Audio-Technica AT-PL120 Professional Direct-Drive Turntable

If anyone is looking for an inexpensive turntable that performs quite well, buy the Audio-Technica AT-PL120 turntable. With the built-in phono pre-amp the turntable is quite versatile. So if your preamp or receiver has no phono input, you can plug it into any AUX input. There are many used records on the market for as little as a dollar or so(as well as new ones still being produced). This turntable coupled to an integrated amp makes an affordable package. Get some good monitor speakers and you will have a fine music system. Check out the small speakers from such companies as PSB, Polk, and Monitor Audio. Find a used integrated amp from NAD or Cambridge Audio (or buy a new one for around $350). For less than $1,000 you will have a music system that will be satisfying for quite a while. I love the turntable.

I have only had this turntable for a few weeks. For much of that time, it was packed in preparation for my move. However, as soon as it arrived, I took it out of the box and assembled it for a test run. I had no problems with assembly. However, I will caution you to look carefully at the foam packing pieces before throwing anything away. Some small pieces are attached to that packing. Also, I had a little trouble in figuring out where the power cord was to be attached. The location is at the back and slightly recessed.

The unit is heavy and a little wider than I thought. I had to take the glass door off my entertainment center in order to place it on the shelf. This was a minor problem which more accurate measuring on my part would have foreseen.

Before purchasing this turntable, I did a lot of online research and compared the features and prices of a number of units. I am not an audiophile, but I became knowledgeable about the features that would give me what I wanted and, in this case, a lot more. This unit consistently came up as my likeliest candidate.

It is a good looking piece of equipment. I am not planning to use this as DJ equipment; yet, I can see where it would make an excellent choice for a DJ because it has some of the bells and whistles that they use, such as tracking, forward/reverse play. For me, it was purchased strictly for my home use and 40+ years of 45's and LPs. The sound of the unit is wonderful, even on my old records. I might make a few minor tracking changes after I listen to more records, but for now, I am very pleased. I consider this to have been an excellent buy.

My sole reason for awarding four stars (actually, 4-1/2) and not five is based on a complaint that other reviewers expressed: the built-in RCA-type audio cables. I would have preferred that the cables be a little longer and detachable. Everything worked out for me, but those two features could limit where some users are able to place the equipment. Despite that I am quite pleased with the purchase.

I have read all the reviews on Amazon and frankly I was worried about hum people talking about. But I decided to take a risk and finely order one after waiting couple of month. But I don't hear it. Even at full volume on my receiver I think I got good piece lucky me. It is better then I imagine. I have some old records and I have same songs on CD I played them on my Yamaha receiver one after another and there is no competition CD is more clear but its flat you hear vocal and instrument all at same level but on record everything popes out and sound is more detailed and its pleasant to hear the music. And it's not me I had friends over and they don't know anything about turntable and I played same song on CD and then switch it to record and I ask them which they like better and every one said record. And it is not only one song I played lots of different song on CD and on record one after another and record won every time. It is very good turntable and I will recommend to any one who wants buy one. You can't go wrong it is very easy to setup. I wish they gave RCA connection instead short wire. And cartridge is very good too. I am going to wait and use for 500 hours and then buy new one the one everybody is talking about Shure m97xe. And I have budget Aiwa automatic turntable. Don't waste your money on those 60 to 100 dollars turntable. They don't sound no where near as good as this one does

There are a lot of customer reviews on the AT-PL120. Many cite it's virtues, a few highlight it's vices. I am inclined to assume that the ownership experiences of each reviewer are valid. And that leads me to assume that the build quality of the PL120 varies. How can some reviewers have tone arm skating issues and some do not? How can some reviewers be plagued with annoying hum while others find none? After nearly a year of ownership I am left with a strong suspicion that the PL120 is not coming to market designed well enough nor built consistently well enough to excel in all usage environments. In short, I do not trust it enough to buy another or out-and-out recommend it to someone else. Hence, a one-star rating.

Don't get me wrong. The platter spins, and speeds are stable. That half works fine. To a small degree I have had skating issues, mostly at the beginning of a spinning record while lowering the stylus onto the record. Sometimes the tonearm will skip inward a few grooves before settling, and no possible anti-skate setting will eliminate this tendency all the time. (Could it be that the cueing mechanism lowers the tone arm a little too slowly?) I have learned to lower the stylus onto a stationary record, then spin the platter clockwise until the stylus finds a groove, and then start the platter. I also put up with the hum problem. The PL120's included cartridge picked up a hum. Trying to replace it with a Grado Blue cartridge made the hum a little louder. I finally discovered that connecting my very first cartridge, a 1980s vintage ADC Integra XLM-III tamed the hum. I found a replacement stylus for it, and that's what I'm now using. I have it's worst vices tamed for now exactly where it sits. Who knows what will pop up if I try to move it?

To those who found no problems in your ownership experience: congratulations, and enjoy. To those who found problems, I understand your frustration. To those contemplating purchasing an AT-PL120 I advise reading ALL the reviews, not just the favorable ones. Prospective buyers might want to address the question, do you feel lucky?

