Analog Gear News

Here at AP, when it comes to gear coverage, we try to balance our admitted high-end proclivities with some more affordable options for the analog newcomer and budget-minded alike. Today’s serving comes from the more affordable side of the menu, thanks to Andover Audio.

To that end, the Boston-based company has just announced SpinBase 2, the next evolution of their turntable speaker system concept. Maintaining the clean, classic design of the original SpinBase, this next-gen offering now sports a heathered fabric wrap but, of course, continues to boast Andover’s “iconic” main control knob.

“At the heart of the SpinBase design is our patented IsoGroove technology, originally created for our flagship Andover-One all-in-one record player,” noted Bob Hazelwood, Andover’s Director of Engineering and Product Development, in a press statement. Said to eliminate feedback and reduce vibrations, IsoGroove tech enables Andover’s SpinBase speakers to be stacked directly underneath the turntable “without compromising sound quality.”

You can see a “phantom” rendering of Andover’s table-on-speaker-base idea in the above photo (which shows the unit’s black finish option). For entry-level enthusiasts, and/or anyone currently wrestling with space issues in relation to not having enough room to place separate speakers in their listening room of choice (at least for the time being), the SpinBase 2 looks to be a pretty good way to join the analog-playback universe.

The SpinBase 2 is able to both send and receive Bluetooth signals for wireless LP playback. Additionally, the SpinBase 2 features other input and connectivity options including phono, line, optical digital, and USB for flash drives. A new, full-function IR remote control is said to make the SpinBase 2 “easier” to operate, and it is also able to be used to adjust bass and treble settings. A new four-character LED display behind the front grille will illuminate only during adjustments. The headphone jack has been relocated to the side panel, and the unit uses a built-in AC power supply that eliminates the need for an external wall-wart transformer.

The SpinBase 2 utilizes Andover’s Dual Direct Drive amplification design, as each woofer and tweeter are directly powered by their own dedicated amplifier in order to provide “richer, clearer sound” than the passive crossovers in the original SpinBase.

Further maintaining the design of the original SpinBase model, the SpinBase 2 has a 270° driver array with a single vented enclosure — two 1¾ x 4in oval woofers paired with ¾-in silk-dome tweeters that deliver 2 x 20W woofer power and 2 x 15W tweeter power across a frequency range of 65Hz to 20kHz. Another new element in effect here is that the SpinBase 2 now includes a selectable high-pass filter that increases the output SPL when used with a subwoofer. The dimensions of the SpinBase 2 are 18 x 13.5 x 3.25in (w/h/d).

The SpinBase 2 boasts premium cloth grilles and, as alluded to earlier, the option of choosing either a white or black finish. This design aesthetic is intended to complement Andover Audio’s entire Spin Collection, which includes the SpinSub subwoofer, the SpinDeck 2 turntable, and the SpinStand, which conveniently holds up to 150 LPs.

For the record, we reported on the SpinDeck 2 turntable here (on March 14, 2023), the SpinBase MAX turntable system here (November 1, 2022), and the entry-point SpinDeck table here (September 6, 2022).

Finally, the SRP for the Andover Audio SpinBase 2 turntable speaker system — which is now available for preorder, and is expected to ship in December 2024 — is $349. Hmm . . . perhaps we should look into testing a SpinDeck 2/SpinBase 2 combo in the not-so-distant future.

For more about Andover Audio, go here.
To order a SpinBase 2 turntable speaker system directly from Andover Audio, go here.