Here’s a pro-tip (and this is from my own experience): When looking for a vintage turntable and you find something you might like, do a Google search that starts with “Audiokarma”. You will need: The turntable, a pre-amp, a receiver and speakers. That said, if you’re looking for a vintage setup, you’re likely to find and/or make a great deal on a full setup. Be prepared to spend countless hours on Kijiji and Facebook buy-and-sell pages, sifting through the incredible amount of available turntable models. There are a massive amount of options when it comes to new record players but vintage turntables is a whole other can of worms. Going to spend $80 on John Coltrane’s limited edition, 45RPM, Blue Note release of Blue Train? You’re likely also in the market for a higher end system. Are you in it for the nostalgia and do you have old, scratched up records that you found at Value Village? You’re probably not interested in spending lots and you can get away with a cheap vinyl record player from a big box store. This goes back to why you’re buying a record player in the first place. You’re not throwing premium gas in a $250 car, so why would you buy a $99 record player if you’re going to play $50 records on it? How much are you going to spend on records?įrank, over at Channel 33RPM made a great analogy about this. Think about models like the Fluance RT80, Audio Technica LP120, Pro-Ject Debut Carbon or Rega RP1 (in no particular order). If you’re going for the nostalgia or the “sit down on a Friday night, put on some Pink Floyd, Miles Davis or Etta James with a fine glass of scotch after a long, hard week at work” kind of system, there is a wide variety of turntables available to fill that need. You’re probably going to be looking at items like power conditioners, high-end speaker cable, a vibration dampening cabinet etc. It doesn’t stop at buying a turntable, plug it in and ready to go. You’ll need to go see your local hifi dealer and do some serious research, because additions to systems like this are often very costly. These are also the turntables you don’t buy online or at a big box retailer. Brands like VPI, Clearaudio and Michell are probably the ones to look for. Looking for excellent sound quality and you want to hear every detail of every guitar pluck and every snare of a drum? You’ll need to invest into a high(er) end turntable. The reason why you’re buying a record player or turntable can help determine what kind of player you’re going to get.Īre you buying records because they look cool and don’t really care about how they sound? Your best choice might be a cheap record player from a big-box store (really, any brand the 16-year old, part time sales rep recommends will do). What’s the real reason you want a record player? Record players with a built-in pre-amp can be usually be connected to a home entertainment system. There’s also the scenario that sits in between the previous 2, where people have their turntable as part of their living room entertainment system. Have you ever heard a microphone squeal because the presenter is too close to a speaker? This is exactly like that. Kanto has great, small bookshelf speakers that have the pre-amp built into the speakers, so if you’re going to buy a working, vintage turntable without a pre-amp, these speakers might fit the bill and with a range of different colours, they go well with any decor.Īlthough there are several record players with built-in speakers, I wouldn’t recommend any of those, due to the fact that the vibrations of the speakers will likely feed back into the needle. I suggest finding a turntable with a built-in pre-amplifier, so you don’t need to worry about yet another box to put somewhere. This is the scenario where you, aside from budget, don’t have to compromise anything.ĭon’t have any room available? You’ll have to give up something and it’ll probably in the loudness department. If you have a room that you’d like to dedicate to listening to music, you’ll have the room to get a turntable, a separate amplifier and some nice speakers. You’ll need to find out if you want to dedicate a room to listening to music, if you want a turntable in the corner of a room or something in between. Determine how and where you’re going to listen In this guide, I will try to provide objective advice, combined with some of my own experience. If you’re in the market for a turntable (or vinyl record player) and start doing some research, you’ll be bombarded with hundreds or different kind of players.
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