Do you have any family members or friends who are wrecking their hearing with earbuds constantly on meltdown volumes, who listen to miserable-sounding Bluetooth speakers, or who just want to get into vinyl? Perhaps this review will point them in the right direction.
If you’re a Canadian of a certain age, chances are you know the name Electrohome. The company was founded in 1907, and from 1949 to 1987 it was Canada’s largest TV manufacturer. It eventually succumbed, as did most North American consumer-electronics brands, to Asian competition. But in 2010, CWD Limited of Niagara Falls, Ontario, purchased the brand and reintroduced it to the market.
Recently, CWD launched two “record players” (their terminology) under the Electrohome brand: the Montrose RR35 and the Montrose RR36 wireless. The RR36 differs from the RR35 by including Bluetooth wireless connectivity and a USB‑A port to allow direct recording from vinyl to a USB storage device. The RR36 reviewed here is priced at US$119.99 or CA$167.99 (these products are not sold directly in the UK or European Union). The McKinley 2.0 powered speaker system, model EB30, lists for US$99.99 or CA$139.99. The bundled Montrose RR36 and McKinley 2.0 powered speaker system runs US$219.99 or CA$307.99.
The ’table
Both the Montrose RR35 and the RR36 are available in black or teak vinyl-wrap finishes. My RR36 review sample had the black finish, and I thought the quality of the vinyl wrap was quite good. The RR36 measures 4.8″H × 15.75″W × 12.7″D and weighs 7.2 pounds. It’s a belt-drive design, with a platter made from some kind of molded plastic. It has an arm-lift mechanism but no antiskate control. A small three-position speed-control switch lets you choose between 33⅓ and 45 rpm and turn the turntable off. The turntable has an auto-stop function, which is a nice and unexpected feature at this price.
The Montrose comes with a factory-installed Audio‑Technica AT3600L moving-magnet cartridge, which has a conical stylus. The cartridge is supplemented by a built-in phono preamplifier for connection to receivers or amplifiers that don’t have a phono input, should you wish to use the RB36’s analog outputs.
On the rear panel of the Montrose are a pair of RCA jacks for audio output as well as a ground terminal, an on/off switch for the built-in phono stage, an LED power indicator, the master on/off switch, and an input for the provided 12V wall-wart power supply. Also included are a 45-rpm adaptor, counterweight for the tonearm, felt mat, and user manual.
As mentioned, the Montrose RR36 can play music wirelessly via Bluetooth and record music onto a thumb drive or other storage device. Music is recorded in 128kbps MP3 format. To record music, insert a FAT32-formatted USB drive into the USB Type‑A port on the top panel. The Record button, situated to the right of the USB port, controls the process. Tap once to start recording, and tap again to pause. At the end of a song, hold the button down so that the next song is recorded onto a new track. Tap twice to stop recording. I think this is a pretty slick setup.
The speakers
The McKinley 2.0 is Electrohome’s top-of-the-line powered speaker system. It’s a rear-ported design, with a 4″ polypropylene midrange-woofer crossed over at 3.5kHz to a 1″ silk-dome tweeter. Specified frequency response is 65Hz–20kHz, ±9dB. Each enclosure measures 10.4″H × 6.5″W × 7.6″D and weighs just under 6 pounds. Both speakers have wooden feet on the bottom that tilt them back slightly. As with the Montrose ’table, the McKinley speakers are covered in a very nice vinyl wrap. My review sample had the teak finish, but black is also available.
The secondary speaker, which handles the left channel, is a purely passive design, with only a pair of spring-clip terminals that accept bare wire at the back. The primary speaker, which plays right-channel audio, contains all the electronics, including the Bluetooth receiver and the 15Wpc class-D amp that powers both channels. On the back are a pair of spring-clip terminals for sending speaker-level audio to the secondary speaker, a pair of RCA line-level analog inputs, a 3.5mm stereo auxiliary input, a Bluetooth pairing button, and a two-prong power inlet. Around front, there’s a control knob on the bottom right—rotate it to adjust volume, push it to turn the system on and cycle through sources, and push and hold to turn the system off. On the bottom left is an LED that glows or flashes in different colors to indicate Bluetooth status, EQ settings, and the selected source.
The supplied remote lets you power the system on or off, adjust volume, mute the system, cycle through sources, skip tracks and pause and resume playback when streaming from a smart device via Bluetooth, and adjust bass and treble. Other supplied accessories include two AAA batteries for the remote, an 8′ 22-gauge speaker cable for connecting the primary and secondary speakers, a 5′ power cord, a 4′ 3.5mm-to-dual-RCA analog cable, and an informative quick-start guide. The speakers have no grilles, so those with children and cats may want to be cautious.
