Record Players!

I know this may already be a little far off from what I said we would get to, but that’ll be here soon, just asking you to be patient with me!

Today’s topic of discussion is record players, or turntables, or just whatever people want to call them. They play vinyls, or in other words, records, by spinning the record while a needle on an arm goes over the record and retrieves signals from the grooves of the record to play back media.

But enough of the science lesson. I wanted to talk about purchasing record players if anyone was interested in getting one, so here’s some tips.

• Built-in audio is a no-no: built in speakers are the biggest risk you can take with a turntable and I can almost certainly tell you they are never worth said risk. There’s a lot of 6-in-1 players that offer a lot of functionality but don’t seem to do anything really well. You can get really far with a cheap speaker and upgrade as needed if you get a player that doesn’t have the audio built in.
• Records require a lot of care, and sadly, there are some players that can even damage them. Put a lot of research into the specific model you’re looking for. There was a really neat looking Crosley I found at Walmart last winter, but I read online later from multiple sources that these players can easily damage records! That stuff is expensive, so make sure you have something that takes good care of them.
• You may have to shop a little bit on the pricey side for a good record player. My current player of choice is the AT-LP60XBT and I’m very impressed by it. I hooked it up to my Presonus Eris speakers and it sounds perfect to my standard.

I know this isn’t necessarily an “on budget” kind of thing, but if you’re interested in supporting artists you love and want something new, (or old, depending on who you ask) a record player may be just the thing for you!

See ya!