If you are a vinyl beginner, don't be fooled by the bargain bin $100 turntables with automated arm action. You will suffer in a world with bad surface noise and no way to replace the stylus or change the adgustments (all which are vital to the vinyl experience!). This turntable, only around $200, is the perfect for a budding vinyl enthusiast! The build is great and everything works (that's a first!). The direct drive motor is perfect for easily cueing the record, as well as having high torque for speedy starts. This baby can even play 78s! But more importantly, it has a built in pre-amp for those lacking a proper phono input, as well as a modest cartridge. It's only faults are in the manual. If you have never even touched a turntable, it can be very confusing to figure out exactly how to set the tracking force to 3.5 grams. Another thing to note is the hum in the background. This turntable does lack a grounding wire, but the hum is barely noticeable with music playing anyway. For it's price and ease of use, the AT-PL120 is a must!

The biggest problem with modern turntables is that modern receivers can't usethem without a pre-amp. I was attracted to this item because it has an internal pre-amp, which means I can connect it to any audio connection in the back of my receiver. What's more, it also has the option to use an external pre-amp if you wish. It takes a while to set up properly, but any one can do it by following the simple manual step by step. When I played my first lp, I couldn't believe the sounds I'd been missing all these years. Regardless of the cost and inclusiveness of the sound system you have, this turntable is the only one you'll ever need to buy. I'm very happy with it's performance and quality and recommend it highly!

Amazon shipped the turntable well and it came undamaged, altho the box was roughed up. It ships in the original box, so if it is a gift or surprise, watch out. Set up was easy and it worked right away. The only problem so far is the cueing light seems to have burned out on day 2 already. Also be careful of the arm hold down, its plastic and won't take any abuse, period. This is my second purchase of this model for family members, and it seems like a reasonable value. It would be VERY nice if the arm would automatically pick up at the end of the album, but it doesn't. The integral pre-amp feature is super, especially with new surround sounds that lack phono inputs. All in all the best value I could find.

i bought this for my 68 year old father so he could listen to all of his favorites that have been stashed away for years. this product is VERY user friendly...easy to figure out....and VERY affordable!! it has provided my dad with hours of happiness and he has had no problem at all figuring out how to hook it up or use all of its functions. This is perhaps the best gift i ever gave him....A+++

I've owned the AT-PL120 for a couple of years now. I can't say I have ever been disappointed with the turntable. At this price, no other turntable can hold a candle to this fine piece of audio equipment.

A few notes:
-->There is a slight hum to this turntable as others have noted - IF YOU WIRED THE CARTRIDGE INCORRECTLY! I initially had a hum, but changed the wiring from the head-shell to the tone-arm and now there is absolutely no audible noise whatsoever. There was obviously a ground loop.
--> As others have also noted, the clasp that holds the tone-arm in place is a bit flimsy. A friend of mine was over playing some records, and she snapped the clasp accidentally (I wasn't too pleased). However, the next day I called Audio Technica and they sent me a new clasp absolutely free - no questions asked. Outstanding customer service considering I have had the product over two years!
--> The cartridge that is included with the turntable is a quality cartridge when you consider that it is the "stock" cartridge. I suggest anyone who purchases this turntable also picks up the Shure M97xE High-Performance Magnetic Phono Cartridge it pairs excellently with this cartridge and is also a relative steal at $50 on Amazon.
--> Lastly, for those without a receiver that has phono inputs, the turntable contains its own amp; a very nice addition, considering most audio receivers these days no longer include phono inputs.

In short: you cannot go wrong with this turntable. If you have any serious complaints with this turntable, or you're expecting filet mignon at hamburger prices. Excellent sound, solid engineering, at a price that's half that of the competition!

Best turntable I've ever owned. My collection of classical music LP's has come alive again.

Audio-Technica AT-PL120 Professional Direct-Drive Turntable
This turntable looks nice, seems nice, but it was hard to get to work and after a few months the stylus starts skidding across the disks. I modified the anti skating to 2.5 and 3.5 but it still did it. Then reading other reviews I found that shanging the cartridge may resolve the problem. I did and bought a Shure 97E and it now works Ok. However, the "humm" that some reviewers comment is also present in my case. I have not been able to get rid of it yet. For the price, I would not buy it again and I would not recommend it.

Audio-Technica AT-PL120 Professional Direct-Drive TurntableA great turntable, especially for the price.Amazon has the best price of all vendors I searched on the internet.

Like the other reviewers, I had forsaken my vinyl collection for CD's. After looking at all my LP's stored in the basement, I thought I'd like to enjoy the analog sound again. After a lot of research, I chose the Audio-Technica AT-PL120 based upon the reviews, the pricing, and the feature set. I was not disappointed at all.

My last turntable was an AR belt drive with a very good Pickering cartridge and stylus. While I am not an audiophile by any means, I do appreciate the differences between the better quality equipment versus the run-of-the mill junk sold in outlet or discount stores.

