What Record Player Should I Buy My Tween?
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It’s no secret that we’re living in the age of New Vinyl. Kids are digging record players out of their parents’ attics, tween-y retailers likeUrban Outfittershave dozens of turntables to choose from, and to top it all off, it feels like every artist — from Sabrina Carpenter and Tate McRae toTaylor Swift— has released at least one limited-edition vinyl. (In fact, Swift has released 11 vinyl variants for her most recent album, theLife of a Showgirl, many of which sold out within a few hours.) So what’s a curious tween, whose earliest exposure to music was iTunes, to do? Put a record player on their Christmas list, of course.
The vinyl community is notoriously, well, opinionated. So it can be easy to get overwhelmed by all the details online about the best needles, speaker set-ups, and Bluetooth-compatible systems. To help break it all down, I spoke to some record-store owners, parents who have already surprised their child with a record player, and a few kids who have them on their list. The system you decide on ultimately comes down to your budget and how committed you think your child will be to their new hobby. I’ve broken down my recommendations below.
All-in-one systems are the cheapest option
The vinyl revival has become synonymous with small, suitcase-style record players that include everything you need to play music, from built-in speakers to Bluetooth compatibility, except for the vinyl itself. I’ve heard from a few teens, including New York–based 16-year-old Michelle, that it’s the model on their wish list. “A lot of record players don’t really look that good, but this one looks really cool,” she says. It’s true — the record player, with its colorful andpatternedexteriors, is arguably cuter than your average, but it’s ultimately a starter model that you’ll need to replace if your tween becomes a bona fide vinyl person.
This all comes down to the built-in speakers that live at the bottom of the system and vibrate when in use. “If the turntable is bouncing or moving, then you run the risk that the needle is not going to stay in the groove,” meaning it’ll skip, says Trevor Toppen, the owner ofVal’s Halla Records. To the untrained ear of a 13-year-old, that might not matter; my sister Sophie, now 14, told me she didn’t mind the quality on her Crosley record player until our mom said something about it. Still, Toppen says, “We actually sell more turntables in January than we do in December. The reason is that people — maybe a relative gets them a turntable for a present and they get a few records — come back to us, and they bring the records back and say, ‘The record is defective. It skips.’ It turns out that it’s just a low-quality turntable.”
The decision to upgrade to one of the pricier options below comes down to how much you’re willing to spend nowanddown the line. If you think your tween or teen will be into vinyl for the long run, I’d say it’s worth skipping the Crosley system altogether and starting with the speakers-and-turntable setups below that every expert I spoke to mentioned as a nice option for beginners. But if you’re unsure if this interest will stick, the Crosley will do just fine. As my mom told me, “I think Sophie had to live with the reality of a record player before she upgraded.”
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Most experts recommend starting with an Audio-Technica or Angels Horn
The jump from an all-in-one record player to a system with a separate turntable and set of speakers is considerable in price, but as Lori Williams, theAmoeba Hollywoodgear buyer, says, “You really do get what you pay for.” Whether you upgrade to the Audio-Technica or Angels Horn option below — both of which came up multiple times in my conversations with record enthusiasts — there will be a “remarkable difference in sound” quality thanks to the higher-quality needle, Toppen says. While the plastic needle on the Crosley can make the record sound tinny, the Audio-Technica and Angels Horn needles will give the record a fuller, richer sound.
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Now, when deciding between the Audio-Technica and the Angels Horn (below), you’ll need to figure out how technical your tween would like to get. Similar to the Crosley above, none of the pieces in an Audio-Technica are interchangeable. That results in an easier setup, but it also means that if your teen decides that they’d like to upgrade specific parts of their record player in a few years for better sound quality, you’ll have to buy them a whole new turntable. That’ll be an extra cost down the road, but it’ll save you the headache of helping them figure out how to use a counterweight now (more on that later).
The Audio-Technica comes in a Bluetooth-compatible version and a non-Bluetooth version. If you think your teen will want to use their turntable with wireless headphones, then the bluetooth-enabled version is a good pick. Either way, the setup on this turntable will be relatively uncomplicated, and it’s a solid option with above-average sound quality.
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If you’re shopping for a tween who’s serious about their music — and who you think will use their turntable for years to come — you’ll want to consider Angels Horn. Unlike the Audio-Technica, which has a fixed setup, the Angels Horn turntable can be upgraded part by part, most importantly with new needles (which are technically called a stylus) and cartridges, the piece that holds the needle. With that customizability comes a slightly more complicated setup on day one because of an additional part called a counterweight, a rotating piece that will need to be adjusted to make sure the needle is pressing down on the record with the correct amount of force. (Each cartridge should come with a corresponding tracking force number you should refer to when adjusting the counterweight.) My sister, who has the Angels Horn, was able to figure it out with the help of our parents, but it’s a challenge worth considering.
Then you’ll need to add some speakers
To get the best bang for your buck, Williams, Toppin, and Parker all recommended getting a speaker set that you can both plug your record player into and connect to your phone via Bluetooth when you want to use, say, Spotify or Apple Music. And while they don’t recommend connecting the turntable to the speakers via Bluetooth since it compresses the record quality, these speakers still offer that capability if your child finds cords confusing.
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Don’t forget to teach them how to take care of their records
Listening to records “really is a hobby. It’s an activity and that’s kind of part of the joy of it. It’s something that you invest in. It’s something that you take care of,” Williams says. So she recommends getting a cleaning kit from GrooveWasher that includes everything your child will need to clean the needle and dust the records, from a stylus brush to gentle cleaning fluids for your stylus and records to absorbent cleaning pads.
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A few records from tween-loved artists
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