Remember those old-school portable turntables from back in the day that packed up like suitcases? Of course you don’t, because those things are ancient history and your grandma doesn’t even remember them. But we’ll bet money that the hipster in your life (or your sneaky inner hipster — it’s totally ok) will probably pretend like they remember them, and definitely want one once they lay their beady eyes on Pyle Audio’s latest creation, the unfortunately-named PVTTBT8.
What Pyle lacks in product-naming chops, it makes up for in Pyling-on-the-features skills (ba-dum-dum). This isn’t just a portable turntable with built-in speakers that folds up like a suitcase — though that was enough for Magnavox back in the late ’60’s. Nope, for the low-low price of $110, PVTTBT8 owners also get a built-in analog-to-digital converter and free software for ripping their vinyl into 21st-century MP3s. The system also includes Bluetooth for wireless music streaming, so you can go all meta and watch your music traverse several decades of technological progress as it goes from the old-school analog to new-school digital in a matter of minutes.
And since everything portable is significantly less convenient when tethered by wires of any sort, the 10.5-lb, PVTTBT8 comes with a built-in rechargeable battery so you can actually spin your stacks of wax nearly anywhere (the laws of physics still apply, so, level and stable is good here). Alternate connections include a 3.5mm Aux input, and a set of stereo RCA outputs.
We’re not feeling especially optimistic about the sound quality potential of the turntable’s included ceramic cartridge, but then again, expectations from a portable turntable should probably be tempered anyway. And besides, the nostalgia this piece will inspire could be worth the asking price (under $100 at Amazon) alone.
