Editor's Note

• Original review date: June 2022
• Launch price: $1,999 / £1,699 / AU$3,699
• Target price: As above

Update: February 2024. In the turntable arena, a May 2022-issue product is a babe in arms – this isn't the smartphone space, where fresh iterations are expected (nay, demanded!) annually. News that the Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 is still one of the best turntables around will come as little surprise to anyone who read our Cambridge Audio Alva TT review, upon which it is built. This particular turntable has an ace up its sleeve too: onboard hi-res 24bit/48kHz aptX HD Bluetooth transmission (not to be confused with the swathe of recent decks that have a Bluetooth speaker inbuilt, to receive music from your phone; the Lenco LS-410 is a good budget example) which means whatever's spinning on the platter can be sent to your wireless headphones and Bluetooth speakers around the house. Other decks can do similar (the Victrola Stream Carbon will even work with your Sonos system, if you want that) but very few turntables can do it in hi-res, or this well… and that's before we mention how good it is when listening the old-fashioned way, via its inbuilt switchable phono stage… The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 turntable: One-minute review

The Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 is the updated version of a turntable that caused a bit of a stir when it launched – here, at last, was a premium turntable that wanted to offer more convenience than is normal. Specifically, wireless streaming – and hi-res wireless streaming at that. Acclaim was immediate and more-or-less universal.

So Cambridge is back with a new, more expensive and mildly updated Alva TT: the V2. Its integrated phono stage is now switchable. It has a new tonearm and cartridge. The price has risen a little. But V2 retains the original’s bank-vault build quality, aptX HD hi-res wireless streaming smarts, and overall air of profound solidity that made it one of the best turntables around.

It also retains a lot of the original’s sonic emphases. The Alva TT V2 is a deft, smooth and insightful listen, a little short of dynamic headroom but very long indeed on detail retrieval, tonal balance and generously engaging sound. 

Yes, this sort of money can buy a more rigorous sonic attitude and more dynamic headroom at the same time. What it won’t buy is better build quality, greater midrange fidelity, anything like as much convenience, or the ability to listen directly on the best wireless headphones. So, even more so than is usual on these pages, you need to make a value judgement.

Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 turntable: Price and release date

• $1,999 / £1,699 / AU$3,699
• Release in May 2022

The Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 turntable was released in spring 2022, and it's officially priced at $1,999 / £1,699 / AU$3,699. Don't expect to find it with much of a discount, either.

That’s serious money for a record player – and it’s the sort of money that brings quite a few high-profile alternatives into view. Everyone from Clearaudio and Rega in Europe, Technics in Japan and VPI in the United States will happily sell you a turntable for this sort of money with high-end audio credentials – although they won’t be quite so extensively specified, admittedly. In fact, let's take a look at the features now.

Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 turntable: Design and features

• 24bit/48kHz aptX HD wireless streaming
• Integrated, switchable phono stage
• Direct-drive operation

As far as true ‘design’ is concerned, nothing about the Cambridge Audio Alva TT v2 is going to surprise or startle you. This turntable is designed to look like a turntable, albeit a nicely constructed and finished one, and as such is never going to be an interior decorator’s favourite item.

That’s not to say it doesn’t look good, or a lot like the outgoing Alva TT, though. A hefty, smoothly finished chassis is topped by a tactile aluminium plinth with the ‘Cambridge’ logo punched into one corner and three buttons (‘power on/off’, ‘33.3’ and ‘45’) nicely recessed into another. The whole thing is covered by a hinged, smoked-plastic dust-cover.

On top of the plinth there’s an extremely hefty polyoxymethylene platter, and off to one side an entirely fresh design of tonearm. For this V2 model, the tonearm now features anti-skate as well as counter-weight adjustment and has a detachable headshell for ease of cartridge-replacement. It’s pre-fitted with a cartridge, of course – a high-output Cambridge Audio moving coil option with a replacement cost (according to the brand’s website) of £499.

On the inside, the Alva TT v2 uses a direct-drive mechanism to turn that chunky platter – but this is no DJ-centric turntable for hooking into a mixer. Cambridge Audio asserts the best way to guarantee rotational stability is to specify a medium-torque direct-drive motor in conjunction with a high-density platter. That’s what this turntable has, and while it takes a turn or two longer than you might be expecting to come up to speed, once it’s there it’s unshakeable.

On the rear of the chassis are a number of items of interest. There’s power input and a pair of stereo RCA analogue outputs for connection to an amplifier, which are both pretty much par for the course. 

There’s also a switch for the integrated phono stage – this circuitry is based closely on the well-received Alva Duo stand-alone phono stage Cambridge Audio introduced a while back and, unlike the original Alva TT, it’s optional. Turn it on and the V2 outputs at a line-level any amplifier can handle; turn it off and the signal will need to be boosted by pre-amp circuitry on board an amplifier or by an external phono stage. 

