In 2022, audio tech company Victrola impressed us with the impressed us with the Victrola Stream Carbon. This Wi-Fi boasting turntable came with “Works with Sonos” certification, allowing it to link up directly to the multi-room audio system speakers.
Easy to integrate and featuring a belt-driven turntable with a carbon fiber tonearm, it plugged a huge gap for folks using the best Sonos speakers in their setup, but it also came at the high-end price of $799 (about £720 / AU$1200). Happily, Victrola has launched a second Sonos-friendly set of decks at CES 2023 with a less intimidating price tag.
The all-new Victrola Stream Onyx maintains the same connectivity features as its more expensive predecessor but sports some less-expensive components as a compromise. The key concession is an aluminum tonearm in place of the luxe carbon-fiber one found on the Stream Carbon. And the Onyx comes equipped with either an Audio-Technica VM95E or an Ortofon OM 5E moving magnet cartridge instead of a higher-end Ortofon 2M Red.
There’s the same two-speed, belt-driven turntable configuration on the Onyx, as well as an easily adjustable counterweight for the tonearm – and to make life easy, the tonearm has indicators for whether the counterweight needs to go depending on which cartridge you bought.
The Onyx also sports a similar built-in illuminated control knob to the Stream Carbon for centralized volume control, allowing you to adjust the output for the entire Sonos system and selected playback groups. Regular stereo speakers can meanwhile also be used in tandem with a Sonos sound system via the turntable’s RCA outputs.
The Stream Onyx is available now for pre-order in the US from Amazon and direct from Victrola.com for $599 (that's about £490 / AU$870) and will start shipping next month – so while it's still not cheap, it's certainly easier to afford than its predecessor, for a relatively small change in sound quality.
Keep your eyes peeled for our Victrola Stream Onyx review to find out if it makes our pick of the best turntables of the year. Victrola says it also plans to distribute its new turntable in Europe later in 2023 with a price still to be confirmed.
Analysis: Cheaper Stream deck may be the Victrola to give a spin
We appreciate the purist argument that a wireless record deck negates the point of playing analogue vinyl in the 21st century, though if you're buying new vinyl, it can be more complicated than that. But there’s undeniably a huge market of Sonos users who would love a fuss-free way to integrate a record player into their multi-room setup.
The Victrola Stream Carbon was a great solution, but its hefty price tag put it in the bracket of a luxury piece of hi-fi gear and out of reach for plenty of prospective vinyl heads.
The Onyx makes much more sense. The loss of the carbon-fiber tonearm and the cheaper cartridges pre-installed are sensible concessions to cut 25% off the price.
Factor in that the Onyx’s moving magnet cartridge can easily be upgraded at a later date for those craving added clarity, and we’re tempted to suggest the newest deck on the block may be the best of the two to go for.
