Vinyl records have been around for a very long time, but in the last 10 years, the hobby has undergone some pretty major changes. Although the medium looked to be dying out for many years, it has recently made a massive comeback. Tons of people are just now getting into the hobby of record collecting and might be a little bit confused as to where to start. Luckily, the increase in popularity has translated into an abundance of options for those new to the hobby. Collecting records is far from the cheapest hobby to get into but it doesn’t have to be crazy expensive either. Below, I will discuss everything you need to know about the cost of a vinyl record set-up.
A. Brief Overview of Vinyl Collecting and Record Store Culture
Vinyl collecting has been around for a good long while. However, things have changed a lot since the golden days of Tower Records. Now, many people will be buying their records and related equipment from online retailers, big box stores, and even bookstores. Although independent record stores still exist, and are growing in number, not everyone will have the opportunity to go into a physical store and talk to an expert about what kind of equipment they should buy and how to get started. That’s where this guide comes in.
With all that being said, IF you do have an independent record store nearby that sells turntables and other equipment, I would highly recommend going to them and having a chat. In all of the many, many record stores I have been into, I have only ever encountered passionate owners who are eager to help you get into the hobby and explain the basics.
B. Importance of Understanding the Costs Involved in a Vinyl Set-Up
Understanding the cost associated with any hobby is extremely important. Not only do you want to know the entry cost, but getting an idea of how much you can expect to spend over the next weeks, months and years is also important information to have.
In the case of vinyl record collecting, the entry cost will be the total dollar amount required to simply listen to a record at all. The long-term costs will include things like record costs, and what to expect when it comes time to upgrade your vinyl set-up.
I. Essential Components of a Vinyl Set-Up
Part of the relatively high entry cost of a vinyl record set-up is that several components are required to play a record. Below, I break down the essential pieces and what to expect in terms of cost.
A. Turntable
The turntable is the most iconic piece of equipment in a vinyl set-up. Often referred to as a “record player,” this is the device that will spin your record around so that you can actually hear the music that’s hidden in those grooves. Turntables have a very wide range in quality and cost.
A brand new turntable can cost as low as $30-50 for the absolute cheapest on the market. Of course, this is a “get what you pay for,” situation. Going with the cheapest equipment possible will result in a poor-sounding set-up that could damage your records. On the other hand, a solid, entry-level turntable is going to cost you at least $150-200. If you are getting it brand new.
Let’s get into what to expect from cheap turntables compared to ones that are more high-end.
1. Entry-level vs. High-end Turntables
Entry-level turntables are where most people, myself included, are probably going to start. These are the turntables that are marketed as “record players” that you see on display at Urban Outfitters, Target, Barnes and Noble and other large chain stores. These can often be found for less than $50 and will have everything you need to plug in and play within a few minutes of unboxing.
As you might have guessed, the quality of these is extremely low in many cases. Quality control can be an issue with things like broken parts being commonplace. Even in perfect working condition, there are severe limitations to these turntables. The poor construction means that the sound quality of any record you play is going to be extremely poor. More than this, these record players can damage your precious records. This is due to the needle applying too much force to the records as they spin. These turntables are not modifiable either, so you are stuck with the equipment that they come with. This means there is no way to fix or upgrade their shortcomings.
On the other hand, high-end record players will generally have much better construction and quality control, but at a much higher price. The benefits of a high-end turntable are fairly obvious. Better sound quality, better longevity, and replaceable and upgradable parts which allow you to customize and upgrade your turntable to your preferences over time.
The obvious con to more high-end turntables is the cost. Not only are the turntables themselves more expensive but they won’t be “plug and play.” High-end turntables will require several more components to actually play and listen to a record.
2. Key Features to Consider
When you are assembling your first vinyl set-up, the cost will likely be the most important factor in determining which turntable you go with.
In my experience, you don’t want to go too cheap on a turntable, but if you’re on a limited budget, you don’t have to go crazy. Going with a high-quality used turntable is almost always better than going with a cheap turntable in new condition. Be sure that the turntable is in working condition and that it has an adjustable tonearm so you don’t damage any records. Replacing the stylus/cartridge for used turntables is also a good idea and can be done fairly cheaply.
3. Popular Brands and Models
If you are still unsure where to go next, here are some solid options for entry-level turntables:
Turntable 1 – $179
Turntable 2 – $199
Turntable 3 – $249
If you are on a budget, I would highly recommend going with a used turntable rather than a cheaper new turntable. This will allow you to get an extremely high-quality turntable for a fraction of the price of what you would be paying for a brand-new one of similar quality.
