The Only Sonos-Approved Turntable Just Got a Killer Hi-Fi Upgrade

Admittedly, there are more ways to listen to vinyl on Sonos speakers than ever. Whereas in years past, you needed a Five or older Play:5, most of Sonos’s new speakers also have a line-in connection — you can hardwire any turntable with a built-in preamp directly to an Era 100, Era 300, Move 2 or Five.

If you want to stream vinyl to your Sonos speakers without any wires, you can do so with a Bluetooth turntable and a Sonos speaker that supports Bluetooth (again, most new Sonos speakers also have built-in Bluetooth). That’s a little messy, though, and because it’s over Bluetooth, there’s a definite drop-off in audio quality.

For the best pure streaming experience, you really need one of Victrola’s “Stream” turntables — they’re the only officially licensed “Works with Sonos” turntables out there. This means you can connect them to your Sonos speakers over Wi-Fi and stream higher-resolution audio.

To date, Victrola has only offered three Stream “Work with Sonos” turntables: the Stream Carbon ($800), the limited-edition Stream Pearl ($800), and the more affordable Stream Onyx ($600). As of today, however, it’s introducing its most high-end Stream turntable to date.

Victrola Stream Sapphire

Victrola

Familiar Look, Upgraded Hardware

The Victrola Stream Sapphire looks and works very much like the company’s other Stream turntables. It’s a semi-automatic belt-driven turntable — you still have to pick up the tonearm and place the stylus, but it’ll automatically turn off when it gets to the end of the record — with an MDF body, a silver aluminum platter, a carbon fiber tonearm and mainly metal components headlined by a large illuminated volume knob.

There are a couple of notable differences. It comes decked out with a significantly nicer Ortofon Blue 2M (which sells for $159 on its own) compared to the Stream Carbon’s Ortofon 2M Red (which sells for $99). It also has high-quality components, such as a wooden plinth and a new brushless motor, and weighs a little more, so it’s naturally better at dampening vibrations.