Wire-free vinyl turntable set-ups and streaming explained
If you’re a music lover then a vinyl record player is likely to be a key part of your set-up. However, it’s not always simple to make this most analogue of devices fit into the digital smart home.
The allure of buying, owning and enjoying vinyl has sent sales soaring. Pretty much every member of The Ambient team has one. But while record players are great in terms of sound quality, and offering us the chance to slow down and consume music more thoughtfully, the tech realities can be a problem.
First is that a vinyl set up has a lot of different elements – which causes clutter. And then there’s the wires. So many wires. That’s led many to ask whether it’s possible to use your record player wirelessly or with a Sonos system – and the answer is a resounding yes.
Read on for the various options open to you for making your record player set-up a little bit smarter.
How to use your turntable with Sonos speakers
Traditionally, a record player needs lots of elements to work: the record player itself, a pre-amp, an actual amplifier and a pair of speakers – all connected in that order.
You can cheat a little by getting a pre-amp integrated into an amplifier or record player (available on some models, but far from ubiquitous), but you do need all those parts. Sonos actually sells a couple of Pro-Ject turntables with pre-amps built in, to make things easier.
However, with a Sonos system, you can dispense with quite a few aspects of the set-up, and there are a number of configurations you can opt for.
Using a wired Sonos set up
This is the simplest approach, and will probably suit most people. In this set-up, take your record player and put it through a pre-amp phase. From there, use a line-in to the back of a Sonos Play:5, Sonos Five or the new Sonos Era 300. These are the only speakers to offer line-in, so we’re afraid there’s not a lot of choice there.
You will then need to select the line-in input via the Sonos app, and you’re good to go. It’s a good idea to rename the line-in input from the Sonos app to keep things clear – something like ‘record player’, for example.
You may also want to tweak with the Line-In Source Level settings in the Sonos app, to get the volume to a level you are happy with. By default, it’s set to 2 but we’d recommend testing around the 6/7 mark – this will be dependent on your pre-amp’s output impedance though.
In a Play:5 / Five / Era 300 setup you’ll remove the need for an amplifier and stereo speaker in your set-up, which will save a heap of wires.
Once you have the music playing through your Sonos speaker you can, of course, group that speaker with any other Sonos speakers in your setup… but more on that in a bit.
Using a Sonos Port or Sonos Amp
A lot of people will be wanting to add their turntable into not only their Sonos system but also their existing stereo and speakers. If you’re in this boat you’ll need either the Sonos Port or the Sonos Amp. (Or, the older versions of these, if you have one / can get hold of one – Sonos Connect or Connect:Amp.)
With all of these devices you will still need a pre-amp as part of the setup. Turntables need both the pre-amp and an amplifier. So while the Connect:Amp and Amp do, of course (clue is in the name) have amplification powers, that pre-amp is still a must.
With the Port (or the old Connect), you’ll also then need to feed its output through a dedicated amplifier, or a hi-fi system with a built-in amp.
You could also use the Sonos Connect as a receiver for the record player’s output – still via a pre-amp – and have its line-in beamed around to your other Sonos speakers.
If you have dedicated, non-Sonos, speakers you want to wire into the system, the Amp and Port are also still your best bet.
These have outputs for wired speakers on the back, which can then be introduced into your system, like old pair of slippers amongst a collection of brand new English brogues.
How to stream vinyl around your home with Sonos
Not only can you play music to the Play:5 or a Five, you can also group other devices and bring those into play. That’s great for big rooms, or should you want to listen to vinyl in a different room (let’s not think of the hassle of changing the record side every 15 minutes though).
The problem is that your audio may be choppy, depending on the quality of your Sonos network. While Sonos is great at pinging compressed digital music around your home, your record player is churning out uncompressed music, which will swamp your wireless network and cause everything to break down.
Your best bet, in the past at least, was to wire-in (using Ethernet) as many of your Sonos speakers as you can to create a SonosNet network – or invest in a Sonos Boost, which when placed at the heart of your set-up will speed everything up nicely on the wireless side.
However, if you have a decent, modern, Wi-Fi mesh system you may be able to stream your analogue music around your home digotally.
