VinylGyroid Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I've been collecting for a couple years now and made the (what most people would consider) unfortunate mistake of picking up a Crosley as my first record player. I was unemployed at the time and while I recognized the fact that it wasn't perfect, I pulled the trigger because it would get me started. And it did for a while, but now I've found work and can actually afford to take my addiction more seriously. Sure I've been buying plenty of new records, but obviously at this point the best investment I can make isn't more albums but a PROPER turntable and audio set-up.Enter the turntable I've been most interested in here of lately, the Audio Technica AT-LP120 (in black obviously, because black is better).I've heard nothing but good things about this turntable and for the price (roughly $250) it seems like a great investment. I wanted to make a post here first though and get some more in depth opinions any of you may have to offer me, positive or negative. Does anybody reading this have any personal experience with this turntable? Can you suggest a better alternative within a similar price range? Or maybe you can suggest a good speaker/amp set up that would be compatible with the AT-LP120 (or another turntable of your suggestion)?Lets talk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 You really had me going there for a while. crazy pranksters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klefki Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I purchased an AT-LP120 as my second table and over the past couple years of owning it I wish I had went with a table with a separate preamp. I plan on ripping out the builtin preamp as soon as I have some free time. The cartridge it comes with can be upgraded pretty easily. You may find having the preamp built in a convenience at first, but I can't say I'd do it again. It's definitely sturdy, easy to set up, and can just plug it into whatever stereo system you have around. That's my two cents, but honestly this table has been well reviewed so there's not a whole lot of reason to ask about this here. VinylGyroid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinylGyroid Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 I purchased an AT-LP120 as my second table and over the past couple years of owning it I wish I had went with a table with a separate preamp. I plan on ripping out the builtin preamp as soon as I have some free time. The cartridge it comes with can be upgraded pretty easily. You may find having the preamp built in a convenience at first, but I can't say I'd do it again. It's definitely sturdy, easy to set up, and can just plug it into whatever stereo system you have around. That's my two cents, but honestly this table has been well reviewed so there's not a whole lot of reason to ask about this here. Thanks for the two cents, regardless! A lot of reviews these days on some products aren't genuine though, so I decided I'd probably get the most non-biased and genuine opinions here. It seems like a great turntable for the price, but obviously there are better options out there if you're willing/able to shell out more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freki Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 The table itself is fine and you can get decent-good sound. However, if you think you're going to want a better table in the next couple of years, you're basically throwing money away by buying this now instead of buying a better table used or waiting to save another $100 or so. VinylGyroid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 The table itself is fine and you can get decent-good sound. However, if you think you're going to want a better table in the next couple of years, you're basically throwing money away by buying this now instead of buying a better table used or waiting to save another $100 or so. This but have you also considered buying a used one? There are a lot of DJ style tables like this so you could pick up a better quality table without the on board phono stage or USB that are the worst things about this table for the same or less money. If the look of the thing isn't that important then there would be quite a choice at that price point for used proper HiFi tables. Used can be very daunting for some people and you would need to buy it from somewhere you could take/send it back to if there were any problems unless it was very very cheap and worth the risk but that is the same with a new table. On the AT120 itself my dad has one and I rebuilt it for him (removed the rubbish electronics, re wired the arm, rebuilt the power supply and motor drive, set the tone arm bearings up correctly and polished the main bearing, new isolation feet, electrical and sound isolation inside) and it made it into a very nice sounding table, IT would have cost a fortune to do if I didn't already have a lot of the stuff and I could have bought him a very nice table for what the whole thing cost but it was fun to do VinylGyroid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 can we just get a separate Audio Technica LP120 forum? People can just congregate elsewhere and discuss whether they're going to "pull the trigger" on some Audio Engine A2+ or go with a T amp off Amazon. dethrock 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinylGyroid Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 This but have you also considered buying a used one? There are a lot of DJ style tables like this so you could pick up a better quality table without the on board phono stage or USB that are the worst things about this table for the same or less money. If the look of the thing isn't that important then there would be quite a choice at that price point for used proper HiFi tables. Used can be very daunting for some people and you would need to buy it from somewhere you could take/send it back to if there were any problems unless it was very very cheap and worth the risk but that is the same with a new table. On the AT120 itself my dad has one and I rebuilt it for him (removed the rubbish electronics, re wired the arm, rebuilt the power supply and motor drive, set the tone arm bearings up correctly and polished the main bearing, new isolation feet, electrical and sound isolation inside) and it made it into a very nice sounding table, IT would have cost a fortune to do if I didn't already have a lot of the stuff and I could have bought him a very nice table for what the whole thing cost but it was fun to do I have to admit I don't know much about the technical side of turntables yet, so a lot of what you're saying doesn't make much sense to me (yet, I'm learning!). Is there a specific model you would recommend? I do enjoy the look of the LP120 but the look definitely doesn't matter too much. Preferably something within this price rage, I don't have a $800 to spend on a turntable right now. EDIT: I just discovered the