What's the skinny on bluetooth turntables?

[wt21]

For you audio fans out there, a question.

My impression of audio over bluetooth is that it likely really stinks. This is only based on stuff I read a few years ago when audio over BT first emerged. I'm assuming/guessing it might have improved by now?

I still prefer wires, etc. BUT reading about BT turntables has caught my attention.

For various reasons not worth getting into, having a BT turntable would be really neat in terms of convenience, but not if the audio quality stinks.

So, as an audio FAN (not an audio PHILE), how would audio over BT work? I guess I should also look up the range of BT. Maybe it wouldn't carry far enough. Is there such a thing as audio over wifi??

Thanks for any help/pointers/experiences/thoughts, etc.

 

[Ray Sachs]

I haven't read anything about specific components using bluetooth to connect to an amp or whatever, but audio over wifi can be damn good (again, for an audio FAN, but not PHILE). I have a Sonos system in my home that's not as good as the best wired speakers I've ever had, but it's pretty damn good, and the convenience is overwhelming. I have speakers in four rooms (stereo pairs in a couple) that get their signal via wi-fi and that I can control in any combination from a smartphone, tablet, Mac, or whatever. I'm pretty sure that Bose and others offer similar wireless systems, but I think Sonos is a pretty strong market leader at this point. I use it with streaming services, online radio, and some online audio files. But mostly streaming, so the source may be a weaker link than the wi-fi signal...

In terms of bluetooth, things are getting much better there too. I have bluetooth headphones that are quite good and bluetooth earbuds that are great for the gym although the sound isn't as good as the over the ear phones. I have a bluetooth speaker that's nothing to write home about - I listen to podcasts on it more than music, though, so it's fine for my purposes, but it's also a pretty basic one. I've read that some companies are starting to make really good ones.

So sound over bluetooth and wi-fi can be pretty good, but I'm not sure about a bluetooth turntable. What would it connect to wirelessly? An amplifier? Straight to a smartphone? Hadn't given something like that a moment's thought before...

-Ray

 

[wt21]

Thanks Ray.

BT turntable should connect to BT speakers, from what I've read, but as one of the joys of listening to the turntable is the analog fidelity (both sounds, as well as the pops, etc.) if the sound ends up getting muddied, then I guess I can just play compressed mp3s and get the same effect, lol.

I have heard about Sonos. I'm assuming you can control each pair independently?

 

[Luke]

my 2 cents (and that's truly all it's worth) is that turntables should really only be used for extreme high fidelity uses. This isn't some sort of high brow audio thing. If anything, it is to the contrary (and keep in mind that this statement is coming from a guy that makes his living selling records).

There is nearly limitless amounts of good-sounding music floating through the air (or internet) for free (or $10 a month). TO ME, the only reason to even consider the hassle (or joy) of owning a turntable is to listen to something that is not available streaming (and in that case, ultimate sound quality is less important) or because the analog sound is preferable to what one can get via streaming.

So the RIGHT question for you to ask might be "why do I like playing records"....... or "can I get better sound of my favorite artists using a different type of playback system than I currently use". I remember you sharing a photo of a cool-looking rig playing an old 78rpm disc (at least I think it was you).... if that is your main diet of music and format, the bluetooth won't degrade the sound enough for you to care. And if quality is your main concern, all that music is available streaming...and without the hassle of the turntable.

So if you like USING the turntable....go for it....get a bluetooth one.... the sound quality will be slightly degraded, but there is better sound available in other ways for less money.

Again, this is just my 2 cents. And I understand that there can be some pleasure in the format of one's choice separate from the actual sound quality (which is why there are tons of people buying cheapo turntables and expensive new records to play on them).

 

[wt21]

Thanks Luke, and yeah, I agree with you. My 1950s all-in-one RCA is great with period records, but fails on bass-y 1970s stuff, of which I have some. The idea of bluetooth quick and easy was attractive, but I think I'd lose too much of the audio experience.

 

[Ray Sachs]

Thanks Ray.

BT turntable should connect to BT speakers, from what I've read, but as one of the joys of listening to the turntable is the analog fidelity (both sounds, as well as the pops, etc.) if the sound ends up getting muddied, then I guess I can just play compressed mp3s and get the same effect, lol.

I have heard about Sonos. I'm assuming you can control each pair independently?

Interesting, so it's the same as sending a signal from an iPhone to a BT speaker, but it's playing the phonograph as well. Well, the BT turntable is gonna have to convert the sound from analog to digital to send it and then it's limited to the BT signal, so I'd guess you'd lose whatever "organic" thing you get from playing an analog source before you'd ever hear it. Reminds me of my Grateful Dead tape trading days. In the analog days, Nakamichi tape decks were considered the gold standard for copying tapes. Then when digital taping started (still tape cassettes, but digital), those tapes could be copied to other digital media with theoretically no loss of fidelity. But some of the purists insisted on taping from digital to an analog Nak because they were sure it was adding some of that analog magic back in. But they were starting with a digital source! Such ridiculousness!

Yeah, each Sonos speaker can be controlled individually or combined however you want. If I was having a party (which I never do anymore), I'd have the same music plying on all of them. If I'm in my office, I'll just play the stereo pair of speakers in there. If I'm on our main floor and want to listen to music, I'll play a stereo pair in the kitchen and the sound-bar under the TV in the living room (all one big space). If my wife's in the kitchen she can be listening to one thing down there and I can listen to something completely different in our bedroom or my office. We long since got rid of all of our records and tapes and CDs and get by fine on a diet of audio files and streaming and the convenience of a Sonos system makes me almost break out laughing anytime I use it. My ears are too shot to appreciate true high fidelity anyway and all I've really cared about was the sound being good enough that it didn't get in way of the music, which almost any modern gear is capable of. And hell, in the days of transistor AM radios, records were mixed to sound best on the crappy gear that was around then anyway, so hi-fi for anything but classical music on Deutsch Gramophone records was really kind of a waste until maybe the late 60's or early '70s or so. A time I remember all too clearly! Once rock was being played on FM stations, they started paying a lot more attention to fidelity for popular music than they ever had before...

-Ray