So if the owner’s system already includes sufficient amplification, it’s possible to compare the V2’s onboard amplification with that of the system into which it’s playing and make a decision based on perceived sound quality. This is an improvement on the original Alva TT, the ‘always on’ phono stage of which seemed a little unhelpful.

There’s also a switch to turn Bluetooth connectivity on or off, plus a button to initiate Bluetooth pairing. Unlike the majority of Bluetooth-equipped turntables, which are generally entry-level devices that prioritise convenience over all else, the Alva TT V2 is deadly serious about wireless streaming. So it’s specified to support the aptX HD Bluetooth codec, and can stream at an authentically high-resolution 24bit/48kHz. 

Which means that if you want a turntable that can sit where you want it to, rather than where it insists on being, and deliver the audio goods wirelessly, well… Cambridge Audio continues to be the only game in town.

Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 turntable: Audio performance

• Articulate and impressive wireless performance
• Very capable integrated phono stage
• Lacks a little dynamism and positivity  

Unlike the majority of turntables, there are three ways of listening to the Alva TT V2: Hard-wired to an amplifier with phono amplification turned on; the same but with the phono stage turned off; and wirelessly via Bluetooth. 

And while there are pretty obvious differences in the way the Cambridge presents your vinyl, its fundamental attitude doesn’t alter no matter the way you decide to listen to it. In all circumstances, it’s a poised, perceptive and engaging listen – and as long as you (and your music) aren’t permanently in ‘party on!’ mode, it’s a satisfying listen.

That it sounds better when hard-wired than when streaming wirelessly shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. What is quite startling, though, is just how accomplished the Alva TT V2 sounds when streaming via Bluetooth. 

With a heavy reissue of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue spinning and the turntable streaming to a Naim Uniti Star streamer/amplifier while physically connected only to power, the Cambridge sounds full, detailed and quite eloquent. There is more than enough detail retained to make the nuances of the musicians’ techniques apparent, and sufficient control of the entire frequency range to make the recording sound authentically like a performance. Bass is deep and agile, the top end is acceptably crisp, and the midrange communicates in unambiguous fashion.

The soundstage is reasonably well organised and quite expansive, and there’s never any possibility of one element of the recording intruding into the space of another. Low-level dynamic insight is good too – a recording like this is alive with minor harmonic variations, and the Alva TT V2 is pretty alert to them. 

It’s not quite as successful where the broader dynamic peaks and troughs of a recording are concerned, though – it’s not as if the Cambridge sounds flat or operates at a single level, but the dynamic ebb and flow of a recording isn’t expressed as fully as it might be.

Our Naim doesn’t have any phono amplification, so the Cambridge is first hard-wired with its internal amplification switched on, and then via a Chord Huei stand-alone phono stage with the Alva TT V2’s amplification switched off. The differences in performance, it has to be said, are quite predictable.

Using its own on-board amplification, the Cambridge gains a degree of positivity compared to its wireless sound. It’s still a smooth and detailed listen, but low frequencies gain a little alacrity where attack and decay are concerned while the top end is a little more assertive too. It’s just a more businesslike way to listen, even though the overall TT V2 sonic signature is much the same. When hard-wired, it’s just slightly snappier.

The internal amplification is indeed comparable to the Alva Duo phono stage on which it’s closely based, which is unequivocally a good thing. Unsurprisingly, though, it’s no match for the pricier Chord Huei phono stage – and while the Chord is disproportionately expensive in the context of the rest of this system, it does allow the Cambridge to fully demonstrate both what it’s capable of and what its limitations are.

The shaping of low frequencies steps up again when listening this way. Rhythmic expression becomes more certain, transient detail retrieval improves and the unity, the togetherness of the individual elements of a recording seems more natural and instinctive than before. Even an over-specified phono stage can’t help the Alva TT V2’s slight lack of dynamic potency, though, nor coax greater directness from its overall performance.

Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 turntable: Should you buy it?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Also consider

First reviewed: June 2022

Editor's Note

• Original review date: May 2022
• Launch price: $259 / £219 (about AU$360)
• Target price: $230 / £200 (approx. AU$300)

Update: February 2024. The Lenco LS-410 is still one of the best turntables on the market owing to its particular mix of usefulness and wallet-friendly appeal. The ace up its sleeve is a surprisingly beefy four-driver speaker array (it's actually under the platter, but you knew that), which will also accept music sent over Bluetooth, making it a viable option for anyone dipping into vinyl without losing their beloved music streaming services. Although it was released in March 2022, this is the world of analog audio and the physical music product, so technological advancements are… incremental. That said, in January 2024 a Victrola record turntable with a repeat function made its debut, while the 2023 Victrola Stream Carbon will also work with your Sonos wireless speaker setup, so there is competition when it comes to marrying old with new in record players these days. Our advice? It's still a good gateway vinyl spinner, as long as top notch audio quality isn't top of your list. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Lenco LS-410: two-minute review

The Lenco LS-410 combines the retro joys of vinyl with up-to-the-minute wireless streaming technology, adds a loudspeaker array and plenty of amplification, and packages it all in a box that looks and feels nicer than it really has any right to at the price.

