Standalone and/or Portable Turntables: Does a Decent One Exist?

Googling this doesn't turn up anything terribly recent. Has anyone had any experience with a passable standalone/portable turntable? I don't have enough cash or space for a full hi-fi while I am living abroad, but would love to be able to play records in a small room. Is there such a thing as a $100/200 record player that you can just plug speakers into?

I got this for my son, but end up using it a lot and really like it:

http://www.amazon.com/Vestax-Handy-Trax-Portable-Turntable/dp/B0000WRVK0

Thanks for that. They seem to have it for sale on the US Amazon, though it seems the company has actually stopped manufacturing them - not available on the UK Amazon (where I am).

I am seeing a lot of Steepletone portable record players, which get some decent reviews, but I'm nervous about spending 100 pounds on something that will just drive me nuts with super tinny sound.

Is there such a thing as a small mini hi-fi with an input jack, and I could plug any old turntable in there? It seems like you've got to spend a lot of cash to be able to play vinyl easily.

I was bought a cheapy Crosley USB turntable with inbuilt speakers for my birthday. I hadn't had access to a turntable in years, so I was very glad of it. It's absolutely not the best thign in the world - stylus gathers dust like nobody's business and there's no arm adjustment to stop skating (I find new records skip and skate more than old ones, strangely); plus there's no audio out socket for plugging it into a bigger stereo. Some of the features look a bit fragile and plasticky as well. Still, it's great for just playing a couple of records now and again and it is portable ( the casing looks lovely - like a sort of old-fashioned suitcase. I bet if you looked harder and were willing o spend a bit more money, I'm sure you could find a better model though.

Your basic Audio-Technica, like the $100 LP-60 model, has line-level outputs. You'd be able to plug it into p. much anything and depending on the speakers you choose, shouldn't be too tinny.

idk how much of an audiophile you are, but fwiw it's really amazing the kind of old stereos you can get second hand on ebay; particularly anything that precedes cd decks goes crazy cheap, & is usually this whole deal with graphic equalisers & bulky separates, etc. just worth looking at if it's cost rather than space/accumulation of junk that's keeping you from getting a hi-fi.

The Numark PT-01 is small & battery-powered. Amazon suggests that this has been replaced by a USB model? Not fantastic sound - and the belt on mine had to be replaced fairly quickly - but you can just plug computer speakers into it & play records if that's what you're after.

Thanks for all this. So - I'm not an audiophile at all; I'm totally ignorant about this stuff - if there's a "line out" jack, then I could theoretically plug in any pair of speakers and can get sound? I don't need to have some other piece of equipment - a receiver or whatever?

It seems like the best reviews are for this Vestax thing that is mentioned in the first response. I have seen a lot of super mixed reviews for the Numarks and the Crosley/Steepletones.

The Vestax is about 150 pounds (it suddenly appears on Amazon UK now), so I might gamble on it if I could plug a pair of computer speakers into it.

I want to get a little cheap turntable as a gift for someone - amazing sound isn't that important, but do all of these have record-destroying needles?

If you made a day of it and found half a dozen thrift stores to check out, you could get a completely turntable for under $20, maybe even half that. Just don't forget to check needles and plug it in and make sure it works.

yeah - i know there's better ways of getting a record player up and running, but just for ease and simplicity I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on the new all-in-one cheapo deals

I just looked on ebay (US) and there are a few KLH model 20 and 24 units for sale, in varying condition. KLH had a good reputation back then (up to the 70s) for these machines, so maybe check the UK ebay for them.

Original poster was in UK, if you're in the US even better. The one going for $50 (4 days left) looked pretty good.

For completeness:

KLH 24 on ebay

I had one of those KLHs, and it sounded great. But this was almost 30 years ago, so it was only 15 years old rather than 45 years old.