That being said, for the little money spent on this table, I really could not be happier. Nice, fairly heavy aluminum platter, target light, direct drive, heavy (22 pound) base, decent quality cartridge/stylus combo, remote start/stop (if desired) on-board phono amp (I use my amplifier's phono amp), adjustable feet, nice quality (for the money) tone arm, etc.

Do not hesitate to buy this. Spend the extra and get this instead of one of those cheaper ($ 100) USB turntables. You'll be glad you did every time you put on one of your old LP's. If you can afford it, the Technics 1200 at twice the price is really nice, but is aimed more at DJ type use.

This turntable has all of the features at half the price of the Technics. There are differences, but the casual user will be very satisfied with the Audio-Technica PL120. The only thing you may want to upgrade later would be the cartridge, but to my ears, the standard cartridge supplied with this table is more than adequate. Overall, two thumbs up!

September '08 UPDATE: I've now had this unit for a little over one month, and am still very pleased with it except for a periodic cutting out of the left channel. At first, I thought it was my Yamaha C-45 preamp, but upon further inspection, I found the left channel output cable from the turntable had a partial short in it, close to the RCA plug jacket cover. As I initially was not impressed with the cheesy pre-attached RCA cables that came with the turntable, this was an opportunity for me to replace them with higher quality cabling.

After a trip to Radio Shack, I removed the turntable base and then the pre-attached RCA cables in the unit. I installed RCA jacks on the base and soldered the connections. I was really impressed with the internal build quality of this turntable and feel that as stated earlier this was a real bargain for the price.

I closed everything up, and attached my new high quality (i.e., superior quality) RCA cables to the recently installed jacks, then to my preamp....... what an improvement!! The sound was richer, fuller, and low level noise was reduced dramatically.

If this turntable has a weak point, it is the cheap, awful pre-attached cabling that comes with the unit. If you are willing to take a little time and effort, you can really improve this unit by changing the cabling. It took around an hour to do, and the parts cost was less than $ 5.00 (exclusive of the new RCA cabling).

I'm very delighted with this purchase. It's almost disorienting to see something made so well these days. Nothing about this unit seems cheaply made. I assembled it in a flash and wow, what a thrill to hear some of my old LP's again!

As others note, this product is aimed at two quite-differnt markets: home users like myself and DJ's on a budget. This strategy is clear from the features. For example, the unit has a high-quality hinged dust cover but also a forward-reverse button.

There are surprisingly few tradeoffs for either type of user. As other reviews have mentioned, the cartridge has a fairly heavy tracking force for the stereophile. But as earlier reviews note, there are alternatives readily available on the market.

Oh, one useful thing missing that I was accustomed to with my old Dual turntable - a bubble level for leveling the machine. The turntable's feet can be leveled, but unless I overlooked it, you'll need your own bubble level.

Otherwise, this is just a fine, fine machine. I bought it partly to convert my records to electronic format. But heck, now that I've heard the results, I intend to play my records over and over and over. I strongly recommend this turntable.

I got rid of my old Dual turntable and most of my albums many years ago, but recently found a 30 of my old albums and some 78s my folks had.
I got this turntable because of it's preamp and 78 speed.
It's just great. Easy to set up and adjust.
I was blown away at how good the records sound.
I hadn't played one in years. No hum and a nice full sound you don't get from CDs. Even the old scratched 78s sound pretty good!

The next step is to rip the old 78s to CD for my folks. I haven't tried it yet.

I'm very pleased so far. I had read some negative stuff here, none, of which seems to be true of the one I have. No hum, easy to adjust. I just set everything at 2.5 grams. I left the cover on the stylus until I achieved balance, despite what the instructions said to do. Too much chance to damage the stylus until you get the arm balanced. Just take your time on tone arm balance step, set the weight carefully per the instructions to 2.5g and the anti-skate adjustment to the same.

I'd highly recommend it to someone who wants something better than one the bottom of the line turntables.

(mine is a refurb but works perfect and I saved a bunch)
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Addendum 6/16/2008
I just recorded my first LP to my laptop using Spin It Again 2.1.
Unbelievably easy with excellent results. Playing the CD sounds as good as the record, no hum, no clicks, no pops. You cannot tell it's off an LP.
I used some RCA to RCA coupling adapters I had, and a short RCA to 3.5mm mini plug cable.

I'm still using 2.5g for the weight and antiskate even though I noticed that the paper turntable lable said to use 3.5g. It works great so I can't see why to use more weight at the stylus.

I highly recommend leaving the cover over the stylus when balancing the arm and turning off anti-skate until you have it balanced. Use a light touch on the rubber grip rings at the rear of the weight when setting balance and tracking force.

