Victrola, the legacy audio brand that has been making record players for more than a century, announced today two new turntables at CES 2024: the Victrola Stream Sapphire, that brings new connection options to its wireless Works With Sonos line, and the Victrola Automatic, a new entry-level fully automatic Bluetooth turntable with a cool new repeat feature.
Victrola Stream Sapphire
Announced today, the Victrola Stream Sapphire adds a fourth Works with Sonos turntable to its lineup that includes the flagship Stream Carbon, the Stream Onyx, and the Stream Pearl, but building on the wireless turntable lineup with a range of new connectivity options and components.
The Stream Sapphire adds to the line’s seamless ability to stream your vinyl over Sonos network players by adding new connectivity options, including Roon systems that allow users to stream vinyl through Roon Ready, AirPlay, and Chromecast protocols, and UPnP, which opens the door connecting to AV receivers, smart TVs, and UPnP-enabled speakers.
Digital to analog conversion quality in the Sapphire has gotten a boost, too, now capable of 24-bit/48kHz lossless FLAC audio, which builds on the already stellar stream quality of its forbearers. But, if you still want to connect the Sapphire to your traditional analog system or powered speakers through RCA inputs, you can still do that too, and the Sapphire now includes an excellent cartridge upgrade to Ortofon’s 2M Blue for better frequency response and dynamics.
Additional features are par for the course in the line and include a solid MDF plinth, belt drive, aluminum platter, carbon-fiber tonearm, and a slick walnut veneer.
“TheVictrola Stream turntable line was created out of a need to provide a seamless, integrated wireless solution to enjoy vinyl no matter where the listener is in their home, said Scott Hagen, CEO of Victrola. “After hearing from both consumers and the integrator community, we recognized an opportunity to build on that promise by opening our ecosystem to include other popular streaming options while also elevating the turntable itself to a level we’ve never introduced in the market before. Victrola Stream Sapphire is a perfectly crafted audiophile-level wireless vinyl solution that meets vinyl purists’ standards while giving integrators the most versatile turntable for any project.”
The Victrola Stream Sapphire will be available in Spring 2024 at Victrola.com, specialty audio retailers, and custom installation dealers for $1,500.
Victrola Automatic
On the more entry-level end of the scale, Victrola has brought forth the Victrola Automatic, a Bluetooth- and analog-capable turntable that can be used whether you have a wired receiver-based system, powered speakers, or Bluetooth speakers or headphones you want to connect it to.
Designed with ease of use in mind, the Victrola Automatic works like a standard turntable with manual lift-and-lower tonearm functions, but it also features an up/down button on the surface that will do it for you, as well as what Victrola calls a “first-of-its-kind ‘Repeat” feature to continuously repeat the side of a vinyl record.” This can come in handy for those who like to putter around the house while listening to records, so the auto-repeat function will just keep the music playing for you instead of your needle rolling around the end of the record until you turn it off.
On the hardware side, the belt-driven turntable features a fixed headshell and counterweight for easy setup, a built-in switchable preamp, and an Audio-Technica AT-3600L cartridge.
“Our team has been working on a fully automatic turntable design for over three years,” Haagen said. “But we weren’t going to release it to the market until we had something that looks better, performs better, and is easier to use than any other turntable on the market in its class. Three years later, I’m more than confident to say Victrola has delivered.”
The Victrola Automatic will also be available in the spring and will retail for $200.
