Majority Stylo Turntable Review: Affordable audio excellence for vinyl lovers

An effective, affordable turntable for music lovers of all genres, plus a step up in the game in terms of quality of deck. With the Audio-Technica T3600L cartridge, this is a dynamic record player that allows the music to breathe and helps excite you as a listener

Alongside my appreciation for fantastic film things, I have a deep love for music of all varieties – and not just movie scores, – although head here for some stunners as I also reviewed some must-have vinyl – and it’s been exciting to see the resurgence of the record, and it’s heroically competing with digital streaming right across the board, with some huge vinyl sales reported in the past year or two.

Also, with so many major players in the game championing the format, there’s a wealth of old and new releases to create your collection both on and offline. From when I was a kid to now, there’s something unique about committing to a record, especially when shuffle is so addictive. And the method stands the test of time over the likes of cassettes, or even CDs, as there’s nothing quite like time away from distractions to take in that crisp and healthy crackle sound from your favourite albums.

So, after Majority’s launch of both the Moto and Moto Plus in 2024, they’ve stepped up their game again with the Majority Stylo, a record player that firmly sets itself into the big league, with a proper 12” aluminum platter and a system to link up with your Amp, or even utilise Bluetooth or directly connected speakers, and it’s another tremendous improvement.

I’ve been assessing Majority’s output for a while now, which covers the realms of movie-watching with soundbars, Bluetooth speakers and even a DAB/CD Music System from the UK-based company. With each release, they’ve proven that quality can be economical and give you the rewards you may not expect, and the Majority Stylo continues that pattern.

First Impressions and Setup

While their smaller versions, such as the Moto range, were more compact, with the Stylo they’ve stepped into the even-more expert arena with ease. I was keen to see if the bigger setup would work, and its simplistic design and strong manufacture style shines through instantly.

This player should hit the spot for any level of record lover, from the more seasoned collectors, through to newcomers. In a sense of how I review releases like this, despite my many years of music loving, I’ve always focused on what the product can do, trying to avoid complex technicalities and phrasing that can put the everyday purchaser off – as it’s confusing. If you’re here to know whether your records will sound good, as well as a few technical persuasions, you’re in the right place – I certainly hope!

The Majority Stylo arrives in a box that’s easy to unpack, it reveals a rectangular but not ‘boxy’ turntable setup, it looks stylish and simple yet feels fresh in both its size and design. It’s also ridiculously calm to install, once you’ve slipped it out of the box, you’ll have it up and running in no time. That being said – and this is important – pick up the instruction manual first as you’ll need to add the rubber belt to the turntable and then place it into the player itself. As with anything new, make sure all the temporary plastic ties are removed, slot on the sturdy plastic lid and you’re almost ready to go – initial patience is key to make sure everything’s in its right place.

It’s worth nothing that you have to connect to external speakers, whereas some have ones built in, and let’s face it, adding proper speakers is miles better than the small ones. On this device, you’ve got the choice of Line Out, Phono or Bluetooth, and so you can connect to any Bluetooth speakers you have or take advantage of the Line Out option by plugging in those classic red and white ports on the back of the turntable, with the others either into external speakers or an amplifier – and you can get help by how to set this up in the guidebook that comes with it, if you need it. Phono Mode means you’ll need to connect to your phono preamp using the RCA cable, and even a ‘ground’ cable (that’s included!), so make sure you set that up properly!

Music wise, I took it through Bon Iver, Radiohead, The Blue Nile, to Laura Marling, David Gray, Jason Isbell, before also diving into soundtracks from Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino, and a nice hit of John Williams. As you’ll appreciate, with specific variations of production through those artists, through subtle acoustic worlds to the more inventive world of Radiohead, across and down to the deep, pure bass of Zimmer’s Dune Part Two adventures, I had no issues with the levels and – if anything – the sound was certainly cleaner, and a little purer, than some of the older models. And this turntable has taken over for all of these reasons in the home as the lead player.

That Audio-Technica cartridge

This is a crucial place in which we find ourselves, and especially for the affordability factor. While your turntable can play at 33 ⅓ and 45RPM speeds for a range of vinyl formats, much like the rest of Majority’s turntable range, the Majority Stylo is great because of the Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge/needle.

There’s still a number of cheaper record players around, and I’ve had to use them in the past, but the let down of sound quality is always there. So, with the AT3600L confirming the Majority x Audio-Technica team-up once again is key to the success of the sound. The cartridges’ all-encompassing sound reproduction means the strength of those grooves will play your music via any speaker method you choose – making all of this about the welcoming resonance and experience. It’s also got a high quality carbon fibre arm, a pitch control knob, an anti-skating control adjustment, and that adjustable counterbalance, which will be setup to work from the start – but you can alter it if the needle is having any issues, whereas mine from the ‘go’ worked perfectly.

Tonearm functionality thoughts and the sockets

As well as the previously discussed good stuff, including the turntable, lift levers and beyond – the only other thing to mention on functionality regarding the carbon-fibre tonearm. As a whole, it’s sturdy and steady and achieves its goal wonderfully, I still miss the lack of auto-return, where the needle reverts back to its resting spot, but it thankfully stops automatically, which means you only have to manually move the needle off the record at the end to the side.

In truth, it’s not a major issue, and I’d believe the non-auto-return keeps the costs down but in this context of a review, it’s important to mention. If we’re looking for a balanced view, you always have to flip the record anyway, because that’s the way vinyl rolls. Well, spins, don’t roll it – that’s sacrilege [unless fighting off zombies in your garden]. To also clarify what sockets you have, on the back of system, there’s your phone/line out switch, the RCA output, a ground connector, and a LED indicator which links to the Bluetooth on/off switch but no headphone socket, if you were hoping it might have one.

Summary

Overall, the Majority Stylo is excellent, and I particularly love to see their progression with not only the styling and design, but now we’ve got a proper 12” platter and it’s here with all the right moves, of a circular motion. The vital point here, in the middle of the waffle, is that it makes your music sound superb, which is what all of this is about and, for me, indicates that Majority continue to be a key player as experts in the modern audio industry.

As a turntable to use, it’s easily manageable and practical for all types of music lovers and if you’re looking for a step up from their previous outings, I think you’d be very impressed by that little jump in quality output, which you can almost feel when listening through your chosen speakers. And, not forgetting, that extra benefit is the substantial Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge, which continues to be as dynamic as it in on their other models, as it allows this product to breathe which expands your musical experience and, significantly, helps to excite you as a listener.