Enjoy Taylor Swift’s latest album in the best possible material

Swifties around the world have been awaiting the release of Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD, if you’re into the lingo), for months. Along with the teasers, Taylor has released a series of exclusive vinyl records, each with their own bonus track. For many fans (myself included), this was enough to finally trigger a return to physical media.

Yes, after years of rolling my eyes at my kids record collection, I gave in and started a collection of my own.

Ever since the digital music streaming revolution took off, I’ve left records, tapes and CDs behind. After all, my generation is the one that discovered the joy of jumping straight to your favorite song on an album, why go back?

I’ve only recently started to realize that by losing my fitness, I’m losing the connection to my music. I’m a child of the 80s who grew up on a cassette player and my parents’ hi-fi. I well remember the ritual of listening to an entire record. That’s lost when you can go into any album like an audio shooter, consume your favorites, and zip it up.

But getting my hands on the TTPD, Target exclusive, ghost vinyl was only the first part. I needed a real system to play it (that’s another thing that’s mostly been lost: dedicated hardware for music). But I didn’t just want to grab the old Goodwill. If I was going to start with Taylor, I’d do it right.

That’s why I was thrilled to see that Sonos has an absolutely amazing Turntable set. It’s seemingly simple, all you need to play records after all is a turntable and a speaker. But what a record player and speaker.

The record player

The Pro-Ject T1 Phonos SB turntable is a great, minimalistic turntable. To eliminate unwanted vibrations, the plinth is made of CNC machined wood, made so that there are no hollow parts. Available in black, walnut or white. So whether you’re in the Age of Fame, Panda, or TTPD, you’re covered.

The solid construction extends to the glass plate. Better than plastic or lightweight metal, the zero resonance platter is heavy and won’t warp or bend, further ensuring playback is smooth. The tonearm is a single piece of aluminum, with excellent counterweight. I also appreciate the arm lever that allows you to drop the needle smoothly. Speaking of which, the T1 Phonos SB features an Ortofon OM 5E Moving Magnet cartridge that delivers amazing hi-fi sound.

You also have options for playback, with an electronic 33/45 speed switch and a felt mat included. The built-in preamp allows you to connect the supplied RCA cable (which also comes with an adapter for the Sonos Five speaker). The sub-plate is driven by a steel bearing belt which ensures even more reliable sound.

It comes in black, walnut, or white, so whether you’re in your Fame era, Evermore era, or TTPD era, we’ve got you covered. The included dust cover is also a touch I appreciate (although I can already see fingerprints on the clear smoked plastic).

THE SPEAKER

Sonos Five is the powerhouse of a speaker. It is the most powerful in the Sonos range, with six amplifiers, three tweeters and three midranges. It automatically provides clear stereo separation with absolutely crystal clear vocal detail (great for us Swifties). It can also work in stereo pair, switching to mono once you set it to portrait orientation.

The Sonos Five connects to the turntable via a line-in adapter. Since the Five is also a fully functional Bluetooth speaker, you’ll need to make sure you’ve selected Autoplay in the Sonos app settings so that it turns on every time you play a recording.

Other than that, setup is a breeze. You can tweak the EQ (which I know I should but never do, the factory EQ settings are so good) and set the Trueplay sound which will tune the output to the architecture of the actual space the speaker is in.

The sound

In one word; Transformative. I never really understood why pumping digital music through the Apple Homepod Mini at full volume was any worse than a disc. After all, it’s all just converting the music into a signal and playing it, right?

But I was wrong. I started with a record I’m deeply familiar with: Daft Punk’s TRON: Legacy soundtrack (seriously, I must have listened to it 200 times) and was overwhelmed by the richness of tone and subtle separation of different parts of the composition. Instead of the bass dominating (as is often the case when listening to a song) or the horns drowning out the strings, everything just came together as the multi-layered masterpiece that it is.

Which made me even more excited to hear TTPD. Suffice it to say that Taylor Swift’s vocals shined on Five through some of my favorite songs like “Florida!!!” (absolutely love Florence + the Machine too) and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” (Eras tour hosts, IFYKYK). Even after a full weekend of listening to the album in my car and on the go, I found myself picking up on subtle tonal shifts that just didn’t happen when I did it through the car speakers (fun as that is). I was also impressed that even when I turned up the volume (because some tracks you just have to listen to at full volume), the audio separation was maintained

And, yes, sitting down and listening to the entire album on purpose, without the ability to easily jump from track to track, made for a superior experience. Truly the best way to experience the master’s music.

Now just hurry up and release TTPD: The Anthology on vinyl already, okay?

You can get the Sonos turntable set from the Sonos website for $948 (a bundle that knocks $50 off the total price). If that’s a little too much, you can pair the Pro-Ject T1 with an Era 100 speaker for $682.

Trust me, it’s worth it.