Best Record Player Turntable and Bluetooth Speaker Combination

lisakunkel • Mar 19, 2024

How I Went Through 3 Different Ones...

In my youth, I was an avid music fan.  Avid, is actually an understatement.  Music was my life!  I played musical instruments, worked at a music store, and listened to music until I fell asleep every night.  I was actually on my way to becoming a professional musician when I realized that professional symphony musicians (at the time) barely made enough money to survive.  I re-thought my career choice, and switched my major to computer science.  My circle of friends were musicians so a typical weekend would include rousing games of UNO with cold beer and a back drop of music coming from the turntable. We knew every song by the introductory notes!

 Changing college major from music to computer science, coupled with the advent of CD's marked the end of my love affair with records. Like everyone else, I evolved and embraced the new digital music technology.  I entered into corporate America as a programmer, and bought each new digital music gadget as it came out.

Now... Fast forward a couple of decades, and I am longing for the evenings of my youth spent listening to melodic compositions from a classic turntable, rather than trying to choose the least worst TV program to watch.  Is anyone with me on that?


So my quest began for a simple turntable that would play some of my old albums and not become a huge project of surround sound implementation.


The Victrola Eastwood Turntable with built-in speaker and bluetooth

I started with a Victrola Eastwood . It is inexpensive and I liked the compact size of the unit and the fact that it was just plug and play.  I was so excited to finally hear some of the old albums that I had kept for so many years.  The issue with this player is that the speaker is not very good.  It had a fairly 'tinny' sound to it which at first was nostalgic, but after awhile, I was hoping for a little better sound output.  I ordered an inexpensive bluetooth speaker and tried to pair it with the Victrola and that is where my poor record player met it's demise!  The bluetooth connectivity was broken.  I tried everything, and finally packed it up and returned it to the store.  It was a good try, but no dice!



The RetroLife Belt-Drive Record Player with Wireless Output Connectivity


After that mis-adventure, I decided to look up reviews and ratings on the internet.  I settled on a nice looking model by RetroLife that was well reviewed.  It included Bluetooth technology as well as a balancing counter-weight on the arm and an advanced audio technica cartridge head. In addition to the turntable, we decided(yes, now my husband is invested in this quest) to buy a different bluetooth speaker.  We found an off brand bluetooth speaker with output that rivals the top namebrand speakers that rhyme with 'nose'.  They are waterproof, wireless, and super high fidelity.   "That sounds fantastic! I'll take it!"  Better yet, both would be delivered the very next day! What an amazing world we live in today.


With great curiosity and anticipation, we waited for our delivery. 

The turntable looked amazing with a very high gloss wood base and stainless steel accents.  It was easy to put together, but we had to fiddle with the process to calibrate the counterweight mechanism on the needle arm. 

The instructions were accurate and we were able to do it, but it slowed down the process of being able to jam out to VanHalen again.


On a side note, the bluetooth speaker we ordered was by ANKER SoundCore.  It was simple to operate and a 10/10 as far as sound and volume goes.  This is a stellar choice for someone who wants worry free, high-quality bluetooth sound.


We could never really enjoy our records on this combination of turntable and speaker because every record skipped frequently.  There is nothing worse than thinking you are going to listen to an album, only to have to run back into the room to gently move the needle past a skip! 

When I say we tried, I mean we tried every which way known to man to adjust the record player but we could never get it adjusted so that it would play even a single track without skipping!


So back in the box, went turntable number 2, and our quest continued.  The bluetooth speaker by Anker SoundCore was a keeper though so at least we had that part figured out. 




The Final Choice was an Audio Technica Turntable with Bluetooth output and the Anker SoundCore speaker


I am kind of laughing at myself as I write this blog article because it took 3 tries to find the right turntable.  I only hope that by sharing this experience, I can help someone else just cut to the chase!

When we were faced with having to pick another turntable, I was definite that it would have a pre-balanced needle arm that I did NOT have to fiddle with!

The RetroLife turntable did have an Audio Technica cartridge which was a premium item, and we had heard of the brand before so we decided to take another shot at this and order the Audio Technica Model AT-LP60XBT. 


TaDa! This one is the ONE!  I can authoritatively say that this record player and speaker combo is what I recommend for anyone who is wanting to get into playing vinyl albums again without breaking the bank.  The needle is pre-balanced and adjusted so that you simply set up the turntable and start playing your records.  The sound is excellent coming from the Anker speaker, and none of the albums have skipping issues.  I am not an 'expert', so I am sure there are some out there who might find fault with this set up.  For what I was looking for, this checks all the boxes.  It is compact so I don't need a large stereo cabinet, it is easy to use and reliable, and it sounds fantastic!




This is my recommended combination of best turntable bluetooth speaker combo

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