Let me start by saying that you need to assemble this turntable. The assembly is very simple and the instructions are detailed and easy to follow, but if you are worried about assembling it then maybe take a second consideration before buying it. I think if you are spending this much money on a turntable you should know how it works, and assembling it is a good way to learn that. You'll also learn how to do simple repairs in case they are needed. CONSTRUCTION: I was very impressed with the quality of the turntable. The wood is very high quality and solid. It doesn't feel like a piece of plastic with a wood coating or a piece of composite board. Even if the grain pattern is a coating, the wood underneath is definitely high quality. The metal that makes up the tone arm is some sort of lightweight aluminum I think and it has a very nice black powder coating. Again, you can tell that the coating is very high quality. I am curious about how both of these elements will wear and will update this review after a few months of use, but at this points I don't expect it to happen any time soon. The hinge for the dust cover is heavy and conveniently sits open so that you don't need to hold it while you change the record or move the needle. It is made of a high quality clear plastic with a nice logo on top; not at all gaudy, it actually looks nice on the cover. The rubber buttons for selecting speed, playback mode, and start/stop have a nice click. The volume knob for the included speakers is plastic and feels kind of cheap. It wiggles around in its socket and doesn't have the weight to it that the rest of the turntable does. The iron platter is also solid and the included slip mat is a nice touch. You could even use the slip mat to scratch the record if you wanted, but I wouldn't consider this a DJ turntable. All the ports on the back are clearly labeled and the switches for power and output level are solid. The feet are not adjustable so you will need to set it on a level surface or use some paper/cards to level it. The included needle is an AT3600L which is an industry standard entry level needle. It's nothing fancy but its nice to see them include a needle from a trusted brand rather than a knockoff or cheap item that needs to be replaced soon. PERFORMANCE: The belt drive is silent. This could change in the coming months and I will update the review if so, but currently it is so silent that I am not worried about it. The belt is easy to access so you will never have any issues replacing it when the time comes. The sound from the line output is very loud and sounds great on my home audio receiver. I haven't tested the phono mode because I have no need to - the line level signals sound perfectly fine and I don't have a particularly nice phono pre anyway. What is weird is that you will need your own phono ground cord because there is just a ground post on the turntable. I've never seen that. I like that the bluetooth is built into the turntable because I now have a bluetooth input for my receiver. You can get output from both the RCAs and the speaker outs which is nice because you could potentially run sound to two different rooms or devices. The included speaker wire is a nice touch - it's even already stripped. I also appreciated the included USB cord. I am going to run a spectral analysis of a file recorded via USB and update my review after that’s done to test the quality of the file over USB. One minor annoyance is that there is no way to know if the turntable is set to 33 or 45 rpm, you always have to press a button before to make sure. I haven’t noticed the auto-power-off issue that others have noticed, and I enjoy that the turntable powers itself after a while so I don’t have to remember to hit the switch every time I leave the house. I have the turntable set on top of my 10” subwoofer and haven’t noticed any skipping - the belt and feet do a great job of isolating vibrations. SOUND: The sound of this turntable is perfectly adequate for a built-in preamp and the included needle. It isn’t the highest quality, but if that’s what you want you can buy a nicer needle and amp. That doesn’t mean the sound coming out of the turntable’s line output - it’s crisp, clear, and preserves the warmth of the vinyl. As I mentioned, there is no skipping from vibrations or the tone arm (make sure you spend the time to calibrate the counterweight though). The platter spins at the correct speed even though the belt doesn’t feel particularly elastic or thick, but I want to see how long it lasts before I have to replace it. The included speakers are solid for this price. They are LOUD for 18W speakers! I have no idea how they sound in a crowded room but I had them at half volume while home alone and found it too loud. The speaker quality is decent. I was surprised at how good these small speakers sounded even though I wouldn’t call them audiophile quality. The bass was impressive and had plenty of thump, but at times could get overly aggressive. I would have appreciated a little more tone and not so much knock. The mids were usually muddy, but not to the point that the music was unenjoyable. Highs were clear and not overpowering but I would have appreciated a little more presence. Despite these caveats I want to say that the sound quality was very good and exceeded my expectations for speakers this size and price. You will not be disappointed for what these speakers are, and they could easily serve as your primary set of speakers until you are ready to invest in something more expensive. MISC: The included accessories are fantastic. USB cable and speaker wire are much appreciated. I love having a usb port built in - it makes it much easier to sample my records for my music or to save a copy so I can take the vinyl quality with me. The style of this turntable is very attractive. I think the hanging anti-skate weight is a nice touch and adds a whimsical vintage feel. The bluetooth function is easy to set up and much appreciated for when I want to hear something I don’t add on vinyl. Overall, I would recommend this setup to anyone at this price. It might not be a recognized brand, but you are definitely getting your moneys worth. With a good stereo system and an upgraded needle this turntable will perform as well as many of the more expensive priced options. It will become the main piece in my stereo in place of my Audio Technica.