Features:

  • High-torque direct-drive motor for quick start-up and USB output that connects directly to your computer
  • Selectable internal stereo phono pre-amplifier allows turntable to plug directly to components with no dedicated turntable input
  • Includes a USB cable, adapter cables, and Mac- and PC-compatible Audacity software to digitize your LPs
  • Forward and reverse play capability; cast aluminum platter with slip mat and a start/stop button
  • Three speeds - 33/45/78 rpm; selectable high-accuracy quartz-controlled pitch lock and pitch change slider control; removable hinged dust cover.Phono Pre-Amp Gain:36 dB nominal, RIAA equalized
Great for new vinyl listeners

Purchased this puppy for my girlfriend last Christmas so we've had it for a few months now. We love it. Set up was easy and we had no experience with turntables prior to receiving the AT-LP120. We were able to get great sound out of it considering we are using some 15 year old stereo receiver and speakers. Will definitely upgrade the speakers in the near future and look forward to seeing what kind of sound we can get out of it then. Very sturdy piece that looks great in the living room of our apartment. Makes for a really great way to relax. Nothing like putting on a 200g Nirvana album and having a beer. Yeah it's more work and more expensive than using your iPhone to get digital music, but there is something very charming about vinyl. And the sound really has more depth, even though I need better speakers to fully appreciate it. I also am enjoying listening to the hundreds of old albums my dad still has in his garage. All in all this is an affordable and easy way to get into vinyl collecting and listening. I have really enjoyed it. It's like endless art collecting too, some albums I pick up just because I love the cover art. Recommend this one to beginners for sure. I think anything less is going to keep you from fully enjoying the experience. More would be great but is unnecessary. Some audiophiles might knock this rig, but I think for the average person that just wants to enjoy some LPs, this thing is great.

So far so good

So there's been a lot of negative feedback about this turntable, which unfortunately I didn't read until _after_ I placed my order and received the TT. Most of the negativity stems from the unit not functioning at all months or years after usage. With so many negative reviews reporting the same issues, I'm going to review this item incrementally over time. I am hopeful that AT has remedied these issues and I'll be able to enjoy this turntable for years to come. Dec 1, 2018 - Package arrived in perfect shape. Well packaged, everything in tact, feels like a very solid, well made turntable during unboxing. After assembly of the turntable, I immediately checked the platter to verify that it wasn't warped as many have claimed to have issues with. Platter is fine, motor works, everything seems legit. I have to say that the tone arm lock feels really cheap and I'm anticipating that it will break in time. Ok, everything is setup. - I set the tracking force and anti skating. - I also verified that the platter was centered with a level in all directions. Much to my surprise, it was pretty much dead on. - Lastly, with a protractor, I verified that the stylus tracking was properly set as the cartridge came pre-installed on the head shell. It was dead center at both null points. I highly suggest these last 2 steps which the directions make no mention of. You can easily find good youtube vids on this. It will help you setup your TT better than the supplied directions explain. First spin. Oh oh, I smell electrical burning. I've now spun about 15 records on the TT, and the smell persists. I'll post updates on the smell. Also, I used a carbon fiber brush on the record before playing each one, and the motor didn't seem too happy with that. It made a strange sound, but returned to normal after removing the brush from the record. It's something that I will pay attention to in the future. The sound so far is pretty good. It's about what I would expect given the cartridge that came with it. I'll probably upgrade at some point though. Oh, forgot to check to see if the anti skating works. Many have reported that it doesn't work properly or at all, so I'll give it a shot. You can google anti skating tests for this step. Sure enough, it's not working correctly. I had to fuss with the tracking setting a bit and can't get it working perfectly. It is working to some degree (it's not skipping to the end of the test CD that I used as fast as it would with anti skating disabled), but it's definitely not working as it should. I'm deducting a star for that. So that's all for now. It's currently spinning records and sounding good. Aside from anti skating issues, mostly happy with it as of now. I'll report with updates in the near future. UPDATE: 12-2-2018 - I got the anti skating working, however, it doesn't work when setting it to 2. I had to adjust it a bit (between 2 and 3) to get it working properly. I'll be taking measurements between spins to ensure that it is still working as expected. So far, so good with this TT. Adding the star back. Also, I can hear absolutely no motor noise through my speakers as many claim. I'm hoping that AT has finally resolved all or most of the common issues so many have reported on. UPDATE: 12-28-2018 - I've been running this TT pretty hard for the past month, and so far, so good. The electrical smell is still prevalent, I'm not sure that's going away, and I hope that it's not a sign of bad things to come. One final note, the anti skate works, but I would NOT trust setting it to the tracking force of the cartridge. Please do yourself a favor and google anti skate testing (some people do it with a blank CD or purchase a test record) and set your anti skate that way.

