It’s a wonderful feeling to take an old record out of its sleeve, put the needle on it and, after a brief crackle, feel the full, unadulterated sound.
Nevertheless, nowadays you don’t want to do without the advantages of a modern multi-room system like Sonos. Control the volume via app, listen to music in every room of the house and have an infinite amount of music in your pocket.
So let’s bring the best of both worlds together and connect a record player to the Sonos system. It’s much easier than many people think.
In this article, I present the best record players for Sonos speakers and show you what you should look out for.
Turntable for the Sonos system
What characterizes a record player so that it fits well with the Sonos system? While design is a matter of taste, there is another technical aspect to consider.
To connect a record player to Sonos speakers, you not only need the right device such as Sonos Five, Amp, Era 100 or Era 300, but also a so-called phono amplifier.
This amplifier is already built into some record players, which is why these models are particularly suitable.
For other models, a separate preamplifier is required; we have explained below what you need to look out for.
Pro-Ject T1 Phono SB turntable for Sonos
My price-performance winner: The entry-level model from Pro-Ject is a perfect match for the Sonos system, as it has an integrated preamplifier.
The elegant, minimalist design is certainly a matter of taste, but in my opinion it fits in well with the high-quality standards of Sonos devices.
This record player is not only available in black, but also in white or walnut.
Note: The predecessor model has a similar designation (only the suffix “SB” is missing) and has no integrated preamplifier.
Basically, you should know about the Pro-Ject turntables: These are manual models, so the tonearm must be placed on the record by hand.
Some of us may miss the automatic system that used to be a common feature of record players. Back then, you simply pressed start and the tonearm automatically moved to the beginning of the record. However, this technology was and still is very complex and prone to problems.
In the official Sonos store, the Pro-Ject T1 is also offered in a set with the Sonos Five speaker at a lower price .
sonoro Platinum turntable for Sonos
In addition to loudspeakers and hi-fi systems, the company sonoro from Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia also sells good record players such as the sonoro Platinum.
With the integrated phono preamplifier, it can be connected directly to the Sonos system if you have a Sonos Five, Sonos Amp, Era 100 or Era 300. No other intermediate device is required.
The device can also be connected via Bluetooth or USB, which is irrelevant for Sonos integration, but the USB port is useful for digitizing old records on the computer.
Pro-Ject Primary E Phono turntable for Sonos
The Pro-Ject Primary E Phono is currently the cheapest turntable for Sonos speakers, but in contrast to some plastic turntables in the same price segment, the quality and workmanship is outstanding.
It has a switch between LINE and PHONO on the underside. This is used to switch the integrated preamplifier on and off.
If you want to connect the Primary E to a Sonos system, the switch must be set to LINE. In addition to black and white, this model is also available in a bright red.
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon turntable for Sonos
This record player from Pro-Ject has the word “Carbon” in its product name. The tonearm is made from this ultra-light material.
Carbon is used in racing for weight reasons, but it has another advantage: carbon has increased rigidity and significantly less resonance than metal. This ultimately ensures significantly better sound quality.
The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon from Amazon does not have an integrated phono amplifier and is therefore slightly cheaper than the model in the Sonos store.
This model requires an external phono amplifier, which I have presented below.
The “Sonos Edition” of the Debut Carbon, which is only available via the Sonos homepage, has an integrated amplifier and also comes with a Sonos slipmat.
Connect turntable to Sonos system
If the record player has an integrated phono preamplifier, it can be easily connected to an existing Sonos system.
The sound of the record can then be played back as normal on either one or all Sonos speakers throughout the house.
The record player can be connected to various Sonos devices: Sonos Five, Sonos Amp, Era 100 and Era 300 as well as the Sonos Port.
All models with AUX input can also be compared in this table. These devices then transmit the sound from the turntable to other speakers in the system.
The Sonos Five is the largest speaker and has a so-called jack input (3.5mm) on the back. RCA cables are usually connected to the turntable, so an adapter cable from RCA to 3.5mm jack is required.
Sonos Amp (amplifier for external, passive speakers) and Sonos Port (device for integrating external audio sources) have direct cinch inputs, so no adapter cable is required for these devices.
