Has anybody heard this newer brand of turntable? Shineola Runwell out of Detroit, MI USA?

Not sure what you want to know that's not in the article. This is Shinola's first turntable and much of the tech is from VPI. IMO it's a bit expensive but the Shinola brand is trendy. Shinola is primarily in the lower end of the luxury watch market. If you are unfamiliar, they assemble watches in Detroit and have done very well in this regard. Being from the area and from a family with deep roots in the city I like what they have done.

I am a bit of a luxury watch insider as I mod on a watch website and have had a tour of the Shinola plant. There is a Shinola store in Detroit as well as the plant and it attracts the hipster crowd. I expect the turntable to appeal to a similar market. I'm sure it's a fine table with the nice option of adding a built in phono section. I have a VPI Scout by the way which IMO is more of an audiophile table but I may be biased :-).

If their turntables are like their watches, I think you could do better for the money.

I hear this a lot about Shinola watches. I don't understand why. Shinola watches are very well made. I've seen the process and the QC. Yes most parts are imported but that keeps the price relatively low. Most of their watches are in the $600-$900.00 range and for a lower end luxury watch that's not expensive. I guess people expect a mechanical movement for that money but unless your mechanical has a lot of Chinese parts and is from a micro brand you won't find many. The Ronda quartz movement is better than most and it's assembled in Detroit from parts made in Switzerland. I guess it's about expectations. If you compare it to an entry level IWC using an outsourced movement, the Shinola is a small fraction of the price.

But the basic premise of your post has value. You are definitely paying for the name.

Just grab yourself a Schiit DAC and this table and you're done with sources.

Oh c'mon...you know somebody had to say it!!!

Schiit from Shinola - Poetic!

Green acres FTW!

I've heard it but only in the Detroit store during a busy Sunday before Christmas.  Sounded fine and looks nice.  No critical listening was done.  I dislike the hipster crowd down there as they have completely displaced the native Detroiters.  But that has nothing to do with the music!

Who cares what type of people if its rejuvinating Detroit.

Thanks for the various comments. Also, wntrmute2 for the actual eye witness,  ear witness account. I like the idea of a well built TT, out of Detroit MI. If I am to throw my money somewhere, I want quality and perhaps help grow a city back to some old glory days..... a little bit anyway.

Lots of info here, including several posts from me as a Runwell turntable owner:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/new-vpi-table-shinola.610886/

seems like bottom line is decent value quite good sounding table (with vpi dna in it)

less for us in the audiophile gearhead tweaker fusser crowd, more for plug it in and use it crowd who like high style high assembly quality and some bling

lacks a few important adjustability factors most audiophiles would value (e.g. built in head amp)

Instead of a Schiit, get a Mytek DAC with built-in phono preamp and a Shinola and be done with it! :)

Best,

E

Fremer has a new review on AP.

I have been manufacturing the Anvil "Alloy Convertible" turntable in Detroit since 2010. Please compare.
Bruce

The Anvil looks great and according to Fremer plays as well as decks 2-4 times its price. 

Shinola is a smart little company with what appears to be a gigantic marketing budget. Pricey, but people want to pay for hipster designs (steampunk?) and feel good about Detroit making stuff, so good on them. By the way, great mechanical/automatic watch movements are available from Citizen (Miyota), Seiko, and Selitta (Swiss) among others, and the wholesale cost isn’t much more than high quality quartz movements. Come on Shinola…make some automatic watches and I’ll buy one immediately as quartz is a big "meh" in my utterly valid and correct elitist watch snob opinion.