dustcover, slipmat, headshell, counterweight, 45rpm adapter, and all the cables needed to install the table to the mixer of your choice. First inspection revealed a rather small DD mechanism compared to the likes of the Technics SL1200 series. The platter was rather heavy, and everything felt nice and sturdy. I thumbed thru the manual, disappointed at the fact that most turn table manufacturers think every person who buys a turntable knows how to set the counterweight for the headshell. Regardless, the manual helped assemble the various parts of the table, and gave some general warnings.

I hooked up my cartridges to the headshell according to the markings imprinted on the top of the headhsell, and wired everything up. Considering the STR8 series of tables are Straight Tone arm, they can exert extra forces to the side of the record grooves, reducing sound quality, and even record life. To address this problem, Stanton imprinted 4 dots on the top of the headshell. By lining the cartridge screws up with the dots, it angled the cartridge stylus more like a traditional S-arm table. This is said to increase sound quality, and record length. Who am I to argue?

After a quick power test, and connection check, I tossed some vinyl on the tables, and started having fun. First impressions were good. The table torque was nice, not as strong as the SL1200s, but still nice. The button to start and stop the table is large, and fairly easy to work with, yet it stays out of the way. The 33 and 45 buttons are also nicely placed, and have a very cool blue LED that lets you know which speed is active. I was very thankful to see how Stanton handled the power switch. It is mounted atop the strobe LED like many turntables, but it’s surrounded by plastic, only allowing a small area to be manipulated to turn the tables on and off. I enjoyed this feature, since it wasn’t uncommon for me to accidentally turn the SL1200s off when I was working with them. On the subject of the strobe, Stanton decided to continue the ice blue LED theme all over the turntable. The strobe is also a nice ice blue, but unlike other tables that use the strobe to help you determine pitch, the STR8-60s have a listing of hertz for the different dots on the platter. A confusing setup to say the least. The pop-up light is functional, but light output is minimal at best, I found it pretty close to useless during dark mixing sessions. The pitch slider was smooth, and fairly accurate. However, the larger range of pitch adjustment meant the pitch slider wasn’t as precise as some of the other tables on the market.

Straight arms are popular because they hold the groove very well. These were no exception; they tracked effortlessly, and even held tightly during my best DJ Craze impressions. There were a few trouble records that made the needle jump, but that can also be attributed to my average-at-best carts. The tone arm doesn’t have a height adjustment, so overly large, or small carts may cause sound, or tracking issues. I also missed the lever to lift the needle off the record. It was mildly annoying having to re-cue the record each time before I started a mix. Again, no big deal, but it’s a nice feature most high end turntables come with. Sound quality was acceptable; my discerning ears didn’t pick up any excess noise, or hum during my mix session.

Working more with the turntables, some disappointing features cropped up. First, because of the straight arm, two of my records were useless. One jumped, the other just sounded flat out horrible. Secondly, while the headshell was sturdy in it’s mount, the platter did have a little play when I pressed down firmly. Nothing major, but during intense scratch sessions, it could be a problem. I also noticed something downright frustrating with the pitch slider. While the slider felt nice, and was smooth to operate, it has a zero pitch “notch” that the pitch slider clicks into. Not that big of a deal, however, on the STR8-60s, when the pitch is active, the pitch LED turns on, as opposed to off like other tables. When you zero the pitch, it turns off. The problem is even when the slider is a good distance from the zero pitch mark, the light may go out, and the platter speed will jump quite a bit to the zero point. This can get massively annoying when trying to beat match two records. When the slider gets too close to the zero, the pitch jump may be as large as .5%, more than enough to prevent an accurate beat match. To head off this problem, I’d be sure to either speed up, or slow down the records enough so I’d have enough breathing room when beat matching. Other small problems I noticed included the power switch causing a pitch jump when turning the record off. Nothing major, but it happened. Another small problem was the torque output. Although is was rather strong for a table of it’s price, it was rather easy to stop the platter from spinning with enough pressure when cuing a record. The output was sufficient enough to allow me to drag a finger on the side of the platter, without slowing it too much, or stopping the platter.

Overall, the STR8-60s may be the perfect beginner, or low budget turntable. They are cheap, reliable, and provide good features for a wonderful price. Maybe Stanton will wake up, and fix the pitch slider issue, but other than that, this is a wonderful turntable.

Of Note: My cartridges are Shure XX.

Ratings: (1 lowest - 5 highest)
Motor: 3
Durability: 4
Features: 3
Price: 4
Overall: 3

Specs:
Turntable type: 2 speed full manual
Driving method: Direct drive
Motor: 8 pole, 2 phase brushless DC motor
Turntable platter: Aluminum diecast 330mm diameter
Speed: 331/3 and 45 rpm
Pitch Control: +/-10%
Starting torque: More than 1 Kgf-cm
Wow and flutter: Less than 0.15% WRMS
S/N ratio: 55dB (DIN-B)
Tone arm type: Static balanced straight tone arm with detachable headshell
Needle pressure range: 1.5-2g
Power supply: AC110-127V / 220-240V, 50/60 Hz
Dimensions: 173/4″W x 5″H x 133/4″D (450W x 145H x 350D mm)
Weight: 19 Lbs (8.6 kg)
More info: http://www.stantonmagnetics.com

written by Just J