Continuing our round-up of all the hi-fi we saw at Munich High End 2025 comes this look at the turntables from brands that hail from all across the world. And Sheffield.
From the more affordable models to astonishingly expensive efforts, even though High End implies premium products, it’s a show that caters to both ends of the hi-fi spectrum, none moreso than in the case of the vinyl record players on show.
So whether it’s cool limited edition models or fabulously designed efforts, here’s a round-up of the best turntables we saw at High End 2025.
Revox T77 Alice Cooper Limited Edition
One of the coolest products Trusted Reviews saw at Munich High End was this limited edition model from Revox plastered with a familiar face for rock fans.
Designed in collaboration with Alice Cooper, the limited edition versiom of the T77 has an integrated MC phono preamplifier to enable the shortest and best connection between the pick-up and preamplifier for the best sound quality.
The tonearm features carbon fibre materials, while the MC cartridge Ortofon Quintet Black S makes use of the Nude Shibata diamond, which is considered to be one of the best available stylus profiles available. Connectivity includes RCA and phono outputs.
Numbers of the T77 Alice Cooper Limited Edition are restricted to 50 pieces worldwide, with pricing at €8950.
Vertere RG-1
If you’ve heard of the name Vertere, you’ll know they specialise in expensive turntables, so it should come as no surprise that to afford the RG-1, you’d need to cough up somewhere in the region of £30,000 – £32,000.
Once you’ve picked your jaw from up off the ground, you’d like to know what you’re getting for the extravagant sum. The drive motor is a synchronous one to help keep belt tension constant and keep residual noise away from the platter, which if we’re correct, should result in smoother performance.
The Tempo Motor Drive funnels power to the turntable to ensure optimal power while keeping those pesky noise levels low.
Vertere rank the RG-1 as its “finest model”, with every component that goes into the turntable specially engineered and custom built using the highest quality materials possible in Vertere’s attempt to re-create the experience of live music via a turntable.
Audio-Technica AT-LPA2
Much like the RG-1 ranks as Vertere’s finest turntable, Audio-Technica have applied the same description to its brand new AT-LPA2.
It draws inspiration from the AT-LP2022, with its transparent design allowing owners to peek into the innards of the turntable as it gets up to speed. It’s manually operated with a belt-drive design for the motor that supports 33.3/45RPM speeds.
The cartridge used is the AT-OC9XEN MC cartridge with a 0.3 x 0.7 mil elliptical nude stylus that Audio-Technica claim offers a “detailed sound reproduction with excellent channel separation and low distortion.”
The asking price is much less than Vertere’s RG-1 as you can get the AT-LPA2 for £1699 / €1999. In the UK it sells through Richer Sounds or AV.com.
Musical Fidelity M8 XTT
Another turntable with a transparent design, though not a new one considering that it launched back in 2023, the M8 XTT still caught our eye with its striking design
It features a 10-inch tonearm that’s adjustable with two counterweights that allow it to be used with cartridges from 6g to 20g. Connectivity covers phono RCA outputs and balanced XLR sockets for those who want to plug in a phono preamplifier. Speed support includes 33.3/45RPM.
Four heavyweight feet TPE damped aluminium feet come with magnetic suppport to connect to the acrylic plinths, all of which can be adjusted by turning the middle part of the feet to level the turntable.
It’s still available to buy for a cool £8249 / $9999.
Wilson Benesch Alpha Drive
The turntable with the coolest name was this effort from Wilson Benesch called the Alpha Drive, which if you ask us, sounds like some sort of McGuffin from a Marvel’s Avengers film.
Unfortunately you can’t rule the universe with the Alpha Drive but you can exceedingly cool playing records with it, the Alpha Drive comes part of a system referred to as the GMT One System that’s made up of 30 components. The motor that drives the platter weighs in at 14kg, and is the largest motor designed for a turntable.
Speeds supported include 33.3/45 and 78RPM. We can’t find the price for this model, which suggests a price as mighty as Thor.
Lenco L-455
Far from the expensive turntables seen elsewhere on the MOC show floor, the Lenco L-455 will only set you back £449.99 / €499.
It’s one of Lenco’s more expensive models, and considered to be more audiophile in its appeal, boasting the well-regarded Ortofon 2M RED cartridge.
The platter spins via a belt drive motor, with 33.3/45RPM speeds supported, and ‘Auto Stop’ is supported in case you forget to lift the tonearm once the record finishes playing. The platter also has a suspended design to give the impression that it’s floating.
If you’d like to convert your vinyl records to digital files, the L-455 has a USB port to help kickstart that process.
Pro-Ject Elvis Artist Collection
Last but not least is one of the more fun turntables we saw. As part of Pro-Ject’s Artist Collection series, they had limited edition versions of pop culture icons. One was a Peanuts (Charlie Brown) turntable celebrating its 75th anniversay in 2025, another was a terrific AC/DC version, and the one we’re showing here was the Elvis model.
Pricing is €1399, and this limited special edition comes with LED lighting with Elvis’ name adorned in lights, a Sumiko Rainer MM cartridge, electronic speed switch, 1.7kg zero resonance platter and a 9-inch light aluminium tonearm.
