Audio-Technica ATLP5 AT-LP5 Direct-Drive Turntable, Black

I'm getting back into tube amps and vinyl. My old Denon DP33F - Quartz stabilized direct drive - well the WOW went away after the crystals warmed up over 10 mins and it got up to a steady speed. But no amount of careful lubing of the motor could eliminate noise. Good for it's time - now it is just a bit too noisy. Time for something new. But I'm not dropping $2,000+ :-)After reading a LOT of reviews. Cutting through the mumbo jumbo and finding some good comparative reviews - I set myself a budget of $500 and this is what I bought. Setup for an old school audio type was straightforward. My ears are aged 55 and are still pretty good. 15kHz is detectable.So the pluses:Silent - both motor noise (none) and electrically when properly grounded - (none)Nice mid compliance rubber matNice feet that decouple from the roomClean simple design.Rock solid speed on a strobe.Protractor supplied for cartridge setup (that paper "Quick Start" disk - it is printed on there.).Minus - well not really a minus - but the supplied cartridge is only OK. Would rather have had nothing supplied and a price adjustment. But I can see people want plug and play. As supplied - bit muddy on the bass for my liking. Again - I'm not going to spend a fortune on a cartridge but in went a good middle of the road Shure m97xe. At 1.4 grams it stayed in the groove. That cleaned up the bass and got the detail back.Headphone listening - with a home built RIAA tube amp and Pentode Small 20w RMS per channel Class A power amp. Genres - all over the place - Pink Floyd, Clapton, Popular Classics, Folk.Haven't tried the USB to computer.Good all round performer for the money. Keeper

I will update my review on the sound quality when I get my replacement unit.Disclaimer: This review is based only on the actual unit that I received. I have to return it, probably just a glitch in the manufacturing of this particular unit. There is absolutely no bass signal coming out. I tried 2 different pre-amps, I tried connecting directly to phono jack on my amp, I switched to built-in pre-amp, tried a different headshell and cartridge just to rule-out faulty cartridge, same result. Mids and Highs are PERFECT.I have been using Audio Technica equipment for years now, from headphones, mics, turntables and cartridges, that’s why when I decided to replace my ever reliable AT LP120USB, I went for the LP5 based on my experiences with AT. I’m a bit bias but hey, they make great audio equipment.Built: Solidly built, finish is beautiful, hardware superb.Set-up: Beginner-friendly, with youTube video assist if needed.

I just upgraded to this from the Pioneer PL-30-K and it is a huge improvement. The build quality appears very good. The feet are substantial and the body as a whole has some nice weight to it. Meanwhile, the tonearm and its mechanisms feel precise and fluid. I do miss the automatic features of the Pioneer, but it is very hard to find a quality turntable with those features these days. I checked the rotation speed and it was extremely consistent (a huge improvement over the Pioneer), and it spins up to speed almost instantly.The sound quality is very good. I started with the stock needle\cartridge using the built in pre-amp and was quite pleased. The tone was a tad bright, but sounded very accurate otherwise. After a bit I upgraded the cartridge to an Ortofon blue and I think it sounds outstanding now. It's not too bright anymore, bass sounds very good and the overall sound stage feels wide and fills the room. Eventually I'll switch to an external pre-amp, but I feel that the internal amp sounds very good and should be adequate for most people that don't have an external or one in their receiver.One negative I found is that the actual power button is on the back of the unit. I like that they have the dial on the top to start the platter spinning at the desired speed, but the off setting just turns off the motor, the rest of the unit is still "live" (and there is a blue light above the dial that stays on unless the button in the back is pressed). Aside from not having the convenience of an auto-return at the end, that's really the only thing I've found that bothers me about this unit (and that is a very minor issue).Overall I think this is a great turntable and the price seems appropriate for what you get.

Español / EnglishExisten tocadiscos mucho más económicos en el mercado pero si deseas entrar más en serio al mundo de los discos de vinilo, con una gran calidad de audio, esta tornamesa es un excelente primer paso.Tiene la conveniencia que te permite grabar tus disco a archivos digitales. Tiene un preamplificador integrado que te permitirá utilizarlo con preamplificadores o receptores sin entrada de phono. También se puede conectar a bocinas con amplificador integrado. Él preamplificador integrado se puede sacar del sistema para utilizar entradas phono normales.El cartucho y aguja incluidos son rango medio pero no lo utilice. Al llegar la tornamesa y armarla, le monte de inmediato otro cartucho de alta calidad que ya tenía.La fidelidad de sonido que ofrece esta tornamesa es muy buena. Para lograr una mejora significativa en sonido, tendrías que gastar por lo menos el doble para lograrlo. Él LP AT5 te permitirá descubrir el maravilloso sonido de los discos en vinilo.There are much less expensive turntables on the market but if you want to get into the world if vinyl records a bit more seriously, with excellent sound quality, this turntable is a perfect first step.A USB output will let you transfer your records to digital files and a built in preamp lets you hook it up to preamps and receiver without phono inputs. You can even connect it to powered speakers. The internal preamp can be switched off if your equipment has phono inputs. A mid priced cartridge is included but I didn't try it out. I installed a higher quality one I already had when I did the initial setup.This a great sounding turntable. To get any significant sound improvement over the LP AT5, you'd have to spend at least twice as much.The AT5 will let you you discover the wonderful sound of vinyl records.

this is a great turntable, all is good about it, the cartridge that comes with it ,AT95EX, is junk, its nice they supply one with the turntable but it sure makes things sound bad, I put my 30 year old shure cartridge and stylus on it and the combo sounds really really good, cant wait until I put a new denon MC cartridge on it, nice unit I would recommend it for this price range

After a few months living with the LP5, I can absolutely confirm it was the perfect option for me. The sound quality from the 95EX is more than satisfactory for an included cartridge, the built-in pre-amp works well (albeit I've already replaced it) and the build quality is more than decent for what I paid. I've not had any of the vibration or resonance issues mentioned by other reviewers. Would absolutely recommend this to anyone.

The unit I got sounded great compared to an LP120, but it had a squeaky, noisy motor. Not nearly as noisy as the LP120, but much louder than it should be. Apparently this isn't the case with every LP5, it should be dead silent, so if you can hear the motor between songs, send it back.

Personnel