A well built,3 speed, manual turnable with preamp and dust cover!. Sturdy unit, not like the paper thin plastic ones you see around that also play back with a lot of wow and flutter!!.It looks great and sounds great plugged right into my Creative Audigy Soundcard for LP transfers to CD.Some people have mentioned this turntable humming but I have NOT experienced ANY humming. Mine is really nice and quiet. Maybe they have another issue, ground problems etc, don't know.The stylus it comes with sounds fine but you should buy a Shure M78 for playing 78's on it. I did and bought a Stanton headshell to easily swap it out when playing 78's.I bought it from Electronics Expo through Amazon...they have the best price around on this one! It's hard to beat the price on a turntable with 3 speeds AND dust cover AND cartridge that looks and plays like this one. I'm a professional musician and my ears tell me a lot about sound quality without having to go overboard and spend a fortune to get great results. I'm not a DJ so I don't really need the reverse platter mode etc. but I like the fact that it has a strobe to maintain the proper speed, etc etc..I did a LOT of homework regarding which way I would transfer my LP's to disk. I have a bunch of turntables and this one is the best for this purpose. I've tried ION's,DAK Preamp etc.. this turntable beat them all as far as sound quality (with the exception of the DAK preamp which is ALSO very good and a close second in sound quality if you want to just use your own existing turntable)Just going right into my Creative Soundcard for me is an easier solution. For best results use Spin It Again software for cleaning the recordings of hiss,pops, etc and EQ.My LP transfers now rival some re-issued CD's I've purchased of the same material thanks to the methods I use now. I was thinking of upgrading the cartridge to a Shure but after reading a few reviews, although I'm sure it's a great cartridge having owned a Shure V15 type II for years which I still have, the reviewer whose advice I listened to most on Amazon was one guy who actually did an A/B comparison and burned a CD with tracks from BOTH cartridges and noticed NO real difference between them. All in all I would buy this turntable again hands down if I needed to replace it. It is one of the sweetest deals I've found on the web.

I'm very pleased with my purchase. This is a great turntable that is on par with products twice its price. The included preamp is a great feature, and it helped make my decision to buy the PL120.

Overall, I am _very_ satisfied, and I'm very picky when it comes to audio gear.

However: The needle is TERRIBLE! It makes my records sound flat and blare-y. In fact, MP3s played on my computer through the same stereo receiver sound as good or better than my 180-gram records when played with this needle. I suppose it's not too big of a deal considering that this turntable is so affordable, but interested buyers should be aware of this.

This is my first record player, as I've just started getting into collecting vinyl records from my favorite artists. This arrived exactly on time, and was so easy to set up. I am very satisfied with it. It's so easy to figure out and it looks beautiful. It's got pretty much everything you'd ever want or need. It's fun to go through my parent's record collection and listen to all the music they loved when they were my age. I definitely recommend this record player to anybody who's looking for it. It's a great price and a great deal!

This turntable shows how far this mode has come. This is a well-built piece of equipment, easy to install and use, and does a great job on making those old LP's sound great. Well worth the money.

I bought this turntable for my dad so he could listen to his records. It was easy to set up and worked very well. Glad I got this one and not one of the cheaper Sony's or the USB turntables. It has all speeds 45, 33 1/3, and 78. The ability to easily change cartriges is there. It hooked up to his recevier easily, and has the built in pre amp so I didn't have to buy and hook up a external one. This turntable sounds great, has well built constrution, and has most if not all of the extras you need. (Strobe, tracking, weight adjustment, pitch control). I listened to several records and I thought it sounded great, you get such a rich full sound from vinyl. If you want a good turntable for a great price I think this one is the way to go.

This turntable is everything we expected and more. It is very well built and easy to use. We are very pleased with the sound quality.

WOW! I really researched buying a turntable to not only play my old LP's, but that had a phono pre-amp that would allow transferring those analog recordings to cd or mp3 format. This is a fantastic turntable for the money. I remember all of those great turntables from the 70's and the AT-PL120 is just as good if not better. Assembly was straight forward, just follow the directions. I was playing the turntable in about 15 minutes. Sound is awesome, very heavy and well constructed.

I gave it only 4 stars because of certain problems with the ATP-2 cartridge and a poor manual. I purchased the AT-PL120 because I needed a way to transfer LPs to CD with high fidelity, and it has a built-in pre-amp so I can connect directly to my computer sound card. It was also a bargain price and loaded with features including some I won't use because I am not a DJ. For instance, it has the ability to adjust the speed +- 20% using a slider. It can also play records backwards - in case you want to see if the Beatles really said "Paul is dead." The turntable has vibration damping legs, but for DJ use, please note that any finger taps to the turntable body WILL transmit a boom to the speakers.

It arrived promptly from Amazon in perfect condition. Setup was easy and straight forward, although the manual is not detailed and does not clearly describe all features and adjustments. The speed is dead on. After purchasing an RCA adapter cable I plugged it into my computer and cued up a record. SURPRISE - the music immediately began playing from the computer speakers. AND the sound quality was very good indeed using the included ATP-2 cartridge (but see below). As recommended by others here, I installed the free sound recording software, Audacity, and within a few minutes I had recorded the first track off the record (being careful the audio volume did not exceed the capacity of Audacity and cause clipping). It was just as easy as that, and the audio quality exceeded my expectations - even my hopes!

