Record Player Cost: How Much Is a Good Turntable?

Price vs quality

The basic rule is higher price = higher quality.

Lower-cost turntables and record players get the job done, but they may not sound great or have a high level of functionality and features.

To an extent, sound quality is subjective based on the listener’s level of perception to sound. You might not hear the difference between a $150 and $500 turntable if you’re not an audiophile.

More expensive turntables have more attention to detail in their design and construction. For the smoothest, most accurate playback possible, every component must be made to perfection. This isn’t cheap!

With lower-cost turntables, you tend to see issues with inconsistent motors, flimsy plastic, narrow frequency response, and cheap electronics. The overall result is lower sound quality and poor durability.

Although, sometimes, a trashy turntable gives a nostalgic, lo-fi quality, which can be fun – but not great for audio purists and advanced listeners.

Generally, the more you spend, the more you get. Always go for a reputable brand if you can afford it, e.g, Technics, Pioneer, or Audio Technica.

What makes turntables expensive?

Turntables are complex machines with many parts. There are many reasons why they can be sold at high costs.

One factor is the design and engineering process. A large team of skilled people is required to design a quality turntable. There is a huge expense involved for a company to organize the entire process: from design to manufacture and distribution.

The materials themselves can also be expensive. Cheaper equipment is often made from less suitable materials like plastic. This leads to lower sound quality and durability. Quality turntables use more expensive materials and often more complex, detailed components.

Key budget considerations

Before you spend all your money on a new turntable, you should consider other components in the whole setup.

You may need a fair amount of additional equipment like amps and speakers, so make sure you budget for these extra expenses if you don’t already have the gear.

Again, the more money you spend on these components, the better your rig will sound.

An expensive turntable running through a cheap amp and speakers will sound cheap. So it’s a good idea to eventually match the quality of the periphery gear with the quality of your turntable. You can always save for better gear later on. One option, you could buy a great turntable now and upgrade the other components in the future.

It varies depending on the setup you go for, but you could find yourself needing to buy any of the following items. (Which can be expensive too!)

• Replacement stylus and cartridge (if secondhand).
• Amplifiers and preamps.
• Isolation equipment.
• Calibration accessories.
• More albums!

For more info on this topic, check out this guide → How to set up a turntable.

Turntable prices: My advice for different types of users

This section explains some suitable turntable price ranges based on the user’s needs and level of interest.

This budget is only for the turntable itself, so you’d be looking at matching the cost for the rest of your setup. E.g if you bought a $300 turntable, I’d recommend spending $300+ on your amp and speakers.

Turntables for beginners

Budget: $100-$300 (£85-250)

This range is ideal for your first turntable or record player. These are good quality but at an affordable price. They won’t have the extended features of the higher-priced models but are good enough for casual home listening.

Record player vs turntable – key differences and decision

Whilst the terms are often used interchangeably, turntables and record players are not exactly the same.

In short, a record player includes the speakers and amplifier used – it refers to the whole system.

“Turntable” only really refers to the system which spins the record and reads the encoded information. It includes the platter, tonearm, stylus, cartridge, and anything mounted on the body of the unit.

For more info on this topic, check out this guide → What is a turntable vs record player?

These are my picks for beginner turntables

Turntables for more serious collectors

Budget: $300-$800 (£250-£650)

In this price range, you’d expect to see more professional features. Turntables in this bracket will have been designed and manufactured in better detail than lower-cost models.

I recommend this range for people with a more serious interest in vinyl. Your love of records isn’t new or just a passing phase – you know you love records and love the experience.

Turntables in this range need to have a few extra features. The overall build and sound quality will be a step above other models.

Key components to look out for

You can expect to find a few extra components on turntables at this price:

• Engineered Acoustics: Turntables in this range will have been designed with acoustic in mind. The body of the unit may be made from special materials that help the acoustics of the device. You wouldn’t expect them to be made from cheap plastics. They will use materials that improve the overall sound quality.
• Adjustability: Lots of calibration controls, extendable feet. Turntables in this range will allow the user to calibrate the device in finer detail than cheaper models. You can expect to see tonearm height controls, Tracking Force adjustments, Anti-Skate, and even variable motors in the higher ranges.
• Universal cartridge attachment: the tonearm should have a universal connector and not be limited to the brand’s in-house stylus/carts.
• Useful Features: You’ll often find useful (but not essential) features on turntables in this range. They may have start/stop buttons, pitch controls, and built-in strobes, and guide lights.

Upgradeability

Mid-range turntables should have the option for some elements of upgradability.

You may not find this on cheaper record players, but turntables in this range need to offer room for expansion and improvement.

This is usually in the form of the stylus and the later stages of the signal chain. Upgradable turntables will have the option to replace the cartridge, which can make a large improvement to the sound.

These turntables will have room for upgrading their sound to become even more accurate and clean.

If you’re in the record player market, rather than turntables, you can expect to find much higher quality electric components than basic models. Under $200, record players tend to use low-cost electronic circuits, which create mediocre amplification. More expensive record players have better components and sometimes the option to bypass the internal circuitry to work with external equipment.

These are my picks for mid-range turntables:

Turntables for audiophiles

Budget: $1000+ / £825+

Audiophiles turntables can cost a significant amount of cash, but if you’re obsessed with sound quality, then it will be worth every penny.

Audiophile-grade turntables start around $1000, and there really isn’t an upper price limit on price. Much like sportscars, you can find some ridiculously expensive turntables costing over $20k or even $50k! The sky is the limit here.

For example, the SME MODEL 30/12 costs $44,000 (£36,325)… you could literally buy ten Technics 1200s for that price!

Don’t worry, though, you won’t need to take out a second mortgage to afford an audiophile-grade turntable. Any turntables from around $800-$1000 and above will be more than enough for even the fussiest vinyl geeks.

Key components in audiophile-grade turntables

Turntables in this range have seriously solid foundations. The components used will prevent the turntable from being the weakest link in the audio chain.

The main areas to look for quality in are the motor system, the tonearm, and the overall acoustic engineering of the turntable.

Audiophile turntables don’t necessarily need all the bells and whistles. They just need to sound supreme. They will have a high level of calibration but won’t always have extra controls like pitch or even a start/stop button.

There will be large design differences between Hi-Fi and DJ-style turntables. High-Quality DJ decks do often have extra features, like pitch controls and sometimes even reverse playback. They will also be built incredibly sturdy to handle the intense environment of a nightclub.

These are my picks for audiophile turntables:

Resources

• Audio-Technica AT-LP60X
• Sony PS-LX310BT
• Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB
• Rega Planar 2
• Pioneer DJ PLX-1000
• Pro-Ject X1
• Technics SL-1200MK7
• Pro-Ject X2