Lets talk Turntables.

The big black shiny 2-sided vinyl record is out selling the cd! or so they say. Either way, there is great interest in playing records; some will buy because its trendy, some will buy because it sounds better. With this vinyl interest, comes the record player, yes the Turntable - this is where you need to be careful, along with the growth you will get the greedy retailers and e-tailers who will just want to sell you a turntable - but buyer beware! there is a lot of rubbish out their which will cost you good money, then leave you disappointed and wondering what’s all the fuss about.

In an article I once said that there was an art to listening to music, that for some of us it was more than just the end result, it was the journey. The care taken with the record, to ensure it is clean, free of dust, to look at it in the light, that inspection in anticipation of the magic about to occur. Turning on the equipment, the smell as the amplifier warms, placing the record on the player platter, turning the record player on, holding the antistatic brush over the record for a few revolutions for a final check on dust particles, a quick brush of the styli tip and the audible confirmation that systems are go. Just like a Japanese tea ceremony, to prepare you for the art of tea, the process and appreciation, you just know it’s going to special.

Just like listening to the record, it’s not about convenience, it’s about quality, the anticipation of perfection, the appreciation for the art of music.

So back to the Turntable, you can get one from a few hundred $$ and as you can imagine, you can also spend tens of thousands. For now lets focus on below $1000. I would call this the entry range, but there is entry and cheap, we don’t deal in cheap, even our $199 range are qualify and built for a purpose. How do you decide what is right for you? 

Well, simply put you need to know what you want to do with it, what are you attaching it to, yes you still need amplifiers and speakers, or active speakers – Now yes you can get some (novelty) turntables with build in speakers, and yes they will allow you to play records, and some are quite good.

You can either listen to records, or you can enjoy the experience of a record, so some players are auto, with no adjustability, just plug and play, they will work with any amplifier or active speaker even an iPod dock or blutooth speaker (via cable). While other record players will require your contribution, you will need to set the weight, align the cartridge, adjust the anti-skate before you play the vinyl, but this type of player will give you more control over what you are listening to, the down side is if you don’t know what you are doing you will get distorted unbalanced sound. Within 15 minutes I can turn anyone from novice to expert with just enough knowledge to be dangerous so help is at hand. 

Common sense needs to be applied when buying record players, because the end result will only be as good as the weakest link in the sound system, when you pay more for record players you are essentially buying the ability to extract more information from the record, and as playing records is all about vibrations, you are also paying for a component that can manage the vibrations better so as not to be influenced by outside vibrations. 

The record is all about uncompressed audio – that’s why its so big..... So the better the record player, the better the sound system, the better the experience.

We are here to help you get the right record player for your needs, no matter your budget, come in, and take delight in the spinning marvel.