The AT-PL120 comes with an ATP-2 cartridge included free. Surprisingly, it turns out to have excellent sound. I compared it to an Ortofon M15 E Super and the Sure M97XE by first recording a WAV file from each cartridge using a track off Paul Simon's "There Goes Rhymin Simon." I used this album because of its clean sound and because I also have the commercial CD. Listening blind (on my medium quality computer speakers, headphones or Klipsch speakers), I can't reliably tell which track is which. The sound is also seemingly identical to that directly from the record, although the commercial CD does have a distinctly different sound. I also compared Copland's Piano Fantasy as played by William Masselos (on Odyssey) with similar results.

UNFORTUNATELY, the ATP-2 cartridge has 2 major problems: 1) It requires a tracking force of 3-5 grams (rather heavy); and 2) MUCH WORSE is that it tracks VERY poorly at the recommended 3.5 grams (with the recommended 3.5 on the anti-skate dial). The first time I tried it (and using the cuing lever), the needle did not set down exactly in a groove. Much to my distress, it then proceeded to skitter across the record surface like an angry monkey (luckily no damage to the LP). It did not even stop at the last groove, proceeding onto the record label!!!! However, by experimentation, I found that this problem was correctable by merely setting the anti-skate dial to 6-7 rather than 3.5. I detect no audible sound defects at this much higher than recommended anti-skate setting (the sound comparisons were done at the higher anti-skate level).

The Sure M97XE cartridge (cheap from Amazon), when mounted on a Stanton head shell (cheap from Amazon) works well with the AT-PL120. It tracks beautifully when set to the recommended 1.75 grams tracking force (with the stabilizer brush down) and the anti-skate dial set to 2. It can also be set to 1.25 grams with the stabilizer brush up, but I detected no improvement in sound quality. REMEMBER that the Sure cartridge is not rated to play backwards, so use the ATP-2 cartridge if you need to do that. Changing head shells is easy and only means unplugging the old head shell from the tone arm, plugging in the new and then resetting the tracking and anti-skate forces.

NOTE 1: The weight dial on the AT-PL120 tone-arm for setting the tracking force is accurate at 2 grams, but when set at 3.0 grams, it is actually producing 3.5 grams (as checked with the Sure SFG-2 Stylus Force Gauge).

NOTE 2: There is definitely something more romantic and magical in listening to an LP, and watching the record go round than plopping on a CD. And the quality is better than I remembered so I am not sure I will actually transfer the music to CDs after all!

I received my AT-PL120 turntable in a very reasonable amount of time and found the packaging to be outstanding. I have used it to transfer many of my LP's to CD with great success. The quality of the product is excellent and I am pleased with my purchase.

These things are solid well built and can perform with the best tables on the market. They are well worth the price and from a DJ perspective meet all of the demands a DJ places on his equipment.

I have owned them for almost a year and a half and they still operate like brand new.

The only thing that might turn some people off is the pitch control. The slider is really solid but sometimes tweaking speed just right can be tricky. However thats not the table's fault as much as the need to practice. While other tables are superior in this feature I have noticed they vibrate more than the Audio Technica. Because these don't vibrate even with the speakers right next to them you can set your needles pretty light.

Have had this turntable for about three weeks. I must say, I am very happy with it. It is very solidly constructed and the sound quality is very good.

Item recieved in new condition, packaged well and exactly what we needed for recording vinyl onto the computer.

this is an excellent turntable, very well built, no flimsy plastic. easy to assemble and setup And it plays 78's. I hooked it straight to my computer (Cable is not included Just the rca cables and power cord) The only disadvantage to this turntable is, it has no automatic start or Stop The start is ok you put the arm over and set it down, but the stop. You walk away and next thing you know the stylus is bouncing over the label of the record.

If you are planning to convert your records to digital format on your computer, this switchable pre-amped turntable will do the trick. Don't get fooled into some of the cheap combo recording packages as your frustration with a cheap, barely adjustible turntable that will not properly track a record will not yield decent results and will cause you hours of editing.

I've converted over 400 lps with this turntable into my Sony HD CD writer and have been more than pleased. Happy recording.

I have long wanted to replace my late departed three speed turntable in order to play my old 78s. I found this item on six different web sites and Amazon had the best price by far and the easy availablity of the monaural stylus and cartidge to fully use its capabilities. The unit is built like a rock. The controls are easy to use and relatively easy for a non "techie" like me to configure. It's a lot more sophisticated than any turntable I've ever owned and produces beautiful output. The only thing that would have made it easier to use would have been an extra head shell to mount the Shure monaural cartridge that Amazon paired with this item since the Audiotechnica uses its own stereo cartidge. I found such an item through an Amazon link, but it delayed my enjoyment of the turntable by another week waiting for the headshell to arrive. Minor gripe; basically delighted with quality, price and service.

