The tonearm is the arm that holds the cartridge (the housing mechanism for the stylus), lifting it onto the record. If you get into some high-end turntables, you might find hyperelliptical or Microfine stylus types that combine the best of both worlds - for a price. Elliptical styli cut deeper and therefore can pick up a wider frequency, at the cost of more frequent replacements. As a result, you won’t get the most dynamic range in the high frequencies, though the tip itself tends to suffer a bit less wear and tear.
Spherical styli are the most common, and their wider profile tracks less of the smaller grooves. The material actually matters less than the shape of stylus, which falls into two main categories: Spherical or elliptical. Most modern styli are made out of diamond or sapphire, so as you can imagine they can make up a good chunk of the cost. The stylus is essentially a fancy word for the needle, the pointed part that touches your record and actually “reads” the sound. But the main ones you need to worry about are the stylus, the tonearm, the drive and the preamp (or lack thereof). You get what you pay for, and some cheaper turntables can actually harm your records over time.Ĭonsidering that a turntable is basically just a way to get a record to spin smoothly while a needle runs along its surface, there are a surprising array of parts involved. You can even find serviceable players for under $100, but beware. While true audiophiles might drop $800 or more for a high-end unit, there are plenty of full-featured and even impressive turntables available in the range of $200 to $500. The good news is that thanks to DJ culture, turntable technology had improved considerably over the past few decades, and it’s even made record players more affordable overall. Having said that, you’re going to want that turntable to sound as impressive as possible given your budget - unless you really are just buying it for cool points. Every physical record bought puts more money back into the pocket of the artist than pressing play on any app, and that helps keep the music alive in a very real way. Let the debates rage on as to whether the sound quality of vinyl can truly trump that of digital files. That a song means more to you to than just background noise while you’re washing the dishes. Buying a turntable signifies that you care about your music. So you’ve decided to invest in a record player? If you’ve made up your mind, congratulations: The very fact that you have one in your home will make you just a little bit cooler.
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