It’s painless to set up, can be connected to an external system and has an input for yet another source of music. And it has a dust-cover too. Really what more could you ask for from a record player?

It would be churlish to ask for more where Bluetooth sound is concerned. The Lenco sounds quite expansive, muscular and detailed when streaming wirelessly - it’s not the most practical $260 / £220 Bluetooth speaker around, but it’s far from the least enjoyable.

But it all falls to pieces when playing vinyl. The tonearm and its associated controls feel insubstantial - and that’s the way the Lenco sounds when it’s playing records, too. And it’s further undermined by a slight, but undeniable, tendency to wander a little bit where rotational speed is concerned.

It’s a great pity, because in principle the Lenco LS-410 is a fine idea. We would have happily accepted a higher priced device if the engineering was more robust - that would make the LS-410 a genuine contender. Read on for our full Lenco LS-410 review.

Lenco LS-410 review: Price and release date

• Available now
• $259 / £219 (about AU$360)

The Lenco LS-410 is on sale now for $259 / £219 - while there’s no official Australian price just yet, that works out at about AU$360.

There’s an awful lot of tech packed into the LS-410 for that modest price - if you’ve got access to an outlet, a smartphone and a vinyl record, you’ve a multi-source all-in-one system ready to go. But, of course, offering features and functionality is only half the battle… 

Lenco LS-410 review: Design and features

• 33.3 and 45rpm for vinyl
• Bluetooth 5 for wireless streaming 
• 50 watts powering four speaker drivers 

The Lenco LS-410 is functional rather than luxurious where materials are concerned, but the combination of metal, plastic and wood is nicely constructed and properly finished. There’s really nothing to find fault with where build quality is concerned, certainly not as far as the cabinet goes.

Beneath the aluminum platter (which comes with a felt mat) there’s a fairly substantial box in which the record player keeps 50 watts of amplification, a four-strong speaker driver array (each firing out through the criss-cross metal grille at the front), a switchable phono stage and Bluetooth reception-related circuitry. It stands on four pliant feet that are designed to isolate the cabinet from vibration and ook a lot like the classic ‘half a squash ball’ isolation solution so beloved of hi-fi tweekers.

On top, there’s a sturdy plastic dust-cover. Lift it up and you’ve got access to the turntable itself. This is a belt-drive design, and there’s a straight tonearm pre-fitted with an Audio-Technica cartridge - all you need to do to set it up is fit and adjust the counter-weight. Beneath the tonearm, there’s a little control-panel: an on/off/input selection button, play/pause, a 33.3 or 45rpm speed control and a dial to regulate volume. 

As much as we like the way the cabinet is constructed and finished, we have to be a fair bit more qualified about some of the fixtures and fittings. The tonearm itself doesn’t feel all that substantial, the mechanical lift that raises or lowers it feels flimsier still, and the clip to keep it secure in its cradle feels flimsiest of all. 

The rubbery control buttons move around beneath your finger more than we’d like. The entire tonearm mechanism and drive motor are attached to a suspended plate that has a (perfectly acceptable) degree of movement in it, but there’s more movement in the tonearm assembly itself than is either expected or sensible. 

At the back of the cabinet there’s an input for mains power, a switch to turn the integrated phono stage on or off, and stereo RCA outputs - the LS-410 is a self-contained system, but if you want to run it into a bigger system or more powerful amplifier, the option is there. There’s also a 3.5mm analogue input for auxiliary equipment.

As we said, your $259 / £219 buys plenty. Good luck finding many other self-contained vinyl/Bluetooth system with speakers at this sort of money.

Lenco LS-410 review: audio performance

• Spirited, enjoyable Bluetooth sound 
• Vinyl sounds bland and uncertain by comparison
• Rotational speed isn’t consistent 

 You’re not short of choice for wireless speakers at this price, but the Lenco LS-410 is among the better ones. Admittedly the fact that it’s outlet-powered and fitted with a turntable make it a lot less portable than most other Bluetooth speakers at this sort of money, but the fact remains: give the LS-410 a half-decent digital audio stream to deal with and it does very decent work.

Bluetooth 5 proves more than capable of getting a nice big hi-res TIDAL Masters file of Robert Wyatt’s Old Rottenhat on board, and once it’s there the Lenco gives a full account of it. It has impressive low frequency presence, but doesn’t let bass sounds get carried away or overstay their welcome. Instead they’re properly controlled, reasonably detailed and give the midrange plenty of space to do its thing. 

