Alongside my appreciation for all things movie making, my first love was music and, collected over many years, a modest vinyl collection. It’s been exciting to see the worldwide return to the record, and it’s competing with digital streaming thanks to the biggest names in pop (Taylor Swift for example)  getting onboard as well. I think that listening to an album on vinyl is one of the best ways to appreciate what the artist intended – it means you give the art form genuine time away from distractions, and it sounds crisp, occasionally crackly, and beautifully clear to the ear.

While, quite often, the budget record player range offer a tinny, almost plastic sound – complete with insufficient inbuilt speakers – I was curious when I heard that Majority Audio were producing and launching their own version: the Majority Moto, and at only £89.95 Over the past few years, I’ve been assessing their audio products, which covers the realms of film-watching with soundbars, Bluetooth speakers and even a new DAB/CD Music System from the UK-based company. With each of those releases, they’ve proven that a great creation can be affordable and give you the quality you’d expect from ‘bigger’ names in the industry – and I’m really pleased to say the Majority Moto is an inspired release.

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First Impressions

Let’s kick off with what you’re getting because the Majority Moto has 5.3 Bluetooth capabilities, which means it’s designed to pair with devices and listen to via wireless speakers. While my first instincts to this setup (specific to vinyl) didn’t fill me with hope, also due to the reliance on broadband connections, and especially when I have an old record player with separate amps and speakers that are physically wired into each other. But, I already have well-earned faith in Majority, so eager to see if they could do the good stuff again, so I also brought the Majority’s DX40 speakers into the game to see how easy the Bluetooth connection would be.

How easy was it to connect the speakers and record player? Incredibly easy. All I needed to do was literally put the DX40 speakers on, set the record player to PH [Phono – red LED] on the front, press the ‘BT Out’ button on the right-side [briefly and once], and it was done: confirmed by a ‘Bluetooth connected’ voice coming through the speakers. I’ve now used this method multiple times, without issues – although I would recommend making sure other devices aren’t already connected to your speakers, just in case you’ve setup something else up elsewhere.

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That Audio-Technica cartridge

And now, a vital part of this affordable record player (apart from its ability to play 33/45 or (even!) 78 rpm records) and an essential criteria in making the Majority Moto stand out, is the Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge/needle. I’ve used other budget options, as I unfortunately don’t have the cash to upgrade to something hyper-expensive (despite how nice they look), and have returned a couple of cheap ones because, frankly, I want to hear my music properly. The team up of Majority x Audio-Technica is key to the success of the sound, I didn’t hear that cheaper ‘plastic’ vibe at all, and the cartridges’ excellent all-encompassing sound reproduction means the strength of those grooves will come out of those speakers – whichever outlet you’re choosing to use.

From my deepest hopes, it’s come through and been a ridiculously welcome surprise for a low-cost record player. There is also the option of using the small integrated speakers on the Majority Moto itself – and I’ll be honest, that’s not my favourite method at all – these two speakers are actually pretty decent. If you’re new to vinyl and need that option, then it’s a decent way to start, especially if you’re not quite sure yet what Bluetooth speakers you’d want, so it gives you a starting point.

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Vinyl and the Moto sound quality

So, importantly what about the records? I spent a few weeks testing out vinyl old and new, and music from across the genres – including film scores, of course. For these tests, I’ve dived into my 12” and 7” options, including records from the 70s/80s/90s and even 2000s to just make sure that the sounds quality comes through.

From an original The Joshua Tree from 1987 for U2, I figured that thinner vinyl would be an effective way to explore the scale of the production, and it shone through the speakers – as you’d hope. Then a series of tests, from Rod Stewart’s 1971 debut Every Picture Tells A Story, and that killer opener, gave fresh life to the family record from back in the day before my existence, plus a host of singles on 45 from Bobby Darin to David Bowie, through an old cracked Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side 7” single, which miraculously didn’t skip, but  not forgetting the joy of hearing the pick up of the dirtier older records coming through on the speakers – my fault, not the Moto.

For the pop-alt world, everything sounded sincerely decent but I didn’t know if I’d have concerns with top end heaviness though, so put the needle down for Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys and Portishead’s trip-hop heaven and sadness from Dummy – with each album working without question. On the flipside of the sound scale, I did initially find a little top-end distortion of the likes of Coldplay’s Sparksand followed it with Stephen Fretwell’s Green as I then had concerns for those quieter moments. However, I decided to see if it was Majority Moto problem, or a speaker issue, so I switched from the DX40 and connected via Bluetooth to my Samsung Soundbar, with Subwoofer. This had an instant impact, and my fears drifted away – so bear in mind that the quality/top level of your speakers may limit or fuzz what you hear.

I have to offer a brief mention to The National, particularly in the case of the latter as I’d recently received Volume 5 of their Cherry Tree releases and listening to a live recording on vinyl felt important as well. Once again, no concerns as I melted into the final four-tracks of their Woodstock show and drifted away with the crowd singing Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks – which I’m sharing as an experience of the record player offering all the right things.

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Extra benefits

In terms of other components and benefits, the tonearm is sturdy and steady for what it needs to do. While there’s no auto-return option for the tonearm, which is something I’m more used to, when the record has finished playing there is an On/Off button which either stops it automatically, or lets it just play into infinity. For me, it seems logical to let it switch off when it hits the end of the grooves, otherwise you’re in danger of wrecking of the needle/stylus and that just doesn’t seem very sensible.

The Moto also has a precision-engineered dampening platter and feet to minimize vibrations from outside sources. I’m haphazardly clumsy and can accidentally help a record slip or jump, so I did this in a similar fashion for this test – and honestly had no problems there. Oh, there’s also a little Majority-branded slip mat which you could replace but it does a reasonable job and looks better than a plain plastic deck beneath.

So, as well as Bluetooth connectivity in an outwards fashion, this also offers you an ‘in’ so you can play through the Moto speakers from any other device. I personally don’t see the advantage of this if you’ve got other Bluetooth speakers already, but it gives you the choice. There’s also the ‘AUX In’ option on the back and could play from a USB slot on the side – to give you alternatives.

The other benefit from the USB slot is that you can record from it, so get those old records onto digital – and it has a ‘split’ button you can push between tracks for your recordings. And, lord knows, sometimes those original vinyl versions aren’t always out there as a digital streaming option PLUS these are yours forever – which again gives you full control of your records and how you want to use them.

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Summary

Overall, the Majority Moto is fantastic and keeps Majority as a clear key player as experts in the modern audio industry. Also, its significant inclusion of the Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge for the Moto is a vital one because without that quality, it’s likely this wouldn’t sound as crisp and clean. This is an exceedingly enjoyable musical experience with a streamlined, simple design that’ll fit in perfectly as a fresh, affordable Home Entertainment extra for any household, and for any genre of music.

Pick up the Majority Moto turntable on Amazon at an incredibly £89.95, and look out for 10% vouchers off when adding to your basket, here’s your link*: https://amzn.to/3TDbVpo

*This is an affiliate link but no payment has been made to sway my review, this is from my own testing and experience with the product