Gadgetory

if I notice that vinyls in the middle of a big comeback right now people are buying more and more records every year and it's not hard to imagine why maybe some of us are tired of Spotify playlists and iTunes downloads now I live in Brooklyn and I've got a beard and I wear these glasses so of course I've got a record player but if you want to get into meinl which one should you get well there's one obvious choice that's one that won't break the bank the best turntable for most people is audio-technica's a TLP 120 USB it's a mouthful it's $300 which isn't cheap it's more than those $99 turntables to find a Target and Best Buy and other stores but those are awful you should stay away so if you're going to start a vinyl collection you should start off with a player that does that music justice and the best thing about the LP 120 is and it comes with everything you need out of the box just no speakers there's a phono preamp built-in so all you do is plug it into some powered speakers and start playing the cartridge which is that small thing that actually leads the records is pretty decent and you can always upgrade later if you want to there are two main downsides in this player one is that the tonearm is manual so you've got actually go over and lift it off once you're done listening it all sort of spin and spin and spin the second those cables on the back that plug in the speakers are actually hardwired and they're kind of short so you're going to be pretty close to the speaker's wherever you put this turntable the LP 120s other tricks to record the vinyl collection to a PC over USB all the software's included and it's pretty simple now other turntables like Sony's new $600 model also do the same thing so you can make high-risk copies of all your records now why would you do that some people just swear that vinyl sounds better and they've got a point final tends to offer more dynamic range so the music isn't so loud loud wild like CDs and digital files now if you want to spend between $400 and $600 there are a lot of other good options that do sound better but now it's so much better that's worth spending that much money upfront before you're sure you're going to stick with vinyl in the first place the full Jack carbon is a good choice and like the sony is a little more stylish than the audio technica even the $200 projects elemental they've got here is no Kate pic it's also plug and play because their built-in preamp but this built that wraps around it that's how it spins tends to come loose every so often setting up your turntable takes patience but there are guides online that show you how to do it and audio-technica zone instructions do a good job of guiding you through records also need upkeep you should clean them every so often to keep them in good shape I always put them away as soon as you're done listening so look stay away from those cheap $99 record players at Target they're awful instead if you're getting serious about vinyl you should start off with the ATL p120 but finding the right speakers on your favorite record store in town well that's up to you