We’ve tested a number of dedicated turntables and record players over the years. Here are some of the most recent:
All-in-one players
The Arkrocket Huygens is similar to the Angels Horn H019 and Syitren Paron II and typically priced a bit lower, but it doesn’t sound as full.
According to our listening panel, the Crosley CR6046A-WAGL Stave had a “muffled” sound. It has bass and treble controls, but their effects were mild, and we don’t think you should have to adjust tone controls to get your record player sounding good.
The Gadhouse Cosmo Solar is a colorful, cool-looking, portable record player with a see-through design, a built-in FM radio, Bluetooth support, a USB input, and an SD card slot. Unfortunately, it produces very little bass, and in our tests vocalists sounded a bit like they were singing through cupped hands.
The LP&No.1 USB wireless turntable has a USB output for digitizing your records. However, it sounded thinner and less clear than our picks.
The Mixx Revival 65 won raves from our paid testers for its retro look, portable design, and ease of use, but those tests weren’t focused on sound quality. In our brand-concealed audio tests, this one produced a thin sound that ranked last against three other record players. When we set the pitch control to the center detent position, the pitch and speed ran noticeably high, around 33.9 rpm instead of 33.3 rpm. (You can correct this with an app that tests turntable rpm, but you shouldn’t have to.) Still, if you need a record player you can pack up and take to a vacation home, or if you only plan to use it a few times a year and want to stow it away easily, the Revival 65 is the best option we’ve found.
The QlearSoul ONE-Q appears to use the same record-player mechanism as the Angels Horn H019, but its controls are on the front panel so the speakers are squeezed into a smaller space. Our listening panel generally liked it, but thought it didn’t sound quite as clear or full as the H019.
The RadioShack Retro Turntable 4001797 is an inexpensive, generic design. In our tests, it worked okay but sounded coarse and thin.
The tonearm mechanism of the Seasonlife HQ-KZ001 had so much friction, we couldn’t get it to put enough force on the stylus to play a record reliably.
If you want the least-expensive all-in-one record player that sounds decent, the Victrola Eastwood II features two-way stereo speakers, with separate woofers and tweeters, that sound much fuller than the ones built into less expensive models. But the sound quality of this record player was a big step down from that of the Angels Horn H019 and Syitren Paron II. It includes an Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge and requires no setup, but the tonearm is not adjustable. It has Bluetooth input and output and can play 78 rpm records.
The Victrola Eastwood LP sounds fairly clear and full, but the Angels Horn H019 has a richer, more satisfying sound with more bass, and the two are typically priced about the same. Also, the Eastwood LP’s tonearm is not adjustable.
The affordable Victrola Re-Spin is a portable player made from recycled plastic and packaged in recycled materials. Our panelists thought its single upward-firing speaker couldn’t match the sound quality and bass response of some other players in its price range.
Dedicated turntables
The Audio-Technica AT-LPW50BT is our former recommendation for people who want a turntable with Bluetooth capability. It offers good sound quality and is full-featured and easy to use. But the JBL Spinner BT has the same core features and costs less.
The Denon DP-400 is a former pick that remains a good option, but the dust cover’s design proved to be a polarizing feature that some panelists and readers strongly disliked. It must be completely removed when you’re playing a record and replaced when you’re done. This turntable sounds good, has a phono stage built in, and includes lots of convenient features.
The Fluance RT82 is a step down from our top pick. It’s a solid choice if you want to spend less, offering good sound and ease of use. We heard some minor issues with wow and flutter, where the pitch of a note on one R.E.M. track seemed to change while it played. If you’re more sensitive to wow and flutter, you should take this into consideration.
The Rega Planar P1 is easy to set up, and we liked the sound. But with the speed-change belt located under the platter, it isn’t as easy to use as other models. It also ran about 1% fast when we measured it.
The Pro-Ject T2 is a well-built, functional, reliable turntable that’s easy to set up, but its performance was lackluster compared with other turntables at its high price. It sounded quite pedestrian while offering no extra functionality or interesting features. If you want a Pro-Ject turntable, we suggest you consider our previous runner-up, the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo. We still like the Evo a lot; it has fantastic build quality, and it’s more upgradable than our top pick. But the sound profile is less neutral than that of the Fluance; it emphasizes the lower midrange and bass, which may not appeal to everyone.
The Rekkord F300 is our former runner-up pick; we removed it as a pick because it has been out of stock for six months, though we were told that it has not been discontinued. In our testing, the F300 sounded just as good as our top pick, with excellent transparency, channel isolation, and consistency. (We tested it with the optional Ortofon OM 10 phono cartridge, as opposed to the stock Audio-Technica AT91 cartridge.) This fully automatic turntable is very simple to set up, it has great build quality, and the belt-driven speed is extremely accurate. But it has a few design quirks that we don’t love. For one, this automatic turntable assumes that all 33 rpm records are 12 inches and all 45 rpm records are 7 inches, and the manual doesn’t clearly explain this. If you want to play a 12-inch single, this turntable loses its automatic functionality, which is a shame. We’re also not fond of the non-removable RCA/grounding cables.
The Sony PS-LX310BT was easy to set up and use, but it had the worst speed accuracy of anything we tested, and its far higher tracking force (3.5 grams, versus 1.8 to 2.0 grams for other turntables) will cause more wear to your records over time.
The TEAC-280BT-A3 is a Bluetooth-enabled turntable that we compared directly with the JBL Spinner BT. Though it performed admirably on its own, it lacks the weight and luxury of the Spinner BT, and the built-in preamp is a bit too loud, which can lead to distortion on loud records. However, it is incredibly easy to set up, and at the time of writing, it’s on sale for about $270. If you can grab it at that price, we recommend it.
The Victrola Automatic is the most disappointing turntable we’ve tested in terms of sound quality and build quality, even at its lower price of $200. It sounds cheap and dull, and the entire machine (including the tonearm!) is made of plastic. On the plus side, it comes standard with a built-in preamp, it is fully automatic and very easy to use, and it has Bluetooth connectivity. This turntable could be appropriate as a gift for a child interested in vinyl, but otherwise we recommend you spend a little more on the U-Turn Orbit Basic.
The Victrola Stream Onyx Works with Sonos Turntable sounds great, but it forces you to use its just-okay built-in preamp (no phono or line switch), does not allow you to easily adjust the base for perfect horizontal playback, and has a bizarre dust cover that you can’t use during playback. If you’re already rocking a formidable Sonos environment, this turntable could be worthwhile, but we don’t recommend it otherwise.
This article was edited by Adrienne Maxwell and Grant Clauser.