‘Its thing’ in this instance turns out to be a communicative and detailed delivery of the characterful vocals. The voice is nicely isolated but nevertheless integrated into the rest of the performance, and the LS-410 creates a big enough soundstage for a singer to stretch out a little. At the top end things are played pretty safe, with treble sounding just slightly blunt when compared to the rest of the frequency range - which, while not ideal, is preferable to overt hardness or harshness.

This isn’t the most dynamic sound you ever heard, for sure, but neither is it the most inhibited. And when it’s put into proper context, the LS-410 is a perfectly likable and periodically quite impressive Bluetooth speaker. 

Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case when listening to vinyl. The solidity of its low-end presence is undermined when listening to a copy of Devo’s Are We Not Men? and is replaced by a less positive and less detailed version. The midrange is still quite spacious, but it sounds slightly phasey - and that’s the case at the top of the frequency range too. Much of the certainty the LS-410 exhibits as a Bluetooth speaker falls away, and the result is a sound that’s undemonstrative and rather pedestrian.

Most unhappily, though, is the relative lack of rotational stability the turntable exhibits. Even tiny discrepancies in what should be 33.3rpm are audible, and once you’ve heard them they’re impossible to un-hear. For whatever reason, the Lenco doesn’t maintain speed perfectly - and the sonic results are deeply off-putting. 

Lenco LS-410 review: should you buy it?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Lenco LS-410 review: Also consider

Not convinced by our Lenco Ls-410 review? Here are three more record players we think you should consider.

First reviewed: May 2022

• Read our guide on how to set up a turntable

Editor's Note

• Original review date: May 2022
• Launch price: $259 / £219 (about AU$360)
• Target price: $230 / £200 (approx. AU$300)

Update: February 2024. The Lenco LS-410 is still one of the best turntables on the market owing to its particular mix of usefulness and wallet-friendly appeal. The ace up its sleeve is a surprisingly beefy four-driver speaker array (it's actually under the platter, but you knew that), which will also accept music sent over Bluetooth, making it a viable option for anyone dipping into vinyl without losing their beloved music streaming services. Although it was released in March 2022, this is the world of analog audio and the physical music product, so technological advancements are… incremental. That said, in January 2024 a Victrola record turntable with a repeat function made its debut, while the 2023 Victrola Stream Carbon will also work with your Sonos wireless speaker setup, so there is competition when it comes to marrying old with new in record players these days. Our advice? It's still a good gateway vinyl spinner, as long as top notch audio quality isn't top of your list. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Lenco LS-410: two-minute review

The Lenco LS-410 combines the retro joys of vinyl with up-to-the-minute wireless streaming technology, adds a loudspeaker array and plenty of amplification, and packages it all in a box that looks and feels nicer than it really has any right to at the price.

It’s painless to set up, can be connected to an external system and has an input for yet another source of music. And it has a dust-cover too. Really what more could you ask for from a record player?

It would be churlish to ask for more where Bluetooth sound is concerned. The Lenco sounds quite expansive, muscular and detailed when streaming wirelessly - it’s not the most practical $260 / £220 Bluetooth speaker around, but it’s far from the least enjoyable.

But it all falls to pieces when playing vinyl. The tonearm and its associated controls feel insubstantial - and that’s the way the Lenco sounds when it’s playing records, too. And it’s further undermined by a slight, but undeniable, tendency to wander a little bit where rotational speed is concerned.

It’s a great pity, because in principle the Lenco LS-410 is a fine idea. We would have happily accepted a higher priced device if the engineering was more robust - that would make the LS-410 a genuine contender. Read on for our full Lenco LS-410 review.

Lenco LS-410 review: Price and release date

• Available now
• $259 / £219 (about AU$360)

The Lenco LS-410 is on sale now for $259 / £219 - while there’s no official Australian price just yet, that works out at about AU$360.

There’s an awful lot of tech packed into the LS-410 for that modest price - if you’ve got access to an outlet, a smartphone and a vinyl record, you’ve a multi-source all-in-one system ready to go. But, of course, offering features and functionality is only half the battle… 

Lenco LS-410 review: Design and features

• 33.3 and 45rpm for vinyl
• Bluetooth 5 for wireless streaming 
• 50 watts powering four speaker drivers 

The Lenco LS-410 is functional rather than luxurious where materials are concerned, but the combination of metal, plastic and wood is nicely constructed and properly finished. There’s really nothing to find fault with where build quality is concerned, certainly not as far as the cabinet goes.

Beneath the aluminum platter (which comes with a felt mat) there’s a fairly substantial box in which the record player keeps 50 watts of amplification, a four-strong speaker driver array (each firing out through the criss-cross metal grille at the front), a switchable phono stage and Bluetooth reception-related circuitry. It stands on four pliant feet that are designed to isolate the cabinet from vibration and ook a lot like the classic ‘half a squash ball’ isolation solution so beloved of hi-fi tweekers.