Recently, there are also turntables from Victrola that can be connected directly to the Sonos system without a cable.
As soon as the record player is connected to the Sonos system, you can use the autoplay function. This means that as soon as a record is played, the speakers automatically switch to the record player and the sound is played without having to switch in the Sonos app.
Set up the turntable in the Sonos app
To ensure that the sound from the record player is played correctly via the Sonos system, a few settings must be made in the Sonos app beforehand.
The settings are almost identical for all Sonos speakers.
In the Sonos app, click on the cogwheel at the bottom right, then on System and then select the device.
Name of the source
The turntable can be named under Input and is displayed accordingly in the system.
Sonos turntable level
The volume of the input can be set under “Source level”.
The perfect value varies from device to device. Level 2-4 is sufficient for most record players.
Setting the audio delay for turntables
The Audio delay menu item defines the size of the buffer.
Here you can choose between Low (75 ms), Medium (113 ms), Hight (150 ms) and Max (2000 ms).
In concrete terms, this means that as soon as the needle is placed on the record, the sound starts with a slight delay. This buffers the sound briefly to prevent dropouts during playback.
A higher value therefore means more reliable playback – but also a longer delay.
In my test, all settings worked – the highest value “Max” is definitely the safest.
Autoplay for turntables
The last menu item is Autoplay. If this function is activated, music playback on one or more Sonos speakers starts immediately as soon as a signal from the turntable is detected.
This is great if you don’t always want to set the corresponding input in the app in advance.
Sonos set: Five and Pro-Ject T1 with discount
If you want to get started in the world of vinyl and need both a record player and a Sonos Five, you can save a few euros.
Sonos is offering a discounted set of Five and Pro-Ject T1 Phono SB.
The turntable set is available in black (Five and turntable) as well as in white.
Why preamplifiers for turntables?
The big old hi-fi amplifiers used to have different connections, usually for a tape deck (TAPE), for a radio receiver (TUNER) and for a record player (PHONO). Back then, this was due to the different volumes that came out of the devices.
The signal from a record player is very weak and requires a certain amount of amplification before it can be passed on.
The big old amplifiers of the 70s and 80s already had such a phono amplifier integrated in the housing.
With Sonos devices such as Five, Port or Amp, it would probably be too complicated these days to install a separate phono connection with an integrated amplifier.
For this reason, there is a universal input to which various sources can be connected.
In the case of a record player, however, the signal must first be looped through a so-called preamplifier or phono preamplifier. In other words, connect the record player to the preamplifier and the preamplifier to a Sonos speaker.
Which preamplifier for turntables?
As described above, most record players, especially older models, do not have an integrated preamplifier.
In my case, I had a beautiful old Technics 1210 MKII that was used in almost every radio studio and by almost all DJs at the time.
In order to operate this Technics turntable on the Sonos system, a preamplifier was required.
The preamplifier is simply looped in between the turntable and the Sonos device. An RCA cable goes from the turntable to the preamplifier and from there another RCA cable goes to the Sonos device.
The preamplifier requires a power supply, usually a small power supply unit is included, sometimes even a power supply via a USB port is sufficient.
Some phono preamplifiers have a switch for different cartridges. The difference between MM and MC cartridges is explained well and in detail here at HiFi Klubben.
As with all hi-fi devices, there are cheap and very expensive variants. In my opinion, expensive preamplifiers often advertise aspects that cannot be perceived with normal human hearing.
So more hocus-pocus than real sound enhancement. As is so often the case, the mid-range in terms of price and quality is a good choice.
Buy SONOS cheaper
There’s no question that SONOS speakers and devices sound great and look good. But they are damn expensive.
That’s why I’ve collected a few tricks on how to get SONOS products more cheaply.
Lars Grudzinski has been working as a sound and lighting technician since the 90s, was a DJ for electronic music, has a large collection of vintage speakers, and has been working for various radio stations in Germany for 20 years. At home, he enjoys high-quality home theater products such as soundbars and projectors and has installed an extensive Sonos system in his own home.