How Much Would It Cost To Build Your Own Record Player?

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Investing in a store-bought or pre-owned record player lets music fanatics and casual listeners alike transport themselves to an era before CDs or digital music streaming. With Gen Z ditching streaming for physical media like vinyl records, some youngsters (or Boomers who want a reminder of their childhood) may want to build their own retro audio setup.

A custom record player requires new or salvaged parts, or a mix of both. If you choose the new route, brands like u-turn Audio offer a range of personalized turntable styles, from the Orbit Basic, which sells for $249 to $329, to the Orbit Theory, which sells for $999 to $1,609. Pricing varies depending on whether you choose a built-in preamp and, in the latter case, the cartridge type. Others, like the Orbit Custom, which offers more customizable parts than its sister products, can cost anywhere from $249 to $957, depending on the design features and technical specs you choose.

If you don't have your own audio setup, you'll need to add turntable speakers to your total bill as you assemble a record player. Higher-end models like u-Turn Audio's dual-speaker system and the Audio-Technica AT-SP3X sell for $499 and $269, respectively. Cheaper products from brands like FUNLOGY are available on Amazon for as low as $21.99. While cheaper options could slightly reduce your custom setup's overall cost, you'd also sacrifice audio quality. Less expensive speakers also will not change high turntable prices.

You can enjoy vinyl records' superior audio quality without spending an arm and a leg on a brand-new, personalized setup. YouTube channels like Artisan Makes show how to build custom players from scratch using recycled parts from an old turntable and pre-owned materials to craft a new housing unit. Though Artisan Makes showed you can do this cheaply, they also aimed to tear apart an old turntable and piece together a custom record player for under $50, which may cost more for others hoping to replicate the project.

Building your own turntable could still be worth it, even if some people who've taken on the job cautioned that it's an arduous process. "I have built a lot of things in my life – from fine furniture to houses and everything in between," another Redditor wrote. "A turntable was probably the most difficult thing I have tackled, and there was a huge learning curve but it was well worth it." So if you're willing to rise to the occasion and build your own record player, the result could easily exceed your expectations.