So you want to get into vinyl, eh? Perhaps you’re a lapsed lover of the big, groovy discs, with a collection in the loft just begging to have the cobwebs blown away, or maybe you're a newcomer looking to inject a little analogue into your digital musical diet. The thing is, you need to purchase a record player and aren't sure how – or even if – it will work with your existing music or TV system.
If you own a traditional hi-fi system, you can head straight to our how to set up a turntable advice guide. But if your setup is simpler than that or geared more towards TV sound, home cinema or multi-room, this is the page for you.
The good news is that you can add a turntable to virtually any audio setup, even if it comprises simply a solo Bluetooth speaker or a soundbar, or is centered around an AV receiver. Actually, in practically all of these cases, adding a turntable is remarkably easy – as long as you know the type of turntable you’re looking for.
To help you on your journey, and in celebration of What Hi-Fi?'s Vinyl Week, we have selected four non-traditional audio systems and outlined the sort of turntables you should be looking at and how to connect them.
How to add a turntable to a soundbar
If the only audio system you’ve got is a soundbar connected to your TV, you might be tempted to assume that adding a turntable simply isn’t on the cards – but you’d be wrong. In fact, with most soundbars it’s a simple process; just choose the correct turntable, depending on which soundbar you have.
While turntables typically have standard RCA sockets or fixed RCA cables, the connections on soundbars are increasingly varied as home cinema moves away from older analogue sockets like AUX and towards newer digital ones like HDMI.
- If your soundbar has a stereo analogue input, either in the form of an AUX or pair of standard RCA terminals (the Award-winning Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max, for example, has the latter), you can connect any turntable with a phono stage built-in using the appropriate cable – soundbars and turntables often come with a pair of RCA cables at the minimum.
- If your soundbar's only audio connection is an optical input, you will need to add an external DAC between the soundbar and turntable. This will convert the soundbar's digital audio signal to an analogue one your turntable can understand. This DAC will need an optical input and RCA output. Again, this is in the case of turntables with integrated phono stages.
If you have your heart set on a turntable that doesn't have a built-in phono stage, however, you'll need to buy an external phono stage (otherwise known as a phono preamp) and have that sandwiched between the turntable and soundbar in the connection chain. Of course, that does require an extra cable and isn't as neat...
We will guess that at least part of your reason for choosing a soundbar system in the first place was the neatness it offered, so you’re probably keen to avoid adding too many extra devices and their accompanying cables. We’re therefore sticking with turntables that have integrated phono stages for our recommendations.
It's also worth mentioning that while many soundbar sound great by soundbar standards, most don’t have the hi-fi credentials to make the most of serious, high-end turntables, so it’s not worth spending a fortune on your new spinner.
With all of that in mind, we think the five-star Rega Planar 1 Plus, which sits proudly in our best turntables buying guide, would be a great turntable to add to almost any soundbar. It costs £399 / $725 / AU$899, is simple to set up and sounds great for the money.
If your budget is more modest than that, consider the Sony PS-LX310BT, which costs £219 / $248 / AU$480. As well as having an integrated phono stage, it also has Bluetooth, allowing you to wirelessly stream your spinning records to your soundbar (if your soundbar has Bluetooth functionality, of course). There’s an inevitable drop-off in sound quality going the Bluetooth route compared to the cable one, but for some the trade-off will be worth making in the name of cable-free neatness.
How to add a turntable to an AV receiver
The great thing about AV receivers (or AV amplifiers) is that they have lots of inputs for all manner of audio and video devices, and connecting a turntable is not a problem. You can connect a phono stage-toting turntable directly to a choice of usually at least three pairs of RCA inputs using an RCA cable – the Denon AVC-X6800H pictured above has six!
In fact, some AV receivers even have a built-in phono stage, allowing you to connect any turntable (one with or without an integrated phono stage itself) directly. The Denon AVR-X2800H and AVC-X6800H and Marantz Cinema 30 in our best AV receiver buying guide are three excellent examples of those sporting phono connections – simply connect your new deck to their ‘phono’ input and you’re sorted.
That said, the phono stage of an AV receiver will often fall short of the performance of an external phono stage or one built into a turntable, so it’s worth taking this into account if you’re serious about sound quality. If you do decide to add a turntable with a built-in phono stage or use an external phono stage, you need to avoid the phono input on your receiver and use one of the standard pairs of RCA terminals.
How to add a turntable to a wireless speaker
If your existing music system consists of a simple wireless or Bluetooth speaker, there’s still every chance that you can connect a turntable.
To do it ‘properly’, you want a wireless speaker with an analogue stereo input, whether that’s a pair of RCA terminals or an AUX socket that will require an inexpensive adapter. The models in our best wireless speakers buying guide that have just that include the Audio Pro Addon C10 MkII (RCA and AUX), Audio Pro C20 (RCA) and Naim Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation (AUX). Again, you'll need a turntable with a phono stage integrated, and in such case we would suggest you check out the plug-and-play Sony PS-LX310BT.
If your wireless speaker lacks physical inputs entirely, you will have to use a Bluetooth turntable and stream your records to the speaker wirelessly, so long as the wireless speaker has Bluetooth. Again, the PS-LX310BT has Bluetooth. The Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 is a higher-end Bluetooth spinner, but only the most aspirational all-in-one wireless speakers justify that kind of spend on a partnering turntable.
Most wireless speakers have physical connections or Bluetooth, if not both, although the Apple HomePod and HomePod Mini are exceptions, only supporting AirPlay. If you have a HomePod you desperately want to play records through, your options are limited – but not zero. Victrola produces wi-fi turntables that can route spinning records through the (pay-for) Roon music management platform, which can output them to the HomePod via AirPlay. Clever, but relatively complex and costly.
In short, almost every wireless speaker can be connected to some kind of turntable.
How to add a turntable to a Sonos speaker or soundbar
A multi-room streaming system and turntable might not immediately sound like perfect bedfellows, but it’s surprisingly easy to add vinyl to Sonos – and if you do so you can hear your records in every room of the house.
A handful of Sonos devices can be used with a record player using a wired connection. These are the Sonos Era 300, Era 100 and Sonos Five wireless speakers, and the Sonos Amp streaming amplifier and Sonos Port music streamer. You can read our how to connect a turntable to your Sonos system for a more in-depth guide on what and how to set that up, but essentially the Five, Port and Amp have connections for a phono-inclusive turntable, while the Era 100 and 300 have USB-C ports that require an adaptor to make them turntable friendly.
You can also wirelessly play records from a Bluetooth turntable to Sonos kit that supports Bluetooth. This includes the Era 300, Era 100, Roam and Move speakers, the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar and Sonos Ace Bluetooth headphones.
What if you’ve got a multi-room setup that isn’t Sonos? Most alternatives offer a similar route to turntable integration. The majority of Bluesound network players have standard stereo RCA inputs, as do Audio Pro's wireless speakers, as we've touched upon above, and both systems support multi-room playback of your vinyl.
MORE:
10 tips for buying second-hand vinyl
Belt drive and direct drive turntables: everything you need to know
The trouble with all-in-one turntables (and what to buy instead)