Audio-Technica outdoes itself again...almost!

Reluctant at first to buy this unit, but so glad I finally did. I am replacing my Technics turntable with this one. This turntable is built incredibly strong and precise. Packaging was incredible. The phono cartridge is pre-mounted on the removable tone arm shell. I decided to put this tone arm and cartridge to the test. TRACKING : I tested the stylus tracking with the Shure “audio obstacle course -era III” LP. This LP puts the tone arm and cartridge through very stringent tests and this passed every tracking test flawlessly. Upgrading to a better cartridge is not necessary having passed these tests. CONSTRUCTION: The weight of this unit is impressive. It rests very solid with no vibration and resists movement. The controls are beveled aluminum and LED lit buttons. Very impressive to look at as well to use. The performance of the tone arm as outlined earlier is excellent and the design and construction are equally beautiful. The thickness of the dust cover was also impressive. Overall the craftsmanship of this turntable is better than I expected. DESIGN : The standard design is awesome. It resembles the iconic Technics DJ models with the beveled platter strobe dots and the S- shaped tone arm. The DIRECTION button is cute but not something I will ever use since I have no DJ plans anytime soon. All buttons and tone arm controls are accessible easily. The USB and power jacks are on the backside. The RCA audio cables are hard wired and there is no grounding wire. I love the option to either use the built-in preamp or bypass it as I do since my receiver has dedicated phono inputs. SUMMARY: This turntable deserves to be called “professional” having met the tracking requirements along with an impeccable design and construction. It will please even the most demanding audiophile. Upgrading (cartridge) is easy. All tone arm adjustments are universal making any upgrade easy and accurate, CONS: The only two negative points are : 1) CARTRIDGE ALIGNMENT: Beware, these cartridges are not mounted correctly requiring the need for an alignment protractor. I recommend the Turntable Labs protractor. The Hudson HiFi protractor did not fit on my spindle and I had to return it! I couldn’t believe it. If you don’t have a protractor, simply loosen the screws on the head shell and slide the cartridge all the way towards the back as far as it will go. The center location pre-mounted is not the correct alignment. Moving it to the back is the location that aligns best with the protractor indicating perfect tracking. 2)CONNECTIVITY: The RCA audio cables are internally connected. I have a concern with this if it should ever need to be replaced. Output jacks are the only option I find acceptable. This design makes no sense to me. Why hard wire the flimsy RCA audio cables and not hard wire the power cord? Jacks for the power cord and USB cable are the only two offered. The silver looks rich and very classic, even with all black components. I just love this turntable and recommend this to all users, audiophiles or those who DO care about sound and looks. If you’re one of those who couldn’t care less about sound, save your money and buy a Crosley for half the price. THIS TURNTABLE JUST LOOKS AWESOME!!!! And sounds it too...

Awesome option for the price!

This turntable was an upgrade from an Audio-Technica AT-LP 60. I have been listening to my vinyl more and more lately and, while there wasn't anything wrong with my old turntable, I just kept thinking/feeling that I wasn't getting the best sound from it so I started looking around for an upgrade. I looked at offerings from Pro-Ject, U Turn and others... with most of those I would have ended up spending more for the turntable and then also have to purchase an amp to place between my turntable and my receiver (which doesn't have a Phono input). I realize that many "audiophiles" aren't crazy about this turntable because of the built-in phono amp. I'm not one of those guys who sits around in a smoking jacket sipping brandy... analyzing the sound quality of my music. I am a guy who's listened to music all his life, loves great music and a great, big sound coming out of his speakers. This turntable delivers like Domino's for me and my needs. From a build-quality perspective it's definitely a step up from my old turntable. It is heavy (there is a large metal weight bolted inside the bottom of the chassis (I found this out by watching a couple youtube videos). Even though the chassis is plastic on the outside, the weight and feel of the switches/controls feels really good. Everything from the power switch to the start/stop button to the cueing lever feels like good quality to me. The hinged cover opens with a good, solid feel and stays put in the open position. There are a lot of features here that I'll probably never use... not a DJ so I don't know that I really need to change the pitch of my music or play a record backwards. If you're interested in doing any of these things they're here for you. I do really like the pop-up light tho. It keeps me from having to turn on brighter lights to line the stylus up with the beginning of the record. I did spend a bit more to get the black version, but I'm happy with the way it looks with all the rest of my other components which happen to be black. If you are interested in upgrading components you can always get a higher-quality cartridge/stylus. I don't hate the one it came with which is the Audio-Technica AT95E (the green one). Apparently this turntable used to come with a lesser-quality cart that was white. One last thing, and it's a very important note. My old Audio-Technica turntable's cover got scratched up really bad during a move. I contacted Audio-Technica support to ask about ordering a new cover. I fully expected the cover to cost a crazy amount of money and for it to be such a huge pain in the ass that I'd just say the heck with it. I contacted their tech support and got a reply from someone within 24 hours. He was incredibly helpful and told me the part number I needed and the price. I was impressed with how nice and helpful he was as well as the fact that they weren't gouging me for the replacement cover (I think it was around $20). I called him back and ordered the replacement, shipping was a very reasonable $4 and it was on my doorstep within 3 days. I was surprised and impressed with the service I got... something I don't think most people can say very often.

