As the vinyl resurgence continues to boom, we’ve seen more and more companies begin to innovate their turntable offerings to make them less intimidating for beginners and more convenient to use with existing speaker setups. In this article, we will take a look at the new Victrola Stream Sapphire Turntable, which we think will be a very interesting option for those with Sonos systems or other WiFi-enabled speakers. We’ll dive into all of the features and help you decide if this is the right turntable for your vinyl journey.

But before we begin, if you’re new to the world of vinyl, we recommend you check out our Turntable Buyer’s Guide, which covers everything you need to know for beginners and advanced users to get the most out of your vinyl experience. It will also help you understand the features we will discuss about the Victrola Stream Sapphire turntable in this article.

Victrola History

Victrola was born in 1906 in Camden, NJ, then known as Victor Talking Machine Company. At the time, Victrola was the largest turntable manufacturer and was known for its impeccable build quality and unique styling. Victrola eventually changed its name to Victor(RCA), which went on to design other household entertainment electronics and enjoyed decades of success.

Victrola is a name that awakens memories, from collectors finding and collecting these unique machines to music lovers looking to get a blast from the past in their music playing. These machines showcase masterful build quality and design that is still sought after today by many collectors and music lovers.

As music itself is constantly changing, Victrola has changed over the years with growing technology and tastes. With the new resurgence in vinyl playback, Victrola is designing turntables that evoke memories of the early record machines while offering technologies and features that today’s music-loving public wants.

High-End Turntables & Network Audio

There are many different types of music lovers. Some are content with just their phones and Bluetooth headphones, while others crave the tactile experience of handling their music. This is where vinyl shines. Vinyl offers a true analog experience, from removing the record from its sleeve to placing it on the platter and lowering the needle. Many cherish the warm, inviting sound that well-recorded vinyl produces.

However, some music enthusiasts hesitate to get into vinyl because they fear needing expensive equipment and complicated setups. But when they look at the all-in-one turntable options on the market, most of them lack quality and, in some cases, could even damage their records. In addition, many people today opt for easy-to-use systems like Sonos, which uses a wireless network to deliver high-quality sound in different rooms throughout their homes. So, those looking for a quality turntable and want the option to integrate it with their wireless systems, are left with few options.

The Victrola Stream Carbon is an excellent turntable that allows you to hook up to a more traditional stereo system with RCA cables to get the full analog experience and connect directly to your Sonos speakers to stream your vinyl if you want to hear it in a different room, or even all around your house. But what if you don’t use Sonos, want to pair up with Wi-Fi-enabled speakers, or just desire a better-looking turntable with higher-end components? Victrola’s brand-new Stream Sapphire might just be the perfect solution for you. Let’s take a look at what it’s capable of.

Meet The Solution

The Victrola Stream Sapphire turntable stands out as a true high-end option, designed to bring out the best in your vinyl records. Like its predecessor, the Victrola Stream Carbon, it’s built with Sonos integration in mind and has RCA jacks for a true analog connection. However, the Stream Sapphire takes connectivity a step further by allowing you to stream to any UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) point in your home. This means you can use any streamer, AVR, or WiFi speaker that supports UPnP network audio, making it easier than ever to enjoy your vinyl collection around your house.

Let’s look at how we think many people will set this up. While you don’t need any speakers to be connected via wires, that is the only way to give you the true analog experience, so we’d recommend using cables if possible if you have speakers nearby. But imagine you have a pair of WiFi speakers spread far apart in one room where running wires would be a pain. Or a pair of KEF LS60s in a separate room or an Eversolo A6 in a system not nearby your turntable. With the Stream Sapphire, you can stream to any of your WiFi speakers or streamers anywhere in your home. Even if your turntable is set up in the living room, and you want to listen to vinyl in the kitchen, bedroom, or throughout the entire house all at once, the Stream Sapphire makes this possible.

Victrola is also currently working with Roon to make the Sapphire Roon Ready this year. This will allow the Sapphire to connect directly to Roon and play to any Roon endpoint (please note: Roon will not show playback data due to record's analog nature. The Sapphire also has an ethernet port for a more stable wired connection if desired, which is recommended by Victrola if playing in lossless FLAC to UPnP and Roon.

Victrola App

One of our favorite experiences with the Sapphire turntable is its well-built, useful, and snappy app with a beautiful UI. Victrola includes the Victrola Stream App for iOS and Android, which walks you through the setup procedures and allows you to make turntable adjustments and control your wireless playback right from the app. It is excellent that Victrola included this, as it makes setup more manageable and gives users real-time access to make adjustments. Plus, the app will allow Victrola to make firmware updates and provide it with futureproofing that is not found in many analog products. This ensures that as technology changes, Victrola can update firmware without forcing you to invest in a completely new turntable

VINYLSTREAM WiFi Technology

As we mentioned before, the Sapphire can now stream to your WiFi speakers and network-enabled products. They call this their VINYLSTREAM WiFi. This technology allows it to stream to most UPnP network-enabled streaming products in full 24-bit/48kHz quality. The built-in wireless card is compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, so any router is compatible. You can stream to speakers, A/V receivers, HiFi streamers, smart TVs, and more! This opens up so many possibilities for using the Stream Sapphire with many network audio products on the market. (Please note: 24-bit/48kHz playback depends on the capabilities of the partnering equipment.)

