In addition, most record players allow you to play your CDs and MP3s as well. Just hook the unit up and enjoy your vinyl records. Many people prefer record players simply because they are ready to play music directly out of the box. Which one is better, depends on which advantages are more important to you and which disadvantages you can live with easier.
Which should I buy: a turntable or a record player?īoth the turntable and the record player have their advantages and disadvantages. You probably already know, or at least have a general idea, which one is better for you. They simply have a different target audience. Record players are not better or worse than turntables. That is especially true of so many of the newer vinyl fans who care more about aesthetics than sound quality. You can simply plug it in and start enjoying your music. You don’t need to get any additional components. Finally, as mentioned above, when all of these additional components are included in the housing of the unit, that usually means that they are lower quality components than their external counterparts. Obviously, they are also more expensive than turntables. For that reason, record players are usually kept inside the home on a dedicated stand or in a home entertainment center. They are generally larger and heavier than turntables and thus not nearly as portable. The main drawback of a record player is size. It is much more elaborate than a turntable and usually includes a ton of additional features, like the ability to play various other file formats (CD, MP3, radio, etc.). Those built into record players are not usually anywhere near as good as an external one.Ī record player is an overall audio system setup that includes a pair of speakers and an amplifier along with the turntable. Also, using external components also means higher quality. The options for customization are endless, depending on the components you pair it with. The tone arm also holds the cartridge and stylus in place.įor more on the components of a turntable, read this post.Ī turntable will require external components for you to actually use it to listen to vinyl records, but most enthusiasts prefer them. In simple terms, the stylus runs in the grooves of the record and transmits the vibrations through wires in the tone arm to the cartridge, which takes that information and transmits it to the pre-amp which turns it into sound via an external amp and speaker. Usually it will also have a pre-amplifier, which allows you to connect the turntable to an external component without a dedicated phono input. It also comes with a stylus, a cartridge and a tone-arm. Obviously there is the turntable itself, which includes the motor and the platter. You will have to buy these separately and connect them to the turntable using RCA cables (usually).Ī turntable like this only has a handful of components. In this sense of the word, a turntable is similar to a record player, except it does not come with built-in speakers or an amplifier. It is the part of the player that holds the record and spins it.īut turntable also refers to a standalone unit you can purchase. In its basest form, a turntable is simply a major component of a record player. Then we will help you figure out which one is right for you. Let’s begin by defining each of these two terms individually and taking a closer look at each. Since you’ve landed on this page, you are obviously looking for a good explanation of the differences between record players and turntables. Luckily, you can almost always spot these sites within a sentence or two. Sites that just want the commission hire writers at rock-bottom prices and they get what they pay for: someone who has no clue about the topic (or the English language).
In fact, that’s the best way to tell the difference between a website that actually wants to help you and one that just wants to send you to Amazon to collect a commission on anything you buy (yes, that’s how websites, mine included, make money). I’ve seen so many articles that use the two terms interchangeably. And there’s good reason for the confusion. Do you know the difference between a turntable and a record player?