Choosing a turntable for your records: a practical guide

The best turntable for your records is the one that tracks the groove gently and holds speed accurately. In practice that means four things: an adjustable counterweight to set tracking force, an anti-skate control, a replaceable cartridge and stylus, and stable speed at 33 and 45 rpm. Everything else, from the plinth to Bluetooth, is secondary. If you collect punk and new wave, where many of your records will be seven-inch singles, add a fifth point: the deck should handle 45 rpm easily and have a centre adapter for large-hole singles. This guide explains each component and gives a checklist for buying new or used. We do not publish invented test results or star ratings, and we do not name prices.

Why the turntable matters for collectors

A stylus touches the groove with a tiny contact area. If the tracking force is too high, the arm is not balanced or the stylus is worn, it can wear the walls of the groove. A badly set up player can do more damage in a few months than decades of storage. If you are buying original pressings, as described in our guide to collecting punk records, the turntable is part of looking after them.

The parts that matter

1. Drive. Belt drive uses a rubber belt between motor and platter. The belt isolates motor vibration, and it wears over time, so check that replacement belts are available. Direct drive puts the motor under the platter. It starts fast and holds speed firmly. Technics introduced its SL-1200 direct drive deck in 1972, and from 1979 the revised MK2 version became the standard club turntable. Both principles can work very well; what matters is the quality of motor, bearing and speed control.
2. Platter and bearing. A heavier platter evens out small speed variations. The bearing should run silently without play.
3. Tonearm. It must be adjustable: a counterweight to balance the arm and set tracking force, and an anti-skate setting to counter the inward pull. Ideally the cartridge sits in a removable headshell or can be swapped easily.
4. Cartridge and stylus. Most turntables use a moving magnet (MM) cartridge, which is robust and allows the stylus to be replaced without changing the whole cartridge. Moving coil (MC) cartridges are more expensive and usually need a dedicated phono stage. A conical stylus is forgiving and suits worn records; an elliptical or more advanced profile retrieves more detail but is more sensitive to set-up.
5. Phono stage. The cartridge signal is tiny and recorded with an equalisation curve called RIAA. It needs a phono stage to restore it. Some turntables have one built in, many amplifiers have a phono input, and separate phono stages exist. If your amplifier has no phono input, choose a turntable with a built-in stage or buy one separately.
6. Plinth and feet. The base should be solid and well damped. Footfall, speakers and a wobbly shelf all reach the stylus.
7. Speeds. 33 and 45 rpm are essential. 78 rpm is only needed for shellac records and requires a different stylus.
8. Manual or automatic. Automatic arms return at the end of the side, which is useful if you tend to forget. Manual decks are simpler and often better built at the same budget.
9. USB and Bluetooth. USB lets you digitise records. Bluetooth sends the sound to wireless speakers but adds a conversion step. Neither affects how well the turntable reads the groove.

Set-up in five steps

1. Level the turntable on a stable surface, ideally away from speakers.
2. Balance the arm with the counterweight so it floats horizontally, then set the tracking force recommended by the cartridge manufacturer. Use a stylus gauge if you can; the scale on the counterweight is only approximate.
3. Set anti-skate to the same value as the tracking force as a starting point.
4. Align the cartridge with the protractor supplied with the turntable or a printable one, so that the stylus sits correctly in the groove across the record.
5. Check speed with a strobe disc or an app, especially on used belt-drive decks.

Buying a used turntable

Used decks from the seventies and eighties can be excellent, but check:

1. Speed stability. Play a sustained piano note or a test record and listen for wavering.
2. Bearing and motor noise. Lift the arm, turn the volume up and listen for rumble or hum.
3. Tonearm bearings. Gently move the arm sideways and up and down at the headshell. It should move freely without play.
4. Stylus condition. Assume it needs replacing unless the seller can prove otherwise. Check that a replacement stylus or a compatible cartridge is available.
5. Belt. An old belt may be stretched. Replacement belts are cheap and easy to fit if the model is common.
6. Automatic mechanisms. If the deck has one, test it several times.

Singles and punk records

Seven-inch singles from the punk era bring their own small problems. Many US singles and jukebox copies have a large centre hole and need an adapter. Many British singles had a push-out centre that was removed by jukebox operators. Records pressed cheaply on thin vinyl can be slightly warped, and a tonearm with good tracking copes better. Clean every second-hand record before playing it; a carbon fibre brush helps with dust, while a wet clean is needed for grime.

A short checklist

Before you buy, make sure the turntable has an adjustable counterweight, anti-skate, a replaceable stylus, stable 33 and 45 rpm, and a phono stage somewhere in the chain. If those are in place, you are ready to listen to the records on our lists of the best punk albums and best new wave songs, and to tell a first pressing from a reissue by ear as well as by eye.