At IFA 2019, Audio Technica has lifted the dust cover off a brand-new turntable – and we have every reason to be delighted at the news.
The AT-LP5x direct-drive USB turntable is the direct successor to the AT-LP5, which won a What Hi-Fi? Award in 2016, the year it arrived, for its combination of entertaining, expressive performance and plug ‘n’ play convenience.
The LP5x possesses some of the magic from its predecessor: the J-shaped tonearm, aluminium platter, and a USB output for digitising a record collection, for example. Yet it's far from just an LP5 with a new name and 2019 packing.
Rather than carry over the LP5’s AT95E cartridge, the LP5x utilises the next-generation model, the AT-VM95E cartridge, which you may remember Audio Technica introduced exactly one year ago. It has a replaceable assembly, meaning owners can upgrade to a more advanced AV95 stylus further down the line, too.
To that end, collectors wishing to play their 78s can do so with the purchase of the AT-VM95SP stylus. Whereas the LP5 was restricted to 33rpm and 45rpm support, the LP5x adds support for 78rpm playback.
Audio Technica’s budget USB turntable now has an external power supply, too, aimed at reducing signal noise. And a metallic gimbal suspension system and precision bearings, combined with an adjustable dynamic anti-skate control to prevent unwanted tonearm movement, work in tandem to help minimise tracking errors.
A friendly pairing both for systems that have a built-in phono stage of their own and those that don’t, the LP5x features a built-in switchable moving magnet and moving coil phono/line preamp, too.
The Audio-Technica AT-LP5x comes boxed with USB and RCA cables, a damping mat and dust cover, and will be available from this month for £349/€399.
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