Both models have built-in stereo speakers, a headphone jack, an auxiliary line input to connect other audio sources, and analog audio outputs for connecting to an external stereo system. For the home model, I selected the Victrola Plaza, which has Bluetooth and an FM radio built in. The portable I chose is the Crosley Cruiser, which includes a built-in Bluetooth receiver and is available in 24 colors and finishes (including, not surprisingly, a Star Wars theme).

To put the cost of these players in perspective, consider that the least expensive vinyl playback system you could assemble from Wirecutter picks-a U-Turn Orbit Basic turntable combined either with a Sony STR-DH190 stereo receiver and a pair of Q Acoustics 3020i bookshelf speakers or with Klipsch R-51PM powered speakers (which have a phono input)-would cost more than $500.

But could they at least provide some fun for a vinyl newbie? To find out, I tried models representative of the two basic types of cheap turntables: portable models costing about $50 to $60 and home models costing $100 or less.

I used to review turntables for Sound & Vision magazine, so I knew that today’s ubiquitous cheap record players couldn’t match the sound quality of my high-end turntable. But then I remembered the experience that originally awakened my passion for music: listening to a scratchy copy of Led Zeppelin II handed down by an older cousin, played on a Sears Silvertone record player that I had used mostly for records featuring the likes of Batman and the Peter Pan Pop Band & Singers. As a devoted audiophile, I had been as disinterested in cheap record players as a fishing enthusiast would be in an R2-D2 spinning reel. When a Wirecutter reader recently asked this question, I couldn’t answer. With some models priced below the cost of an audiophile-grade record, the budding vinylphile has to wonder: Do these things sound okay? Or more to the point, do they even work? Vinyl record sales have grown at double-digit annual rates since 2006, and as a result you can find inexpensive record players at music stores, department stores, and even fashion outlets.

Players Pictorial Magazine Models