The turntable and powered speaker system are manufactured in China and covered by a one-year limited warranty.
Unpacking and setup
The Montrose was possibly the easiest turntable to unpack of any I’ve reviewed. Open the box, remove the instruction manual, and lift out the turntable—easy-peasy. The felt turntable mat comes in its own plastic bag, which is taped to the bag that covers the turntable. Undo the tape and the mat slips out. Undo another piece of tape and the plastic bag for the turntable slips off. Remove some tape around the cartridge, undo the twist-tie around the tonearm, remove the accessory box that contains the power supply and counterweight, grab the interconnects with captive ground wire, and you’re ready to set up your ’table.
Opening the speaker box, you’re greeted with a heavy foam form that keeps the speakers in place and away from the box walls. Remove that and the speakers lift out rather easily. They’re covered with polyethylene bags that slip off with little effort. The ancillary pieces come in a plastic envelope.
Now for the setup. For the Montrose, press the counterweight onto the back end of the tonearm until it clicks twice, with 0 at the top, then rotate the counterweight one revolution to the left. This will set the tracking force to 3g, which is right in the middle of the recommended range (2.5–3.5g) for the supplied Audio‑Technica cartridge. Plug the power supply into the back of the Montrose turntable and then into a mains outlet, and, if you so desire, connect the analog interconnects to their jacks on the back of the turntable. Of course, don’t forget to put the felt mat on the platter.
After setting up the Montrose turntable, I checked speed accuracy and wow with the RPM Speed & Wow app on my Android phone. At 33⅓ rpm, the actual speed was 33.28 rpm (0.11% slow); wow was rather high, at 0.28%. The results at the 45-rpm setting were a speed of 44.96 rpm (0.08% slow) and 0.2% wow—again, rather high.
For the McKinley speakers, connect the speaker wire from the powered right speaker to the satellite left speaker, and then plug in the AC power cable to the back of the right speaker and to the AC mains. If you want to bypass the Bluetooth connection, plug the interconnects from the Montrose into the RCA jacks on the back of the right speaker. Of course, make sure in that case that the turntable’s preamp is set to On.
To pair the ’table and speakers via Bluetooth, first apply power to both. Make sure the LED indicator on the right speaker is blue, then press and hold the Bluetooth button on the Montrose turntable. The two devices should automatically pair—this status will be indicated by their Bluetooth LEDs turning solid white. To cancel Bluetooth pairing, press the Bluetooth button again. The LED on the device should shut off. Note that once the Bluetooth function is enabled, the RR36 turntable will automatically attempt to connect to the last-paired device—probably the McKinley speakers.
I was curious to hear the Montrose-McKinley setup, but with the Audio‑Technica cartridge’s tracking force of 3g, I was a bit leery about using my best discs. Before doing any critical listening, I played a few records using first the direct connection and then Bluetooth. In what was admittedly a casual comparison, I didn’t hear any significant differences between the wired and wireless connections. Bluetooth could be a game-changer in situations where it’s not practical to site the turntable close to the right speaker.
Wired
I began my critical listening using the wired analog connection between the turntable and speakers. My first selection was one of London Records’ original Phase 4 Stereo LPs: Twelve Star Percussion by the International “Pop” All Stars (London SP 44011). Playing “Why Don’t You Do Right,” I was impressed by the breadth and depth of the soundstage on this early stereo recording from 1962. The track starts with piano on the left, followed by brushed cymbals on the right, then various wind instruments—bass clarinet, flute, and muted trumpets. I was surprised by the tonal quality of the speakers. They produced decent bass for such small drivers, and the highs were rather sweet-sounding.
In my reviews, I always make it a point to play a classical piece. For this one, I chose a 1959 recording of Franz Schubert’s Trout Quintet, performed by pianist Denis Matthews and members of the Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet (Vanguard Everyman Classics SRV151SD). This beloved composition is scored for piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. One of the movements is based on an earlier song by Schubert called “The Trout”—hence the nickname. On the final movement, marked Allegro giusto, I was amazed by the overall quality of the sound from these small speakers, especially the delicacy of the piano at the beginning. It sounded very natural, and the interplay between the piano and the four stringed instruments really had a delightful character, offering a fine sense of the ensemble. The soundstage was rather broad but not especially deep.
I hadn’t played the Who’s Tommy (Decca DXSW 7205) in ages, so I put on “Pinball Wizard,” mostly to hear the contrast between the acoustic 12-string and the blazing-hot electric guitar at the beginning. Well, there’s only so much 4″ woofers can do, and the sound wasn’t as big as I’d hoped. Even so, the soundstage was again remarkable, spread out between the speakers. There wasn’t a lot of soundstage depth, but there was some. The two guitars were reproduced well, with very good timbre, which I found pretty amazing. Naturally, I would much prefer to listen to the song on my main stereo. But if I were in a college dorm, the Montrose-McKinley combination would do just fine.
