Today we’re talking about how you should pick a turntable. 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 6 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 he 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 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 flu wants R. TT 5 is $500 in the pro ject debut carbon Ivo is $600 and although that is a lot of money these are both incredible turntables with audio files sound that will last you a lifetime so we’re gonna talk a little bit more about those later on now if on the other hand you’re just looking for an affordable entry turn table then the audio Technica AT LP 60 X. is a great value for only $130 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 note 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 they’re tracking force or the weight of the record needle is too heavy and he 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 the met to stay in one spot so if it’s marketed as portable 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 gonna play 12 inch albums 7 inch singles or even those older 10 inch shellac records or do you want to play all 3 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 7 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 gonna need a turntable that’s capable of spinning at 78 RPM and you also need a special stylus for those types of records but that’s a separate video all right 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 4 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 pre amp then you’re gonna 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 pre amp so you’ll only need to buy a turntable and a pair of passive speakers which you then hook up to that receiver now the simplest set up would be a turntable with a built in pre amp 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 set up like a puzzle with 4 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 CD’s 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 this gonna work great for you but if you wanna play lots of different media then you should instead go for a receiver with a pair of passive speakers that’s actually the set up 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 to is the Blu ray player. Eccentric Satcher will vinyl receivers are no different line one could be your turntable flying to your CD player line 3 or 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 planted out and everything’s 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 centerpiece 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 eye kia shelf maybe going with an ivory white turntable put out 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 gonna 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 second go 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 the audio Technica AT LP 120 X. U. S. B. 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 gonna 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 hard drive then you’re gonna need a turntable that has a U. S. B. connection and most turntables don’t have 1 but there are a few that do most notably the audio Technica AT LP 120 X. U. S. B. it says it right there in the name U. S. B. 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 on your computer then you don’t need a turntable that has U. S. B. so this is definitely something you should think about a head 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 1 side and it spins the platter using a rubber belts and a direct drive means that the motor is directly. Underneath the platter and it spends 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 bell drive might have better sound because there’s no motor rumble but it could also fall out of sync with the music if it 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 our 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 flu once R. TT 5 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 than belt drive is definitely the way to go now another thing to think about is do you want a manual or an automatic turntable the manual is by far the most common type we’re 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 AT LP 60 acts 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 will 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 turn table 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 stylus 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 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 LP 60 ax 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 5 different colors so basically it’s a great beginners turntable now if you’re looking for something with better build quality and don’t mind spending a little more than I’d go with the flu once R. T. 81 this turntable is also belt driven has a built in preamp has auto stop but it also has a solid wood planned for 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 counter weight 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 fluids are TI 81 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 gonna last you a lifetime then I would recommend both the flu once R. T. 85 and the. Pro ject debut carbon Ivo both of these turntables are excellent in terms of build quality and sound quality and in fact in my last video I compare them side by side and talked about the reasons why I think that the best turntables that money can buy for under $600 so if you want to check out that video you 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 also drop that link down below so that you can check out all of that good stuff as well now before we go today song of the day is back in black by ACDC and if you have a suggestion for a song of the day as well posted the comments down below and you might see it in a future video all right 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 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 the little bell notification down there so you won’t miss out on any of the new videos the most poorly of all friends have a fantastic day stay safe out there and keep spending up on all.
