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Three rad record players for any budget
| March 3, 2016
Affordable: Crosley Messenger
This battery-operated marvel is the closest thing there is to a vinyl Walkman. It doubles as a speaker system: you can plug in your smartphone when you get tired of flipping records. $124. crosleyradio.com.
Average: Pro-Ject Elemental
This sleek, sparse player is ready to go out of the box and can convert vinyl tunes into digital formats via a handy USB connection. $349. Bay Bloor Radio, 55 Bloor St. W., baybloorradio.com.
Astronomical: Audiowood Barky
American woodworker Joel Scilley creates about a dozen of these handcrafted ash beauties a year. Each has a subtly unique design, and, with high-quality audio equipment, the sound is consistently superb. $2,460. audiowood.com.
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Luc Rinaldi is a National Magazine Award–winning journalist based in Toronto. His work has appeared in Maclean’s, Toronto Life, The Walrus and Report on Business, among other publications. He has taught magazine feature writing at his alma mater, the School of Journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University.
