Best Turntable 2025: Great vinyl spinners tested and ranked

Rega is responsible for putting out a handful of the best turntables we’ve ever tested. The Rega Planar 3 RS  continue that run with an effort that builds on the foundations of the standard Planar 3, but then throws in more functionality and reduces the price in the process.

At £999, it won’t be for the casual crowd, but for audiophiles, the Rega Planar 3 RS is an absolute gem.

The design is both excellent and elegant. The sleek metal-coated finish draws your attention, and the combination of the glass platter, tonearm and slim plinth had our reviewer humming with praise for its handsome looks. 

When you do get around to playing a track however,long-time Rega founds will find that the turntable sounds like a Rega player ‘should’ but it also sound better than the Planer 3 model, thanks to its excellent dynamics and level punch it extracts from records.

Popping on bombastic songs like No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age, we picked up on terrific dynamic range that gives the track (and ones like it) the intensity required to do it justice.

The performance of the Planar 3 RS the RS comes bundled with the Neo PSU which reduces vibrations that might negatively impact the platter.

Another feature that we love is the new Nd5 moving magnet cartridge which attaches to the end of the tonearm. Rega’s three-bolt attachment system makes it much easier to get to grips with than standard two screw mounts, which in turn makes the process of upgrading down the line to another Nd cartridge a very seamless process.

The Planar 3 RS is an excellent turntable that makes listening to yoru vinyl collection a fun and enjoyable experience. There is competition from the Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2, which is more affordable and a brilliant listen on its own.

We’ve tested plenty of Technics turntables over the years but the SL-1200GR2 is arguably the best model yet in its SL-1200 series that goes back to 1972.

Very little appears to have changed in terms of the design, but why would Technics want to change one of the most iconic looking turntables out there?

It has strobe lighting to confirm that it’s spinning at the right speed, supports 33.3, 48, and 78RPM; and in general it’s very well bolted together. Our reviewer commented that the S-shaped tonearm is one of the nicest looking examples they could remember testing.

It doesn’t come with a phono stage built-in or a phono cartridge pre-installed, so these are areas to resolve before you jump into playing records on it.

The biggest changes we noted have happened inside the player. There’s a new Delta Sigma drive that controls the timing and synchronisation of the electricity hitting the motor, and along with the new revised power supply, the Technics aims to be quieter and less prone to vibration than before.

The performance is one we found to be excellent, with the Technics imbuing records with lots of energy and scale. That’s down to the bass the SL-1200GR2 offers that’s impressive in terms of depth and impact, giving tracks a lively and energetic performance.

And it’s not just tracks bounding with energy that the Technics can describe well, with slower tracks it can reveal all the smaller, more delicate moments, playing at the rhythm of the album itself rather than forcing energy onto the track.

The Technics succeeds by making changes where it needs to, and improving on its well-regarded forbearers to make the SL-1200GR2 one of the most capable all-round turntables Technics has come up with.

After Sony launched the PS-HX500, a record player that delivered on affordability and performance; the PS-LX310BT repeats the trick but adds Bluetooth connectivity to its feature-set.

We’ll admit that it’s not the most visually attractive, and though it is light, the construction is sturdy enough.

Convenience is the main selling point from  setting up the tracking weight, bias and anti-skate all taken off, all you pretty much have to do is place the record on the platter.

It comes with a built-in phono stage so you won’t need to think about adding any external amplification to boost the signal.

If you’re learning about vinyl, this would be a steady option to start with. Then there is the Bluetooth support, with a button to initiate pairing, which allows you to connect to Bluetooth speakers and wireless headphones.

And once it’s up and running it’s a solid performer that favours smoothness. Our reviewer felt it extracted enough detail from vinyl tracks to make for an enjoyable listen. There’s decent heft to the bottom end, and acceptable drive and momentum to the presentation. While we felt the top end of the frequency is played safely, it’s an enjoyable listen.

