Victrola’s Portable Record Player Brings the Party Anywhere

I love spinning records on my turntable, but my setup doesn’t leave me much time to actually use it. My system and records currently sit in my living room next to the TV, but I’m often in my office working in front of the computer. After work, my partner and I will head over and watch something (we just wrapped Andor!). These habits don’t offer a lot of time for me to sit back and enjoy some music. It’s usually why I end up using my record player on weekend mornings when I’m cleaning or enjoying a hot cup of coffee.

One solution is to move my turntable setup, but it’s become such a staple when we have guests over that I don’t want to do that. The other fix? Get a second record player. But then I need to fuss with another speaker system and make room for it all in my already cramped office, all of which also sounds expensive. Turns out, the answer all along is a suitcase record player.

Victrola’s new Re-Spin turntable is affordable at $100, lightweight, and easy to put away when I don’t need it. It has a built-in speaker so I don’t need to hook anything else up, and I can even tote it around to a friend’s house, truly channeling my inner Brooklyn hipster.

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Record Scratch

The Re-Spin is a suitcase record player, meaning it literally looks like a mini suitcase, handle and all. It’s pretty plasticky—it’s made from 25 percent recycled plastic, with 100 percent recyclable packaging—but that’s what makes it fairly lightweight at just 5 pounds. Victrola offers it in four colors: gray, red, blue, and green.

Open it up and you’ll see a spot to place your record and the tonearm (yes, the record will spill over the edge when it’s playing, don’t worry about it). Pieces like the tonearm have latches to keep them in place so you don’t have to worry about them falling off when you’re walking around, and there’s a plastic cover to protect the stylus. Still, I’d exercise caution. Try to avoid dinging it on the turnstile when you try to catch the subway.

You can take off the cover and use it as a display case of sorts (it can fit five records), which is nice and all, but there’s no all-in-one solution to carry a few records with the Re-Spin. I have to carry a separate tote bag for my vinyl, but I would’ve loved it if I could carry two to three records and the Re-Spin in one carrying bag.