The SpinBase 2 Makes Setting Up Your Turntable System Easy

The SpinBase 2 is a model of simplicity. This 3.3-inch-high speaker sits directly underneath your turntable and connects to it via a single cable. Just put a record on the turntable, lower the needle onto the record, and turn the SpinBase 2’s large, front-panel volume knob clockwise. All that vinyl that has been sitting around gathering dust and garnering admiring looks will come to life.

With turntables, hookup is usually complicated. For instance, the rig I concocted to connect my sister-in-law’s 1990s-vintage turntable to her Bluetooth speakers required two extra components (each with its own wall wart), plus two sets of cables. If we weren’t related, she might have tossed it all in the trash by now and bought herself a one-piece record player.

One reason for the complexity is the need for a phono preamp to boost and tune the turntable’s weak audio signals. Most turntables don’t come with a phono preamp, but the SpinBase 2 has one built in, so it can connect directly to any turntable using a moving-magnet phono cartridge, such as the models we feature in our guide to the best turntables. Only a couple of other one-piece speakers I’ve tried include this feature.

The only cable you need is one to connect the turntable to the SpinBase 2, and Andover Audio provides it. You can also wirelessly connect your phone, tablet, or computer to the SpinBase through Bluetooth, so you can stream from the internet when you want to listen to something you don’t yet own on vinyl. You can even stream whatever’s playing on the SpinBase 2 to a Bluetooth-equipped speaker or headphones.

Placing a vibration-sensitive turntable atop a speaker would normally be a bad idea, but Andover Audio has taken pains to isolate the top of the SpinBase 2 from the speaker section. With most music, I couldn’t feel any vibration in the top at all. I did feel a subtle vibration when I played Audrey Nuna’s bass-intensive track “damnRight” (video) through Bluetooth, but vinyl records rarely contain bass this strong or deep.