On top, there’s a sturdy plastic dust-cover. Lift it up and you’ve got access to the turntable itself. This is a belt-drive design, and there’s a straight tonearm pre-fitted with an Audio-Technica cartridge - all you need to do to set it up is fit and adjust the counter-weight. Beneath the tonearm, there’s a little control-panel: an on/off/input selection button, play/pause, a 33.3 or 45rpm speed control and a dial to regulate volume. 

As much as we like the way the cabinet is constructed and finished, we have to be a fair bit more qualified about some of the fixtures and fittings. The tonearm itself doesn’t feel all that substantial, the mechanical lift that raises or lowers it feels flimsier still, and the clip to keep it secure in its cradle feels flimsiest of all. 

The rubbery control buttons move around beneath your finger more than we’d like. The entire tonearm mechanism and drive motor are attached to a suspended plate that has a (perfectly acceptable) degree of movement in it, but there’s more movement in the tonearm assembly itself than is either expected or sensible. 

At the back of the cabinet there’s an input for mains power, a switch to turn the integrated phono stage on or off, and stereo RCA outputs - the LS-410 is a self-contained system, but if you want to run it into a bigger system or more powerful amplifier, the option is there. There’s also a 3.5mm analogue input for auxiliary equipment.

As we said, your $259 / £219 buys plenty. Good luck finding many other self-contained vinyl/Bluetooth system with speakers at this sort of money.

Lenco LS-410 review: audio performance

• Spirited, enjoyable Bluetooth sound 
• Vinyl sounds bland and uncertain by comparison
• Rotational speed isn’t consistent 

 You’re not short of choice for wireless speakers at this price, but the Lenco LS-410 is among the better ones. Admittedly the fact that it’s outlet-powered and fitted with a turntable make it a lot less portable than most other Bluetooth speakers at this sort of money, but the fact remains: give the LS-410 a half-decent digital audio stream to deal with and it does very decent work.

Bluetooth 5 proves more than capable of getting a nice big hi-res TIDAL Masters file of Robert Wyatt’s Old Rottenhat on board, and once it’s there the Lenco gives a full account of it. It has impressive low frequency presence, but doesn’t let bass sounds get carried away or overstay their welcome. Instead they’re properly controlled, reasonably detailed and give the midrange plenty of space to do its thing. 

‘Its thing’ in this instance turns out to be a communicative and detailed delivery of the characterful vocals. The voice is nicely isolated but nevertheless integrated into the rest of the performance, and the LS-410 creates a big enough soundstage for a singer to stretch out a little. At the top end things are played pretty safe, with treble sounding just slightly blunt when compared to the rest of the frequency range - which, while not ideal, is preferable to overt hardness or harshness.

This isn’t the most dynamic sound you ever heard, for sure, but neither is it the most inhibited. And when it’s put into proper context, the LS-410 is a perfectly likable and periodically quite impressive Bluetooth speaker. 

Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case when listening to vinyl. The solidity of its low-end presence is undermined when listening to a copy of Devo’s Are We Not Men? and is replaced by a less positive and less detailed version. The midrange is still quite spacious, but it sounds slightly phasey - and that’s the case at the top of the frequency range too. Much of the certainty the LS-410 exhibits as a Bluetooth speaker falls away, and the result is a sound that’s undemonstrative and rather pedestrian.

Most unhappily, though, is the relative lack of rotational stability the turntable exhibits. Even tiny discrepancies in what should be 33.3rpm are audible, and once you’ve heard them they’re impossible to un-hear. For whatever reason, the Lenco doesn’t maintain speed perfectly - and the sonic results are deeply off-putting. 

Lenco LS-410 review: should you buy it?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Lenco LS-410 review: Also consider

Not convinced by our Lenco Ls-410 review? Here are three more record players we think you should consider.

First reviewed: May 2022

• Read our guide on how to set up a turntable

Editor's Note

• Original review date: September 2019
• Launch price: $999 / £899 / AU$2499
• Target price: $1,299 / £1,099 / AU$1,895

Update: February 2024. Despite its relative age (although anything released within the past 10 years hardly qualifies as 'old' for a turntable – this is heritage physical music) the Technics SL-1500C is still emphatically one of the best turntables on the market. And it's not even the iconic SL-1210! What it is, is a direct-drive turntable built to listen to music (rather than to DJ with) and in the years since its release it has become a benchmark for quality at the price – a price which has actually risen owing to the proposition's success and desirability. Features? It's got a switchable phono stage so it'll work with your amp plus nice hefty buttons, but ultimately this is a deck for the purist and vinyl archivist. For clarity, in January 2024 Victrola's record turntable with repeat function arrived, but the firm's 2023 Victrola Stream Carbon can also work with your Sonos multi-room wireless setup, so the category has seen some breakthrough vinyl-meets-wireless tech since the Technics landed. Do you need any of that, or is wired analog audio still the star in your house? That's up to you. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Technics SL-1500C: one-minute review

The first time Technics died, it was a long and unnecessarily drawn-out affair. Parent company Panasonic inexplicably lost patience and faith with the brand around the turn of the century (despite it being one of the few true icons of consumer electronics) - starting its slow demise and leading to fewer and fewer Technics-branded products coming to market. 

