Best budget record players 2024: Turntables to make the most of your vinyl collection

By now, it is perhaps safe to say that the vinyl revolution is here to stay; indeed, it might be fairer still to say that it never quite left.

Despite a Millennium-era slump in production and sales, vinyl has bounced back as a medium of choice for many music lovers – even if a handful of them are more interested in records as décor than music source. 

The renewed popularity of vinyl can be attributed to several factors. For one, records have a reputation as the connoisseur’s choice for music listening; some well-meaning but ultimately misunderstood assertions have led some people to the conclusion that vinyl records, being analogue, are ‘better’ than digital media. 

Vinyl is empirically a much more problematic medium for fidelity and frequency response – though those ‘problems’ are what give records their trademark warmth and depth to the human ear, and hence a subjective edge over many clinical-sounding digital recreations.

Another key reason lies in the state of the music industry at present. As streaming platforms continue to dominate with their all-digital, all-on-demand subscription models, many music fans are starting to tire of having little to show for their taste. Records are a powerful rejection of app-based ‘content consumption’, being tangible artefacts with stunning artwork and liner notes to explore – and requiring active interaction, and mindful listening, to appreciate in full. This, of course, brings us to the means by which records are heard.

Anatomy of a record player

Record players are astonishingly simple machines, at least in terms of basic operating principles. Up to the higher echelons of the record player pantheon, many of the best designs are minimal; at its most essential, a record player is simply a revolving plate and a swinging tonearm with a passive transducer needle attached. Of course, a lot can change between these basic elements to set different players apart.

One consideration is how the record plate is powered. Belt-driven turntables are one standard, where a rubber belt connects the plate to an electric motor – and changes to the ratio of roller diameter change the speed of revolution. Direct drive turntables, meanwhile, cut out the middleman, with increased speed accuracy and torque the reward. 

Another consideration