Ditch the clutter: this is my favorite one-box wireless speaker to use with a turntable, thanks to this crucial feature

Adding a turntable to your home audio setup can unlock a whole world of hi-res audio – not to mention adding a tactile element to enjoying your music collection. However, I can understand why you might not know where to start: with all the additional components it requires, adding a record player to your existing system can feel like it eats up a lot of money, time and, crucially, space. Fortunately, I’ve found that there’s a far more efficient solution available to you.

Even once you’ve decided on the best turntable for your needs, deciding on the rest of your set up can be really complicated. Most people will either buy a bunch of bulky hi-fi products, like an amplifier and bookshelf speakers, or pick up a discrete phono stage to boost the signal sufficiently to run it directly into a standalone speaker. However, thanks to this one-box wireless speaker, there’s a much more economical option that will allow you to start enjoying your vinyl without all the clutter.

The Cambridge Audio Evo One isn’t just a superb-sounding premium wireless speaker – it also has its own built-in phono stage. This means that as well as hi-res streaming from a wide array of sources, multi-room connectivity, and HDMI sound input from a TV, it’s also capable of playing audio direct from your turntable.

While it’s far from the cheapest speaker on the market, costing a hefty $1,499 / £1,299 / AU$2,495, it’s a fantastic single-box solution for audiophiles wanting to save their space for just a couple of gorgeous-looking components.

Setting up a turntable in record time

Hooking up my Audio-Technica AT LP60XBT to the Cambridge Audio Evo One could not have been simpler. Literally all I had to do was run a phono cable from the turntable’s output to the speaker’s phono stage, set up the source in Cambridge Audio’s StreamMagic app, and lower the tone arm onto my spinning record.

Almost instantly, I was greeted by the rich warmth of the black plastic being piped out through the Evo One’s four 1-inch silk dome tweeters, four 2.25-inch aluminum cone mid-range, and six 2.75-inch long-throw woofers.

I’ve already *ahem* waxed lyrical about how good this wireless speaker sounds in my Cambridge Audio Evo One review. So you’d think I wouldn’t be surprised how great it sounds when fed the uncompressed audio of an analog source. And yet I was still seriously impressed with its performance.

The Evo One perfectly communicated the sun-drenched nostalgic vibes of Hallucinating Love by Maribou State, offering decent separation between the gorgeous vocals and fuzzy synth lines. Meanwhile, Bonobo’s Black Sands had plenty of bass punch without it overwhelming its exquisite orchestral elements.

Admittedly, at $299 / £179.99 my turntable is not exactly audiophile-grade, meaning you’ll likely get much more uplift in terms of sonic quality with something like the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo or Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2. But it still demonstrated to me that the Evo One can make a fantastic partner to your turntable, without you necessarily needing to stretch to a bunch of hi-fi separates.

The virtues of wiring the Cambridge Audio Evo One up to your vinyl

Okay, so I’ve definitely established how you hook your turntable up to the Cambridge Audio Evo One. But how about why? Why should you opt for building your vinyl system around this wireless speaker instead of going for a more traditional setup? Well, for me, it comes down to three main factors.

First off, while you can buy a standalone amplifier and speaker system, or opt for an intermediary phono stage to plug into a wireless speaker, both of these options will take up more space. If space is at a premium – not unusual for those of us living in apartments for example – it’s not always easy to find the additional room for squeezing in extra audio gadgets. Plugging a turntable direct into the Evo One is a much more efficient use of your space, reducing the number of black boxes you need clogging up your living room.

"But", I hear you cry, "why should I wire my turntable in at all? Can’t I just use a wireless one instead?" Absolutely! However, this may force you to sacrifice on sound quality. Aside from a select few options like the super-premium Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 mentioned above, very few Bluetooth turntables offer truly hi-res streaming via the 24bit/48kHz aptX HD codec. That means you’ll inevitably be sacrificing some audio quality for the sake of severing those wires, whereas wiring direct into the Evo One guarantees you’ll enjoy truly lossless audio.

By far the most exciting factor for me though is how the Evo One can transform your old-school analog turntable into a modern streaming source. As Cambridge Audio’s speaker functions as a wireless transmitter, it’s capable of outputting its sources across a multi-room speaker network. That means not only can you spin your records in the living room, but with a few taps of your finger you can also stream that LP to a compatible multi-room speaker in your kitchen or bedroom. Merging the faithful playback of analogue audio with the flexibility of digital streaming really does give you the best of both worlds.

Ultimately, there are certain scenarios where traditional hi-fi separates or a discrete phono stage will be the best setup to match your record player. When you only care about audio fidelity, and space and money are no object, all that wired hardware can reward you with unbeatable quality. But if every inch of space in your home comes at a premium, or you want the benefits and flexibility only a multi-room system can bring, pairing your turntable with the Evo One really is a fantastic solution.

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• If you're thinking about going fully wireless, here's our guide to the advantages and disadvantages of buying a Bluetooth turntable
• Planning to pick up a budget record deck? Check out our advice on the 8 things to know before you buy a cheap turntable