If you want to venture into vinyl or rekindle a long-dormant music collection, then you need to set up a turntable that will work great for you. If you are new to vinyl, turntable setup for beginners is straightforward.
You will need essential components to set up a turntable to get started with your listening experience. However, your setup will be determined by the kind of music experience you are looking forward to. The guide below will take you through the process of creating your perfect turntable.
Let’s dive in!
What You Will Need
- Turntable
- Amplifier
- Speakers
- Preamplifier
Common Turntable Setup for Beginners
1. Turntable and Powered Speakers Setup
This is our first beginner turntable setup with a turntable and powered speakers. If you have a turntable with an inbuilt preamp, connect it to your powered speakers through an RCA cable. The speakers must have their integrated amplifiers, so you don’t need other setup components.
This is the most effortless beginner turntable setup and is perfect for people with smaller spaces. Remember, not all turntables have inbuilt preamps, so if you are to go with this setup, ensure your turntable has an inbuilt preamp.
2. Turntable, A/V Receiver, and Passive Speakers
This is one of the most common turntable setups for beginners who love vinyl sounds. Just plug your turntable with an inbuilt preamp to the receiver using an RCA cable. Next, plug your A/V receiver into two or more speakers.
With this setup, you can plug your turntable into an existing multipurpose speaker like the home theater. Some A/V receivers come with an inbuilt preamp; hence you can use a turntable without the inbuilt preamp. You can connect a turntable with an A/V receiver with an inbuilt preamp.
3. Turntable, Preamp, and Powered Speakers
If you decide to go with this setup, you will add a preamp to the setup components. With this setup, you can achieve a customized sound, plus you will remove more electronics from the turntable signal path to have a cleaner signal.
Since you are working with a separate preamp, you will need to add a grounding wire from your turntable and another from the preamp to the speakers. This way, you will avoid any humming or buzzing noise.
You can create this setup with turntables without an inbuilt preamp or a turntable with a phono stage to bypass the inbuilt preamp.
4. Turntable and Bluetooth Speaker
You can also use a turntable and a Bluetooth speaker for a turntable setup for beginners. You connect your turntable with a wireless speaker and an RCA male to a 3.5mm stereo female adapter. This is possible if you want the speakers in different spots without connecting using cables.
However, with this type of setup, the wireless audio might not meet the high-quality audio from the vinyl due to the wireless compression. Otherwise, this is a simple and quick turntable setup for beginners.
5. Turntable, Preamp, A/V Receiver and Passive Speakers
This kind of setup involves separate components. However, this kind of turntable setup allows for customization and upgrade of the systems. You can upgrade or replace specific setup components to achieve your desired sound performance with this setup.
6. Turntable and Standalone Speaker (Wired RCA to aux Connection)
This type of setup is the same as that of a powered speaker and turntable. The difference is that this one is a more compact setup. Unfortunately, with this kind of turntable setup, you cannot achieve a good stereo separation in the sound stage.
Do I Need an AMP With a Turntable?
If your turntable has an inbuilt preamp and powered speakers, then yes, you need an amplifier.
However, if your speakers are passive, you will need a separate amplifier. And if your turntable does not have an inbuilt preamp, you will need a phono input on your amplifier or speaker or have a separate preamplifier.
Can You Connect Your Phone to a Turntable?
You only need a phono preamp and a Bluetooth transmitter to connect the signal from your turntable through Bluetooth. However, if your turntable has an inbuilt preamp, you just need to connect your turntable’s RCA output to the transmitter.
Does Turntable Sound Better Than a CD?
Technically, a digital CD’s audio quality is clearer than a vinyl’s. This is because CDs have better signals than that noise, and there is less hissing interference and turntable rubbing.
Ultimate Thoughts
The turntable setup for beginners is as easy as that. The world of listening to vinyl sound records is very interesting and worth trying. Now that you know how to set up a turntable and the essential components needed, why not get started and enjoy the warm and quiet vinyl sounds?
