Skip to main content

Hi-Fi Corner: Onkyo waxes nostalgic with the CP-1050 turntable

onkyo cp 1050 500 direct drive turntable cp1050
Image used with permission by copyright holder
While much of the music industry is flailing, vinyl is back in a big way. And that’s just fine by us, because along with a tidal wave of new wax to spin, some of the top electronics companies in the business are going back to the well and crafting brand new turntables that are better than ever before. One of the latest new creations comes in the form of Onkyo’s gorgeous CP-1050.

A beautiful direct drive turntable that runs without a belt for a quieter spin, the CP-1050 is loaded with sparkling aluminum components, coraled by a sleek MDF cabinet enclosure. The aluminum tonearm is loaded with a quality Moving Magnet cartridge, designed to trace every groove with brilliant precision and very little force to keep your new records sounding that way, and the arm will also support multiple aftermarket cartridges should you need to trade yours out down the road.

Related: Old school meets new with Project’s Element turntable

The player spins both 33s and 45s, and also comes with an adaptor for 7-inch discs, and a plastic dust cover. Other features include a whisper-quiet Brushless DC motor, a quartz-lock control system for high precision spins, and height adjustable feet on the bottom designed to quell vibration to keep your hi-fi experience clean and pure. Really, the only noise you should hear from this table is whatever your vintage records bring with them.

At $500, the CP-1050 isn’t exactly cheap, but it runs in line with other mid-tier turntables currently popping up on the market. You’ll also have to make sure your receiver is equipped with a quality phono input, or purchase yourself a decent outboard phono preamplifier as the gold RCA outputs send a straight turntable signal.

There’s no USB on board for digitizing your collection, either — the CP-1050 is old school. But then again, what would you expect from a company that dropped its first turntable right after World War II?

Onkyo’s new CP-1050 turntable is available now

Ryan Waniata
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Waniata is an audio engineer, musician, composer, and all-around lover of all things tech, audio, and cinema. Hailing…
The Ghostbusters have a new ride in Frozen Empire, courtesy of Mercedes Benz
Mercedes Benz Sprinter plays a pivotal role in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
The ECTO-Z makes its debut in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

Later this month, the Ghostbusters will be back on the big screen in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. And while three generations of the team are coming together, there is a big addition to the crew: The ECTO-Z. At an event in New York City, Mercedes-Benz officially unveiled the Ghostbusters' new ride, which is a customized Mercedes-Benz Sprinter that follows in the footsteps of the iconic ECTO-1 from the first three films.

Given the larger size of the second and third-generation Ghostbusters team, it was only natural that they would need a vehicle that could carry all of them to the scene of a haunting anywhere in NYC. As for the name, it comes from original team member Dr. Winston Zeddemore, as played by Ernie Hudson. Ghostbusters: Afterlife established that Zeddemore is now the financial backer of the Ghostbusters and the de facto leader of the team.

Read more
Everything points to Apple TV+ making a change you’re not going to like
Is an ad-supported tier coming to Apple TV+?
The Apple TV Plus Logo

It turns out that TV worked pretty well under its old model. According to a new report from Business Insider, Apple TV+ may be the latest streaming service that's set to introduce an ad-supported tier and charge those who don't stream with ads a premium fee to access their great shows and movies.

At this point, the report is still speculation, but Apple has made several recent hires in the advertising space that seem to suggest the direction they're planning to take. The company recently hired former NBCUniversal ad executive Joseph Cady to serve as executive vice president of advanced advertising and partnerships, a move that comes following the company's hiring of another former NBCUniversal executive, Jason Frum, who joined Apple's video ad sales team.

Read more
From Gilda Radner to Ali Wong, these are the best female comedians of all time
These women from all generations will make you laugh out loud
Ai Wong comedian 2017 Moontower comedy festival

Hot take: I don’t care for straight male comedians. It’s not that they’re not funny, they’re just … I don’t know, boring? Maybe that’s reductive of me, but I never seem to leave a straight male comedian’s set feeling particularly inspired. And though some may argue that it’s not important for a set to "inspire" its audience, I’d actually argue that the opposite is true. For me, I want to see a comedian use humor to address real issues and say real things about the world, even if they do it in a completely goofy way.

Therefore, I tend to prefer female and female-identified comedians. They’re sharp, tough, and have often seen shit that makes their comedy feel raw and true. Undoubtedly there are male comedians who do this, too, but to a much lesser degree, in my very humble and very personal opinion.

Read more