AMAZING Record Player for Beginners & Pros

I've been using this turntable for a while now, and it is amazing! $300, to a new record player-owner, may seem like a lot. A good quality turntable will cost around $200-$400, and this thing will last you years! The turntable box was packaged & shipped appropriately. Shipping was free (awesome). Setup is slightly difficult -- watch the video included on this product page. The LP-120, besides its durability, is also extremely accessible and has tons of features. This record player plays 33, 45, AND 78 RPM records. The LP-120 allows you to change the cartridge (the part added onto the arm) and the stylus (needle). Many other things, like the table mat, counterweight, etc. can be replaced as well. SOUND: This record player sounds phenomenal. If you're coming from the LP-60/Crosley, this is an AMAZING upgrade! Records sound fantastic. The built-in pre-amplifier is of pretty good quality and is super convenient. Your setup can be extremely simple: (1) LP-120, (2) speaker with amplifier. DESIGN: The LP-120 is beautiful and has very easy-to-use. The settings -- i.e. RPM speeds, speed, reverse/forward -- are self-explanatory. You should be able to use all the settings without ever owning a turntable before. FEATURES: Plays 3 RPM speeds: 33, 45, and 78 (Shellac). Replaceable mat, counterweight, cartridge, and stylus. Includes 45 RPM adapter and table mat (both fantastic quality), along with a high-quality stylus. NOT automatic turntable, but won't be a problem for a lot of users. OVERALL/TIPS: This is an amazing turntable. As you can see in the included pictures, besides it being beautiful for playing all kinds of records, it plays very accurately without much hiss and popping. Keep the counterweight under 3.5 (I use 2-2.5) -- this will allow the needle to more accurately read the record grooves without damaging your records. If you would like to reduce hiss and pops on this player, the TC-8 Cork Turntable Mat (1/8 inch-thick) does the trick very nicely, with a low price tag. If you don't already have both outer and inner sleeves, I suggest Vinyl Styl 72261 Outer Sleeves (50 Pk) and 3mil-thick 12IH03 Inner Sleeves (25 pk). You might as well pick up a cleaning kit, my favorite being Vinyl Styl Ultimate Vinyl Record Cleaning Care Kit. Enjoy your record player - you won't regret this purchase.

Beautiful to look at, pleasing performance for the money

The device looks great, and setup was easier than I feared it might be, based on others' reviews. Yes, the tonearm locking lever is fragile-looking, but I'll be careful with it. Yes, there was a trace of warping in the platter, est. at no more than 1 mm peak, but I can't hear it. I am still fiddling with force and tracking adjustments; my new digital force gauge just arrived, so will have a chance to see if my nominal 2 gram setting is anywhere near correct. I am not entirely happy with the tonearm lift system-- I have to be very careful in lowering the arm to the record-- a bit fast, and the arm can drop sharply. So far, I think we'll be fine with the provided cartridge, but I may experiment with some others for interest. Speed control appear to be spot on, with none of the "wiggle" in the stroboscopic readings. It would be nice to have automatic tonearm lift at the end of a record, but I am glad not to have the added mechanical complexity needed. Issues may arise as I try to use it with a computer, but for playing our old but well-cared-for LPs, but so far, I think I got good value for the money.

