Every time a turntable is announced, there’s a remark about the ‘vinyl renaissance’, and sure vinyl is back on vogue but there’s been much chatter about customers who only buy just the vinyl. But of course, to listen to it, you need something to play on.
We’ve seen Sony re-enter the vinyl player market with its two excellent options, and now Cambridge Audio has made a return with Spira.
The London-based brand is pushing the new turntable as being “everything you need straight out of the box”, with an Audio-Technica cartridge pre-fitted and aligned so you don’t have to mess about with that. A built-in phono stage that reduces the need for external amplification and Bluetooth support that allows you to fling the sound of your vinyl to your wireless headphones or Bluetooth speakers.
But if you want to make adjustments, you are able to. The head shell can be removed, making it easier to replace the cartridge (Cambridge recommends Audio-Technica’s 3600LE) if you want to improve the tracking, and if you feel as if you can get better sound through an external phono stage, Cambridge has a few in either the Alva Solo and Alva Duo.
The aluminium alloy tonearm features an adjustable counterweight and anti-skate, with the chassis of the Spira built around a solid wooden plinth to reduce vibrations. A felt and vibration-absorbing feet help to keep any rumbles from affecting the signal. And if you want to protect your records from dust as they’re playing (you’ll be surprised as to how much dust gets picked up), an hinged dust cover is included.
Record speeds include 33.3 and 45RPM, and the Spira comes in a variety of colours to match your space (black, white, blue, green and orange), matching Cambridge’s own L/R speakers if you want to pair the Spira with those wireless speakers.
The Cambridge Audio Spira is available now, with pricing at £329 / €349 / $499. Is it good enough to make it to our best turntable list? Hopefully we can get a review sample in and find out.
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