Used Yamaha TT-S303 Turntable, Piano Black

2024-09-06T20:00:00

Pros - Excellent finish, better than decent internal preamp, very good setup. Cons - the supplied cartridge. If I could give it another 1/2 star I would at at this price, I would. For the price, it definitely works as a starter to mid-level unit. I upgraded to a micro line stylus/cartridge (AT VM 95 ML) and and was more than mildly impressed. In addition to the internal preamp, I have run it with a tube preamp and with the Yamaha AS801. I am a little partial to the tubes. Internal preamp compensates in terms of cost (this is really what you are paying for over and above the plinth and the arm).. After the $170 cartridge upgrade, I am rocking at this price range (all-in about $670). The next step up (cartridge, preamp, arm, plinth) are costly. At these prices, no compaints.

mlc

Originally posted at

2024-05-19T20:00:00

The first thing I noticed out of the box was that this turntable is visually gorgeous, as expected from Yamaha components. The sound quality is fantastic. It's crystal clear and very nuanced. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is that the gain from the built in preamp is lower than average, so I have to turn up the volume on my amp more than I do for all of my other components. I would give 4.5 stars if I could.

Phillip

Originally posted at

2020-09-15T16:54:59

Yamaha TT-S303 turntable is pretty much an entry level high end turntable, with excellent audio quality and great minimalistic look under $500. It took me a while to get the tone arm properly calibrated, but once calibrated it works really well. The tone arm always stays exactly where you leave it - you can lift the tone arm lever, then lower it again, and the tone arm will go to the exactly the same spot where it was with great precision. And it's rock solid - it won't skip unless you pretty much start jumping next to the turntable. Right out of the box Yamaha TT-S303 turntable felt very solid with beautiful piano finish and just two buttons - a 33/45 toggle, and a play/stop. It also has a built-in phono preamp. I've read really good reviews about it, but I never tried it myself - I have it connected to a separate tube-based preamp. One thing about a separate preamp connection - it expect a ground cable, but the Yamaha turntable doesn't have the ground terminal. This does not seem to matter - there is absolutely no noise coming out of the turntable even without a ground connection. And, most importunely, the sound quality is superb! Overall - Yamaha TT-S303 turntable is a great good looking product that I really enjoy.

OLGA K.