Whatever method you choose, the Sonos app you can also choose to compress any line-in audio signals – although we’ve always found leaving this setting to ‘automatic’ does the job.
The perfect Sonos vinyl set-up
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Sonos Edition (Walnut)
$799 / £699, sonos.com
The slickest turntable that Sonos sells directly – and built with a Sonos system in mind – this Pro-Ject record player packs in a pre-amp phase so you don’t need an additional device to get your vinyl hit. It comes with an acrylic platter for improved audio quality, and you’ll get a swanky Sonos logo slip-mat in the box too.
Rega Plannar 1
$475/ £475, Amazon
You don’t have to use the record player Sonos suggests. A great entry level turntable from the Porsche of record players, the Rega’s pedigree may not be immediately evident from the unassuming, under-stated design and standard materials. But the quality comes from the tech inside the cartridge, which filters down from Rega’s +$1,000 systems. Unrivalled sound quality for the price.
Pyle Phono Turntable Preamp
$25 / £25, Amazon
The idea of using Sonos to go wire-free in your turntable set-up means, ideally, keeping the hardware side of your vinyl listening as minimal as possible. The Pyle pre-amp is tiny, and enables you to keep tech to a minimum, while powering that analogue audio into your Sonos system.
Sonos Five
$549 / £549, sonos.com
The flagship bookshelf speaker, one of the latest Sonos speakers, is actually a highly-evolved version of Sonos’ first ever speaker. It boasts six Class-D digital amplifiers, six dedicated speaker drivers, three tweeters and three mid-woofers.
The Five replaces the second-gen Play:5 and also offers up a pair of Ethernet ports so it can act as a handy switch or extender for your wired devices. It can sit in either portrait or landscape too, and comes in a choice of all black or all white.
Sonos Amp
$699 / £649, Amazon | sonos.com
The Sonos Port is great if you just want the record’s tunes played around your existing Sonos speakers, or you already have a decent amp but it’s the Sonos Amp that we have to recommend for the perfect set-up.
It’s twice as powerful as the older Connect:Amp and, if you go with the new Sonance Architectural range (built specifically for Sonos), then you can add up to six speakers to the mix.
I can’t afford Sonos, are there any other streaming vinyl options?
There are few systems that you can integrate existing record players into as seamlessly as Sonos – but that doesn’t mean that a wireless system is beyond you. Some turntables are now available with Bluetooth wireless built in, which can connect to powered speakers with a Bluetooth connection.
The magic bullet, right? Not so fast – this kind of connection can be spotty at the best of times, and this is especially problematic here. And again, audio will have to be compressed for Bluetooth, so many will question the sense of using vinyl only to compress it down to the quality of a basic MP3.
But the quality of that conversion will differ hugely. Generally, an aptX transmitter should offer the best quality, but it’s far from universal and there are players out there that don’t sound terrible without using that technology.
Connected record players
Audio-Technica AT-LP60BT
Audio Technica’s record players have a top pedigree, and the LP60BT comes with Bluetooth built in, which lets you connect to powered speakers for a wire-lite set-up. It’s not aptX and some users have complained of choppiness, but if you’re building a vinyl set-up from scratch with the option to go wire free, it’s a strong choice.
$179 / £189, audiotechnica.com
Pro-Ject Juke Box E
If you really want to cut down on clutter then the Pro-Ject Juke Box E is your best bet. This turntable packs in pre-amp, amp and Bluetooth, so you can just add speakers to get going. Pair that with a powered Bluetooth speaker or into a Sonos Connect and you have a powerful set-up as wire free as it gets.
$400 / £370 Richer Sounds
Leema Pulse IV
If you’re looking to play to wireless speakers, then consider this techy amp made from British audio lab Leema and its team of ex-BBC sound engineers. It may not solve the problem of cutting clutter in your vinyl set-up, but with an aptX Bluetooth input built into the amp, it can receive the signal from a Bluetooth record player and punch it out to analogue speakers, which should keep sound quality intact.
$3,000 / £2,000, leema-acoustics.com
