One of many scariest concerns for brand spanking new vinyl listeners is that one of the best turntables are solely the primary of many costly purchases you are in all probability going to need to make. Except you purchase a deck with a built-in speaker, you are going to need to shell out for a reasonably expensive and space-hogging hi-fi set-up, involving amps and audio system, to listen to your tunes.
These are two issues which audio firm Victrola has set its sights on fixing, with a brand new speaker, launched at CES 2026. That is the Victrola Soundstage, a soundbase which is because of go on sale in summer season 2026 for $349.99 (roughly £260, AU$500, regional availability TBC).
On the Victrola up excessive
Should you’re shopping for for that first motive, then decide up a tape measure. The Soundstage measures 42.95 x 38.37 x 8.95cm, and because the picture on the prime of the article exhibits, it is roughly the identical measurement as a turntable. Good for elevating your vinyl participant – or, ahem, placing the Victrola up hiiiigh (sorry).
As you’ll be able to think about, providing a single speaker as a substitute of a fancy set-up can probably affect the audio high quality, however Victrola has two applied sciences which go some option to offsetting this.
One among these is what it calls the Symmetric Drive Woofer, a downward-firing dual-diaphragm woofer which it says delivers well-tuned and hefty bass whereas avoiding any vibrations. As you’ll be able to think about, shaky bass on a turntable can have you scratching tracks quicker than a DJ.
The opposite tech Victrola has added is a Balanced Mode Radiator, which is designed to disperse music evenly round a large space whereas retaining the unique sound profile of your music. It will hopefully counteract the dearth of stereo speaker spacing and the breadth of sound it creates, one thing just about unimaginable to attain if you’ve solely acquired one speaker.
The Soundstage was designed particularly to work alongside the Victrola Wave and Victrola Automated, however the firm says that it will be appropriate with loads of different turntables too. It will join by way of Bluetooth, 3.5mm AUX, RCA or USB-C and, in a primary for a soundbase, Auracast – and as that listing suggests you will additionally be capable of use the Soundstage with different inputs as a wi-fi speaker. A soundbase is for all times, not only for vinyl.
Alongside saying the Soundstage, Victrola additionally revealed a brand new shade mannequin for the Wave document participant and Tempo bookshelf audio system. Now you can get them in a walnut hue, which the Soundstage additionally is available in if you don’t need its black possibility.
TechRadar will probably be extensively masking this yr’s CES, and can convey you all the large bulletins as they occur. Head over to our CES 2026 information web page for the most recent tales and our hands-on verdicts on all the things from wi-fi TVs and foldable shows to new telephones, laptops, sensible residence devices, and the most recent in AI.
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