Welcome to Audio Advice’s 2023 top five picks for the best vinyl record players under $500. Whether you’re looking for an entry-level turntable, a fully automatic turntable, a Bluetooth turntable, or even a turntable for Sonos, we’ve got you covered with these picks. If you’re looking to step up to above the $500, we have you covered with our top picks under $1,000 and top picks under $2,000. 

If you’re still deciding if jumping into the world of vinyl is for you, we can tell you that it’s an incredibly fun and addicting hobby shared by millions. In 2021, new vinyl sales set new records climbing over one billion, and used vinyl sold even more than that! In fact, the first half of 2022 was over 20% ahead of the record 2021 year. Joining the turntable and vinyl world may be one of the best decisions you make in 2023!

U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus

U-Turn Audio is one of Audio Advice’s favorite brands out there. Their turntables are made at their factory in Woburn, Massachusetts, with their parts sourced from local vendors. The U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus version comes with an acrylic platter, a very nice mat, and a great turntable bearing for really good speed stability. 

The gimbal tonearm is built well and has an adjustable counterweight. It comes with a pre-mounted Ortofon OM 5E phono cartridge which is a great value, but the arm will allow you to move up to a better cartridge down the road. You can even buy the Orbit Plus with a built-in U-Turn Pluto 2 phono preamp to eliminate the need for an external one.

If you see yourself playing DJ at your house or if you are considering digitizing your collection, take a close look at the Audio-Technica AT-LP120USB from Audio-Technica. It has a high-torque direct drive motor for instant start-up and comes with a slip mat and adjustable speed control, all favorites of professional DJs. 

The S-shaped tonearm is really good and has a removable headshell which makes it really easy to change cartridges. It comes with the highly regarded Audio Technica AT-VM95E cartridge and what is cool about this model is you can upgrade to a better cartridge simply by purchasing a new stylus body. An anti-resonance plinth, built-in phono preamp, and USB outs complete this great deal of a turntable.

Pro-Ject helped launch the turntable revival with their Debut line of turntables and has several factories all over Europe where everything but the cartridges they source from Ortofon is made in-house. The Pro-Ject T1 comes from their decades of turntable experience. There are options for getting it with or without a built-in phono preamp, electronic speed control to switch from 33 to 45 with the push of a button, or even a model with Bluetooth. But all of them have the same great platform. 

The T1 benefits from a newly designed isolation foot, a plinth, a sub-platter, and the main glass platter for a good flywheel effect. You’ll get an Ortofon OM5E moving magnet cartridge, and the built-in phono stage was designed to match this cartridge perfectly. The new tonearm designed for the T1 is also made to go with the Ortofon OM5E. This arm has some of the best bearings we have seen in this price range.

Denon used to make some of the best-looking and highest-end turntables you could find but got out of the turntable business when CDs were taking over. We are happy to see them getting back into it, and one great choice for those of you who want an automatic turntable is the Denon DP300F. This nice little belt drive turntable just needs the push of one button, and you’ll soon have a sweet vinyl sound.

We like the fact the plinth is heavy-duty with anti-resonant properties. The tonearm is very well put together for this price category and allows you to change cartridges should you wish. There is a built-in phono preamp, making the DP300F plug-and-play ready.

We do have to say we think the models before this one sound better, but they are fully manual, making the DP300F the perfect record player for someone worried about damaging their stylus on a manual table.

Our final model is another table from our friends at U-Turn, the U-Turn Orbit Special. Whenever anyone sees one of these for the first time, they usually comment: “wow, what a beautiful turntable.” And the Orbit Special certainly is, with its plinth being made from sustainably sourced US flat-cut maple and rift walnut. The Special version of the Orbit gets you the better plinth, the cue mechanism is included, but best yet is you get the classic Ortofon 2M Red phono cartridge included. 

The Red has to be the most popular cartridge of all time, and for good reason. It tracks great and has a very neutral sound. Another cool part about the Red is that you can make it sound even better by buying a stylus for the next model up, the Ortofon 2M Blue. The Blue tracks even better and will extract even more details from your records.

The U-Turn Orbit Special, paired with the beautiful base and Ortofon Red, is just a great table for the money and will provide you with a warm sound for decades to come.