VINYL is BACK and you can thank Sonos for that

Scratching that pitch

Although Flexson (now a wildly successful sub brand for distributor Computers Unlimited) tries hard to keep its supplier secret, the deck is produced by the OEM arm of Rega. In turns of sonic credibility, it’s a world away from Ion USB cheapies that simply serve a purpose. And off the record, I’ve heard the company has been struggling to keep up with demand…

Audio-Technica AT-LP120USBC BK turntable

For those not living the Sonos lifestyle, Audio-Technica offers the similarly specified upmarket AT-LP120USB, which lands in a frankly fabulous gloss black this month, priced at £279, (it’s also available in original silver). The Audio-Technica also offers disc digitisation over USB, and has a switchable phono preamp which allows you to connect via line level to a Hi-Fi system or active speakers.

Earlier this year, Pioneer released the PLX-1000 which many have rated as a reborn Technics SL1210 turntable, the latter ceasing production in 2010. Pioneer says it’s marking its own celebration of 20 years in the DJ industry with the PLX-1000 and evidently seeks to fill the void left by the Technics SL-1200 series which was a victim of its own success.

Cult follower: Pioneer's PLX-1000 turntable seeks cash in on the DJ scene

The legendary Technics SL-1210 turntable became the de facto standard DJ turntable. It even ended up as an exhibit in the Science Museum as an item that has shaped the modern world. Incredibly easy to fix and and effectively bomb proof, so many were sold that no one needed to buy a new one. Whether the Pioneer PLX-1000 will suffer the same fate remains to be seen, but it has a similar build ethos, featuring more extreme pitch changes and detachable cables.

So should we now class vinyl as just another high resolution audio source? Lars Worre, CEO of high-end Danish loudspeaker maker DALI, says he sees plenty of sonic similarities between the two. “At home I play a lot of vinyl and I play some HD audio files; there are definitely similarities,” he says. However Worre doesn’t wear rose-coloured ear-muffs. “Vinyl introduces a lot of failings, not only scratches but distortion, whereas HD audio doesn’t,” he notes.

Function over fidelity: Ion's TTUSB turntable

Interestingly, he reveals that DALI tunes its speakers not with 24-bit 96kHz FLAC or vinyl but with common or garden CDs. “We actually use a Denon CD transport in our listening room,” reveals Worre, “a very old one by the way. It sounds more analogue than most other CD players we’ve heard. When I say analogue, I actually mean real – reality is analogue.”

Fans and detractors will delight in endlessly debating the sonic value of vinyl, but clearly one of the key reasons it continues to attract converts is because it’s a tangible antidote to a decade of metadata. From queuing for rarities on Record Store Day to the measured process of laying needle onto plastic, it’s just damn fine therapeutic fun.