thread that breaks all of this down in detail and it also has a lengthy list of suggested equipment at different price ranges. Sorry to be a pain, thanks for all of the input though guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 The beginners thread which I'm guessing will help you to answer most of your questions but once you've had a good read of it you might have some more. But to answer your last question the tables that look like the AT120 are all a copy of the Technics SL1200, SL1210 range which is the industry standard when it comes to DJ tables but this doesn't make it an audiophile table and you pay a price for the legend that bears no relation to it's audio performance. You won't find a cheap SL12XX unless you are very lucky or as is more likely it's completely knackered because a box of bits goes for good money. From memory The other options are Vestax, the higher up the range Stantons like the ST150 (avoid any Stanton that has R8 in the name), the current Pioneer 1000, old Gemini (it needs to be direct drive and have the Gemini name in orange, the later ones with Black Gemini markings are not as good) and there is a Sony one I can't remember the number of but with a bit of googling you'll find them all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dailyhifi Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 keep in mind that there is no auto return feature. This meas you need to be around and with it enough to get up and manually remove the needle at the end of each side. This sounds small, but trust me auto return is amazing. also I echo the comments above about this table having a built in preamp. Also I second saving a buying a better table used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinylGyroid Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 The beginners thread which I'm guessing will help you to answer most of your questions but once you've had a good read of it you might have some more. But to answer your last question the tables that look like the AT120 are all a copy of the Technics SL1200, SL1210 range which is the industry standard when it comes to DJ tables but this doesn't make it an audiophile table and you pay a price for the legend that bears no relation to it's audio performance. You won't find a cheap SL12XX unless you are very lucky or as is more likely it's completely knackered because a box of bits goes for good money. From memory The other options are Vestax, the higher up the range Stantons like the ST150 (avoid any Stanton that has R8 in the name), the current Pioneer 1000, old Gemini (it needs to be direct drive and have the Gemini name in orange, the later ones with Black Gemini markings are not as good) and there is a Sony one I can't remember the number of but with a bit of googling you'll find them all keep in mind that there is no auto return feature. This meas you need to be around and with it enough to get up and manually remove the needle at the end of each side. This sounds small, but trust me auto return is amazing. also I echo the comments above about this table having a built in preamp. Also I second saving a buying a better table used. I've been doing more research since posting this thread and I've also looked over the VC beginners thread. As of right now, the setup I'm considering is: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon > Behringer PP400 (preamp) > Audioengine A5's OR Wharfedale Diamond 10.1's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 You will have a bit of trouble speaker wise. The Audioengine's are powered which means they have the power amplifier inside one of them (and the Wharfedales are passive which means they need an integrated amplifier or receiver to drive them. The Audioengines will work in that scheme but the Wharfedales won't without the addition of an integrated amplifier or receiver. There are pro's and cons to both and I will say from the start I'm not a fan of powered speakers because of good engineering reasons in the same way I'm not a fan of receivers and especially AV receivers over integrated amplifiers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinylGyroid Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 You will have a bit of trouble speaker wise. The Audioengine's are powered which means they have the power amplifier inside one of them (and the Wharfedales are passive which means they need an integrated amplifier or receiver to drive them. The Audioengines will work in that scheme but the Wharfedales won't without the addition of an integrated amplifier or receiver. There are pro's and cons to both and I will say from the start I'm not a fan of powered speakers because of good engineering reasons in the same way I'm not a fan of receivers and especially AV receivers over integrated amplifiers. I actually wasn't aware the Wharfedales were passive, thanks for the heads up. I shouldn't have any issues if I pair up the turntable and preamp I mentioned with the Audioengine A5+'s, right? That alone will cost me around $800-$850 (not including the cork mat I plan on buying and any additional cables/etc I'll need to purchase to connect everything) and I'm trying to keep the project under a thousand while still ending up with a proper setup that'll last me quite some time. I'm not really looking for a super amazing audiophile grade setup (yet). I mean, there's really not much I can do wrong here considering my current setup is a Crosley suitcase lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Try and go an listen to this stuff if you can and don't focus on a figure you have to spend, have a top budget but if you find what you liek for half of it so be it, you have more to spend on records. Also don't discount a proper system with an amplifier and passive speakers, there's a lot of good stuff around and manufactures are now starting to put the phono stages back in their amplifiers, also if you have a proper amplifier you can run other sources into it which you can't do with powered speakers without plugging and unplugging leads or having some sort of switching unit that an amplifier already contains, that and having to adjust the volume on the front of the speaker all the time would annoy me. Have a look at makers like Music Hall or Cambridge Audio in your budget but also used equipment from these makers, also Music Hall make turntables that are effectively Projects anyway so you might get a package deal from them or a stockist. Edit Part used and part new or all used you can get a very nice sounding system for $1000, shop well and you could get a pretty decent one new for that. VinylGyroid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinylGyroid Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 Part used and part new or all used you can get a very nice sounding system for $1000, shop well and you could get a pretty decent one new for that. You've been very helpful, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.