Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the ‘vinyl revival’ is showing no signs of slowing down. The continued interest in the retro music format has sparked an influx of new turntables from a variety of brands – some of which you’ll find in our guide to the best turntables – while major bands and artists release their albums on vinyl, with exclusive coloured versions now becoming par for the course.
Alongside my role as the home-entertainment expert for TechRadar Australia, I’m also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine, which means I live and breathe hi-fi and all things audio. Naturally, then, my hi-fi system at home includes a turntable, and the JBL Spinner BT is what currently sits atop my hi-fi rack – and with its price currently slashed by 42% at Amazon, I can comfortably recommend you consider placing it on yours, too.
I bought JBL’s fun and funky deck for a number of reasons. Call me vain but I was immediately drawn to its looks. The vast majority of (affordable) turntables are basic black plinths with the record platter on top. With the Spinner BT, JBL has injected some colour, and it’s available in either black and orange, or black and gold. Orange is my favourite colour, so no prizes for guessing which version I have at home.
Secondly, even at its regular RRP of AU$649.95, it can comfortably be called affordable. And now it’s received a huge discount at Amazon, it can be snapped up for AU$379 – or over AU$270 off. Do note though, that this is a Prime-exclusive price. If you don’t have a Prime account – you can sign-up for a free 30-day trial – it’s still affordable at AU$399.
And then of course there’s how it sounds. Once you have it set up – it’s a simple process with a detailed, easy-to-follow set of instructions – it delivers a performance that surpasses what you might expect for the price. It’s a surprisingly revealing turntable, capable of extracting plenty of detail from a record’s grooves.
To get sound from the JBL turntable, you have a number of options. The easiest is to stream wirelessly to a Bluetooth speaker or pair of headphones. The ‘BT’ in the record player’s name indicates its Bluetooth credentials. But it’s also perfectly at home when connected directly to an amplifier and a pair of passive speakers – it has a built-in phono pre-amplifier, meaning you can connect it to virtually any amp you wish (as opposed to a model that has a dedicated phono input).
It’s an accomplished performer, then, and will easily outdo those cheap and cheerful briefcase-style turntables you see in major electronics retailers. If you want to jump onboard the vinyl revival bandwagon, then take it from me – this JBL deck is one of the best (and wallet-friendly) purchases you can make to get up and running.
For more details about this JBL turntable, be sure to check out the full Sound + Image review and view the latest JBL Australia coupon codes for more chances to save.
English (US) ·