A High-End Turntable At Heart

The Victrola Stream Sapphire has the same overall look as the more affordable Carbon turntable and the same robust low resonance MDF plinth. But it replaces the satin black on the plinth with natural walnut wood veneer. And yes, this is real wood, so it not only looks and feels incredible when you’re up close to the turntable, but it will also match the higher-end decor in your home.

The high-quality aluminum front panel from the Carbon remains. It also includes another new feature, which is the height-adjustable feet with sound-dampening built-in for easy table leveling and vibration isolation. If you’re just getting into vinyl, this is extremely important because it’s crucial to get your turntable as level as possible and have as much isolation from vibrations to get the best sound possible. Small upgrades like these new feet are what help put this turntable in a higher class than the Carbon.

The illuminated volume knob on the front flashes green during setup and then turns solid white, so you know you are properly connected, similar to a Sonos product. If your speakers don’t have a physical volume knob or you simply don’t want to use an app to change the volume, we found this to be a welcomed feature that isn’t seen on most turntables.

Victrola has also included a dust cover that sits on top of your table to protect it while not in use. And it’s not like other covers where it attaches to the back and folds down. Instead, it sits on the platter to protect it and extends over the tonearm, too. While we like how it can easily be taken off and doesn’t force you to attach it to the table, some people will prefer the way others will fold down and up so they don’t have to find a place to put the cover while using the turntable.

Additionally, to increase accuracy, Victrola added an internal servo control for the brushless motor that the Carbon and Sapphire share. This servo also allows the motor to produce more torque, allowing faster spin-ups and heavier record weights. This servo constantly monitors the motor and makes corrections to keep speeds locked down and accurate.

It is a two-speed belt-driven turntable, so you also have a switch for 33 ⅓ and 45 RPM. We also found the platter to feel really solid and thought the silicon slip mat was quite premium, too!

The Stream Sapphire has the same excellent carbon fiber tonearm as the Stream Carbon. This tonearm has a carbon fiber shaft and a fully detachable custom-designed headshell. Removing the headshell makes changing cartridges or making adjustments much easier than with a fixed headshell. This tonearm also features an adjustable counterweight with Prefixed alignment guides from the factory for easy setup. The Stream Sapphire has a premounted Ortofon Blue cartridge, which is very well-reviewed. But the great thing about that is this opens up users to the whole Ortofon 2M family of cartridges. From the Ortofon Red to the well-regarded Ortofon Black. In fact, we have an entire series overview of the Oroton 2M series cartridges that can help you decide which one is best for you if you decide to make an upgrade in the future.

Ortofon 2M Phono Cartridges Series Overview

Like the Stream Carbon, the Stream Sapphire also has RCA line-level outputs on its back panel. These outputs already go through the phono preamplifier built into the Stream Sapphire, so they are ready to use with any analog input. The phono preamp (or phono stage) takes the very low signal from your cartridge and amplifies it so that your receiver or amplifier can accept the signal. Since the phono preamp is already built into the Sapphire, you don’t need to worry about shopping for one to connect it to amplify the sound. We will also note that the built-in phono preamp in the Sapphire cannot be bypassed, which we don’t see as a big issue unless you’re set on using your own phono preamp or want to upgrade to another in the future. But for the majority of people who want the Sapphire for the extreme ease of use, the internal one will work great!

For users who want to use the RCA outputs and the network audio together, there are settings in the Victrola app that allow you to set priority output, whether it's the network or RCA output option. Also, you can adjust the RCA output playback delay so that its output is the same as the network audio output. This is extremely helpful as all network audio has some latency. So, if you have a higher-end two-channel setup and want to have it hardwired to your system but still be able to play simultaneously to the rest of your home system, the Sapphire has you covered!

Easy Setup!

Victrola wanted the Stream series of turntables to have high-end performance but also be easy to set up and live with. After unboxing the turntable, you will follow the instructions to attach the headshell, the platter and the mat, and then plug it in and download the Victrola app. The app will walk you through the steps to adjust your counterbalance to the predetermined lines and then get it paired up with your network. You can then select if you want to use it on your Sonos system or other compatible speakers and even set certain speakers as your default ones. Once you’re set up, you can simply pick up the tonearm, the record will automatically start spinning, and you can drop it down to begin listening on the default speakers you’ve selected. You can adjust the volume with the knob on the front, in the Victrola app, or on your speakers app. While testing, we were even able to pause the music in our KEF app, and when you hit play, it plays from where you paused it, not where the music is on the record. A very cool feature!

Who is the Victrola Stream Sapphire for?

If you want to expand a network audio system like Sonos or the many others out there, or if you have a UPnP-compatible device and want to add vinyl playback, then the Stream Sapphire is one of the best options on the market today. In terms of a high-quality turntable, with an extremely easy setup and ease of use to stream to any speaker around your house, the Sapphire is simply unmatched!

But if you want to stick with the true analog experience, you can still do that with the Sapphire, but if you won’t be using the streaming feature, we’d recommend you take a look at some other options that may suite you better. Or, you can call or chat with our team of turntable experts at audioadvice.com and they can help you choose the right one for you.

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Overall Recommendation

As impressed as we were with the Victrola Stream Carbon, the new Stream Sapphire shows us that Victrola is serious about providing a proper high-end turntable option for network audio. With its upgraded real wood veneered plinth, servo-controlled motor, and upgraded network audio ability, the Stream Sapphire should excite many music lovers. If you have a Sonos or other UPnP-compatible music streaming platform in your home and have a record collection or interest in vinyl, you owe it to yourself to check out the Victrola Stream Sapphire Turntable.

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