love it couldnt be happier

Had a crosley given to me as a gift from my mother and got hooked on vinyls. Ended up getting a nice collection together some were too valuable to even let the crosley touch so I needed an upgrade. When the vinyl is worth more then the turntable don't play it lol. Have been using it daily since I got it which had to be at least 8mo-year ago by now no issues. Audio quality is amazing compared to cheaper turntables by far. May upgrade the stylus in the future, but for now it sounds amazing and don't really see the need to. So much I could touch on, but this review would be huge, full of positives, and theres a lot of other reviewer's that covered most if not everything else you need or want to know so if you're on the fence I say just do it you won't regret it especially if you're using something cheap like a crosley like me this is a huge audio upgrade and you won't risk damaging you're expensive vinyls. Have Edifier r980t bookshelf speakers hooked up recommend them if youre looking for something you can just plug and play. They sound good could be louder, but the sound fills the room and they have a good amount of base for the small size. They are way louder when hooked to my PC guessing the lp120 pre amp mixed with the speakers limits the volume a bit. Still great speakers to pair with this as a cheap solution if you don't own an amp or speakers already.

This is a great turntable.

This is a really great . I replaced the felt mat with a court rubber composite. I'm running this through a Denon AVR With Mirage OMD15 towers, And a Sun fire 10EQ Subwoofer .I've increase the input volume by 3 dB to equal that of my digital inputs for output. The stock cartridge that comes with this turntable is a really great value. Even with the stock cartridge I'm hearing much better audio from my L p's than I get from even high definition audio. One of the biggest differences that I've noticed in over all sound quality is using a proper needle cartridge cleaning kit. I've also bought an LPU spin record cleaner. For investing extra money in new cartridge is or modifying this turntable I people on the Internet have done I recommend doing extensive cleaning of both the needle and your record collection for best audio output. The next thing is to purchase a test album that will produce pink noise. Download a spectrum analyzer for your android or iPhone and then use your AVR EQ if you have a Denon or Yamaha or any other receiver capable of making these adjustments. Otherwise if you just want a good turntable and you're not intrested in messing with things you can't go wrong with this unit either.

I've Never Actually "Heard" My Vinyl Until Now!

I haven't written many reviews but I feel compelled to chime in on this one. I've had it for 4 days and have listened to vinyl every evening since it arrived. The shipping box it came in was well packaged, marked "heavy" (it is!) and everything was packed very well is inside the actual product box as well. Unpacking is pretty straight forward, though there are pieces taped all around the styrofoam that you'll have to cut free, but nothing was broken. First thing to do is open the manual and make sure all the parts are there; in mine all was good. I also checked the platter since a few reviews said theirs was warped; absolutely no problems with mine. It only took about 20 minutes to assemble following the instructions exactly as listed. This sounds stupid, but the only thing the manual doesn't show in pictures is yeah A/C plug location. I had already put it in place when I had to plug it in and because the RCA plugs aren't removable, I had already routed them through my built-in to my Onkyo receiver so I was limited in its movement. For the record, the power cable plugs in directly behind he left rear leg if facing the player; it is NOT on the same flat back surface as the USB and line out selector switch. Balancing the tone arm was pretty simple, and 2 grams of tracking force with 2 on skate control seems to work perfectly for me (I'm no expert but that's the recommended setting for the cartridge included). I bypassed the pre-amp because my receiver had one, and initial thoughts are: WOW! This thing sounds absolutely amazing. I've had cheaper belt-driven models and there is no comparison. The first album I played was The Lumineers and I heard backup vocals that I never knew were there! The quartz matching is spot on, it stops when you hit stop, and the light for the stylus is useful but I still had to turn on overhead lights to see where I was placing the needle exactly (nothing major, I'm sure I'll get better). I was very worrie my SO was going to be upset when she saw the price but I played AC/DC Back in Black on it and she loves it. Old vinyl sounds new, things that skipped no longer do. It's worth every penny, which is pretty good for the silver model right now!! If you are on the fence, stop doubting and start listening!

After years and years of people saying " it sounds better on vinyl " and owning a entry level player ...

I don't normally do reviews on anything but making an exception in this case. After years and years of people saying " it sounds better on vinyl " and owning a entry level player for the last 8 months just caved in and got this. It blows everything out of the park. Putting it together was fairly simple and took about 20 minutes tops. Right out of the case the Player feels solid, sturdy and classy. Had to google how to balance the tone arm but it only took a minute. Listened to the Lumineers " cleopatra " and you can hear the back vocals/ side vocals/ front vocals/ violin and the whole shabang with immense clarity. It's like someone is playing live music in your living room. Great job Audio technica!

Full Reviews