B. Amplifiers and Preamps
Amplifiers are going to be the next piece of equipment you will need to play vinyl records. There are two different kinds of amplifiers you will need for your set-up: A Preamplifier and an Amplifier. Both of these serve a similar function, but you will need both for the record to play properly.
1. Role of Amplifiers in a Vinyl System
First, what does an amplifier actually do? Basically, the needle on your turntable will pick up an electrical signal from the record, which needs to be boosted, or amplified, for it to play through the speakers. The preamplifier will boost the signal from the needle until it is strong enough for the amplifier to pick up the signal. Then, the amplifier will pick up this stronger signal and boost it further so that your speakers can pick up the signal and play those sweet tunes.
Basically, the sound travels like this:
Record > needle > pre amp > amp > speakers > ear > heart
Again, there are a wide range of options and price points out there. Many of these are eye-popping if you are new to the hobby. My suggestion when shopping for your vinyl record set-up is to combine some of these parts when possible. More on this later.
2. Budget-friendly Options vs. Premium Amplifiers
Here’s the thing with amplifiers, unless the rest of your equipment is equally as high-end, there’s not much point in spending a ton of money on an amplifier or preamplifier. This is a bit of a shame as they are many hobbyists’ favorite part of their set-up due to the aesthetics. Basically, they look really cool. However, if you are building your first set-up from scratch I would avoid paying lots of money on expensive vintage amplifiers or preamplifiers. At the end of the day, if your turntable isn’t good enough or if your speakers aren’t good enough, you are not going to hear the difference anways.
With that being said, I wouldn’t recommend buying the cheapest ones you can find either as you can certainly hear a bad amplifier. Amplifiers will start as low as $30 on the low end and can easily get into the $10,000 range. High-end amplifiers will have more detailed sound and will often have components that allow you to adjust the sound to your exact preferences.
3. Selecting a Preamplifier
I would recommend getting a turntable with a preamplifier already built in, rather than buying one separately. If this isn’t an option and you need an independent preamplifier then I would recommend something like the ones below for a solid budget-friendly preamplifier.
LINK – $229
AMP – $79
With the first option, you simply need to connect your turntable to the amplifier and then connect the amplifier to the speakers. Since the amplifier operates as both the preamp and the amplifier in this case, that’s all you will need.
The second option would operate only as the amplifier. This means you would need to connect your turntable to a preamp (Unless your turntable already has one built in) and then connect the preamp to the amplifier above, before finally connecting the amplifier to the speakers.
4. Selecting an Amplifier
Many people will already have amplifiers laying around in the form of an audio-receiver like this.
Although this isn’t the sexiest option it will be a solid placeholder until you are ready to take the next step and invest some real capital into your set-up. This will act as your amplifier, making it perfect if you have a turntable with a built-in preamp as the only thing you will need is a set of speakers.
Some audio receivers will also have a preamp built in, in addition to the amplifier. Should this be the case with your receiver, you will only need to connect your turntable to the receiver, and the receiver to your speakers to start playing.
If you are building your vinyl set-up from scratch, I would recommend purchasing speakers with an amplifier built in. These are fairly common and a great way to cut down on costs, and simplify things early on so you can focus on building your record collection.
If you already have speakers you want to use and are looking to get a budget-friendly amplifier on its own, I would recommend something like this.
AMP – $31.99
This may be an extremely cheap option, but if you are building your set up from pre-existing pieces that you already have, then it is a more than serviceable option. As I mentioned, unless you have invested some real money into your set-up something like a cheap amplifier isn’t going to make a huge difference in terms of sound quality.
D. Speakers
At the end of the day, you can have a turntable and amplifiers that cost $30,000, but it won’t sound like much without a good pair of speakers at the end of it. It can be easy to get caught up in all the different brands and types of amplifiers, preamplifiers, tube amplifiers, direct drive turntables, belt-driven turntables, and so on, but the speakers are going to make the biggest and most immediate impact on sound quality. If you have a specific dollar amount in mind for a vinyl record set-up budget, you should be spending more money on your speakers than anything else.
When it comes to deciding what speakers you should buy for your vinyl record set up, there are about 10 million different things to consider. But when you’re first getting started, just about any pair of speakers will do. These days you don’t have to spend a ton of money to get a pair of speakers that will get the job done. Once your vinyl set-up is established, then you can start looking into upgrading your speakers based on the kind of music you listen to, the size of the room, and the other pieces of your set up.
You can expect to spend anywhere from $50 to $20,000 for a pair of speakers. If you are bothering to invest several hundred dollars into a vinyl-setup I would recommend spending at least $100 on a pair of speakers. Of course, the best speakers are the ones you already have.
