Please add to this with suggestions—especially for different parts of the world.
Turntable enthusiasts aren’t being snobby when they tell you to stay away from the “all-in-one” and Crosley devices that are just junk and all made using the cheap mechanism to avoid. They won’t ruin your records right away, but the stylus is rated for a very short play-time, and you shouldn’t play records with worn out styluses. More importantly, they often have playback problems, and there are no adjustments you can make.
We don’t want you to waste your money or give it to the companies trying to rip you off.
For not much more you can get an acceptable new turntable (suggestions in this thread). If you’re willing to learn a bit and search for deals, there are great turntables from the 70s-90s that require very little service to get up and running and will last you as long as you need it—or until you decide to save for a higher priced turntable.
The Audio-Technica AT-LP60X (and it’s variants) is the absolute cheapest turntable worth buying new that isn’t a rip-off. You can even get a deal at outlet.audio-technica.com by buying factory refurbished units. The deals there change daily, so check on it often. You can even sometimes find great deals on models that are a step or two above the AT-LP60X.
It’s automatic, so it moves the tonearm and sets it for you when you press play, and it returns the tonearm and stops when it reaches the end of the side of the record.
It has nothing to adjust. This is a bonus if you just want to plug it in and start spinning records. It’s a problem if you have issues with playback from (for example) warped records.
Tip: Make sure to use a level when setting it up.
It has a decent cartridge and replaceable/upgradable stylus. It has a built-in preamp, so you won’t need to shop for one. You can also select “phono out” on the back of the AT-LP60X if you want to connect it to your receiver’s “phono in” to use its built-in preamp or to connect it to an external preamp.
To hear your music, you will need either powered speakers (with a built-in amp) or a receiver/amp and passive speakers.
On Reddit today, u/Pas444 asked:
Crosley etc…
I see the Crosley briefcase players get a lot of flack on here can anyone recommend something along the same sort of design or an alternative with decent sound quality?? Im not a massive vinyl head and only have a small collection so I cant justify spending top whack on a decent set up
I haven’t got a clue about any of this bollocks so please be gentle
Here was my reply:
If you’re worried about wasting money, the suitcase/Crosley “turntables” are a rip-off regardless of whether they’ll damage your records.
Cheapest actual turntable: AT-LP60X factory refurbished from https://outlet.audio-technica.com/catalog/category/view/id/1115/?product_list_order=name ($100)
Next lowest price Audio-Technica automatic turntable is the AT-LP3 ($200)
For manual turntables, the lowest price Audio-Technica is the AT-LPW30 ($200)
Next lowest price Audio-Technica manual turntable is the AT-LP120X ($400)
If you’re looking for something portable, the Audio-Technica Sound Burger is the only modern option that’s acceptable: https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-sb727 ($200). But it’s an oddball.
These prices and stock fluctuate, so check the outlet often and if you shop on Amazon, you can get alerts from https://camelcamelcamel.com/
There are other brands/turntables near these prices, so this list is just to help you compare features/prices. If you’re willing to do some learning, and keep an eye out in local stores and online, you can get a way better turntable made in the 80s-90s for the same price (or even luck out and get one for $11 like a recent post in this sub).