Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB-BK Direct-Drive Turntable (Analog & USB), Fully Manual, Hi-Fi, 3 Speed, Convert Vinyl to Digital, Anti-Skate and Variable Pitch Control Black

It’s not my first turntable, but regardless it is easy to set up. The sound quality is great out of the included atvm95e cartridge. The table also has consistent speed, with mine performing better than advertised on wow and flutter. I’m no audiophile, I just love to listen to vinyl (my collection is 500+ lps) and have it sound good; and this table fits the bill. I’ve had a Denon dp300f for the past ten years with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, and loved it. I just wanted another turntable, and something different, to pair with it. So whereas the Denon is fully automatic, belt driven, and has a straight tonearm, this one is direct drive, manual, and has an s-shaped tonearm. I also wasn’t looking to spend $500 or $600 on another turntable, but wanted a quality table. I look forward to trying other cartridges on this as well, or just upgrading the stylus to the atvm95ml. I like that it sounds different than what I had. The only thing I wish was different is I wish it at least had an auto stop feature. The bronze scheme looks great as well.

I have a big collection of classic 1970's and 1980's Contemporary Christian music LP records. Listening to those amazing songs over the decades, they became a part of me, expressing my heart's desire of holiness in Christ and my soul's longing to be pleasing to Him in all that I do in life. They express my joy and my pain, my hope and my confidence in the Lord Jesus. The music refreshes and encourages me, helping me refocus my life on the true priorities. The genres include rock, country, pop, rhythm-&-blues, jazz, classical, and even disco -- all by Christian artists performing their music to the glory of God.Up until recently (early 2025), in order to play my LP's, I relied on the turntable of my Victrola entertainment console that I bought about 3 years ago for less than $200. The sound it produced from the built-in speakers was passable, but I was happy to at least have a record player to hear my music again. After a couple of years the turntable began to malfunction, and since late 2024 I've not been able to play my records, which was a huge frustration to me.So you can understand why I decided to search online for a replacement, an upgrade to a dedicated turntable that I could connect to a reliable amplifier with speakers I already had but didn't really use.After reading up about several alternatives, I decided that the best turntable to suit my needs and aesthetic taste was this Audio-Technica Direct-Drive USB Turntable, model number AT-LP120XUSB-BZ.Amazon's $429 price strikes me as completely reasonable, considering the excellent quality of this turntable and of the sounds it produces.After listening to several albums on the Audio Technica turntable, I've been spoiled by the amazingly clear, crisp, and dynamic sounds the turntable produces from my records. Even a couple of LPs that, for some inexplicable reason, used to skip a lot on the first 2 or 3 tracks on each side when played on the Victrola, now play without any skipping! Right now, as I type this, I'm playing one of those formerly-skipping albums, and it hasn't skipped once! I'm anticipating it will be the same with the handful other albums that used to skip on the Victrola's turntable.Purchasing this Audio-Technica turntable was a fabulous investment indeed. The blessing it's already been to my soul has been well worth the cost.- CZG

It had been a long time since I last hooked up a turntable, but when my old faithful one finally died, it was time to get a new one and this one looked perfect (it was the only one with 3 speeds and I have a bunch of 78s I also like to listen to). Finally, after working at it in my spare time, I managed to get it hooked up and it sounds great. However, there are a couple of things that a possible buyer needs to know:1. It comes disassembled and you have to put it together. The so-called Instruction booklet is next to useless. It will show you the basics - no words - just drawings and a 5-year-old could follow that. This is where it gets interesting.2. There are pictures of parts on the Instruction Book (and I use that word loosely) which you may or may not find. They are taped to the outside of the packaging material which isn't someplace where you would normally look. I certainly didn't. Getting ready to ship it back for a return and refund, lo and behold! there were the missing parts! It took a while to figure out what each one was. And, unless you plan on hooking it up to a computer, there's a USB cable you won't need, so don't waste your time trying to figure out where to hook it up.3. Now comes the fun part: hooking it up and getting it to play. At this point, you're going to want to Google the name and model number and download the pdf which tells you exactly what you need to do - in other words, there are written instructions, not just pictures. Had I thought of this earlier, I could have gotten it hooked up and working within a day instead of a couple of days. And, it would have helped if I had a new amplifier, but the old one works well, you just have to figure out what has experienced a name change over the years (see next sentence) - thanks to the pdf, that wasn't all that difficult.Then, because times have changed and wording that was used when I purchased the amp has been replaced by new wording, it took a while to get it to give me audio. I question whether pictures would have even helped. Finally, using the old hit-and-miss routine, I managed to get the right combo and the Bob Seger album I had on the turntable came blasting out of the speakers. Success!!Make sure the tracking is set at 2 and your vinyl should play great! If not, the pdf tells you what to do.Overall, since I'm not one of those people who needs a $1,000 system, I can listen to my vinyl again. For the person who enjoys kicking back and listening to their tunes on vinyl and who isn't one of those perfectionists, it's a good turntable to have - it looks good, works well and doesn't disappoint. Just download that pdf before you get started and save yourself some aggravation.