Audio-Technica AT-PL120 Professional Direct-Drive Turntable

I grew up listening to music on vinyl and missed having a turntable. I was absolutely thrilled when I found this one online for such a good price. It was shipped safely, easy to assemble and has given me so much enjoyment that I highly recommend it to anyone who is new to records or an old guy like myself.

This is a great product for the price. Very well built and solid. Works as advertised.

The quality of this turntable is VERY impressive. It is extremely well built. Requires some intitial set-up...don't expect plug and play. If you are a novice, expect to spend an hour + reading guide and properly setting up turntable. Lots of great features for the price and it is very attractive. I would definetly recommend this turntable to all.

The Audio Technica PL-120 looked like a great idea as I was replacing my first turntable: Pioneer PL-12D which was fun, but I wanted more accurate speed (less wow and flutter) and reliability.

The Audio Technica PL-120 turntable is solidly built. It weighs about 25 LBS and is not prone to vibration interference from speakers.

Out of the box, the unit connected and operated flawlessly. I've used the phono input of my receiver and used the aux input while using the built-in phono pre-amp with no hum problems.

The sound quality of the included cartridge is very smooth and open. The bass is tight, yet pronounced, the mid-range is warm, and the treble is neutral and clear.

I decided to try the turntable with a Belari VP129 tube phono pre-amp. The combination is very good. I highly recommend this to anyone getting into listening to records, or archiving them.

The combination brings the music alive, and I just prefer to enjoy the natural sound of the music.

For those that want even better sound, the cartridge is completely upgradable. I think this turntable is a sound investment for stable operation and will blow away any "usb turntable" out there.

I got this new through an Amazon seller for $119 (!!!). I am very happy with this turntable at that price. Right now, another seller is asking $500!?
Obviously it's a Technics clone, and hence has all the DJ features that I don't need. I had been using a low-end Technics turntable for the last 25 years and finally replaced it (although it was still working!). Wow, what a difference. I have thousands of LPs that I've had forever, but they sound so crisp with this new turntable. Pretty awesome for the price.

I will mention that the tone arm latch was broken right out of the box. It's just a flimsy plastic latch. but a quick call to Audio-Technica customer service got a friendly free replacement part.

I have NOT experienced any of the hum that others mentioned. Methinks they just didn't have the pre-amp switch set correctly.

The team at Audio-Technica have made sure that the name means quality to the consumer. The features of this turntable are awesome and go beyond what one would find on other turntables of the same price. They spared no part. The fact that you can play records at 33, 45, 78, then fine tune from there using the pitch and speed control slider or play the record backwards are wonderful features to have and should have been included with turntables long ago. Nothing is missing from this record player.

I bought this as a gift for my wife and I didn't expect to get back into vinyl but this thing grew on me fast. This turntable has reminded me of what listening to albums used to be like, an experience. I have since fallen in love with the old vinyl records and the large artwork that used to make up the walls of the music stores. Moving on, this turntable is amazing and well constructed. I've owned if for 6 months now and I look forward to many more years of use. I highly recommend this turntable over the others of the same price. It has more features and is of solid construction.

My first impression was that the construction was surprisingly good! Not cheap plastic as I was expecting. The platter is made of heavy guage aluminum and the there was a real weight in the back. When I hooked it up to my vintage Carver m500t amp, my old records sounded just like new! Lots of features such as speed control, height adjustment, anti-skate adjustment, quartz lock, backwards and forwards playing. A great cartridge was included too! Truly this was a surprise buy for me.

I don't have much "mileage" on the TT yet, but after replacing the stock cartridge with an Ortofon 2M Blue and bypassing the internal phonopre with a decent but inexpensive Cambridge Audio 640P, I find the sound to be excellent...not quite on par with my 6000 other analog TT setup, but not at all embarrassing either.

DrJR

So,like almost everyone else in the world reading this,I grew up with vinyl.I sold out to the "new and improved" digital format,which besides being convenient didnt turn out to be so "improved" after all,at least to my ears.Flash forward to now & im noticing all this new vinyl being released,re-awakening my interest in records. So after more hours of online research than i'd care to admit here, I came to the conclusion that this is THE budget turntable currently available.It has the weight.It has the adjustable tonearm & antiskip.It has the variable speeds (including 78!).It has an above average needle,right out of the box. Can this compete with a Technics? No not quite in that league but that doesnt mean that this isnt a decent alternative,especially if your on a budget.Their really arent any contenders on the "average joe" level - this has the bulk,stylus,& features that you are not gonna find on a modern turntable unless you double your budget.Wish I were kidding,but its true.This is basically your only choice unless you want step up to the "entry level" audiophile world,which may or may not produce much difference in what you hear vs. this humble little unit.For what it costs for a modern turntable, this model is a clear VALUE that cannot at least be considered. Other reviewers have mentioned a hum,mine does it too at increased volumes when their isnt anything being played.Yes I also find it somewhat annoying,but at this price point I can live with it and dont consider it a deal breaker.Their just isnt anything else out there but JUNK.