1. Bookshelf vs. Floorstanding Speakers
There is a lot of debate about the best kind of speakers out there for vinyl set-ups. The world of sound equipment is incredibly vast but at the end of the day you need to find speakers that work for you, more so than what is “objectively best.” For reasons of cost I would recommend bookshelf speakers over floorstanding speakers early on. While floorstanding speakers are generally higher quality, they are also much larger and more expensive. If your setup is in a small living room or a bedroom, then floor speakers won’t make much of a difference anyways as the room will likely be too small for them to perform at their maximum level.
2. Importance of Speaker Placement
Speaker placement is one of the easiest ways to make your speakers sound better. Basically, you want your speakers to be at least a foot away from any walls or large objects like TV’s that can affect the soundstaging. It’s also extremely important that your speakers are facing towards the spot where you will be listening from. Hypothetically, the speakers should even be angled so that sound converges on a specific point like your couch or favorite easy chair.
3. Speaker Brands and Recommendations
There are TONS of speakers out there and in the spirit of being budget friendly, the best speakers are the ones that you already have, assuming they are of decent quality. Still, any of these speakers below would be solid options.
E. Vinyl Records
It doesn’t really matter how nice your listening station is if you don’t have any records to listen to. Building your record collection is something that will take years to do properly. There might be the temptation to buy tons and tons of records as soon as you have a way to play them, but there’s a few things you will want to be aware of to avoid wasting your money when it comes to record shopping.
1. Building a Collection on a Budget
New records are quite expensive as of late. There’s a ton of reasons for this but basically, the pandemic exacerbated and already inflated vinyl market. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t cheap records to be had. There are more and more used record stores popping up everyday so as long as you are hitting these spots as often as possible you are sure to find some great records at great prices.
2. New vs. Used Vinyl
Vinyl records hold up incredibly well when they are stored properly. Records that are 30, 40, or even 50 years old can still sound just as good as the day they were pressed if they were well taken care of during that time. When shopping for used records, you’ll want to pull the record out of its sleeve and examine it if possible. There are three things you will want to check for on a used record.
- Scuffs
- Scratches
- Warping
Warping will likely be the most obvious flaw that you will see on some used records. If the record can’t lay completely flat, it will not play properly as the needle will not be making proper contact with the record while it spins on your turntable.
Scuffs will often look like splotches on a record and indicate that something was rubbed against the record, often while it was in its sleeve. These are another red flag and will often affect sound quality when the record is played. However, it is worth testing records with scuffs as sometimes the damage is purely cosmetic and the scuff might not be deep enough to impact the sound quality.
Finally, you will want to check all of your records for scratches before purchasing. Sometimes a scratch will be fairly shallow and result in a clicking noise when the record is being played. However deeper scratches will cause the record to skip, thus rendering the record basically unplayable. Keep in mind that just like scuff marks, simply seeing a scratch is not necessarily a death sentence for the record. It’s always worth it to test the record to see if the scratch is affecting the sound or if it is just a cosmetic defect.
What to look for when shopping for used records
When it comes to new records it’s pretty hard to go wrong and most new records will sound just fine as long as they weren’t damaged during shipping. With that being said it is often worth a few minutes of research to see if the vinyl plant that the record was made at is known for having quality control issues. While most vinyl pressing plants are very consistent, there are a few that have developed a reputation for shipping out records that are defective.
II. Additional Considerations
Of course, you can have all the equipment you could ever need, but it’s not going to look or sound too great if everything is sitting on your living room floor. Investing in proper furniture for your vinyl collection and set-up is a worthwhile investment for most collectors. Not only can it complete the aesthetic of your listening room, it can also protect your collection and equipment from damage.
A. Furniture and Storage
There are tons of furniture and storage options out there and more companies are popping up everyday to fill this growing need. When it comes to what furniture is best, it will depend entirely on you. Still, there are a few basic things to keep in mind to keep your collection and equipment in top shape.
For the purposes of sound quality you will ideally want to keep your speakers and turntable on separate surfaces. Heavy bass coming from your speakers can cause vibrations that will affect your turntable and cause sound issues. If you have limited space, consider something like these pads that will absorb your speakers’ vibration:
Isolation Pads – $19.99
Another thing to keep in mind when furniture shopping is the way you will be storing your records. Basically, you will want to store your records up right, and away from direct sunlight to keep them in the best shape possible.
B. Maintenance and Care
Maintenance and care costs are something else to consider, but these costs will be quite low compared to the rest of your set-up and in most cases these costs will be well worth the investment to keep your set-up and collection in the best condition possible.
