- Coreless direct drive motor and newly designed tonearm
- MDF plinth in terracotta, black or light grey
- $899
There’s a new Technics turntable in town, and it comes in a striking color with built-in Bluetooth.
The Technics SL-40CBT is a direct-drive turntable featuring the same coreless motor technology as the celebrated SL-1300G, and it boasts a newly designed high-precision S-shaped aluminum tonearm.
The SL-40CBT is considerably more affordable than the SL-1300G, and while it’s still a premium product, it’s aimed at vinyl newcomers and people upgrading from entry-level turntables.
Technics SL-40CBT: key features and pricing
The Technics SL-40CBT has an integrated, switchable moving magnet phono stage and a factory-fitted Audio-Technica AT-VM95C cartridge with a conical stylus. And in addition to the usual hardware outputs, there’s Bluetooth streaming to compatible headphones and speakers, although as yet the details of the Bluetooth version and codec(s) haven’t been revealed.
The turntable has electronic speed control (33 1/3 and 45rpm) and the platter is die-cast aluminum with reinforcing ribs and a directly mounted motor magnet for reliable torque transmission and accurate speed.
The most obvious change, of course, is that new color – and the plinth made from MDF rather than the familiar die-cast aluminum we’ve come to expect from Technics turntables. Personally, I’d go for the terracotta one, but you can have charcoal black or light grey if you prefer something a little less eye-catching. The turntable has also been designed to match Technics’ SC-CX700 wireless speakers, and it sits on vibration-resistant insulator feet.
The Technics SL-40CBT will be available from September 2025 with a recommended US retail price of $899 (about £679 / AU$1,379 before tax); pricing in other countries will be announced shortly.