By 2010 it was official: Technics was no more. Anyone who’d ever visited a nightclub or danced to a DJ set was a little bit heartbroken.

But, in 2015, Panasonic had a change of heart, and Technics was reborn. And while many enjoyed the reborn audio brand, things weren’t quite the same - the first fruits of the brand’s resurrection were both uncharacteristically expensive and a bit misguided.

...Until now. Meet the budget-friendly Technics SL-1500C that will only set you back £899 / $999 / AU$2499. It's still not the most affordable turntable on the market, but it's first the reborn Technics has so far delivered to really remind listeners of what they loved about the brand in the first place.

Technics SL-1500C Turntable review: design

To most people, the words ‘Technics turntable’ means Technics SL-1210 - but the Technics template was set down long before the company designed The World’s DJ Deck, and it would seem strange were they to mess with the formula now. So, naturally, they haven’t.

That’s not to say the SL-1500C is a facsimile of the SL-1200/SL-1210. It’s not built as a DJ deck, but rather as just a record player, so it doesn’t feature pitch control, target light, stroboscope or the other ‘hands-on’  bits ‘n’ bobs that make the SL-1210 look such a purposeful machine. 

But the SL-1500C has the same hefty aluminium top-plate, the same aluminium-with-complicated-composite chassis and the same overweight, utterly inert and resonance-rejecting aluminium platter. In fact, here the platter’s substantially rubberised to make it even more efficient.

And, of course, the SL-1500C is a direct-drive design. Technics has almost always preferred this technology for its record players (not just its DJ decks), and here it’s using a fearsomely over-engineered motor intended to resistance the restless ‘cogging’ effect that can afflict some direct-drive Technics-wannabee turntables. It’s engaged using the big ‘on/off’ dial and big ‘stop/start’ button familiar from the SL-1210.

Technics SL-1500C Turntable review: Features

Technics has gone to significant lengths to make the SL-1500C as user-friendly and painless as possible. Niceties start with the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge that’s pre-fitted to the detachable headshell - it’s simplicity itself to attach or detach it from the S-shaped tonearm.

It stands on four hefty (the word ‘hefty’ springs to mind a lot when trying to describe the SL-1500C) rubberised feet. They’re pliant and have quite a lot of articulation so, while - you should always put your record player on a sturdy shelf, where it can avoid vibrations - the SL-1500C isn’t as unsettled by less-than-perfect positioning as some price-comparable but less, yes, hefty rivals.

It’s also fitted with a switchable phono stage. Not every stereo amplifier has the necessary oomph to make a record player audible (though every mixer attached to an SL-1210 does), but because the SL-1500C is packing sufficient pre-amplification it’s compatible with any amplifier you care to mention.

There’s even a switchable auto-stop feature. When the needle reaches the run-out groove it can, if you so desire, return to its resting ‘off’ position. Such pandering to the user is not something you’d ever catch an SL-1210 indulging in.

Like Technics turntables of old, the SL-1500C has big ‘33.3’ and ‘45’ rpm speed-selection buttons - and, like Technics turntables of old, pressing them at the same time delivers 78rpm performance. Ideal for the true vinyl archivist. 

Technics SL-1500C Turntable review: Performance

There’s really only one place to start with a Technics record player, and that’s with some thumping dance music. So it’s out with a ‘much-loved’ (for which read ‘slightly knackered’) copy of deadmau5’s single-sided Lack of a Better Name to find out if the SL-1500C is worthy of its illustrious brand name.

The short answer is ‘yes’. The slightly longer answer is ‘yes, all day long’.

Much of what is so prized in the vinyl format - the warmth, detail and texture of its sound, the rhythmic surefootedness, the sense of integration and unity of performance - is here in the SL-1500C, and in good measure. But that’s not what is so initially remarkable about the way this Technics goes about music-making.

Many an otherwise-excellent record player overplays its hand where low frequency information is concerned. The temptation to overstate the luxurious warmth and substance of vinyl-derived bass seems almost impossible to resist - but the SL-1500C is made of sterner stuff. It absolutely snaps into low-end sounds - it doesn’t wallow, it doesn’t drone. Instead, it draws an unarguably straight edge at the start of bass notes and doesn’t let their decay hang around. The result is a sound that has all of the body and momentum vinyl-fanciers delight in, but none of the overhang. The SL-1500C is a snake-hipped listen where too many of its nominal rivals have the bass equivalent of muffin-top.

