The Andover SpinStand Record Stand (buy at Amazon) is an equipment rack that has been designed specifically for the use with a turntable. It has space built into it to hold your vinyl records, your cleaning brush, and other vinyl accessories, as well as being designed to have your turntable sit on top. It can be configured to have either three or four shelves, and it comes in both white and black. The stand itself is 18 inches wide, 13.5 inches deep, and 29.5 inches high if you build it with three tiers, or 33.5 inches tall if you add the fourth tier. From a furniture perspective, it’s relatively light at 32 pounds.
What Makes the Andover SpinStand Record Stand Special?
- This product is tailor-made for vinyl enthusiasts. Andover has clearly put thought into what users want and have included two 13-inch shelves that are perfect for storing your LPs. You should be able to comfortably store upwards of 50 or 60 records between the two shelves if you’re someone who likes to be able to flip through them. Andover actually notes that it can hold up to 150 vinyl records if you really want to pack them onto the shelves.
- While I will admit it’s a bit strange, I get excited about adjustable feet, especially when the product with them is going to host a piece of my audio equipment. While you might expect every stand to come with adjustable feet, they simply don’t, and it isn’t realistic to expect your audiophile gear to sound its best when the stand wobbles. It isn’t good for your sound, it isn’t good for your vinyl, and to be blunt, it’s dangerous. So kudos to Andover for making sure that you can level the SpinStand easily.
- The stand comes in white, which isn’t a standard color in most audiophile racks. So much audio gear only comes in black, so anytime I get the option to have something in white or another color, it’s a great option to be able to have some stylistic choice. The unit also comes in black, if that works with your décor better.
- The SpinStand comes with a thoughtful headphone hanger. This is a small thing, but if you’re someone who uses wired headphones, this is a nice little add, as it keeps your audio experience contained. If you don’t use wired headphones, then you can simply either remove the headphone hanger or just not add it in the first place.
- The SpinStand was easy to assemble thanks to Andover’s YouTube instructions. I was able to assemble the stand in its entirety in around 30 minutes. If you’ve ever put something together from IKEA, you’ll appreciate that doing a project like this in 30 minutes or less is a real feat. The stand is mostly wood and metal rods, which both makes the stand light as well as making it pretty straightforward to put together.
Why Should You Care About the Andover SpinStand Record Stand?
Everyone needs to have a quality piece of furniture to house their audio gear, and this is a quality product. Unusually for a vertical stand in this price range, it has no wobble. If you’re someone who is just getting into the audiophile-grade gear and you’re starting with vinyl, this is a great place to start. $250 won’t break the bank, and the profile of the stand means you can place it in just about any room. The combination of size and styling should also help you get the spousal seal of approval prior to your purchase, which is a value unto itself.
Some Things You Might Not Like About the Andover SpinStand Record Stand
- If you’re not using Andover’s SpinBase or SpinDeck Max, you will want to check the size of your amplifier, as you only have 3.5 inches of clearance. There are certainly amplifiers on the market that will fit into the second self without too much trouble, such as the PS Audio Sprout100, but you will find plenty that won’t, and you will also need to be cautious of how those amplifiers are cooled as well.
- While you could certainly house Compact Discs on this stand, it is truly built for vinyl and vinyl only. If you’re not inclined to spin records, this likely isn’t the right product for you. You could put an integrated amp on the third shelf, but that’s not what this product was designed for, so I would be cautious of the weight.
Does the Andover SpinStand Record Stand Have Any Resale Value?
This stand will likely be a hand-me-down instead of something you sell if you should decide to upgrade. With that said,if you were so inclined, you should be able to take the whole stand apart without too much trouble and put it back in the box to sell it to someone else, but I suspect you’re likely not going to get much more than $50 for it.
Who Is the Competition for the Andover SpinStand Record Stand?
When you’re talking about value, the folks at Monoprice are often in the conversation. I reviewed the Monolith Double-Wide XL 3-Tier AV Stand ($349 – read the review), which is quite a bit bigger, but its smaller sibling the Monolith 4 Tier Audio Stand XL ($179) is a very similar product, and it’s available in three colors. Just keep in mind that this product wasn’t built specifically for turntables if that is your specific goal, but it likely will be able to grow with you more than the SpinStand can.
At the low end, you will always have the IKEA KALLAX ($79.99), which now also comes with a wall-mount if you wish to get it off the ground. The shelves in the KALLAX unit are big enough to hold your vinyl record collection, and it has the space on top for you to add your turntable or an integrated amp. Just note: this item doesn’t look to come with any way to level the unit, which isn’t ideal and for me at least keeps it from being anything more than a storage unit. But it might work in a pinch, as it is wide enough that it should be stable enough.
WickerWoodWorks has several stylish products that are also designed especially for vinyl, including The Tall Boy Turntable Station: Record Player Stand with Vinyl Record Storage ($395). This unit is more expensive, but it is handmade with real wood in Portland, Oregon, which certainly adds to the value. It is certainly wider than the SpinStand, but it likely won’t dominate your room. Just keep in mind that it will likely come with its own space issues for your amplifier, as the space designated for it isn’t all that big. The other thing you’re not getting with this product is any room for expansion, which makes it very much a vinyl accessory.
Final Thoughts on the Andover SpinStand Record Stand
If you’re a person who either loves the analog sound of vinyl records as your primary listening source, or you’re just someone who is looking join the vinyl revolution, there are lots of reasons to place value in the Andover Audio SpinStand Record Stand. It is a sturdy piece of furniture and the things it was designed to do, it does very well. The glaring concern I have with this product is it doesn’t leave you with room for expansion, which for people entering the audiophile hobby is something they should be cognizant of, as you could easily start with vinyl or an integrated amp and then branch out from there, and the SpinStand Record Stand won’t be able to grow with you on that journey. With that being said, don’t lose sight of the fact that this is a $250 product. You should have no issues getting value from a product at this price even if you only end up using it for a year or two before it finds a new location in either your home or someone else’s.
