Turntables (and record players) have become popular again and can be found in hypermarkets, department stores and online marketplaces.
We’ll look at the best places to shop for turntables is a second. But there is one thing I have to address first.
A lot of retailers, in all honestly, push a lot of crap. So more important than where you actually buy the turntable is that you make an educated choice. That you pick a good product and get high value in return for the money you spend.
I will do my best to help you avoid the pitfalls and make a good choice later in this short guide.
Where to buy a turntable?
Turntables can be found in hypermarkets, department stores, electronics stores, dedicated Hi-Fi stores, and many online marketplaces. Examples of retailers that sell a lot of turntables include Walmart, Target, Urban Outfitters, Best Buy and Amazon.
My favorite place to shop for vinyl gear is probably Amazon. They generally have good prices on turntables and the biggest selection. And it is convenient to spend time on their website comparing specs and reviews of different models.
I also like to visit smaller dedicated Hi-Fi shops. The type of shops were the staff is real Hi-Fi experts that help you choose gear and let you sit down and listen to and compare different products. If you are serious about picking the very best turntable for your needs, the best thing you can do is to visit these kind of stores to get hands on experience with different models.
If you, on the other hand, walk into a hypermarket and pick the very first record player you see, then you (and your records) might be in a bit of trouble. More on that later.
(PS! The difference between turntables and record players are explained in the end of this article.)
How Much is a Turntable?
Alright, now it is time to address the biggest pitfall to avoid when buying a turntable (or record player).
And that is, in my opinion, to buy a cheap all-in-one record player with speakers and everything built into the cabinet.
These usually cost between $50 and $100.
The problem is that to be able to manufacture a record player with everything included (chassis, platter, tonearm, cartridge, amplifier and speakers) that sells for so little money, all the parts have to be of extremely low quality. These types of record players should be considered toys and not real Hi-Fi products.
The tonearm and cartridge will be of very low quality and not able to read the records grooves with any level of precision. And the tiny speakers won’t reproduce sound with any bass or clarity at all.
In short, they don’t sound very good.
And there is actually a much bigger problem.
Turntables are highly sensitive to vibrations. Therefore, it is generally advised to place the turntable on a stable shelf away from the speakers. Because the bass from the speakers can cause vibrations.
In all-in-one record players, the speakers are included in the chassis. And will inevitably transfer vibrations to the platter and tonearm. To mitigate this problem, the manufacturers have to use high needle downforce to stop the needle from skipping around.
In a quality turntable, the needle downforce is usually between 1.5 and 2.0 gram. In cheap all-in-one record players, the needle downforce is sometimes as high as 6.0 gram.
The problem is that this high needle downforce is reported to destroy records. And you don’t have to destroy many records before the money you spent on buying the cheapest record player you found is lost on damaged records.
The cool thing is that by increasing the budget to $100 or just above, you can buy much higher quality turntables thats sounds ok and don’t put unnecessary wear and tear on your records.
Budget Advice: Start with a $100+ turntable and super-cheap PC speakers. And upgrade the speakers later.
A good entry-level turntable will cost from $100 to $300. A decent Hi-Fi turntable will cost from $300 to $600.
Which is the best turntable to buy?
If you are on a budget, two of the best and most popular affordable turntables are the Audio-Technica AT-LP60X and the Sony PSLX310BT. If you want a DJ style turntable, the Audio-Technica AT-LP120X is a great choice too.
If you add affordable powered speakers, such as the amazing Edifier R1280T, you will have a complete beginner package that will last a long time, keep your records safe and sound decent.
If you are on a super tight budget, you can start with even cheaper PC speakers.
If you have a little more money to spend, two turntables I highly recommend are the Rega Planar 1 Plus or the U-Turn Orbit Plus with preamp.
These are great looking quality products that can be your trusted turntable for decades. And they offer the possibility to upgrade the cartridge to one of higher quality for even better sound if that will be interesting at some point.
Check out my recommended speakers for turntables article for good speakers to pair with these turntables.
All the turntables mentioned above come with a phono preamp included and can be connected directly to powered speakers and to all types of receivers and amplifiers. Simply use an input that is labeled LINE-IN, AUX, CD, or similar.
What is the difference between a record player and a turntable?
Although the terms record player and turntable are often used interchangeably, there is a distinct difference.
A turntable is an assembly that includes the platter that spins the record and the tonearm/cartridge that picks up the music that is carved into the record and transforms it into an electrical signal. A turntable needs to be connected to an amplifier/receiver and speakers (or powered speakers) to play records.
A record player, on the other hand, is usually considered an all-in-one device that does not need any external components to play records. In a record player, the turntable, amplifier, and speakers are all bundled into one unit. And it is often portable.
Here is an example of a record player:
And here is an example of a turntable:
What do you need with your turntable?
To play records with a turntable, we need four components.
- Turntable
- Preamp
- Amplifier
- Speakers
These can be four separate components, or bundled together in different ways.
- The preamp can be bundled with the turntable
- The preamp can be bundled with the amplifier
- The amplifier can be bundles with the speakers (powered speakers)
The simplest setup will be a turntable with a built-in preamp and powered speakers with the amplifier built-in.