AKAI Professional BT500 Exquisitely Crafted Premium Belt Drive Turntable for Superior Musical Reproduction with Wireless Bluetooth Streaming Capability

I liked the fact that the Akai professional record deck has a more traditional look to it rather than being quirky as it sits nicely with it's surroundings. The wooden plinth is highly polished and it looks really expensive. The controls are straightforward and the aluminium tone arm and controls are of high quality. The disc platter is metal and of really good weight and the drive belt is easy to fit. The unit can play long play or single records and is simple to set up. The Bluetooth pairs really easily with a good quality Bluetooth speakers (in my case Tibo's) which gives a great sound without any background noise. If you want to it also has the capability of transferring vinyls to a computer using a E Z vinyl tape converter programme. The acrylic hinged cover is spring counterbalanced and shuts smoothly, protecting the deck when playing a disc or when not in use. Please note that when the tone arm reaches the end of the record it does not automatically return so you need to lift it back onto its cradle. That is not a problem unless you forget to switch the unit off.

This is a truly superb turntable. My turntable arrived very well packaged. The box is, quality and with all that packaging it weighs a ton. I was concerned that Turntables are delicate and Delivery vans are not the safest places . The box arrived totally intact. Easily assembled connected to my Bose speaker no problem. Fast forward Three days. Day off lets play some vinyl. Switched on the power.........nothing checked all power leads etc...... nothing as dead as the Monty python Parrot. Bugger! So This was A Thursday afternoon. ( very important) I phoned Akai spoke to a very helpful person who informed me that it was indeed a faulty product and that It needs to be returned. Well I contacted Amazon that afternoon, Saturday my new turntable arrived what quality the sound is very good. I had an Akai turntable back in the 80's which prompted me in this direction. The build quality is very good even the turnable cover looks, and feels class. The Bluetooth connectivity is very good I have used both Bose & Ruark R1 a good 8 to 10 metres with out any issues, Thank you Akai. and thank you Amazon

First the good points;It is very easy to set up, the various bits fit together in an obvious way and the Bluetooth connection to the adaptor on my amp worked first time. Balancing the arm took a few minutes of trial and error because I didn't immediately understand that the numbered ring is just a marker which you set to zero when you have the arm balanced, then you turn the whole weight (not just the ring) to 2 on the ring to achieve the right tracking weight.It looks lovely and everything has a quality feel. Everything works well, there were no scratches or marks.Then the not so good;A minor point; given that Bluetooth allows you to position the deck anywhere in the room, the power lead could have been longer to take full advantage of that.Much more important; The sound quality is mediocre at best. At first I played a few of my old records that I have not played since my last deck went to the knackers yard in about 1990 (Best of Ultravox, Sergent Pepper, Rattus Norvegicus). They actually sounded quite good. Then I made the mistake of comparing Dark Side of the Moon on CD and on record ( it is the only album for which I have both). The CD was bought about 1989 and the record about 1980 so no re-mastering of either. My CD player is a 2004 Arcam CD72 which was about £300 and its modern equivalent is not much more. Switching between the two on my amplifier (2004 NAD c370) made it very clear that the deck is nowhere near as good as the CD. The problem was not, as I had expected, the scratches and hiss of the record; they were actually not very noticeable. The problem was just the sound quality; much flatter and less detailed. Not so poor as to be unpleasant, but obviously inferior. And I am no audiophile, I can barely hear any improvement in the remastered CD that I also have. I also tried replacing Bluetooth with wires with no noticeable improvement.So; a lovely looking deck that will play your records quite adequately, but if you are looking for real quality then I suspect you will need to pay a lot more.

Great sound and looks amazing had for a few years now but just the same as the day I had it

This is an amazing machine . I was about to throw away all my vinyls and my old deck when I saw this one advertised as a blue tooth compatible player. Quite expensive but you get what you pay for and this is a first class piece of HiFi equipment . It works like a dream and can be used as a conventional addition to a HIfi setup or as a stand alone deck connected to your bluetooth ear phones or speakers . Easy to use and connect, simple to set up , and extremely effective. The build is superb, the finish excellent and the function is of pure quality. Anyone with vinyl records should buy one and luxuriate in the sound of truly high quality music . I have HiFi back and the quality of sound has all the nuances and finer points of timbre which digital squares out . Welcome back vinyl . All is forgiven.....

I wouldn't class myself as an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination but I have a lot of vinyl and wanted something decent to play it on. After much thought and comparison I decided on the BT100. I'm so glad that I did! It was actually the cheapest option but seemed to offer more than others. Up and running in minutes and plugged through the phono input in my amp it sounds absolutely top notch. The high gloss plastic looks very effective and in no way cheap or 'plasticy'. The turntable motor is completely noiseless when in use with not even a hint of hum. Also sounds great using the Bluetooth option to a pair of BT headphones. The build quality also seems very good with a reassuring weightiness to the turntable itself and being fully automatic means only having to press 'Start' then sit back and relax with the stylus lifting and retuning at the end of playback. If I had any criticism I would have preferred a better tonearm with an option to upgrade the cartridge although the sound as is is superb. Great product and not just at this price, it's a great product full stop.