Black Friday record player deals bring offers on Audio-Technica and more turntables

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Vinyl playback on the cheap

House of Marley turntable on green background
(Image credit: House of Marley)

The best turntables are an obvious choice for Black Friday shopping since they, like other audio gear such as headphones and wireless speakers, typically get juicy deals during the holiday season. Whether you’re looking to score a record player for yourself or to buy an inexpensive one as a gift for a family member or friend, this is a good time to be investing in the vinyl future.

Black Friday deals are well underway, and record players are among the offerings, with entry-level turntables available for as low as $149 or £119 or even less. The sky's the limit when it comes to more advanced models, but there are plenty of great options in the under-$500 / £500 range to satisfy the vinyl-curious and vinyl collector alike. 

We’ve rounded up a few great inexpensive turntable options below just to demonstrate what’s happening out there in the Black Friday sales whirlwind. Make a point of checking out our best turntables guide to get a sense of the full range of record players available to music fans, but this list should get you started.

Today's best US Black Friday record player deals

Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT Bluetooth turntable:$219$175 at Amazon

Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT Bluetooth turntable: was $219 now $175 at Amazon
In our guide to the best turntables, we rate this is the best budget record player. It sounds lovely, and it fits USB and Bluetooth connectivity in, as well as a phono stage for connecting to your amp. It's also easy to setup up, as we highlighted in our review. This is far from its cheapest-ever price (it was $119 briefly, but was $150 for a long time). But the price went up in October, and this is the lowest it's been since then.

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Audio-Technica AT-LP3BK turntable:$249now $149 at Amazon

Audio-Technica AT-LP3BK turntable: was $249 now $149 at Amazon
This 40% discount is the cheapest this record player has ever been. You don't get any digital extras here – this is purely about the analog love. Its operation is automatic, and it has a hydraulically damped life control for the tonearm, so it moves gently enough to avoid damage, even if you're a clumsy beginner. It has a phono pre-amp so it can connect straight to your amp (or active speakers), but this is switchable if you want to add your own phono stage in the future. Audio-Technica is the master of affordable vinyl, so this is an incredible entry-level player for the price.

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Sony PS-LX310BT turntable:$249$198 at Amazon

Sony PS-LX310BT turntable: was $249 now $198 at Amazon
Sony makes some of the best affordable turntables around, with nice minimalist designs as a bonus. It's a really well-equipped spinner, with USB, Bluetooth and a built-in phono stage. It's been cheaper before (its lowest ever price was $148), but its price went up about a year ago, and this is its best discount since then.

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Today's best UK Black Friday record player deals

House of Marley Stir It Up Wireless Turntable:£249£169 at Amazon

House of Marley Stir It Up Wireless Turntable: was £249 now £169 at Amazon
House of Marley makes great-value audio gear from sustainable materials, and that's what you're getting here. Our colleagues on Louder gave it a rave review, and this version of it comes with Bluetooth for wireless listening, and USB output, plus its built-in pre-amp for connecting to an amp directly. This is the cheapest it's ever been by a long way – its best price was £233 otherwise. If you don't want Bluetooth, you can save some money on the wired-only version, which is £149 at Amazon (down from £199).

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Denon DP-29F turntable:£169£119 at Currys

Denon DP-29F turntable: was £169 now £119 at Currys
This turntable is designed for beginners, thanks to its fully automatic operation and built-in phono stage. Place your record and just press a button to start music, and the arm lifts back to its resting position when the record is finished. It's compact, and the solid aluminium body reduces vibration, which means clearer and higher-quality sound. It can plug straight into a hi-fi amp for easy use. This is an excellent price for record player from a reliable and famous name in hi-fi.

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Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT Bluetooth turntable:£186.43£179 at Amazon

Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT Bluetooth turntable: was £186.43 now £179 at Amazon
In our guide to the best turntables, we rate this is the best budget record player. It sounds lovely, and it fits USB and Bluetooth connectivity in, as well as a phono stage for connecting to your amp. The level of discount here is obviously tiny, but it's the cheapest price we've found for it in the UK, so we're bringing it to your attention! It's also easy to setup up, as we highlighted in our review.

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What things should you be looking for in a record player aside from a low price? Most models are either direct-drive, with a motor beneath the platter that’s directly attached causing it to spin; or belt-driven, with a rubber belt attached to a motor that wraps around the edges of the platter to create the spinning action. Both types can deliver great sound, so there’s no real reason to fret about which type to buy.

If you want to keep things basic, look for a turntable with a built-in phono stage. This amplifies the low-level signal coming from the player’s cartridge, applies EQ, and routes it directly to an external amplifier or receiver. Some receivers and integrated amplifiers have a phono preamp, however, so if you have one of those, you won’t need that feature built into the record player.

Another feature to look for is a Bluetooth output that can send a signal wirelessly to Bluetooth speakers or headphones. We’ve even seen the first model come out that can work with Sonos speakers, the Victrola Steam Carbon, but even with $100 off in this Black Friday deal, at $699 it’s still a pricier option than most.

More Black Friday deals

Matt Bolton
Matt Bolton
Managing Editor, Entertainment

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.

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