Help me choose

Tell us what you already own. We will do the rest.

Choosing a turntable goes wrong in one specific way: people buy the deck first and discover afterwards that it makes no sound on its own. Nearly every mistake we see comes from that one question being skipped.

So there is no comparison table on this page. There are three ways through it — take whichever matches how sure you already are.

If you already know what you need

I have nothing to play it throughThe two that arrive complete.Speakers in the box, one plug, nothing else to buy or understand. If there is no hi-fi in the room it will live in, start here. See both I already own speakers or an amplifierThe three with an output.They feed what you already have, by cable or over Bluetooth. Your money goes into the deck instead of duplicating your speakers. See all three It is a giftBuying for someone else.You need to know two things about them, and neither is technical. We wrote a short page about exactly that. Read it

Three questions

Or let us ask, and we'll point at one.

The same three things a good shop assistant would ask before pointing at a shelf. It takes about twenty seconds and there is no email box at the end of it.

01 / 03

What will you plug it into?

This is the one that catches people out. A turntable on its own makes almost no sound.

Or decide it yourself

Two questions decide almost everything.

If you would rather not answer to a machine, here is the whole of what we would have asked you on the phone — and what each answer rules in or out.

What is it going to be plugged into?

A turntable produces a signal far too weak to drive a speaker on its own. Either the amplification is inside the deck, or it is somewhere else in your room. There is no third option, and this single question decides which half of our range you are looking at.

Nothing, or you are not sure: You need one supplied with its own speakers — the S20 or the A30. Anything else will arrive and make no sound, which is the most disappointing first evening there is.
An amp, powered speakers or a soundbar: You want an output instead — the S20, the T50 or the C40. Paying for speakers you will never switch on is money that could have gone into the arm.

Do you care about the records you already own?

Playing a record always wears it. What differs is how fast, and that comes down to tracking force — how hard the stylus presses into the groove. A moving magnet cartridge sits around 1.5 to 2.5 grams; a ceramic one presses at roughly 5 to 7.

Two of our five carry a cartridge the maker names in writing, an Audio-Technica AT-3600L. On the other three the type is not stated, and we say so on the page rather than implying otherwise.

They are new, or replaceable: Any of the five will do the job. Buy on what it plugs into and what you want to spend, not on the cartridge.
They are inherited, or irreplaceable: Take one of the two with a named cartridge — the T50 or the C40. It is the one part of this decision you cannot undo later.

Take this one if…

The range runs from £169 to £319. If none of these is right, the honest answer may be that you do not need a new turntable at all — if your old one only wants a £26 stylus, tell us and we will say so.

Still not sure

Tell us what you own. We will tell you what works with it.

The single most useful thing you can say is what is already in the room — an amplifier, a soundbar, a pair of powered speakers, a Sonos, or nothing at all. Give us the make and model if you know it. If the answer is that you do not need to buy anything from us, we will say that too.

+44 7402 275286 Write to us instead

Mon-Fri 9-6 · Sat 10-4 · a person, not a form