Overall, I am very pleased with the turntable AFTER having figured out a few things regarding ripping vinyl to CD. This is NOT as simple as just plugging a cord into the back of your computer. First, one must acquire the Y-cord to plug into the input jack on the sound card from the RCA cords on the turntable, and for quality, it is advised also to acquire at least a 24 bit sound card. Secondly, one must also be familiar with sound controls for your computer, namely knowing how to un-mute the input adjustment, which is muted by default. This about drove me crazy! Thirdly, one must also acquire an audio editing program, hopefully, one with the capability of removing the crackle and pop from those old records, otherwise, this also will be part of your recordings. About the turntable, a great feature is the pre-amp, as this eliminates the need to go from turntable to amp to computer. For the money, this is a great buy, being a direct drive, and also having 3 speeds. Another thing, I bought the turntable with the idea of being able to rip from my old 78's, though nowhere in the literature does it state it is inadviseable to use the included cartidge and diamond stylus on your fragile 78's, and that you should buy an additional head shell, cartidge, and stylus specifically for use on 78's. If you are interested in using the turntable for ripping vinyl, expect to pay another 20-30 bucks for a quality Y-cord, and if you are interested in ripping from 78's, expect to pay another 30-50 bucks minimum for headshell, cartidge, and stylus. There is, however, a nifty little holder at the back of the turntable platform specifically for stashing that extra cartidge. Overall--worth the money. The positives outweigh the negatives, especially for the money involved. Oh, if your vinyl had skips before, it still will, so you may want to consider a linear tracking TT instead.

I have to agree with some other criticisms of this table. 1)The anti skate is problematic. I have a Grado cartridge tracking at 1.5g. I had to adjust it as far up as it would go (to 7) before it would kind of stay put on a blank piece of vinyl. 2) The hard wired cables are pretty cheesy. AT could do better. 3) My biggest complaint: there is definitely an audible low-mid hum (more audible the higher the volume is turned up). On my table this is worse when the tone arm is in the cradle. It lessens a bit as the arm is moved to the outside of the platter, almost goes away entirely about where the middle of a record would be, and comes back again as the arm moves toward the the inside. All that said, it is still pretty smooth sounding and is certainly a big upgrade from my antique JVC from about 1982. The built in preamp is nice for digitizing records and the price was right too. I will keep it and try not to get to uptight about its faults. This is a good choice for casual home use or the music lover on a budget. If, however, you are a true audiophile nerd and you have the bucks, bypass this one and just buy the Technics 1200mk2 of which this Audio Technica is really a cheap copy.

I am very satisfied with this unit. I think it is a great deal for the price. Operates forward and reverse. The pitch can be varied. To me the most important feature is the internal amplifier so that this unit can operate with any modern amp.

I did a lot of research before buying this for my fiance. Needless to say, we are still blown-away by the quality of the system and sound it produces. Highly recommended!

Sounds good and fun to use. First new turntable in couple decades. My Garrard was fully automatic. So still getting use to Starting Stopping and changing records.

Most of my records were played few times then taped. Think I'll be listening to the records again.

The bottom line is this is a great turntable for the price.

The turntable is quite heavy, sturdy, die-cast aluminum, it's definitely got some heft to it. It's direct-drive, and has some cool features (which I probably won't use) such as 78 RPM, reverse, and adjustable pitch.

In addition to a great turntable, you also get a decent quality Audio Technica cartridge. I've seen other reviewers say they pulled that cartridge and put in a high-end Shure cartridge for better sound, and that probably does make a difference. But I have no complaints with the cartridge that ships with it.

Finally, the turntable has a built-in phono pre-amp to deliver line-level output, which is great if you're hooking it up to a sound card to digitize your old LP's.

My one complaint really is that the audio patch-cables are hard-wired to the turntable (as many others have mentioned), and they're kind of short. They're probably long enough if you're hooking it to your stereo, but if you're putting it on a nearby desk or table and running it into the sound card at the back of your computer on the floor (as I bet at least half the people purchasing this are), it's too short, so you have to get an extender cable, instead of just being able to use an RCA cable you may have lying around.

I did not experience any of the 60 Hz hum that some other reviewers mentioned.

Overall, it's a decent sounding turntable, with a cartridge and phono pre-amp, at an excellent price.

Well, it's my first turntable I've never had any experience so much as touching one.

I got it set up, been listening to it for the last few hours.

Despite my mom's warning that I'm wasting my money and that in several months I'm going to hear nothing but static, it's doing pretty good.

Popped in the worst-looking LP I've got, which was a 4-dollar LP of Billy Squier's Don't Say No I found at Goodwill, and let me tell you, The Stroke never sounded better.

Consider my my mom owned if a record still sounds like this after 27 years.

Only thing is, I didn't get how to set the tracking force. I'm pretty sure it's tracking pretty lightly. If I stomp my foot on the floor hard enough, it'll skip, and if I move the tonearm weight out anymore, the needle will bounce from normal play, and I have the anti-skate set just right so it doesn't hit the spindle at the end of play.

