The best speakers for vinyl can revive your record collection and make listening to your coveted LPs feel like an event every time you lower the needle. For it's one thing hopping on board with the vinyl revival, but if you're used to streaming music, the quality just isn't the same.
And so, if you’ve invested in one of the best record players, these speakers will give the sound a boost. All while retaining some of that gritty audio that vinyl enthusiasts love.
Designed to enhance the authentic depth and warmth of vinyl, the latest speakers will not only enhance your listening experience but can add style to your interior too. With statement designs built to enhance the aesthetics of your media unit, the best speakers for vinyl come in all shapes, sizes, colors, finishes, and streaming capabilities. Here's a closer look at some of the best designs around.
The best speakers for vinyl in 2024
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Best speakers for vinyl
Founded in 1932, Wharfedale’s legacy includes the invention of many technologies that are used in speaker designs today. One of the company’s most iconic speakers, the Linton, is a British hi-fi classic that debuted in 1965 and continued in various iterations right through the 1970s. Wharfedale has now brought the Linton back with a design that’s faithful to the original but re-engineered using the latest techniques and technologies.
The new Linton has a vintage-style wood-veneered cabinet in a choice of walnut, mahogany, or black, and its sound delivers deep and well-defined bass, free-breathing dynamics, and an expansive scale that brings music to life. But what we love most about this classic speaker is the matching stand, which not only ensures it always sounds its best but is also the perfect size to store LPs! This also ensures the speaker is elevated on a rigid metal frame to dampen any unwanted vibrations and ensure the sound is as impressive as it can be.
These Wharfedales are traditional 'passive' hi-fi speakers, so you need to add a separate stereo amplifier. For vinyl, the amp will need to have a phono stage on board to handle the low-level output from the turntable’s cartridge – the Audiolab 6000A is a good example. If your amp doesn’t include a phono stage, you can buy one separately – for example, the iFi ZEN Phono.
Best speakers for portability
Known for head-turning design and excellent-quality sound, Bang & Olufsen speakers certainly look as good as they sound. The Beosound Level portable Wi-Fi speaker is one such speaker that is stylish, powerful, and designed with sustainability in mind. The speaker can be paired with a record player that also has Bluetooth/Wi-Fi capabilities and also comes with a line-in for attaching to a turntable. You can also then link it up wirelessly to other B&O speakers in your setup so you can stream music all around your home.
The Beosound Level's powerful five-driver setup gives you an immersive and full-range sound with dynamic bass, all of which adapts to suit depending on where the speaker is positioned. This means a clear and detailed listening experience, whatever size of your room.
The speaker is portable, and you can make use of its integrated handle and move it from room to room to place wherever you like. You can also elevate and attach it to the wall using a mount – either horizontally or vertically – or lay it down flat on a surface to enjoy its 360-degree sound.
It also comes with a user-replaceable battery and streaming module, which futureproofs the design for when the current Bluetooth/Wi-Fi standards need updating.
Best bundle speakers
The Get Together Duo Bluetooth Bookshelf speakers from House of Marley each have an excellent 15W bass to ensure your music fills the room, while 5W tweeters ensure the detail stays crisp and clear. They can be bought separately or as part of a bundle with the matching Stir It Up Wireless Turntable.
You’ll need to follow the instructions to pair with your mobile or any suitable Bluetooth device – with particularly easy pairing to the Stir It Up turntable. The speakers have been crafted with sustainable materials and include a bamboo frame and Rewind fabric. The latter is a soft, hard-wearing, and woven recycled material.
What we like most about these speakers is that they are not only suitably equipped to pair with your record player, but they are also portable. One speaker is a permanent plug-in home wired speaker with built-in RCA and Aux inputs. Meanwhile, the other speaker has a rechargeable battery with 20 hours of playback. This means you can take it out into the garden or to an outdoor area whenever you want to use it a little further afield.
Best compact solution
The compact and attractive MRI Bluetooth speakers can be paired with a range of devices to give you impressive sound quality while you’re listening to your favorite tunes. You can pair them with your computer, TV, or turntable, for example, and fill the room with rich and dynamic sound. While they may be relatively small in size, they feature tweeter and bass units with powerful ‘neodymium motor systems’ designed to provide a clear and balanced sound.
