Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 Review: A Bluetooth Turntable Built Like a Tank

Introduction

Cambridge Audio first showed the Alva TT at CES 2019, where it picked up a best of audio award, and the Alva TT V2 is the updated version of that turntable. The Alva name comes from Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of the first phonograph. The London-based company has been operating since 1968 and was the first to put a toroidal transformer into an amplifier. It is better known for electronics than for turntables, but the V2 carries the same priorities: strong sound, simple setup, and very few decisions left for the owner to make.

The V2 keeps the sleek, uncluttered look of the original. Most of what changed came from feedback given by owners of the first Alva TT, and the two headline upgrades are a tonearm with a detachable headshell and new switches that let you bypass the built-in phono stage and shut down the Bluetooth transmitter completely.

Who This Turntable Is For

The Alva TT V2 is a manual turntable. You move the arm over the record, lower it with the lever, and lift it again when the side ends. It is a direct-drive design with a built-in phono preamp and aptX HD Bluetooth, which makes it unusually self-contained for a high-performance deck.

That combination suits two kinds of listeners. The first wants to add vinyl to a system with as little friction as possible, which is the “just add vinyl” idea behind the Alva line: a turntable, a stack of records, and whatever speakers or headphones are already in the house. The second wants a turntable that works properly without fiddling, in a traditional wired setup, and does not need a belt change or a delicate suspension to sound right.

Because the phono stage can be switched out of the signal path, the V2 also suits listeners who already own a better phono preamp and want the deck to feed it directly.

Main Strengths

Build Quality and Setup

The plinth weighs almost 16 pounds before the platter goes on, and the platter adds roughly 5 pounds, so the finished turntable sits just shy of 21 pounds. The lower plinth is finished in a dark matte grey with a solid aluminium top plate above it, and the footprint is smaller than the plinth itself, which gives the deck the rounded, floating look of the company’s CX electronics. Three small silver buttons on the left handle power and speed, and an embossed logo sits on the right. Four damped feet, slightly soft to the touch, support the whole thing.

The platter is made from polyoxymethylene, an engineering thermoplastic chosen for stiffness and dimensional stability, with a metal insert at the centre and a shallow indentation for the record label. It is designed to run without a mat. Cambridge Audio also includes a genuinely good set of audio interconnects and a ground wire, the kind you would not feel the need to replace, and the rear panel labels are printed both right side up and upside down so they stay readable while you lean over the top.

Direct drive is used here in an unusual way. Instead of a high-torque motor and a light platter, the Alva TT V2 pairs a medium-torque motor with a heavy platter. It reaches speed quickly, faster than most belt drives, and Cambridge Audio claims speed consistency as good as or better than any belt drive it tested at the same price. Setup is simpler too: the platter drops straight on, and there is no belt to replace later.

The Alva MC Cartridge and Built-in Phono Stage

The biggest change from the original is the tonearm. The first Alva TT used a Rega-made arm with a fixed headshell, and owners asked for a detachable one so cartridges could be swapped more easily. The V2 delivers that, which matters because the deck ships with the Alva MC, a high-output moving coil cartridge with an elliptical stylus and an aluminium cantilever.

The built-in phono preamp is based on the Cambridge Audio Duo, a separate phono stage the company is well known for. The clever part is the gain and loading: the high-output Alva MC is designed to use the same settings as the majority of moving magnet cartridges, so a second headshell fitted with an affordable MM cartridge will work without rethinking the whole setup.

If you would rather use your own phono stage, the V2 lets you defeat the built-in one entirely and feed a separate preamp instead.

Bluetooth with aptX HD

aptX HD Bluetooth is part of the package, streaming at 24-bit/48kHz rather than through the lossy standard codec. It is not identical to a wired connection, but it lands close enough to be genuinely useful with a good pair of Bluetooth headphones or speakers.

The V2 also adds the option to switch the Bluetooth transmitter off completely, which takes that circuitry out of the picture for a slight improvement in performance when you are listening through wires. Pairing takes a little discipline: other Bluetooth devices in the home that could be paired with need to be switched off first, otherwise the turntable may connect to the wrong one.

Sound Quality in Practice

With a high-quality outboard phono preamp, the difference is clear: more clarity, better separation between instruments, and deeper bass than the built-in stage delivers. The Alva MC tracks beautifully and pulls out a good amount of inner detail. The deck has a decent sense of rhythm and pacing, something Cambridge Audio electronics are known for.

Switching Bluetooth on and off made only a slight difference in that setup, and the Bluetooth path itself sounds more compressed and a little edgier than a hardwired connection. Measured against a far more expensive turntable and cartridge combination, dynamics and drive are where the Alva TT V2 gives ground, though that is a high bar to be judged against.

Things to Consider Before Buying

There is no tonearm height adjustment. That is worth knowing if you plan to swap cartridges, since a cartridge of a different height cannot be compensated for, and it is also why the deck is best left running without a mat. The counterweight has no printed numbers, though the large lines each represent 0.5 grams, which is enough to set tracking force accurately with the supplied pressure gauge.

Small details are worth flagging. The supplied interconnects use tiny black and red rubber bands to mark the channels, and those can slip off, though the cable jacket has writing on one side that keeps left and right straight. Because the turntable is heavy, connecting the cables and powering up before sliding it into position is the easier order of work.

And if Bluetooth is irrelevant to you, this price bracket is extremely competitive, with several strong conventional turntables to consider. The Alva TT V2 is not outclassed by them, but its clearest advantage is the wireless convenience and the near-fussless setup.

Buying Advice

If a great pair of Bluetooth headphones or speakers is already in the house and the goal is simply to add vinyl, the Alva TT V2 is the most convincing option of its kind. It can stream wirelessly around the house and then be wired into a main system when you sit down, which is a combination very few turntables offer.

For anyone who wants a deck that is built like a tank, easy to set up, and predictable in daily use, this is the strongest choice in its class. The defeatable phono stage and the detachable headshell also mean it can grow into a more serious wired system over time, rather than being locked into one way of listening.

Conclusion

The Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 takes the original Alva TT and answers the requests owners actually made. The direct-drive motor and heavy platter remove belt maintenance and setup fuss, the new tonearm makes cartridge swaps practical, and the switches for the phono stage and Bluetooth give you real control over how the deck is used. Buy it for the wireless convenience, the simple setup, and the solid build, and it will serve both a casual listener and a more committed vinyl setup.