Haven't any problems with hum or the cover generating noise.

It's nice and sturdy, great sound, what else is there to say? I'm a happy customer.

I Purchased this to replaced my old turntable, that after 27 yrs, died.
I did a lot of lookn and searching. From what I have see available on Amazon, this is by far the best for the money.
VERY solid quality.
Some nice features.
It does NOT have an automatice pick-up and return at the end of the LP, that is the ONLY complaint I have, and it isn't really a problem.
The Cartridge is good, not perfect.
3.5 grams is a lot for tracking on the stylis, but so far no problems.

I am using this to put my collection of LPs from the 70's and 80's onto CD and (sorry purists) as MP3's for my MP3 player.

It does not come with a USB port or cable, which is no problem to me.
It has a built in switchable Pre-Amp - IF WANTED. If you are going to direct connect this to your computer via a digital converter, then you'll want to use the pre-amp. I have it off, and the quality is great.

It does not come with any bundled software, but most turntables that do come with it, it is freeware that can be easily downloaded anyways.

I checked Audio-Technica website a few weeks ago, and this is their TOP of the line turntable with a MSRP of $399.

To me, this is a must buy if your looking for a good quality turntable.

I bought the PL-120 and was immediately delighted with the value. As other reviewers, I was pleased with the overall construction and performance and outstanding value.
What didn't I like? Hum noise, mostly on the R channel -also noted by other reviewers. A unit of this quality shoould absolutely not have this problem. So, I voided the waranty and took a look inside.... (Do NOT do this!) The constructiona dn circuit board quality was overall excellent. The gounding wiring seemed of odd layout, inviting "ground loops" which are notorious for picking up noise. The worst offender in this regard seemed the wiring of the tone arm. The metal arm was appropriately grounded to the chassis metal, but an additional ground wire (black) commonly used for grounding a cartridge shell was also connected -forming such a loop. As this seemed surplus to the left and right signal grounds, and the existing chassis ground, Aaaaaah... I cut it! Instant quiet from the hum and a fine turntable, with remarkably quiet direct drive, and mechanically all things I like.
Nit picks of preference? Yes I replaced the supplied cartridge - as others noted, good, but a little mid-heavy in its tone. I also bought the 78 mono -another outstanding value.
The built-in phono - Line In preamp is also of more than Ok quality, but having paid for a better dual magnet cart, I also bought a Pro-Ject Phono Box II preamp -with excellent results.
Sum total? Basic quality excellent, needed a little tinkering for something that should be inexcusable -grounding is a well-documented and practised art. The rest was just adding better for what was already good.
Vinyl never sounded so good! -And we also digitized a young Pavarotti at his best, from a Goodwill store 25c vinyl purchase! Priceless!

---Having a fair number of records in my library, I hadn't replaced
my old stylus cartridge in many years, the problem was finding one that
was available and affordable for a 20 year old Sony Turn table. Unfortunately, the only ones I was finding were in the $150 or more range, which to me seemed hardly worth it since I could buy an entire new Audio Tecnica Turn Table for around $200, delivered right to my home.
The decision was a no brainer & turned out to be worth wild.
This Direct drive turn table is worth every penny.
Nice looking and equally good sounding!
Have received many compliments on it.
Easy to set up, Nice tone arm, My albums never sounded so good.
The delivery was fast and painless.
I am a happy customer.

The turntable works well, looks great, and it has been great to listen to the old LPs again.
My main objection to the turntable is the lack of an auto return feature. So, when the record is done, the needle just keeps on groovin' until you lift the lever and return the arm. This means having to baby-sit the turntable while it is playing to avoid having to buy a new needle every month. The auto-return feature should be standard and I wont buy another turntable without it.

I just got this turntable, and I do like it. I love the looks, the function is great. The tracking light is a very nice feature for people like me who love to lay back at night and just relax to a record. I think the overall sound is good, but can't compare to my old Bang & Olufsen. I'm not really happy with the built in pre-amp to be honest. I bought it because of that feature, since the pre-amp on my Pioneer SX-828 is developing a weak channel. I get the feeling that this units pre-amp over amplifies bass, and cuts down on the sweet clarity of the treble. Overall, most people would love this turntable, and I'm just gonna try to have my Pioneers pre-amp fixed. Great turntable for the money, and great quality.

I am a new entrant to the vinyl community and I couldn't be happy with the AT-PL120. For a turntable in this price range, the overall build and sound quality cannot be beaten. The included ATP-2XN cartridge has wonderful response across the frequency range but is greatly helped by a well-engineered audiophile-quality lp. The difference is well illustrated by a sonic comparison between my 180 gram copy of the Dark Side of the Moon and my original Let It Bleed. While both originally very well-engineered, the Stones' sound seems flat compared to the richness and energy of that on the modern Floyd vinyl. Platter speed is constant, but every so slightly quick as judged by the strobe light. This must be the only attractive model under $300.