Wireless
For my next three selections, I streamed music from the Montrose ’table to the McKinley speakers via Bluetooth. As usual for me, it took a couple of tries to pair them, but once I did, everything worked fine. As noted above, the units will try to connect to the last device with which they were paired. Should you wish to pair one of them to another device, you may need to disable the current connection. To do this for the turntable, press and hold the Pair button for two seconds; for the speakers, press and hold the Reset button on the back of the primary speaker for three seconds.
Dayton funk is a genre that holds a special place in my heart. The Ohio Players, Heatwave, Slave—I love all those bands. One of the lesser-known Dayton funk groups is Sun, who released eight albums on Capitol Records between 1976 and 1984. Their second album, Sun-Power (Capitol ST‑11609), leads off with the tune “Light Me Up.” As with all Dayton funk songs, the bass and drums set the pace with a strong rhythm. This came through amazingly well on the Montrose-McKinley setup; again, I was fascinated by what strong mid-bass these little woofers could produce. Sun had a great horn section, comprising three trumpets, two trombones, and a whole bunch of saxes. This horn section had only four guys, but they all played multiple instruments and overdubbed. The brass was tight and solid played on the Montrose-McKinley setup, and lead singer John Hampton Wagner’s voice was clear and powerful. Good song; good reproduction.
Next, I wanted something with a strong bass line and some interesting sound effects. My selection was “Another One Bites the Dust” from Queen’s 1980 album The Game (Elektra 5E-513A SP). I was surprised by the amount of bass the McKinley speakers produced and the width of the soundstage. The backward-played guitar bits had real bite to them. However, as on some other cuts, there wasn’t much soundstage depth. Other than that, the tune sounded pretty darned good for a system with such small drivers and such low power.
The Ides of March had a big hit in 1970 called “Vehicle,” from their album of the same name (Warner Bros. 1863). At the time, it was said that “Vehicle” was the fastest-selling single Warner Bros. had ever released, and there are some good reasons for that—not least the two trumpets and tenor sax that back the song so skillfully. When I played this track, the Montrose-McKinley setup actually produced a fair amount of soundstage depth. The lead singer was out front, with the brass well behind him on the left and the keyboards, drums, and bass between the singer and the brass, mostly on the right. The lead-guitar solo was mixed out front, right in the middle, as if the singer had just moved to the side briefly. I heard a little distortion on the brass lines, but that may have been the record (it is 55 years old, after all). Good performance overall.
Conclusion
Electrohome’s Montrose RR36 wireless turntable and McKinley 2.0 powered speakers will never be mistaken for a classic McIntosh or Marantz system, but this setup performed way better than I expected for US$220! The speakers are small but mighty. The turntable is good for the money, and its built-in preamp does a more-than-adequate job. I’m a bit leery of the high tracking force (3g) of the supplied cartridge, and I thought the wow figures at both speeds were on the high side. But I appreciate the fact that the ’table has a moving-magnet cartridge and not some little ceramic jobbie, which is sometimes the case at very modest price points.
If you have a family member whom you’d like to tear away from earbud listening and introduce to higher-fidelity sound than they get from their portable stuff, Electrohome’s Montrose-McKinley system would be a good starting point. Add an inexpensive streamer such as the WiiM Mini (US$99, CA$139) and you’d have a very capable setup, with support for Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Amazon and Siri voice control. But even on its own, this is a very fine budget system!
. . . Thom Moon
thom@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Speakers: Acoustic Energy Radiance 3 floorstanding; Vera-Fi Vanguard Caldera 10 subwoofer
- Power Amplifier: NAD C 275BEE
- Preamplifier: Apt Corporation Holman
- Analog Source: Technics SL-100C turntable with Goldring E4 cartridge
- Digital Source: Cambridge Audio Azur 650C CD player
- Smartphone: Motorola Moto G 5G
- Interconnects: Turntable—Pro‑Ject Connect it E; CD player—Linn Silver; preamp to power amp—Morrow Audio MA1 analog
- Speaker cables: Nakamichi Excel 12-gauge OFC cable terminated in banana plugs
Electrohome Montrose RR36 wireless turntable and McKinley 2.0 powered speaker system
Price: US$219.99, CA$307.99. Turntable available separately for US$119.99 or CA$167.99. Speaker system available separately for US$99.99 or CA$139.99.
Warranty: One year, parts and labor
Electrohome
4080 Montrose Road
Niagara Falls, ON,
Canada L2H 1J9
Electrohome
840 Aero Drive
Cheektowaga, NY 14225
USA
Phone: 1-855-769-4737
Website: www.electrohome.com
