I tried looking for specs on the Angels Horn H019 Hi-Fi Bluetooth Turntable with Built-in Speakers vintage record player featured in a recent Wirecutter article but the extent of the speaker specs is—4—which sit directly under the turntable.
There’s also no mention of what’s responsible for driving those 4 “Hi-Fi Stereo Speakers” nor other common specifications you might find from a thing that’s meant to make music.
But…
“Due to space issues and a little laziness, I didn’t want to assemble another music system just to play my dad’s vinyl. So, based on my colleague Brent Butterworth’s recommendation, I bought the Angels Horn H019, which combines a record player and a speaker system in one cabinet.”
I can relate, in a very big way, to author Grant Clauser’s mission in his recent article for Wirecutter. 100%.
Also from the article:
And that’s the thing: It’s not really the record player that’s precious to me. It’s the picture in my head when I’m spinning the 1953 Ellington Uptown LP: I imagine my father as a teenager, sitting in the small house on Blackberry Alley, holding a shiny record sleeve and hearing those saxophones and trombones for the first time.
It’s more than just music that lives in the grooves of that vinyl.
I will say, screwing on my reviewer’s cap, there’s no way the $239.98 Angels Horn H019 Hi-Fi Bluetooth Turntable with Built-in Speakers vintage record player is “great at playing music” (see physics). But I love the sentiment and purpose expressed in the article.
I’m reminded of a favorite quote I’ve quoted before that runs along similar but more compelling lines from Haruki Murakami’s novel South of the Border, West of the Sun:
“Shimamoto was in charge of the records. She’d take one from its jacket, place it carefully on the turntable without touching the grooves with her fingers, and, after making sure to brush the cartridge free of any dust with a tiny brush, lower the needle ever so gently onto the record. When the record was finished, she’d spray it and wipe it with a felt cloth. Finally she’d return the record to its jacket and its proper place on the shelf. Her father had taught her this procedure, and she followed his instructions with a terribly serious look on her face, her eyes narrowed, her breath held in check. Meanwhile, I was on the sofa, watching her every move. Only when the record was safely back on the shelf did she turn to me and give a little smile. And every time, this thought hit me: It wasn’t a record she was handling. It was a fragile soul inside a glass bottle.”
“It wasn’t a record she was handling. It was a fragile soul inside a glass bottle.”
To my way of thinking, it’s those fragile souls we aim to commune with when we go beyond a $239.98 (+ shipping) Angels Horn H019 Hi-Fi Bluetooth Turntable with Built-in Speakers vintage record player and put together systems that are actually great at playing music.
The memories and nostalgia come along free of charge.