After reading other reviews I was concerned about buying something that was too inexpensive. I purchased this unit and although I can't be considered an audiophile, I am very happy with it.
I wanted a turntable that had the pre-amp switching to allow use with an old receiver and allow use with my computer.

This review will be short and sweet. It is everything the people that like it say it is. I especially like the ability to clean the record on the turntable without it slowing down or stopping. I'm not a DJ so some of the features aren't necessary but this thing seeems to have it all for a very reasonable price. If you were an intense audiophile I'm sure there are better turntables out therebut at 4-8 times the price. Even the one thing us nonDJs have complained about does't really bother me-lack of auto turnoff. I fully understand it would be self defeating for a DJ. Even for me, now when I listen to a record I am in front of my stereo so when the record is over I flip it or change it. If I'm moving around the house a CD will do just fine, and I no longer pass out to wake up to click click click like I did 35 years ago with another fully manual I had. DJ or not this is worth the money and more

This turntable is well worth the extra $100 or so over the $100 players. I plays amazingly, is easy to set up and install, and has great sound quality, along with some great features.

i bought this to think i could pass for a technic 1200 i was wrong, i own a technic 1200 mk2 and this pile of junk does not even mach the standard with a 1200 mk2.

save ur money and get a 1200 or a numark ttx and u will be happy.

When the belt on my cheapo turntable disintegrated after 23 years (and very little use in the last 5 years), I finally decided it was time to upgrade. My research led me to a wide price range, but I chose this model for a few reasons. First, it has a built-in pre-amp. This allows me to connect it directly to my computer so that I can digitize some of my favorite out-of-print records. Second, it has pitch control. As a musician, I sometime transcribe or play along with records. I always hated that my cheapo turntable was about a half-pitch sharp. Third, it was reasonably priced. My wife would kill me if I spent $600-$1000 on a turntable.

I've had it now for a month and have been very happy with it. Compared to a low end turntable, it performs quite admirably. It is much heavier than my old cheapo, which helps to reduce external noise and shocks. I should probably upgrade the cartridge that came in the box, but it's OK for now.

For anyone looking to step up from a <$100 cheapo to something more substantial yet reasonably priced, I highly recommend this turntable.

The AT-PL120 works like a charm.

It takes a little getting used to doing everything manually but I'm getting the hang of it.

The only fault I find with it is the length of the Audio connectors. Three feet isn't very long. I had to buy an RCA coupler to add another 3 feet

I researchd many turntables before I hit on ths one. I checked all of the specs. EXCEPT One. The dimensions. My previous turntables was in a drawer in a table next to my computer with the connections through the back of the drawer. Three feet was enough. This turntable is larger in height and width and does not fir in the drawer. This was the reason for getting a longer audio connection. I read all of the previous reviews and new that the cable was short but it fit with the old turntable. No problem with good old Yankee smarts.

Over all I'd buy another one when this one wears out. Hopefully it wont.

I bought an AT PL120 Turntable for a couple of reasons:

1.) I wanted a unit that would spin 78's. It had to have interchangeable headshells and an adjustable arm height because all most all different cartridges (outside of one brand) run a different heights. Adn, some cartridges need to run a little "tail down" to get the best sound. Switching from 12" 33 LPs to 10" 78's needs this sort of flexibility and the TA PL120 has that in spades. The other important feature is that 78's were not always recorded/mastered at 78. They sometimes need speed adjustments of as much as 10 RPM to get the right sound. The AT PL120 has the option of adjusting the speed up to 20%.

2.) I wanted a rugged TT & cartridge to use to test & evaluate the condition of used vinyl from thrifts store shopping. I'm trying to rebuild a modest record collection lost to a little flood a few years ago. Since new vinyl is $12-$50 it's not reasonable to try to do it that way, it needs to be done through the used market. That means that records are in an unknow condition when they get home. They can have groove damage, embedded dirt, fluid stains, mold and mildew, etc. The vinyl will usually survive all this (but the groove damage), but it'll take a good cleaning and a couple of test plays to see if it's a keeper or not? The DJ cart on the PL120 is ideal for this as it's pretty tough (built for back cuing and scratching) and can stand the odd un-noticed scratch or more likely a vinyl blemish that was unseen when looking through the racks st the thrift. You would not want to subject a $350 cartridge to this? But the included cart handles it without a second thought - excellent! And, it's a pretty good tracker in it's own right.

I have a few hundred hours on this table now and it has handled everything I've thrown at it without a hitch. It's a great utility table, a good 78 transcription table and good back-up for your big bucks hi-end TT. I have not used the internal phono amplifier and all my systems have good phono sections. I can't state anything about it. It's an interesting feature for folks who have receivers without phono inputs?

This table has good suspended feet. It weighs in at around 23 lbs. It has a lot of nice features like a good basic arm, extra headshell storage, a decent fiber/felt mat (I run it upside down as it's softer on the old 78's. All in all, this is a highly recommended unit for a work horse turn table. It even looks good in a kind of industrial sort of style.