And above this gloriously well-controlled bottom end, the news continues to be good. One grinding gear-changing from deadmau5 to Ella Fitzgerald’s Dream a Little Dream of Me allows the Technics to showcase its keen eye for the detail and nuance of a vocalist’s delivery. Fitzgerald’s pure tone and impeccable phrasing is served up explicitly by the SL-1500C - her voice is utterly packed with character, and occupies centre-stage in the most natural manner imaginable.

To complete the nap hand of frequency response expertise, the Technics has sufficient bite and attack at the top end to make the fiercer moments of Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden properly forceful, but there’s never any suggestion things could get splashy or in any way out of control. The same LP highlights the SL-1500C’s confident manner with both high-level ‘quiet/loud/quiet’ dynamics and the low-level harmonic dynamics of Mark Hollis’s piano- and organ-playing.

Sound-staging is impressive, with recordings given plenty of elbow-room for individual instruments to make their presence felt. There’s depth and height to the Technics’ stage, as well as width, but despite all this breathing-room there’s no lack of unity to the sound the SL-1500C delivers. And no matter whether you choose to listen to the cramped, claustrophobic beats of Burial’s Untrue or the wide-open elegance of Brian Eno’s Another Green World, the Technics remains completely authoritative.

Overall, there’s remarkably little to take issue with here. Some alternative turntables (from the likes of Rega and Pro-Ject) will extract even more detail, and manage rhythms and tempos with even more assurance. But they don’t have electronic speed change, or direct drive, or a phono stage, or the build quality to survive a medium-sized detonation.

And they don’t say ‘Technics’ anywhere on the top-plate, either.  

Technics SL-1500C Turntable review: Final verdict

It’s been a bit of turbulent start for the reimagined Technics brand, but with the SL-1500C it seems the company is beginning to find its line and length. This isn’t the most out-and-out accomplished turntable you can buy in purely sonic terms, but it’s not far off - and it’s more robustly made, better specified and has greater cachet than any price-comparable alternative. 

First reviewed: September 2019

• You'll find the SL-1500C on our list of the best turntables

Editor's Note

• Original review date: October 2020
• Launch price: $499 / £499 / AU$879
• Target price: As above

Update: February 2024. The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo is an update to one of the best turntables available (the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, which is itself based on the firm's original Debut, launched in 1999) and despite being a fair chunk of money more than its older 2017 sibling, this September 2020 looker is easily still worthy of a spot in our guide. It's devoid of preamp (so you're going to need one) and it's not the deck for your if you want Bluetooth connectivity (look to the Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2) or new-fangled Sonos connectivity (see the Victrola Stream Carbon) but what it does do exceptionally well is play your vinyl records, within a hi-fi system. And that is timeless – because vinyl is going nowhere. The day will likely come when a turntable arrives that can do this specific job marginally better for the same money. But Pro-Ject can rest assured that it still hasn't happened yet. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo: Two-minute review

Pro-Ject introduced its first Debut turntable at the end of the last century, and it’s been refined, upgraded, and become increasingly expensive ever since. This Debut Carbon Evo is the most refined and upgraded model so far – and it’s also the most expensive.

In terms of specification, though, the Pro-Ject goes a long way towards justifying its price. The carbon fibre tonearm is supplied with a very capable Ortofon (or Sumika) cartridge. A new motor design, some damped and adjustable feet, and automatic speed change contribute no end to improved performance and improved ergonomics. And with a choice of nine finishes, including five very attractive new ‘satin’ options, there’s sure to be a Debut Carbon Evo to fit in with your interior decor choices.

Setting up is simple: attach the drive belt, put on the platter, and attach counter- and antiskate weights to that single-piece tonearm. Attach to your wider system with the high-quality phono leads that are included, plug into the mains, and you’re good to go.

And it doesn’t matter the sort of music you like to listen to – the Debut Carbon Evo laps it up. In every circumstance it’s a detailed and revealing listen, able to focus on the minutiae even as it describes the complete picture completely convincingly. 

It has all the warmth and weight the vinyl format is famous for, but it’s not musclebound and it doesn’t get bogged down – instead it simply motors along in the most natural way imaginable. There’s a sort of instinctive correctness to the way the Pro-Ject makes music that goes a long way to explaining why vinyl has endured as a format all these many decades.

It’s not the last word in absolute precision, and there are other similarly priced turntables that offer a little more bite and aggression. But if you value a smooth, informative ride from a beautifully engineered and nice-looking record player, don’t spend any money until you’ve heard the Debut Carbon Evo. 

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo: Price and release date

• Available now
• $499 / £499 / AU$879

The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo is on sale now, and priced at $499 / £449 / AU$879.  That makes it far less of an entry-level proposition than 1999’s original Debut – but then Pro-Ject has covered off the entry level with its Elemental and Primary models, while the Debut Carbon Evo is a much better specified device than the original Debut could dream of being.

At this price, the Pro-Ject goes up against some very capable and very well-regarded alternatives. The likes of Rega (with its Planar 2) and Thorens (and its TD190-2) are ready to turn your head – but Pro-Ject’s reputation is the equal of that of any competitor, and the company is always an option at this sort of money.

