I was surprised by the cheap construction. But after two years of daily use, I've had no problems at all. I recommend them. They works as advertised.
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the Q-Up
I thought I would share an experience with fellow vinyl players. I have no interest in the company nor the vendors. I am simply a satisfied user.
I recently bought one of these for my manual table so I wouldn't have to worry about leaving the room when a record was playing, or jumping up at the end of it to cue up the arm. I have to say I'm very pleased and impressed by how well it works and how easy it is to use. While I think $59 is still more than I should have to pay for such a simple device, it's priced at a level that's reasonable.
I noticed these listed on ebay recently for $59 and decided to look closer. Someone must have purchased rights to manufacture them again and is selling them new at multiple outlets.
I previously had a couple of "Safety Raisers" that Audio-Technica made years ago and can be found used for ~$125+/-. I found them to be a little fiddly, and not worth the effort, much less tying up $125 in cash (which is what I sold mine for a couple years ago.
Set up of the Q-up was fairly easy - you can adjust the height, the lift force, and the trigger sensitivity. Once set up, you need only apply very gentle pressure with one finger to engage the lift. At the end of the record it lifts the arm off the record reliably. While there's an audible click through the speakers, the lift action isn't as violent as it may sound, and can probably be minimized more than I have by reducing the lift force to the bare minimum.
It is affixed to the table using a double stick tape that's provided, but I used blue-tac instead.
Anyone else have experience with this device?
I recently bought one of these for my manual table so I wouldn't have to worry about leaving the room when a record was playing, or jumping up at the end of it to cue up the arm. I have to say I'm very pleased and impressed by how well it works and how easy it is to use. While I think $59 is still more than I should have to pay for such a simple device, it's priced at a level that's reasonable.
I noticed these listed on ebay recently for $59 and decided to look closer. Someone must have purchased rights to manufacture them again and is selling them new at multiple outlets.
I previously had a couple of "Safety Raisers" that Audio-Technica made years ago and can be found used for ~$125+/-. I found them to be a little fiddly, and not worth the effort, much less tying up $125 in cash (which is what I sold mine for a couple years ago.
Set up of the Q-up was fairly easy - you can adjust the height, the lift force, and the trigger sensitivity. Once set up, you need only apply very gentle pressure with one finger to engage the lift. At the end of the record it lifts the arm off the record reliably. While there's an audible click through the speakers, the lift action isn't as violent as it may sound, and can probably be minimized more than I have by reducing the lift force to the bare minimum.
It is affixed to the table using a double stick tape that's provided, but I used blue-tac instead.
Anyone else have experience with this device?
11 responses Add your response
The first Safety Raiser I owned, purchased in 1980 for $19.95, functioned faithfully(and GENTLY) for 34 years. The 20 minutes of initial set-up had been long forgotten. When I found my NOS/NIB second sample, from the estate of an obviously obsessive audio-tech collector, I didn’t hesitate to spend the $100.00 it took to procure it. . The reason for replacing the first was it’s loss of pneumatic seal, and subsequent lifting of the tonearm at about the same rate as a new Q-Up. The only thing A-T could have done better, would have been to make it rebuildable. |
Many years ago I had a Thorens Q-Up which I believe was the original version. It was all plastic other than the spring, and was not very precise. I had difficulties adjusting it to enough lift to raise the arm but not to "fling" it upward. The current version may be better made but I didn't like the original. |
Thanks for that mention of the templates at the Needle Doctor. I'll print them out and try to figure out if it will work on my turntable. Has anybody mounted this on a Michell Gyro SE, with the Technoarm, like this one: http://www.michell-engineering.co.uk/turntables/gyrose/ |
my table is a Pink Triangle Anniversary with a Roksan Tabriz Zi arm. The arm board is very small and it's a sprung table - there was a moment that I thought I would not be able to find a place to mount the Q-Up, but it worked out after all. Frankly I was very skeptical about the thing in the first place, and if I had read the reviews I may not have bought it. It was kind of an impulse buy. |
Hi Bdgregory What TT and Tonearm do you have? I'm thinking about getting the Q-Up for my Thorens TD 125 Mk II which has a Rega RB250 tonearm. As for the Q-Up there are mixed reviews I found. On Amazon there are a bunch of reviews that don't seem planted that don't speak so favorably of the Q-Up but then on NeedleDoctor there are favorable reviews. I was looking at the Levitator but it is $85 and it seems it functions like the Audio-Technica riser. |