1. Cleaning Kits and Accessories
Cleaning kits and accessories for your records vary in price in style but you can find a totally functional cleaning kit for your records for around $20. This will usually consist of some kind of brush and a liquid cleaning solution to keep your records free from dust which can cause scratches over time.
Cleaning Kit – $21.99
2. Tips for Extending the Lifespan of Vinyl and Equipment
To expand the lifespan of your records and vinyl equipment you will want to clean everything as regularly as possible. Taking a few seconds with a static brush before playing a record is extremely easy and one of the best things you can do for your records.
Checking that your tonearm is well balanced every few weeks or months is another helpful tip to ensure that your stylus isn’t damaging your records without your knowledge. You can do this accurately using a device like this:
Digital Turntable Stylus Force Scale – $11.29
Which measures the amount of pressure the tone arm is applying.
Finally, replacing your stylus every once in a while is also a good idea to prevent damage, and provides a nice opportunity to make a small upgrade to your setup.
III. Budgeting for a Vinyl Set-Up
OK, so if you have none of the above equipment, how much can you actually expect to spend right out of the gate? At a minimum, if you absolutely have to have a record set up today so that you can play the new record you just bought, you can get away with spending about $50 on an all-in-one record player, like the ones you see at Target and Urban Outfitters. However, virtually no one that is in this hobby would recommend doing this. As mentioned earlier, these record players can sound downright awful and, more importantly, will damage your records over time.
If you want a “proper” vinyl set-up you can expect to spend at least $250. This may sound like a bit more than most people were hoping for but keep in mind that you can create a solid set-up for slightly less than this if you get lucky and can purchase some or all of the components used. As I mentioned earlier, used equipment can be a great way to find high-end speakers, turntables, and more for cheap. Much of this equipment will work for years so there’s not much of a risk in buying used and in most cases, it’s what I would recommend.
If the thought of buying used equipment makes you uncomfortable, or if you don’t have a good shop to buy used equipment from, there are some great budget vinyl set-up options out there that you can buy brand new that can last for years.
My Recommended Budget Set-up
My recommendation is a set-up very similar to the one I started with consists of the following components:
Turntable – $149.99 (Built in preamp)
Speakers – $99 (Built in amp)
Aside from the low cost of this set-up, it also punches above its weight in terms of sound quality. In my experience you will have to spend at least $3-400 more to create a set-up that outperforms this one. Although it can be fun to constantly upgrade your system, it does get expensive and in my opinion, that money would probably be better used buying more records.
1. Setting Priorities Based on Personal Preferences
When determining a budget for your vinyl set-up, there are two pieces in particular you will want to prioritize: Speakers and a turntable.
Speakers will make, by far, the biggest difference when it comes to sound quality. If you want your music to sound good, you should be spending the bulk of your budget on the speakers.
The turntable is not nearly as important when it comes to sound quality but a bad turntable can damage or even ruin your records. Although you can get away with cheap amplifiers and preamps, you’ll want to make sure that your turntable is at least half-way decent to avoid damage.
IV. Conclusion
There are a lot of things to consider when planning and budgeting for your first vinyl set-up, so many in fact that it’s easy to get paralyzed by choice. At the end of the day, you won’t know what you like in a vinyl set-up until you have a set up to play around with. Part of the beauty of creating your set-up from scratch instead of going with a cheap all-in-one record player is that it gives you the flexibility to upgrade your system over time, rather than having to replace your entire set up every couple of years.
A. Recap of Essential Components
At the end of the day there are 5 components that you need to listen to a record.
- Turntable
- Preamp
- Amplifier
- Speakers
- A record
That’s it! As mentioned, it’s quite common to find many of these components combined in various ways, so you won’t necessarily need 4 different pieces of equipment as your speakers may have an amplifier built in, your turntable might have a preamp built in, etc.
B. Encouragement for Entry-level Enthusiasts
If you are just starting out, I would highly recommend going with used equipment. Go to your local record store and see if they have any equipment to get you started. As with most hobbies, the best beginner equipment is the stuff you already have. If you already have a decent set of speakers for your tv, maybe look into seeing if you can use it for your vinyl set-up as well. The same goes for audio receivers, which most often have amplifiers built in.
D. My Recommended Beginner Setup
Without further ado, here is the set-up I used as my first vinyl set-up and the one I would recommend to anyone who is buying their first “real” set-up. These components lasted 5+ years without any kind of maintenance at all, the sound quality was great, and getting everything set up was extremely easy.
Fluance Rt-81 – $250 (Turntable with built in phono preamp)
Edifier R1700BTs – $200 (Speaker with built in amp)
I would also recommend investing in the following accessories to get started as well.
That’s it! Now go buy some records.