Vinyl on your radio? Discover 4 non-traditional but easy ways to listen to your turntable

Wind the clock back by 20 or 30 years, and there was essentially one main way you'd be listening to a turntable. Provided you didn't have a model with speakers built into the unit, you'd be connecting your deck to a traditional hi-fi system, using a separate amplifier and stereo speakers to create that classic vinyl setup.

That's no longer the case. In this era of wireless streaming, Bluetooth support and integrated systems, there are so many ways you can enjoy listening to your turntable – especially modern ones with versatile features – beyond plugging it into a classic hi-fi set-up.

Just look at the recently reviewed Sony PS-LX3BT and PS-LX5BT, and the five-star Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT, all of which offer Bluetooth streaming, as well as built-in phono stages. The premium end is catered for, too, courtesy of Cambridge's very capable Audio Alva TT V2. Vinyl is here to stay, and in 2026, there are more ways to enjoy your records than ever.

Bluetooth speakers

Kids these days. They want the style and social cache of a sleek turntable, but also the modern convenience of Bluetooth without all of those trailing wires infesting their bedroom or student digs. Talk about wanting the world on a plate.

Luckily, you can have your cake and eat it when it comes to a modern vinyl set-up. Get yourself a Bluetooth-ready turntable – our list of the best Bluetooth turntables will see you right – and you can beam your music out wirelessly to a compatible Bluetooth speaker as your records spin merrily away. It's something we tried with the Sony PS-LX3BT Bluetooth turntable and a JBL Charge 6 portable speaker, and in all honesty, the result was surprisingly good.

As we wrote in our review: "The resultant sound hangs together admirably. Nas' Illmatic sounds alive and characterful, with bolder tunes such as N.Y. State of Mind still punching through with verve and intent."

It's not how we'd recommend listening to your vinyl on a day to day basis, but if you want to impress your mates or just get your tunes firing quickly and easily without getting your whole system set up, pairing it to your Bluetooth speaker can be a great way to go.

Wireless headphones

Many Bluetooth turntables sell their wire-free abilities as being perfect for connecting up to a pair of wireless headphones to give your listening sessions a bit more privacy.

Again, we don't necessarily feel that beaming out your lovely vinyl records via lossy Bluetooth is going to provide you with the absolute pinnacle of sound quality, but it actually makes a lot of sense if you have a Bluetooth-ready record player and want a quick and easy way to switch from speakers to something more private.

Let's say it's getting into the evening, and while you've been pumping out your records with great aplomb to a nearby set of speakers (wired or otherwise), the rest of the family is just about ready to go to bed. You don't want the tunes to stop, nor do you want to disturb your relatives and spend the next few weeks sleeping in the shed.

The solution? Dig out your best wireless headphones – such as the excellent Sony WH-1000XM6 – and keep your listening confined to over your ears. It also means you aren't physically tethered to your turntable with a cable; you can roam free and head into the kitchen (within range, of course) and listen uninterrupted to your records.

Some decks even offer hi-res codec support – aptX HD on the premium Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 (£1700 / $1999 / AU$3699) to even aptX Adaptive on the Sony turntables. This lets you stream your tunes in 24-bit high-resolution audio (up to 48kHz on HD; 96kHz on Adaptive) to compatible cans, such as the Sennheiser HDB 630 (£400 / $500 / AU$1000). Note however, that these are still lossy Bluetooth methods, so won't give you absolute sonic fidelity.

Powered and active speakers

Now this would make for a very nice little modern hi-fi system. Get hold of a pair of KEF Coda W (£799 / $1000 / AU$1450) active speakers, connect them up to a turntable, either via Bluetooth or via the supplied phono input, and you've got yourself a neat, great-sounding vinyl set-up that won't take up much space on your desktop, rack or wherever you keep your turntable.

With active speakers, you've got a couple of options regarding how you listen. Bluetooth is convenient if you have a compatible turntable, such as the versatile Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT (£479 / $599 / AU$870), and don't want the clutter of cables.

If you can't stretch to the Coda W, don't worry. Budget and compact powered/active speakers with Bluetooth, such as the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899) and five-star Onkyo GX-30ARC (£339 / $349 / AU$649) are great candidates for plugging in your turntable via Bluetooth for a neat system that you can fit onto your desk.

The same goes for any active speakers that don't include a phono stage – such as KEF's LSX II LT (£899 / $999 / AU$1695) wireless speaker system. That's a tidy system that gives you high-quality, hi-res wireless streaming in a pair of stylish speakers. There's no phono input here, so using Bluetooth for the turntable connection makes for a convenient, compact vinyl-and-streaming system.

Don't want to use Bluetooth? Many powered/active speakers that include a phono stage have an audio input, so you can always use a wired connection for better sound quality and/or in case the deck you're using doesn't support Bluetooth.

With some turntables, such as Sony's latest duo of affordable Bluetooth decks, their built-in phono stage is so good that it doesn't matter if your active speakers have a phono stage or not. Alternatively, to use the Sony's superior phono stage and bypass that of the Ruark/Onkyo speakers, simply plug the turntable into the 3.5mm audio input (not the phono input) – you'll just need an RCA phono to 3.5mm interconnect cable.

If Bluetooth isn't a priority, but you want affordability and a built-in phono stage to hook up to your active speakers, then the Rega Planar 1 Plus turntable (currently around £399 / $595 / AU$899) is a tip-top sonic pick.

Bluetooth-ready radio

Yes, you can listen to vinyl on a good old fashioned wireless, wirelessly.

It's an unconventional way to enjoy your records, but many digital radios now boast Bluetooth reception as standard and sound great with music, too, such as the Award-winning Roberts Revival Petite 2 (around £100) and the Ruark Audio R1S (£299 / $380 / AU$649). Simply connect your Bluetooth turntable to the radio's Bluetooth, and off you go.

Vinyl records playing on a radio via modern Bluetooth technology? It's the sort of thing that would have blown Marconi's mind.

In truth, it's no different to beaming your tunes to a Bluetooth speaker, as demonstrated above, although radios don't tend to feature higher-quality codecs. It does lead to some wonderfully quirky combinations – we tried the ultra-portable Audio-Technica Sound Burger with the Revival Petite 2 radio, which was surprisingly fun.

You might even end up getting a very nice sonic return if you're happy to pay a little more for a radio with great sound quality, such as the Revo SuperConnect Stereo (£489 / $599 / AU$899) or the Ruark R2 Mk4 (£479 / $590 / AU$920) for a talented if unconventional vinyl set-up.

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