Should you wish to use the speaker where mains power isn’t available, you can buy a BackPack 3 add-on. It simply fits the back of the speaker and charges whenever connected to the main supply. It will give you up to 12 hours of main free listening when you’re on the go – all depending on how high you crank up the volume, that is.
Best for statement style
If you're looking for something that will enhance your decor with its dramatic design, the JBL L52 Classic 2-Way Bookshelf Loudspeaker is worth considering. Looks-wise, it will make a statement in your living room as it comes with a satin walnut veneer frame with a choice of vibrantly colored Quadrex foam grilles – we particularly like the burnt orange version.
The L52 Classic is different from your standard speaker in that it comes with a control dial on the front panel so you can adjust the high frequency. This makes it useful in rooms where the acoustics can benefit from a little tweaking, such as ‘bright’ sounding conservatories or ‘flat’ sounding, textile-heavy living rooms.
The L52 Classic is a traditional 'passive' speaker design, meaning, unlike a powered Bluetooth speaker, you need to add a separate stereo amplifier. Check if it includes a built-in phono preamp (AKA phono stage) when considering your amp. A phono preamp boosts your turntable's teeny audio signal making it compatible with the main amplifier. Phono preamps come in different guises – sometimes built into the amplifier, sometimes built in to the turntable, and as separate little boxes.
How to choose the best speakers for vinyl
Provided you have the means to connect them, almost any speaker will work alongside your record player. 'You do need to figure out if the player has a phono pre-amplifier built-in or not,' explains Oliver Kriete, Product Development from Sound United. 'This which dictates whether you can plug straight into the need to choose passive or active speakers or whether you need a separate phono pre-amp and/or a dedicated amplifier to power passive speakers. Also remember:
1. Active speakers generally have an amp – and generally wireless streaming capabilities, - such as WiFi or Bluetooth – built in.
2. Passive speakers need to be connected to a separate amp to power them.
3. If your record player or turntable does have a phono pre-amp built-in, you can connect it to the line input of any active speaker or amplifier.
4. If your player doesn’t have a pre-amp built-in, you’ll need to add a dedicated one – such as the AT-PEQ30 from Audio Technica – in between the turntable and line input. Or you can use an amplifier – such as the Marantz PM6007 – which has a phono pre-amp built in, so you connect the turntable to the amp’s phono input, and the amp is then connected to passive speakers.
5. Remember that some turntables now have Bluetooth built-in so that you can connect them wirelessly to any Bluetooth speaker or amp/hi-fi with Bluetooth.’
How do I get the best speaker sound?
There are a number of speakers you can add to your music setup, from the likes of Denon, House of Marley, Bang & Olufsen, Wharfdale, and many more. But ultimately, if you’re wondering, ‘does vinyl sound better?’ it does come down to the individual listener.
‘Remember that if you’re going to use vinyl as your source for listening exclusively, the character of the sound will be influenced by factors such as the cartridge and cable before the signal hits the speakers,’ says Alex Josling from Seven Integration. ‘Vinyl has a reputation for a warmer sound than CDs, and you may want to encourage that with some warmer-sounding speakers.
On the other hand, adding warmer-sounding speakers to an already warm, more rounded turntable may mean you lose a lot of the detail. You may want to counter the warmth by selecting speakers that are more detail orientated but then lose some of the appeals of listening to a record.
At the end of the day, the best speakers for listening to vinyl are the speakers that sound best to the listener. We would always recommend listening to a selection of speakers using a source that is as close to your record deck as the dealer can provide. Or, take your deck in with you and ask them to plug it in.’
Where do I position my speakers?
Your turntable stylus will pick up tiny details as it navigates around the vinyl grooves, which can be easily disrupted by the smallest movement, such as vibration from a speaker. That’s why making sure your speakers and turntable and carefully positioned apart is important. Keeping them isolated with an additional stand, such as those sold by IsoAcoustics, will help you achieve even better results.
‘Airborne soundwaves and structure-borne vibrations from your speakers can cause a loss of detail and clarity and may result in feedback, or it can even cause your record to skip,’ explains Sean Morrison from IsoAcoustics. ‘If your speakers and turntable are in close proximity to each other - especially if they are positioned on the same shelf or are connected by a common structure – an isolator will help to balance the sound.’
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