Como Audio Turntable
$399 U.S.
When you are in the market for a new turntable, there are numerous options to choose from. You can go for a relatively cheap option with no frills and questionable fidelity, or get professional DJ quality build, all the way to extremely high-end audiophile fidelity and comparable price. The Como Audio Turntable provides high-quality build, great fidelity audio, and some other tricks up its sleeve for a fantastic price.
Boston based Como Audio partners with Pro-Ject to create their custom turntable. This is a smart move. Pro-ject has been at the vanguard of turntable design for almost twenty years and using their expertise has paid off.
Visually this is a stunning piece of equipment. My review unit was the walnut finish; it also comes in hickory, piano gloss black, and piano gloss white. The walnut finish would fit in any 70s living room but the design is modern and at home right next to your flatscreen TV or HomePod.
Included are a clear dust cover, power supply, slipmat, RCA cables, RCA to 3.5mm adapter, and some tools for adjustment — everything you need to get started. The plinth is made of MDF (medium density fiberboard) so the walnut on my review unit is veneer and is lightweight. The sub-platter and steel platter are very heavy and provide vibration isolation along with the feet.
Como Audio Turntable comes with a pre-mounted Ortofon cartridge, this is the key to the ‘plug-n-play’ aspect of this turntable. Along with the mounted cartridge, the counterweight and anti-skating adjustments are already made. The biggest assembly that you have to do is attaching the belt to the sub-platter.
Como Audio Turntable plays at speeds 33, 45, and 78. The 33 and 45 speeds play on the same belt setting, and you’ll have to adjust the belt if you want to play at 78 speed.
This turntable comes with a built-in preamplifier. What this means is you have two outputs at your disposal — you can go the traditional route and use the phono in on your receiver or if your receiver doesn’t have a phono in or you’re using something else you can use the line out. Did I say you get two outputs? Sorry, I lied.
In addition to the traditional analog outputs, there is also a Bluetooth option. On the right side of the turntable is a switch — turn that on and you can pair with any speaker, receiver, or headphones for streaming. Is it weird to listen to vinyl, an extremely analog media, through Bluetooth speakers? Well, yes it is. However, there is the benefit that you can place your turntable just about anywhere in your house, as long as you are within the 33 foot range of the Bluetooth transmitter, and not have to run wires all over the place.
I have to say being able to place the turntable on a cart I have in my office and just pair it with my Bluetooth speaker was so incredibly cool — it’s the future I want and it’s here now.
Priced at $399, the Como Audio turntable is a high-quality turntable at an affordable, entry-level price.
MyMac review rating is 9 out of 10. Well done, Como Audio.
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