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo: Design

• Carbon fibre tonearm
• Ortofon 2M Red cartridge
• Choice of nine (!) finishes

Nobody in their right mind messes with the design of a turntable, do they? Ever since the record player did away with the need for a trumpet horn, they’ve all looked the same (apart from those self-consciously ‘wacky’ designs that are odd for the sake of it). A record player is a rectangle with a circle on it – and, if you’re feeling adventurous, a plastic dust-cover on the top.

And that’s how it is with the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo. At a glance, it looks just like every other record player – certainly it looks enough like the original Debut Carbon from 2017 to make you wonder why the price has risen from the original’s $400 / £349 / AU$550. But like pretty much every record player, a lot of your money goes on the stuff you can’t see: the bearing, the motor, the damping and all the other necessities.    

The Debut Carbon Evo has – ahem – evolved from the original Debut Carbon in a number of places. The new model features the same height-adjustable damped feet fitted to Pro-Ject’s $899 / £749 / AU$1190 X1 turntable, and a new motor design with some hefty decoupling incorporated – the motor’s now barely in contact with the main body of the turntable. 

Its steel platter is now heavier, thanks to a thermoplastic ring on its inside edge – it’s a technique to reduce operation noise and was popularized by, among others, Technics. And there’s now a suggestion of convenience in the shape of a speed-change switch at the bottom of the plinth – previously you’d have to take off the platter and move the drive belt to change speeds, but now 33.3rpm can become 45rpm (or vice-versa) at a press. Of course, if you’re the hands-on type (and you own some properly elderly records) you can change the drive belt itself in order to play at 78rpm. Both belts are included in the package.

The one-piece tonearm is made of carbon fibre, and comes fitted with a very capable Ortofon 2M Red cartridge (except in America, where it features a Sumiko Ranier cartridge instead. Quite why the United States requires a different option is anyone’s guess). All that’s required is for the belt, platter counterweight and antiskating weight to be attached and the Debut Carbon Evo is ready to go.

Mind you, before you get to that point you’ll need to choose between the Pro-Ject’s numerous finishes. As well as the wood veneer and glossy white, red or black of the previous model, the Debut Carbon Evo is also available in five satin finishes: black, white, yellow, blue or green. 

Our review sample is in Fir Green, and very nice it looks too. The finish is flawlessly smooth, and as reassuring as the build quality.    

• How to set up a turntable

Audio performance

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo: Audio performance

• Full-scale, nicely unified sound
• Detailed and revealing
• Warmth and weight to spare
  

Despite the only branding on the entire product being a discreet ‘Pro-Ject’ logo on the dust-cover, anyone who’s familiar with the Pro-Ject family sound will have no trouble picking out the Debut Carbon Evo as a bit more of the same. And that’s meant almost entirely positively.

The Debut Carbon Evo is a luxuriously full-bodied listen, but that’s not to say it’s in any way languid. It has plenty of the warmth and richness that’s so often held up as an unarguable vinyl virtue, but it doesn’t wallow or slur. It’s easy to listen to, but it’s not uninvolving.

And it’s nigh-on impossible to wrong-foot. From A Tribe Called Quest’s I Left My Wallet In El Segundo to Father John Misty’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings, from Leonard Bernstein’s Gee, Officer Krupke to Nina Simone’s Pirate Jenny, the Pro-Ject sounds both right at home and thoroughly engaged. 

Like any worthwhile turntable, it’s very adept and tying everything together. There’s a tangible sense of performance from the Evo, even when it’s playing cut’n’paste collages from the likes of A Tribe Called Quest. The unity of a recording, the way the midrange rides on the low-frequency underpinnings, and the way the treble balances securely on the top, allows every record to sound coherent and convincing. Even with the most processed, machine-derived recordings, this Pro-Ject glides along with the sort of casual authority of sound that can only come from a well-sorted record player.

There’s heat in the low frequencies, certainly, but they’re not overcooked and it’s certainly not at the expense of detail or texture. There’s a similarly lavish amount of detail retrieved in the midrange – it reveals so much about the glee and malevolence Nina Simone imbues her performance with it’s almost hair-raising – and while the top end is rolled off just fractionally, it’s far from a blunt instrument.

The Pro-Ject handles tempos and rhythms with equal assurance. Oh, you’ll get a straighter edge and a more martial approach from a similarly priced Rega turntable, but the Evo counters (and strongly) with its unfussy nature and the almost ostentatious amount of detail it digs out.

It’s not lacking anything where dynamics, both great and small, are concerned either. The sparer and more low-key a recording, the more the Pro-Ject reveals about the harmonic details – and the more full-on and instrument-heavy a recording, the more the Pro-Ject enjoys giving every element full expression.  

Should I buy the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo?

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo: Should you buy it?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

First reviewed: October 2020 

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