When Andover Audio assembled a team of designers and engineers from multiple parts of the consumer
electronics industry, they quickly realized a huge growth was happening in the world of
audio. A resurgence in vinyl records was happening, but there was a lack of super high-quality
all-in-one systems to play it back. Designing an all-in-one unit meant the engineers would
have to overcome the problems that normally occur when your turntable is super close to
your speakers.
Toward the end of 2019, Andover Audio released the Spinbase, an all-in-one speaker system
designed to sit directly underneath your turntable. You’re probably wondering how they managed
to make this happen, and the answer is Isogroove technology. We’ll touch on this later, but
needless to say, it’s pretty cool, and it’s a complete breakthrough in isolation technology.
If you want to read our full review on the Spinbase, head over to audioadvice.com by
clicking on the link in the description below. Along with this review, you’ll find hundreds
of other reviews, comparisons, buyers guides, and much more. Now, let’s take a look at
this clever solution to getting great vinyl sound in a small space - the Spinbase by Andover
Audio!
The Spinbase is an all-in-one speaker system in a very compact package that’s about the
same width and depth as a typical turntable. It has a fairly retro look to it and it’s
available in a black or white finish. At 18 inches wide, 13 and a half inches deep and
about 3 and a quarter inches tall, the size will accommodate just about any turntable
you would likely use with the Spinbase.
A finely perforated metal grill wraps around 3 sides of the unit. There are more controls
and inputs on the back. There’s also a large Andover Audio logo right on the top of the
unit, but your turntable will cover this up. Since it's a little deeper than a typical
bookcase, especially after you leave room for your turntable connection plugs, the Spinbase
won’t fit on a normal 12-inch deep bookshelf. However, it will be right at home sitting
on any tabletop, desktop, or a small table.
The build quality is very good for the price of the Spinbase. It's not quite what you would
get on a Naim or McIntosh all-in-one piece, but for the price, it is pretty darn good.
The volume control feels solid and there’s absolutely no wiggle to it. The rear input
connectors are standard for what you’d expect in this price category. You will need to use
it close to an AC outlet as the power cord is fairly short. This was one small complaint
we had, although an extension cord is a simple and convenient way to solve this.
The Spinbase actually has two phono connections on the rear - one for normal magnetic moving
magnet phono cartridges and another for ceramic cartridges. Ceramic cartridges are what you
find on cheaper all-in-one record players. Many of these types have an audio-out which
allows you to connect to the Spinbase and improve the sound, but we highly recommend
that you stay away from this type of turntable if you care about preserving your records.
The neat part is, the ceramic input can be toggled with the flick of a switch to be a
line-in analog input for a CD player, DAC, or a cassette deck. Right beside the two sets
of inputs, you’ll find a bass and treble control and even a mini headphone jack. The
final icing on the cake from an input perspective is the addition of Bluetooth 5.0. Connecting
was quick and simple. Within seconds we were streaming Tidal to our test unit.
This is a great combination of inputs and controls that make the Spinbase the perfect
all-in-one music center for your turntable. Other than its additional 3 and a quarter
inches of vertical space, the footprint for your new music system will not be much larger
than the space your turntable already takes up! It uses what is basically a stereo pair
of speakers that uses two woofers and two tweeters. We were so curious about how this
filled up our room with such a wide sound, we took our sample apart to have a peek behind
the grill. There are two forward-firing dome tweeters on each end of the front panel and
two oval midbass/bass drivers mounted on the sides firing out.
This configuration gives the Spinbase a 270-degree sound-field that creates a really pleasant
room-filling sound. This isn’t the ideal setup for a true two-channel HiFi feel, but
if you’re more interested in just getting great sound out into your room, then it’s
perfect. Each speaker driver has its own individual power amp and there’s a good bit of room
inside the Spinbase to develop some decent bass, which helps with the warm sound.
One other piece of great tech is Andover’s Isogroove™ technology. Putting a turntable
on top of speakers has always been a total no-no because of issues from acoustic feedback.
However, the team at Andover Audio is using both mechanical and electronic compensation
systems to eliminate any chance for feedback. We have to say, for $300, this is an outstandingly
good sounding product!
We gave the Spinbase a full gamut of testing. We used a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon as the turntable,
a Chord Mojo as an analog input, and Tidal for Bluetooth 5.0 streaming. In each and every
case, it provided a warm and rich sound, and never any trace of an edge. The tone controls
are also very well thought out. Neither one has a dramatic effect and they can be used
more for fine-tuning. In other words, turning the bass control even wide-open doesn’t
overdo the bass as you’d expect. The treble is especially nice to back down just a shade
on an overly bright recording.
The Spinbase also turned out to be a great background music player. It keeps its very
warm sound even when you turn the volume down low. The real surprise came to us when we
cranked up the vinyl really loud. Andover’s Isogroove™ tech really works and prevents
any acoustic feedback or vibrations from getting to the turntable.
The Spinbase is the perfect option for someone who has very limited space and wants to have
a good vinyl playback system. You can buy a turntable without a phono preamp built-in,
which allows you to get a better table for the same money, and use the built-in phono
preamp in the Spinbase, instead.
Don’t get us wrong, the Spinbase is not as good as a separate pair of 4-500 dollar
powered speakers spread apart for better separation, but it’s a great problem-solver for space
and for someone who likes having plenty of features. You can spend another $50 and get
something like the Peachtree M24 or Kanto YU-4. Both of these have the same features
and sound better, but they’ll both take up more space and you need to spread them
out some to prevent feedback when using a turntable. If you have any questions about
the Spinbase or any other home audio or home theater gear, be sure to give us a call, chat
with one of our experts at audioadvice.com, or stop into one of our Raleigh or Charlotte
North Carolina showrooms.
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