MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.
Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1318513
Como Audio has proudly integrated modern technology into its retro style and sentiment since its inception, so it comes as no surprise that they offer a Bluetooth Turntable to marry your analog vinyl music collection with the wonders of digital wireless transmission. To immediately confront this concept may cause a crinkle in your brow; after all, how do you maintain the fidelity that vinyl is known for over wireless transmission? However, I think you’ll find that the features offered by the Como Audio Bluetooth Turntable manage to retain that ritualistic vinyl experience while still sounding amazing (and still different and better than streaming). Before we delve deeper, you should know that the Como Audio Bluetooth Turntable also supports Line output for a wired connection with pretty much any speaker, as well as a Moving Magnet Phono pre-amp output for maximum vinyl fidelity. These wired connectivity options benefit from the quality of the turntable and its components, so even if your intended use is a fully wired system, this Bluetooth Turntable is still a contender. The turntable itself definitely features a minimalist design, with a flat, svelte base (or “plinth” in turntable speak) in line with the rest of Como Audio’s boxy speaker aesthetic. The turntable also fits right into the Como Audio ecosystem via its real wood veneers or piano gloss finish over a dense MDF core whose weight belies its size. Also contributing to the weighty stability of this bijou turntable is the large steel platter and sub-platter. The combination of the two reduces outside interference and vibrations, while the rigid aluminum tonearm does the same on the other side of the record. Balancing that tone arm is an adjustable counterweight, though Como Audio has made the Bluetooth Turntable about as plug and play as you can get, so don’t expect to be making any adjustments out of the box. You’ll have to place the platter and belt before you’re listening to any sweet melodies, but the process is easy, even if you’ve never operated a turntable before. At the tip of that rigid aluminum tonearm is an Ortofon OM10 cartridge. For the uninitiated, the cartridge is the component of the turntable that ‘reads’ the sounds on the record by reacting to the minute fluctuations on the surface of the record. As the needle goes up and down, it converts this movement into the electrical signal that ultimately produces the sound you hear from a record. Sounds important—and it is. The cartridge, and the quality thereof, is an integral component to the turntable, and so it’s awesome to see that Como Audio has not slouched in this department. The Ortofon OM10 cartridge is a really nice cartridge and actually a step up from many cartridges on turntables in this price range. As a result, it should ‘read’ your records with more accuracy, pick up where other cartridges might skip or stutter, and do it all while producing less interference and less degradation to the vinyl over time compared to other, less expensive cartridges. As with the tone arm, the cartridge is adjustable, but comes pre-mounted for easy plug and play. With its solid components to minimize vibrations and a high-quality cartridge, the Como Audio Bluetooth Turntable contributes more than its share in your audio experience. It also comes with premium RCA cables if you opt for a wired connection, and an RCA to auxiliary adapter for ultimate flexibility. After that, the rest is up to your speakers. Of course, a big part of the appeal is the option to connect to your speakers or headphones wirelessly via Bluetooth. And while you may listen to your records in a wired setup as much as you can, it turns out there are some good reasons to use that Bluetooth connection. My favorite is connecting to a pair of my nicest Bluetooth headphones and being able to wander around my house while still enjoying my record collection. Paired with the overall diminutive size of the turntable, the Bluetooth connection also makes this turntable a premium choice for anyone with a smaller, less flexible floorplan, or for anyone that tends to move around from