How to know what record player to buy
How to Choose A Record Player - UPDATE
Timecodes:
today we're talking about how you should
pick a turntable
[Music]
hey friends welcome back so if you want
to go right into the record players that
i recommend you can skip to this part of
the video okay so i made this video six
years ago when i first started this
youtube channel and since that time i've
learned a lot more about turntables
so i figured i'd give you all an update
so the first thing that you should think
about is your budget you need to know
how much you want to spend on a quality
turntable
i would argue that the best models start
around 250 to 300 dollars and then go up
from there
so basically the more you spend the
better build quality and sound quality
you're gonna get
so for example the fluance rt85 is five
500
and the project debut carbon evo is 600
and although that is a lot of money
these are both incredible turntables
with audiophile sound that will last you
a lifetime so we're going to talk a
little bit more about those later on
now if on the other hand you're just
looking for an affordable
entry turntable then the audio technica
lp60x is a great value for only a
hundred and thirty dollars
so overall deciding on a budget is the
first thing that you should do now the
next thing you should be aware of is to
stay away from the all-in-one or
suitcase style turntables like
you guessed it the crosley cruisers
now to be fair to crosley after all my
years of bashing them
i've heard some promising things about
the c-100 however their cruisers are
more like toys instead of turntables so
if you care about the lifespan of your
records you probably shouldn't play them
on any of those types of turntables
pretty much all of them have low quality
record cartridges and styluses and also
have no counterweight at the back of
their tone arms so basically their
tracking force or the weight of the
record needle is too heavy and it could
carve up those record grooves like a hot
knife through butter
not good
also a good rule of thumb to remember is
this if the platter of the turntable
isn't big enough to accommodate the full
record and the record is sticking out
over the edge then that's a sign that
that turntable is trash
also record players are meant to stay
put they're meant to stay in one spot so
if it's marketed as portable
then that's also a red flag
a quality turntable should be like your
living room tv
it stays put now the next thing you
should think about is what kind of
records are you going to play
12 inch albums seven-inch singles or
even those older 10-inch shellac records
or do you want to play all three
knowing what you're going to play is
important because most of the newer
turntables are going to be fine for the
12-inch vinyl albums like the ones you
see on the wall behind me here and the
smaller seven inch singles but they
might not be able to play those older
shellac records now as i've said before
those records are becoming more rare and
hard to find but if you do want to play
them then you're going to need a
turntable that's capable of spinning at
78 rpm
and you'll also need a special stylus
for those types of records but that's a
separate video alright now the next
thing you should figure out is how is
this turntable gonna fit into your vinyl
audio setup
so every vinyl audio setup is composed
of four parts
turntable preamp amplifier and speakers
so if the turntable you're looking at
has a built-in preamp then all you need
are the amplifier and speakers but if
the turntable doesn't have a built-in
preamp then you're going to need to buy
that separately in addition to the
amplifier and speakers
does that make sense
so it really helps to think about how
everything is going to come together
so for example if you already have a
receiver which is a type of amplifier
and it has a phono input in the back
then that is a preamp so you'll only
need to buy the turntable and a pair of
passive speakers which you then hook up
to that receiver now the simplest setup
would be a turntable with a built-in
preamp and speakers with a built-in
amplifier also known as active speakers
so how will you know if the speaker has
a built-in amplifier
well if the speaker you're looking at
has a volume knob
then it has an amplifier inside so
that's a good way to tell
so overall think of the vinyl audio
setup like a puzzle with four pieces you
need all of them in order to make
everything work properly now speaking of
the vinyl audio setup another important
question you should ask yourself is do i
only want to play records or do i also
want to play cassettes
cds 8 tracks or even reel to reel tapes
if all you want to do is play your
records then getting a pair of active
speakers which have the amplifier inside
is going to work great for you
but if you want to play lots of
different media then you should instead
go for a receiver with a pair of passive
speakers that's actually the setup that
i'm using right now and it works great
basically receivers i think are really
cool because they allow you to hook up
lots of different things to the same
speakers
so they're kind of like
your tv in a way
line one is cable line two is the
blu-ray player etc etc well vinyl
receivers are no different
line one could be your turntable line
two your cd player line three your
cassette deck and all of the music is
coming out of the same speakers which is
pretty cool
so i like the convenience and the
versatility of a receiver but if all you
want to do is play records then active
speakers would be a better choice for
you so yet again plan it out and
everything is going to work fine now the
next thing you should think about is the
color of your turntable
so this might seem like an arbitrary
thing but
since your record player is going to be
the center piece of your bedroom or
living room something to show off to
your friends and be proud of
i think the color is important in my
opinion you should go with something
that complements the space so for
example if you have a
black ikea shelf maybe going with an
ivory white turntable would add a nice
contrast
or if you have a white shelf
maybe going with a darker model or even
a bright red turntable could also look
really nice
i mean
let's face it you're going to drop some
money on a turntable
it might as well look cool okay now the
next thing you should look for is what
is the quality of the cartridge or
record needle so for instance the
cartridge on those lesser quality
portable suitcase players that i was
mentioning a second ago
are pretty bad they have the potential
