Te s te d
Yamaha MusicCast Vinyl 50086 T3 MARCH 2020
£429
yamaha.comWE’RE IMPRESSED Easy setup;
great sound; wide range of
connectivity options.
WE’D IMPROVE Shame it
can only receive AirPlay, not
transmit; no aptX Bluetooth; app
is slow and a bit buggy (on iOS).
THE LAST WORD First and
foremost an excellent record
player, with some potentially
very handy wireless and
streaming extras – a bargain
DWbWKLVSULFHVERDICT
See more of the best turntables
at: bit.ly/t3recordamaha has updated the traditional
hi-fi, belt-driven record player with
wireless connectivity via Bluetooth,
but it can also work as part of a
Wi-Fi Yamaha MusicCast multi-room system.
And it can act as a music streaming hub that can
add Spotify, web radio and more to any existing
hi-fi setup. There’s a lot going on here.
First up, this is one of the most convenient
turntables we’ve ever encountered. Placement
is easy, especially if you’ll use it wirelessly –
we just plonked it on a sideboard. The belt drive,
cartridge and counterweight are all simplicity
itself to attach, for once. Even better, it’s easy to
pair Bluetooth speakers, because Yamaha has an
app, unlike rivals from Cambridge Audio and
Pro-Ject. You can even switch between 33rpm
and 45rpm with just a button.
As well as the Bluetooth connectivity, there
are phono level and line level outputs. The
former is great if you have a pre-amp, which
will tend to give better sound, the latter if you
value convenience. The sound quality of the
deck in general is very good – not one to get
This highly skilled wireless-turntable-cum-music-
streaming hub has only minor niggles
Ya m a h a Mu si c C a s t V in y l 5 0 0
STREAM GENIE
audiophiles purring, but there’s plenty of
oomph and decent handling of dynamics.
If Yamaha had stopped here, you’d have a
near-perfect turntable for the 21st century,
although the absence of aptX Bluetooth, let
alone aptX HD, may concern some users.
However, Yamaha has also included
compatibility with its MusicCast platform, and
here some slight frustration creeps in. If you
have MusicCast speakers or receivers, you can
beam the sound of your vinyl across the house
over Wi-Fi, and get noticeably improved sound
compared to Bluetooth. If you don’t, the app
also lets you use the Vinyl 500 as a streaming
hub into your wired stereo setup, so you can
listen to Tidal, Amazon Music, Qobuz, Spotify
and more. It can also receive AirPlay 2 streams,
and can be controlled over Alexa.
This is all great in principle, and audio and
connectivity are excellent over Wi-Fi. But the
MusicCast app is slow and buggy. And we know
lots of people would like to output to AirPlay 2
(or Chromecast or Sonos), but for a variety of
technical and other reasons, that’s not possible.
No matter. What you’re getting here is a
record player that, in terms of performance and
build quality, is worth its asking price before
you get on to all the streaming embellishments- but they could be a tad more polished.
Y