Most beautiful turntable under $5k


Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but thought this might be a fun topic. Obviously the most important thing about audio gear is how it sounds, but I find some of it truly beautiful to look at too, particularly turntables, which almost by necessity are best placed somewhere on display. Some days I love the simplicity of something like the Clearaudio Concept Wood (particularly the dark wood)….other days the “audio jewelry” appearance of EAT or VPI. My personal vote, however, would go to the Gold Note Pianosa. For me it has a timeless beauty and elegance that’s never over the top. I can’t imagine ever tiring of looking at in and think it would look great with a wide array of decor.


What would be your personal choice for most beautiful turntable under $5k? What about cost-no-object options?

ethos123
For me, the combination of the plinth, platter, motor, and arm have to make their own statements, but still come together visually and musically. And for me, no one does that better than VPI. In their own way VPI are as iconically American designs as Harley-Davidson - Big, beefy (22Lb platter!!), modular, and upgradeable. And I have no issues setting up a JMW 3D Unipivot 10.5. It tracks my medium compliance Hana very nicely, running a Shibata or Microline stylus with noticeably fewer high-end issues than a shorter arm.

1. Beogram 4000/4002

2. Michell gyrodeck

3. Michell transcriptor (clockwork orange 🍊)

4. Amazon model one (clean)

5. Rega Naid

6. Dohmann helix one

7. Sony tts8000 

8. Air Force one

9. technics sp10r

10. Brinkmann balance

Brinkmann Bardo, used without any fancy extras can be had for $5k for sure. That's my favorite.