This is an interesting turntable: it will play your vinyl impressively well, has a decent phono stage built-in, and will also allow you to make a digital copy of your vinyl music, via its USB output, to store and play wherever you wish. We step up in price here to a more conventional record deck/integrated amplifier/speakers system, using Audio Technica’s AT-LP5x as our source. We were tempted to go with the excellent Wharfedale Diamond 12.1, but we’ve plumped for Elac’s superb Debut B5.2 instead – one of the company's finest efforts in years, and a terrific all-rounder. There are a number of excellent speakers at an appropriate price to go with the Juke Box. What’s more, you’re not compromising on sound a great deal (if at all) over an equivalently priced separates system. And that’s it stick a record on the platter, and you’re good to go.
Not much could be simpler than this: put your Juke Box on a solid, vibration-free, level base and connect it to a pair of stereo speakers. You’ll be opening only two boxes to get your hi-fi up and running, rather than the four or five you might need to break into for a traditional system with (possibly) pre-amplifier, power amplifier and separate phono stage. The wizardry of the Juke Box E, with its internal amplification, means that you can’t really get a simpler turntable system than this. Which is where our first system comes in. It requires far more careful planning and component matching – and, most importantly, usually more money… That route has some obvious downsides, though, of course.
It’s a generally accepted fact in hi-fi that, as far as sound quality is concerned, the more boxes the better – a system built up of well-selected separate components should be sonically superior to an all-in-one alternative.