Music

These turntables won't completely decimate your life savings

by Mark Teo

When it comes to turntables, as plenty of audiophiles can attest, quality doesn’t come cheap. But that doesn’t mean that, if you’re a cash-strapped music fan, you have to resign yourself to a junky Crosley record player from Urban Outfitters. Sure, those compact record players look cute, but they’re essentially Fisher Price toys: They’re kind of adorable, but functionally, they’re borderline useless. And worse still, they—and plenty of other entry-level offerings—don’t just sound terrible; they can damage your records.

So no, resist that temptation: Don’t drop the easy $100 on record players with heavy needles, unadjustable tone arms, and impossible-to-replace parts. Instead, save those pennies for one of two options: Spring for a decent (and maybe indestructible) vintage turntable, or, if you’d prefer not to hunt, buy one of these reasonably priced new turntables. Your records will thank you, and so, too, will your ears.