Analog Gear News

Quick — if I say “idler-drive,” you say. . .? If you immediately answered “L75,” then you are intimately familiar with Lenco’s L75 idler-drive turntable, a table that the fabled Swiss/Dutch manufacturer began making in the early 1970s that soon enough became a favored, affordable player for many a budding college-age audiophile of the times.

Fast-forward to the here and now and feast your eyes on the visually familiar Lenco LBT-515 direct-drive turntable seen above, which made a notable debut at IFA 2025. Although it sports a retro-vibe wood finish, the 515 is clearly geared towards the modern turntable customer, and we salute this meet-the-moment approach.

For one thing, the 515 is a direct-drive turntable — i.e., its 300mm metal platter is powered directly by a quartz-controlled motor, “for precision” — and it offers playback speeds of 33 and 45rpm, respectively.

The 515 table is also fitted with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, another wise choice by the Lenco team.

Additional features of the 515 include anti-skating, adjustable pitch control, mechanical arm lift, a metal counterweight, and a removable dust cover.

On the connectivity side of things, the 515 table boasts gold-plated RCA outputs, a ground connector, and a switchable preamp with a built-in RIAA equalizer, so that you can plug directly into powered speakers or a receiver. Bluetooth 5.3 with its own volume control is also onboard, enabling users to stream wirelessly to headphones or speakers.

Speaking of speakers, Lenco notes that the 515 table can be paired with their upcoming SPB-240BKGY bookshelf speakers.

Finally, the Lenco LBT-515 turntable is expected to hit the marketplace in November 2025, and it has an SRP of £579.99 / €599.99. As of this posting, U.S. and Canadian pricing have yet to be announced. If we get confirmation about either/both N.A. price points, we will include them in a future update.

For more about Lenco, go here.