Goldring GR3 Turntable with E3 Cartridge

The Goldring GR3 marks the company’s return to turntable manufacturing after nearly two decades — the first new Goldring turntable since the GR2 in 2005. Developed in partnership with a specialist British hi-fi manufacturer, the GR3 is a belt-drive design that pairs a precision-engineered chassis with the award-winning Goldring E3 moving magnet cartridge, supplied factory-fitted and pre-aligned for immediate playback.

Design & Construction

The GR3’s plinth is finished in high-gloss black with Goldring gold branding. A phenolic resin platter with enhanced flywheel mass concentrated at the rim ensures consistent rotational speed across both 33⅓ and 45 rpm settings. Speed changes are manual. The 24-volt low-noise, low-vibration motor drives the platter via a belt, isolating motor vibrations from the record surface.

The hand-assembled tonearm uses a lightweight aluminium tube for rigidity with minimal effective mass, and is carefully matched to the E3 cartridge at the factory. A Perspex dust cover is included as standard.

Cartridge & Phono Stage

The Goldring E3 — a six-time consecutive What Hi-Fi? Best Buy winner — is a moving magnet design with an elliptical stylus mounted on an aluminium cantilever. Output is approximately 3.5 mV at a recommended tracking force of 2 g, with a dual magnet generator for accurate stereo separation.

Unusually for a turntable at this price, the GR3 incorporates a built-in phono preamplifier with RIAA equalisation accuracy of ±0.4 dB from 100 Hz to 20 kHz (typically better than ±0.25 dB). This allows the GR3 to connect directly to any line-level input on an integrated amplifier or powered speaker without an external phono stage. Note that the internal phono stage is always active and cannot be bypassed.

Connectivity & Included Accessories

The GR3 ships with a choice of quality QED interconnect cables: either a 1.5 m phono-to-phono cable for connection to a standard amplifier, or a 3 m phono-to-3.5 mm cable for use with powered speakers or portable devices. Both options are included in the box for the buyer to select.