to damage your record grooves and you
can't upgrade them even if you want to
so going with an audio technica lp 120x
usb
or a u-turn orbit plus would be a much
better decision because both of the
cartridges on those turntables are of a
higher quality they won't damage your
records and they can also be upgraded
down the road
so as i said if you're willing to pay a
little more you're going to get
something that's better build quality
and it's going to last you much longer
now the next thing to think about is do
you need to connect this turntable to
your computer
so for example if you want to convert
your records into digital files and keep
them on your computer or a hard drive
then you're going to need a turntable
that has a usb connection and most
turntables
don't have one
but there are a few that do
most notably the audio technica
lp120x usb
it says it right there in the name usb
so if you want to do that then this
turntable would be a great choice for
you and you could use a free audio
program like audacity on your computer
to record with but if on the other hand
you just want to play your records and
you're not concerned with taking your
records and putting them on your
computer then you don't need a turntable
that has usb so this is definitely
something you should think about ahead
of time now the next thing you should
think about is do you want the turntable
to be belt drive or direct drive
so basically a belt drive means that the
motor is off to one side and it spins
the platter using a rubber belt and a
direct drive means that the motor is
directly underneath the platter and it
spins it directly
now at first you might think
this seems kind of like a small detail
who cares where the motor is as long as
the thing works right
well actually there are pros and cons to
either one so for example a belt drive
might have better sound because there's
no motor rumble but it could also fall
out of sync with the music
if its speeds aren't accurate and a
direct drive on the other hand is going
to have very accurate speeds which won't
fall out of sync with the music but it
could have some motor rumble leading to
a drop in audio quality usually the
higher priced turntables that sound
great are belt drive and they just have
very precise motors that keep the
platter spinning at the perfect speed
but if it's a lower priced belt drive
turntable the speeds could slip a little
bit and that wouldn't be good now i have
the fluance rt85 back here which is a
belt drive and i really love this
turntable the speeds are right on the
money so in my opinion
if you're willing to spend 400 or 500
or even more then belt drive is
definitely the way to go now another
thing to think about is do you want a
manual or an automatic turntable a
manual is by far the most common type
where basically you raise and lower the
stylus yourself and on an automatic it
simply does that for you
so most turntables on the market right
now are fully manual but some like the
audio technica lp60x
are automatic so if you really want this
feature it's going to be a little harder
to find now speaking of features you
should also consider if the turntable
has auto stop what's auto stop well
basically it means that once the needle
reaches the end of the record the
platter will automatically stop spinning
so basically if you enable this feature
by flipping a little switch on the back
of the turntable then you won't need to
worry about the platter spinning all
night long and damaging your stylus just
because you accidentally fell asleep and
forgot to lift the needle
so i think this is a really cool feature
that can definitely save the life of
your stylist and it's kind of nice to
have this feature on a turntable but
just like the rest of these features
it's totally optional so you have to
decide for yourself if that's important
to you or not and finally last of all
here are the record players that i would
recommend to you
if you're looking for your first
turntable and you want something
affordable that also sounds good i'd go
with the audio technica lp60x
it's a belt-driven turntable it's got a
built-in preamp it's fully automatic it
has that auto stop function and it comes
in five different colors so basically
it's a great beginner's turntable
now if you're looking for something with
better build quality and don't mind
spending a little more then i'd go with
the fluance rt81 this turntable is also
belt driven has a built-in preamp has
auto stop but it also has a solid wood
plinth or body that's much heavier which
is actually a good thing because it
prevents vibrations and that in turn
gives you a better sound it also has a
better cartridge has a counterweight at
the end of the tone arm so the needle
doesn't press down too hard on your
record grooves and it comes with a
rubber slip mat as opposed to a felt
slip mat and that rubber slip mat
further isolates the record from any
vibrations thereby achieving a slightly
better sound so overall the fluance rt81
is a quality turntable for a very good
price
and last of all if you're looking for
the best turntable on the market right
now and don't mind spending a little
more for something that's going to last
you a lifetime then i would recommend
both the fluance rt85
and the project debut carbon evo
both of these turntables are excellent
in terms of build quality and sound
quality and in fact in my last video i
compared them side by side and talked
about the reasons why i think they're
the best turntables that money can buy
for under 600. so if you want to check
out that video you can click this card
right up here now if you want to know
what other vinyl stuff i recommend like
my favorite accessories speakers and
albums that i really like i'll also drop
that link down below so that you can
check out all of that good stuff as well
now before we go today's song of the day
is back in black by acdc and if you have
a suggestion for a song of the day as
well post in the comments down below and
you might see it in a future video
alright so that is everything that i can
think of that you should look for when
choosing a quality turntable so do you
agree with the points that i've
mentioned or not let me know down in the
comments below and if you love
collecting records and want to learn
even more about this great hobby then
feel free to subscribe and hit that
little bell notification down there so
you won't miss out on any of the new
videos and most poorly of all friends
have a fantastic day stay safe out there
and keep spinning that vinyl
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