As as expected, the Sony loses a bit of detail in Bluetooth mode compared to when it is hard-, but at this price it’s an excellent performer and an accessible turntable.

Audio Technica’s AT-LP60XBT offers similar features at a less expensive price. There’s also the Victrola Hi-Res Onyx and JBL BT Spinner, both which are more expensive but  support higher quality Bluetooth in aptX Adaptive and aptX HD respectively.

If you want to take the hard work out of playing records, then an automatic turntable is the way to go.

You’ve got a few choices to pick from but in our minds the Pro-Ject Automat A1 is one of the better choices.

We’ll concede that it’s not perfect. It doesn’t look particularly special, the phono stage control doesn’t look like it’s finished, while it can’t make the most of the dynamic variations in the records our reviewer played. There is a limit to the automatic function, as the A1 won’t play 12-inch records that play at 45RPM.

Despite those limitations, the Pro-Ject puts in an even, balanced, and informative listen with the records that it can play automatically. The low end of the frequency range is described with punch and substance, the top end of bright and crisp in its reproduction, the midrange is coherent and detailed.

You can switch the automatic operation off and use manual, but with this record we found the auto stop/start to a very convenient option.

Another choice at this money is the Rekkord F100, though availability for that money isn’t quite as wide as it is with the Pro-Ject.

The Sound Burger has been around for decades, but the initial launch didn’t go so well. For Audio Technica’s 60th anniversary, they brought the turntable back with modern features such as Bluetooth and USB-C.

Suffice to say, this launch went alot better.

It’s a portable turntable, which is rare in itself. It’s a clever design, though not perfect in some ways, with the transit screw one that’s likely to go missing if you lose track of it.

New features include a new battery which offers 12 hours of battery (though the battery itself charges rather slowly), a 3.5mm to RCA connection (for use), and a Bluetooth 5.2 connection (for wireless flinging your records to a wireless speaker).

We did find that trying to get the turntable to pair with a pair of headphones was a hassle, but connecting to a speaker was easier. Disappointingly there’s no room for Bluetooth streaming higher than SBC.

There is no volume control either, which means it has be done on the speaker (or headphone) you’ve connected to.

Electronic speed control equals 33.3 and 45RPM, while the tonearm is a ATN3600L and with an AT-91 cartridge, which are easy enough to replace if they wear out or get damaged.

It performs well for a turntable of its size, with a enegertic sound that’s capable of showcasing plenty of speed and agility where it’s needed. Where it is weakest is with the low frequencies, but you can make up that shortfall by pairing it with a bass-heavy speaker (or headphone).

When products are too cheap to be true, you tend to think the worse but that shouldn’t be applied to the Majority Moto in our view.

If you’re interested in vinyl but can’t spare the cash, the Mojo is a very affordable entry path into the world of vinyl records.

The Majority Moto is smaller than most record players, which will help for those tight on space, and build quality is decent too, with a small dust cover included and the chassis featuring built-in speakers.

It’s not quite as modern as we’d like it to be, the more expensive JBL BT Spinner is an example of how to make a turntable feel modern and fresh.

It comes attached with an Audio-Technica cartridge that’s a solid and reliable performer and easy to buy a replacement stylus for. While you can play sound from the built-in speakers, there’s Bluetooth streaming to beam audio to a Bluetooth speaker or wireless headphone of your choice.

You can plug in a headphone through the connection and an RCA connection on the rear allows for an amplifier and powered speaker to be added to the Moto.

There’s even a built-in phono stage so you won’t need to add external amplification (unless you already have one). You can also rip your vinyl files to your computer if you want a digital copy.

Our reviewer found that there is a limit to the Moto’s playback performance. Its speed stability is not always the most consistent, and it can create noise when it’s spinning too much.

But all that said, the Majority is capable of a fun, enjoyable sound, which gets better depending on the device you connect it with. It’s fairly limited on the bass front, so consider partnering it with a speaker or headphone with a bigger bass performance for a more engaging performance.