What’s the best turntable option if you want to relive your youth through your old vinyl records?

Q: I want to resurrect my vinyl record collection, so I need to buy a turntable. Any suggestions?

A: The “vinyl revival” as it’s been called, has been growing for the past 10 years and there are many reasons for it.

For those of us who grew up pulling a record out, cleaning it and reading the liner notes while listening to the entire album, nothing in today’s digital music world comes close to that experience.

It’s much the same reason that those that grew up with the tactile experience of reading newspapers and magazines still prefer them over e-books and reading online.

Depending upon the quality of your sound system and your ear for sound, there can be a dramatic difference in what you hear — I typically describe it as a ‘warmer’ sound.

How you plan to listen to these vinyl gems has a lot to do with which class of turntable you should consider.

If you don’t own any stereo equipment and plan on using your computer speakers, a Bluetooth enabled speaker or a TV sound bar, you’ll want to steer clear of a traditional turntable. A traditional turntable will require a traditional amplifier with a specific ‘phono’ input on it because the output signal is very low.

Newer turntables have a built-in ‘preamp’ that boosts the signal enough so that it can be directly plugged into your computer via USB or to powered speakers or Bluetooth speakers commonly used by computers.

If you have a surround sound amplifier that lacks a phono input, you’ll still need a turntable with a built-in preamp. If you don’t want to limit your future options, look for a turntable that has a switchable preamp so it will work with older or newer amplifiers.

If you want to get the longest life out of both your vinyl collection and the turntable itself, look for something that is fully automatic, has a replaceable cartridge and an adjustable tonearm.