Sony’s new Bluetooth turntables have an ace up their sleeve – and it’s great for vinyl newbies

The great appeal of the recently-reviewed Sony PS-LX5BT, and indeed its cheaper PS-LX3BT sibling, is how many ways there are to listen to the turntable.

You can stream to wireless headphones via Bluetooth or plug it in to a classic stereo set-up, while the deck's built-in phono stage means you can hook the deck up directly to a pair of active/powered speakers if you're not keen on traditional hi-fi separates.

For those who simply don't have the space or funds for multiple boxes or a classic hi-fi set-up, and can only house, say, a pair of powered or active speakers on a desk, then you're in luck. Because the both the PS-LX5BT and PS-LX3BT have the talent to create a great-sounding and compact desktop vinyl system.

That's because the phono stage built inside the Sony automatic turntables is really rather very good. That's a real boon, especially if you're dealing with powered or active speakers whose abilities can slightly fall short when it comes to their own built-in phono stage.

Take the KEF Coda W, an immensely gifted pair of active standmounts, but whose phono stage is not what we consider to be a great performer. As we said in our review, hooking a Rega Planar 3 RS Edition to the speakers offers "a clear and enjoyable listen", but it's "lacking in terms of dynamics and clarity compared with the KEFs’ other inputs".

Using the Sony PS-LX5BT turntable's phono stage is the natural way around this issue, and means that you don't have to buy any external phono preamps or even invest in a separate stereo amplifier if you don't wish to. The phono stages of both decks are so good, they'll ably give your KEF speakers a vinyl boost, and make for an attractive, compact mini-system in the process.

These talents extend to other powered or active models we've tested over the past few months and years, too. We're immensely keen on the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899) powered desktop speakers, and while we praised the phono stage quality rather highly in our review, we found that the one in the PS-LX5BT and PS-LX3BT is markedly better in terms of clarity and dynamics.

Pairing either one of those decks with the Ruarks would make for a wonderfully neat, engaging little vinyl system – again, no amps or other separates, just the compact MR1 Mk3 and one of the Sony turntables.

The cheaper Onkyo GX-30ARC (£299 / $349 / AU$649) would also be a lovely fit. Again, the desktop-friendly Onkyos have their own phono stage baked in – and it's actually rather good, truth be told – but you'll eke out greater sonic gains if you switch to the phono stage of the new Sony turntable. The Onkyos can sound just a touch removed and analytical, so using either Sony deck just helps to give a bit more punch and pizzazz to proceedings.

Both the Sony PS-LX5BT and PS-LX3BT are impressively versatile turntables which sound excellent for the affordable price you'll pay for either model. We would point out that, while they share the same phono stage, the more costly LX5BT's better cartridge and better mat mean it sounds clearer, more open and more detailed than its cheaper companion.

Plus, if you want to integrate either deck into a more 'traditional' hi-fi set-up, you can bypass it its internal phono stage, too. They both have the natural sonic talents to stretch to accommodate some really rather good amplifiers, as evidenced by how well they play ball with the excellent Arcam A5+ amp (using its own phono stage) in our tests.

Nevertheless, it's gratifying to know that if you just want a simple, two-component system that can be set up in a matter of moments, both Sonys' built-in phono stages are talented enough to cope – and are even better than those of some of the best active and powered speakers available on the market.

Much of the appeal of both the PS-LX5BT and PS-LX3BT was clearly to provide a fast, simple and user-friendly way of getting your records spinning with the minimum of hassle – it's an ideal solution for vinyl newbies or those short on space. Pair either five-star deck with the KEFs, the Ruarks or the Onkyos, and that's exactly what you'll be getting.

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