Making a big purchase can feel a little daunting, especially if you’re in the market for an unusual or specific item. In particular, shopping for record players can leave shoppers a little uneasy. Record players are not available everywhere anymore and they are highly specialized technical devices. You want something that suits your price range, plays sweet music, and fits into your space. The following will explore the different things you need to keep in mind when you’re considering buying a record player.

Figure Out Where You’re Going To Keep It

There are slender, space-efficient record players available, but don’t be fooled—a record player requires some degree of space. Decide where you’re going to keep your record player before you start shopping and devote a few minutes to measuring the space. There are some mighty record players available in the world—it’s best to figure out how big you can go before you start shopping.

Think About Colour And Design

While not the most important factor when looking into a record player, this is likely a purchase you’re going to keep around for a while. Taking into consideration the color and design of the space around your record player will help you make your final decisions between your top three or four players. You want something that matches the vibe of your space—something that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. There are retro-design record players available, but also more modern styles to choose from.

Understand Your Price Range

This is a big one. A record player can be the center of a room. It can provide you hours upon hours of joy. But if you’re frustrated with yourself for overspending on it, you’re not going to be able to enjoy it as much. Decide in advance how much you’re willing to spend and stick to it. You’ll have more fun with your record player if you don’t regret buying it.

Consider The Different Features You Want

Nowadays, record players come with many more features than in previous eras. Experts at toprecordplayers.com/best-record-player/ emphasize that it is completely normal to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options for record players. You might find one that plays records, CDs, cassettes, digital music, and radio—or a combination of some or all of these things. There are record players with speakers and a variety of ports (USB, headphones…etc). Think about how you most commonly ingest music and make sure that the players you are looking at work with how you listen to music.

Sound Quality

We saved the big one for the end. Of course, when choosing a record player you want something that produces high-quality sound. To better determine this, make sure that you pay attention to online reviews for the different record players you are considering. It might also be worth watching some video reviews—often the reviewers play music from the players in the video so you will be able to gain a tangible understanding of the sound that each player produces.

Beyond this, if you ultimately decide to go with a record player with digital music features, make sure to take some time to figure out the best settings for sound quality. Different devices require different preferences enabled for optimal sound quality. It only takes a few moments of online research to discover how to alter the preferences of different digital music players to suit your new record player. You might be surprised to learn how much better things can sound.

Take Your Time

When we’re about to make new purchases, many of us are excited to have our shiny new thing at home. Fight the urge to buy the first player that seems to meet your needs. Make sure you have an understanding of what’s available to you before you decide. Besides, you might discover that a different retailer offers the player you wanted for a better price anyway. There’s never anything wrong with taking your time to make a decision, especially one that involves the purchase of an item you plan on keeping around long-term.

With the above tips kept in mind, you are well on your way to choosing the best record player for you and your music listening needs. When you bring your new player home, be sure to be considerate of your neighbors and keep the volume at a reasonable level in the evenings—we know it can be tempting to turn something up full blast. As well, if you’re shopping for a shared home, it never hurts to ask the other people you live with which design they prefer.