Victrola has introduced the Victrola Wave in a new Walnut finish, pairing precision analogue playback with the brand’s latest wireless streaming technology. The Victrola Wave is designed for listeners who want the tactile ritual of vinyl without giving up the flexibility of a modern wireless system, and it arrives alongside matching Tempo Bluetooth bookshelf speakers in the same Walnut finish for a complete, cable-light setup.
A Solid Foundation for Analogue Playback
Underneath the wood-effect shell, the Victrola Wave is built around a low-resonance MDF plinth engineered to damp unwanted vibration before it reaches the stylus. An aluminium platter and a silicone anti-vibration slipmat work together with a lightweight aluminium tonearm to keep playback stable, while an easy-set counterweight is meant to get tracking force right without a separate scale or guesswork.
An Upgraded Cartridge for the Walnut Finish
The Walnut edition of the Victrola Wave is fitted with an upgraded Ortofon OM 5E moving-magnet cartridge in place of the standard-issue unit found on other finishes, promising a more detailed and balanced sound with confident tracking. Because the headshell is removable, owners are not locked into that cartridge forever; newcomers can start with the OM 5E as supplied, while more experienced collectors have a clear upgrade path as their systems evolve.
Auracast and aptX HD: Vinyl Without the Cables
The headline feature of the Victrola Wave is integrated Auracast™ Broadcast Audio, which lets a single record be shared wirelessly with an effectively unlimited number of compatible Auracast speakers and headphones at once. Paired with support for the aptX™ Adaptive and aptX™ HD codecs, the Victrola Wave can also stream to individual wireless speakers and headphones with low latency and better-than-basic-Bluetooth audio quality. For anyone who still prefers a wired signal path, a built-in switchable phono preamp and RCA outputs let the turntable connect straight to powered speakers, amplifiers or a full hi-fi system, and a Bluetooth input even lets a phone’s music play back through whatever the Wave is connected to.
A Third Man Records Limited Edition
Collectors in the US also get a dedicated version: a limited-edition Victrola Wave made in collaboration with Third Man Records, finished in the label’s signature yellow-and-black colourway with exclusive branding and a matching custom slipmat. It keeps the same plinth, tonearm and wireless features as the standard Wave, so the collaboration is a cosmetic and collectible variant rather than a stripped-down special edition.
Pricing and Availability
The Victrola Wave is available now, priced at £349 in the UK, $499 in the US and €399 in the eurozone. The matching Tempo Bluetooth bookshelf speakers in Walnut are sold separately, letting buyers build the full system at their own pace. The move also reflects a wider trend among turntable brands to treat wireless streaming as a core feature rather than an afterthought, letting a single Victrola Wave deck double as the source for an entire multi-room listening setup without a single extra cable. It is Victrola’s second recent Walnut-finish release after the Soundstage all-in-one system, which arrives in Europe on 1 October, and the two launches point to a broader push by the brand into warmer, furniture-friendly finishes across its wireless vinyl lineup.
Key Specifications
- Cartridge: Ortofon OM 5E moving magnet (Walnut finish), removable headshell for future upgrades
- Tonearm: Lightweight aluminium with easy-set counterweight
- Plinth and platter: Low-resonance MDF plinth, aluminium platter, silicone anti-vibration slipmat
- Wireless: Auracast Broadcast Audio, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, Bluetooth input for phone playback
- Wired: Built-in switchable phono preamp, RCA line outputs
- Speeds: Selectable 33⅓ and 45 RPM, front-mounted controls
- Companion speakers: Victrola Tempo Bluetooth bookshelf speakers (matching Walnut finish)
- Special edition: Third Man Records collaboration in yellow and black (US)
- Price: £349 / $499 / €399
