There are various reasons why more people buy and listen to vinyl records than CDs these days. Some of it has to do with the strengths and weaknesses of vinyl as a format: the large cover art on albums and 12-inch singles, the ritualistic aspects of playback, and the culture around collecting vinyl, including music that's not available digitally. But a lot of vinyl collecting also centers around how great it can sound with a good playback system, and a lot of cheap record players — especially all-in-one
record players that integrate speakers, as opposed to dedicated turntables — fail badly on this front.
A good turntable is much more like a precision musical instrument than it is a conventional piece of consumer electronics, and as such, the best entry-level turntables tend to start around $200. There are other, cheaper options out there, often with retro styling, but they often leave a lot to be desired, with poor build quality and lower-quality components. Some of those iffy components, like a lower-quality tonearm or cartridge with an unusually high tracking weight, can easily damage records, especially with repeated use. In addition, integrated speakers in all-in-one record players also add unwanted vibrations that can disrupt playback, and some lesser phonographs have difficulty tracking records cut for higher-quality modern turntables. With all of that in mind, let's take a look at which record players should be avoided, some of which we've grouped together because they're nearly identical to each other.
Read more: 10 Major Bluetooth Speaker Brands Ranked Worst To Best
Any Variation Of The Vinyl Killer Design
Let's face it: As awesome as it can be to listen to vinyl records, they've always been among the least portable music formats available. It makes sense that there's demand for relatively portable record players, but some of the more portable designs leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps most infamously, there is what's become known colloquially as the "vinyl killer" design: The SoundWagon, RecordRunner, or, most recently, the RokBlok featured on "Shark Tank," all of which run along the top of a record like a small toy race car.
The 2018 RokBlok review from popular YouTube channel TechMoan is most instructive as to where the "vinyl killer" name comes from. As explained in the video and as is visible to the naked eye in the above image, "vinyl killers" like the RokBlok can damage records and cause visible groove wear. That's because this style of playback applies excessive tracking force to records, which chews up the grooves. It's generally recommended that you don't go far beyond 3 to 3.5 grams, but TechMoan's tracking force gauge showed the RokBlok going beyond its 5-gram maximum. And even if you didn't know this? A picture is worth a thousand words.
If you absolutely need a portable record player, many agree that the best option is Audio-Technica's Sound Burger. Not only does it come from a respected manufacturer of audio equipment, but it also has a safe tracking force of 3.5 grams.
Any Suitcase Record Player
This is another category where the key players are so similar that we're better off covering them together: All-in-one record players with a semi-portable suitcase design. The two key models, Crosley's $79.00 Cruiser and Victrola's $69.99 Journey, are nearly identical, to the point that it would be unsurprising if they were made in the same factory to comparable specs. The biggest problem is one that's common among the worst available record players: The tracking force, even on models like these that resemble more traditional turntables, is still in the 6-gram range, and that's way too much.
While even good turntables will eventually damage records, it will take hundreds of plays before noticing any deterioration. Owners of Crosley Cruisers, on the other hand, allegedly notice damage to their records even after a few plays. There's also another problem with the Cruiser that's endemic to any kind of all-in-one record player, but one that standalone turntables avoid: Vibration from the built-in speakers interfering with record playback.
If you absolutely need a suitcase-style record player, enthusiasts such as YouTuber VWestlife suggest that you look into discontinued Crosley models like the Keepsake. With a 3.5 gram tracking force and better components overall, it's worth searching for a used example.
Fisher-Price Phonograph
If you're a Generation Xer or older millennial, then there's probably a specific vintage record player that may make you very nostalgic: The Fisher-Price Phonograph, a rough-and-tumble plastic record player with integrated speakers and no other outputs. It launched in 1979 and was intended for children of the '80s to listen to kiddie records on a relatively child-proofed turntable. Note that this isn't to be confused with the currently available Fisher-Price Classics Record Player, a toy for pretend play.
I can say from firsthand experience that these sound terrible, with a tinny mono speaker. Worse, some records just won't play on phonographs like these. Most infamously, the original American pressing of "Led Zeppelin II" packed so much bass that a "kiddie" turntable used by the label head's niece couldn't play it, leading to a recall and a bass-shy remastering. It's not just old records, either; modern reissues of older albums, like 2014's Beatles mono reissues, avoid the concessions many records made in the 1960s to get them to play on such turntables. This is because the audience for the modern, deluxe reissues is expected to be discerning listeners with higher-quality turntables.
Chief among the other complaints is the tracking force. I can't find anyone testing these out with a stylus gauge, but the cartridge itself is rated for 6 to 8 grams. That's firmly in groove-chewing territory, so if your nostalgia for the Fisher-Price is strong enough to make you buy one, only use it for your most disposable records.
Victrola Automatic
If you're sensing a theme, then you're right: Generally speaking, the cheapest, most inexpensive record players have a lot of problems. Companies like Crosley and Victrola have attempted to corner that portion of the market, but have steadily added to their lineups to appeal to users looking for an upgrade. Their expanded lineups include a much wider range of turntables at many different price points. Of course, as the price goes up, there's a lot of competition that makes patronizing such brands a harder sell, and the $279.99 Victrola Automatic is one of those hard-to-recommend turntables.
Sure, it's a big improvement over the other picks on this list. For example, though you can't adjust it, the included Audio-Technica ATN3600L cartridge has an ideal tracking force of 2.5 to 3.5 grams, which is fine. And it's an automatic turntable, meaning that you don't have to worry about moving, lifting, or lowering the tonearm. However, once you get into the $200 to $300 range, there's a lot more high-quality competition from companies like U-Turn, Audio-Technica, and even eco-conscious audio brand House of Marley.
The Wirecutter found the Victrola Automatic disappointing for the price, lamenting its all-plastic construction with sonic performance that they termed "cheap and dull." In that price range, they recommend that entry-level vinyl enthusiasts seek out the $249.00 U-Turn Orbit Basic instead, which the manufacturer sells directly to consumers through its official website.
GPO Stylo And Similar Turntables
Populating a list like this is tricky because the actual worst products don't necessarily have many professional or even enthusiast reviews. In addition, there often isn't a lot of information about the worst, cheapest items in the first place. However, if you look at some of the bargain basement turntables available online, they tend to have a lot of superficial similarities, the likes of which you come to expect in the kind of cheap consumer electronics that have flooded online marketplaces in recent years.
With turntables, many of the cheapest options closely resemble not just the Crosley Cruiser or Victrola Journey suitcase record players, but cheap decks like the GPO Stylo. According to a Redditor on /r/vinyl who tracks which companies make cheap turntables for various brands, the Stylo and many Crosley knockoffs are made by Skywin.
A 2017 article from Audio Appraisal examined the Stylo and the possibility of whether it could damage records upon playback. Tracking force was in the 7-gram range, which is far too high. Sure enough, it badly damaged a record — both visibly and audibly — in testing, with the turntable eventually failing in turn. The same site also noted that a similar, cheaper turntable from Shenzhen Jiayin King Technology did even worse damage. The precision engineering that turntables require doesn't come at sub-$200 prices, much less sub-$100.
Want the latest in tech and auto trends? Subscribe to our free newsletter for the latest headlines, expert guides, and how-to tips, one email at a time.
Read the original article on SlashGear.
