I love Sony’s new Bluetooth turntable, so why do I feel so conflicted using it

Sony PS-LX5BT Turntable

3.5 / 5

Good

pros and cons

Pros

• Impressive sound
• Versatile setup
• Sturdy design and build

Cons

• Expensive for what it is
• No adjustable anti-skate or tracking force

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Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source to see how it held up to my sound standards — and if it would be a good buy for anyone looking to upgrade.

Sony says the PS-LX5BT is an “upgrade to your vinyl journey,” meant for those who are not new to vinyl, but also not seasoned collectors and audiophiles. The turntable has a really good quality build and is designed with a one-piece body and an aluminum tone arm, which reduces vibrations and skips in your music. It also has hi-res wireless audio with Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive, which has a frequency of ～96kHz/24bit. 

Setting it up is super easy — perhaps the easiest turntable I’ve ever assembled — especially when it came to installing the belt, which can be daunting for some people. Purists won’t like the autoplay, but I appreciated hitting the start button, having the tone arm go up on its own, and auto-queueing to the first track. 

Also: Everything you need for a vinyl setup

The PS-LX5BT has both a phono output and Bluetooth, so you can use it in the traditional way by hooking it up to quality speakers, or the modern way by casting it to your Sonos speaker or headphones. 

Listening experience

Whenever I test a turntable, I always put on a vintage vinyl that has seen lots and lots of plays, as well as a newer vinyl to compare the sound. On the vintage vinyl (the Beatles’ White Album), the record almost sounded new. I did miss a little bit of the crackling and popping sounds that older records have, but overall, I can’t complain about the sound quality. 

Newer albums sounded just as good, too: Bob Moses’ “Days Gone By” sounded crisp, bubbly even, on the electronic-based tracks. On Taylor Swift’s “Evermore” (yes, I’m a Swiftie, sue me), the vocals were clean and sharp and gave a newer sound to one of my favorite albums.