"Automatic for the people" might as well be Dual's company motto. This long-established brand has been making turntables that lift their tonearms up at the end of a record for many decades. These so-called semi-automatic designs stood up to the onslaught of fully manual turntables – so beloved of 'purist' audiophiles – because many vinyl fans simply do not like having to sprint over to their record players as the stylus hits the run-out groove. Furthermore, many others also want to press a button to make the music start, then sit back and relax – as with fully automatic decks like the CS 529BT you see here.

From the late nineteen seventies onwards, automatic decks became a dying breed. Vinyl purists got ever more hardcore, demanding detachable tonearms that they could upgrade – and there was no chance of automation with these. Yet despite convenience falling out of fashion, Dual stuck with the concept. Its stellar-selling CS 505 of the early eighties was semi-auto, despite vinyl snobs sneering at it. The company's special recipe was to offer a combination of decent high-fidelity sound and ease of use – and this perfectly hit the spot.

The CS 529BT is Dual's latest flagship fully automatic offering and stays close to the brand's traditional values. 'Quality with convenience' was always the deal, and here it is again. It uses a smooth belt drive system, a precision-made tonearm and has Bluetooth aptX HD audio functionality, plus app control. It's a perfect counter to decks like the Rega Planar 3, which is a purist-friendly, fully manual design that doesn't even lift the tonearm up at the end of the record. As the French like to say, "vive la différence"!

UP CLOSE

Developed in Germany and manufactured in China, this is a standard-sized turntable [435x367x145mm] with a plinth made of medium-density fibreboard. It comes in a choice of standard black vinyl or optional real walnut wood veneer finishes. Unlike Duals of many decades ago, it doesn't have a sprung subchassis, with the designer specifying rubber decoupling feet instead. Historically, the company has made belt-drive, direct-drive and quartz-locked direct-drive decks – but here, the former has been selected for simplicity's sake via a precision-cut belt from the rubber-mounted motor.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, as Dual belt-drives were always good – with a slickness and precision to them that many rivals lacked. The company claims a wow & flutter figure of 0.08%, which is decent but not class-leading. The deck is fairly silent in operation at all of its three speeds – 33.3, 45 and 78RPM. The latter speed will appeal to hardcore analogue addicts, especially as the tonearm's detachable headshell means that a cartridge with a 78RPM-capable stylus can be quickly fitted. A 2.5mm-thick rubber mat damps its 305mm aluminium diecast platter; the total weight of this is 850g, so it's less substantial than the likes of a Rega. This is turned by the main bearing, which sports a hardened steel spindle and a brass bushing.

Another traditional Dual strong point is tonearm quality. In this case, it's a statically balanced, straight-pipe aluminium design with an effective length of 221.5mm. It's a twin gimbal bearing type with a detachable headshell, to which an Ortofon 2M Red comes fitted. When cueing, the arm feels smooth and has negligible detectable bearing play. The cartridge weight range is 5g to 9g, which is fair enough for the sort of moving magnets it's likely to be used with. It works in a choice of two modes – fully automatic start/stop or fully manual. Dual says that during playback, the mechanics of the automatic system are decoupled from the tonearm and the platter for better sound.

Around the back, the deck offers RCA phono outputs with a switch to turn the internal line-level phono preamplifier on or off, plus a main power switch. The main control is at the front right of the deck; it's a largish start/stop press button that also selects speed. There's also a Bluetooth toggle switch, which allows the use of Dual's dedicated iOS or Android app, which offers remote control functions, including start/stop, speed change and sleep. The deck weighs a respectable 6.7kg, not including the external power supply. The CS 529BT takes about fifteen minutes to unpack and set up; the platter needs to be fitted and the arm balanced. Playing a record is simply a case of placing it on the platter and pressing the start button or selecting start on the app.

THE LISTENING

Anyone who's heard a classic Dual deck, such as the CS505, will find the sound of the CS 529BT reassuringly familiar. It gives a smooth, detailed and engaging performance – but isn't exactly a firecracker in the way it makes music. Instead, this turntable has an 'easy listening' sort of nature. It gets all the basics right – speed stability, disc tracking, and detail retrieval, but doesn't excel sonically in any area. For the type of buyer it's aimed at, this is more than enough – and it proves that not all automatic turntables are second-class citizens in the vinyl stakes.

Cue up a well-recorded rock song like Dire Straits' Tunnel of Love, for example, and you get an assured 'hi-fi' sort of sound. The soundstage is pleasingly wide, albeit lacking a little in depth, and within this, you can hear each strand of the mix clearly. Those Rickenbacker guitars have a pleasing raunchiness, and singer Mark Knopfler's voice is suitably gravelly. The bass guitar is nimble and lithe but lacks some weight, while the cymbal work has a decent sheen and satisfying crispiness. Whilst it's not the most emotive performance of this song I've ever heard, the music still gels nicely and reminds one of the joys of analogue audio.

The supplied Ortofon 2M Red cartridge is a good choice. It comes correctly aligned and gives its customary civilised sound; if you want greater detail and a more delicate top end, you can usefully upgrade it to a 2M Bronze stylus or even higher. Move to classical music such as Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic), and the Dual does its stuff again. Tracking is good, with no obvious nervousness, even on dynamic crescendos, and the deck is insightful enough to capture the atmosphere of the performance nicely. Classical music can really impress on LP.

The deck's built-in phono amp is decent enough, but if you already have a phono stage in your integrated amplifier then you'd likely do better using that. When switched on and feeding a line-level input, the music rolls along happily, giving a more vibrant and tactile sound than most turntables fitted with built-in phono preamps – but does add a touch of forwardness to the proceedings. All the same, the trance electronica of Age of Love's Age of Love comes across in a satisfyingly big-hearted, direct and immediate way. It is plenty fun enough for a deck of this price.

THE VERDICT

Dual's CS 529BT is not a full-fat audiophile turntable – if you want this, then the company offers its CS 618Q semi-auto direct-drive design. Rather, it is intended to give a combination of ease of use and decent sound, and at this, it clearly succeeds. Its slick operation, ease-of-set-up and good ergonomics all make it attractive to vinyl fans who love their records but can't be bothered with the hassle of manual cueing. If you fall under this category, then this is well worth trying, as most such decks are of far lower – or even questionable – quality.

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