I did like C. Hernandaz said in his great review...."the AT-PL50 looked really cheap. I decided to spend more money and get decent quality."

Great advise. I bought this one and I'm 100% pleased and really glad
I went for the better one. ...and there is Zero hum!

No need to add anymore comments as most of the reviews hit on all aspects...

Extremely nice, well-engineered, and easy-to-use turntable. Much higher quality than I expected for the price. Excellent product.

I just received this turntable and have only used it for a short while, however from what I can tell so far, it is an excellent performer in almost every respect. I was a little reticent to buy after reading some of the reviews with respect to the hum that some were experiencing. I am happy to say that no such problem exists with my unit and that the skating issue others have reported has only appeared on one particular LP that i have played thus far and was easily remedied by making a small tracking force adjustment.
The adjustments available on this unit are several, including tonearm assembly height adjustment, antiskating, balance, platter speed and direction. The quartz lock does an excellent job of maintaining the correct speed by itself and there should be no reason to have to manually do so with the strobe, but its fun to see the strobe doing its thing when playing a LP.
My only small quibble with the unit is the very short output cable, you need to set the turntable up fairly close to a receiver in order to make the connection. Other than that it is an excellent unit for the price.

I didn't realize there were so many "new features" compared to the old turntables. I can enjoy my LPs again. Great value, great price.

If you have a bunch of old records you haven't played in years, or if you're buying new albums on vinyl, you can't go wrong with this turntable. I'm sure this turntable is also a good buy for DJs, but I'm not one so I wouldn't know for sure.

I bought this turntable a couple of months ago and it has served my needs very well. I have a sizable collection of old vinyl that I recently pulled out of storage and simply wanted to listen to. I also wanted to transfer some of the albums to digital files. This turntable accomplishes both very well. The fact that it's all manual is actually a good thing for digital transfers--it gives you a lot of control over the process.

Just a couple of things to keep in mind if you're new to buying turntables:
1) The set-up isn't that complicated, but will take some patience. Remember to make sure everything is level and set the tracking force according to the manufacturer specs, regardless of the cartridge you're using. If you know what you're doing (and using some kind of stylus force guage) you could play around with the tracking force and anti-skate control. Otherwise, just stick to the specs and you should be fine.

2) The cartridge that comes with this turntable is a good one, but it's pretty heavy duty. You may consider changing to a cartridge that tracks lighter to save wear on your albums. (Mounting and alligning a cartridge is an excercise in patience, but can be done if you take your time.) You definitely want to get a spare headshell to mount the cartridge to (so you don't have to go through the mounting and alligning over and over). They sell a couple on Amazon, like the Stanton, that work well. Or, you can get an actual AT replacement headshell at LPgear.com for $25. The AT headshell is exactly like the one that comes with this turntable.

3) If you're like me and wanting to play old records, be sure to buy a good record cleaner and a brush for maintenance. Needledoctor.com has reasonably priced cleaner kits (unless you have the money to buy an actual record cleaning machine) and brushes. The AT cleaning kit I bought there is great. The difference a simple cleaning of the vinyl makes on the sound of the record is astounding.

4) It will also be worth it to consider buying a stylus cleaner. You'll at least need some kind of cleaning brush, whether you use the cleaning fluid or not. Again, the simple steps of cleaning the vinyl and keeping the stylus clean make a dramatic difference in sound quality.

I love this turntable. I'm not an audiophile or a dedicated turntablist, so I can't tell you how this stacks up against other turntables. But this is a great piece of equipment that looks great and will fit the needs of any casual vinyl enthusiast. And you won't go broke in the process.

I recently started buying vinyl because I just wanted to space out and slow down with life - I had no idea that I would be so impressed with the sound quality. I'm an audiophile - I've got a lot of high end equipment (Polk Audio, Yamaha, 2000 watts), but I have to tell you, I knew nothing about turntables.

After looking over reviews I settled for this turntable under the belief that it was the inexpensive version of Technics... which is apparently the favorite turntable name for most DJs, or so I've read. I'm pleased to say, I'm completely satisfied with my purchase.

It's important that you know I'm no expert as far as records are concerned. I have only a general idea of how they are supposed to sound, but given the quality of sound coming directly out of my speakers without any equalizer enhancements, I'm extremely pleased. The stylus seems fine to me, but I may upgrade it just out of curiosity.

I don't know if this is helpful at all, but I listen to mainly newer vinyl also. I haven't tested the player on older records as of yet. As far as the music I do listen to on it: Silversun Pickups, Logh, The Killers, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Pink Floyd... and it all sounds great.

I also don't have a hum coming through my speakers as many others have mentioned. I did notice, however, if I blast my speakers they pick up a lot of low freq distortion. I don't know if that's what others were referring to? I have to crank it up to ear bleed level for it to get muddy though... actually to be honest, it shocks me more that the record doesn't skip from all the vibrations in the room.

Overall, I'm highly satisfied. I don't know much about record playback, but I do about modern sound equipment. I can tell you this was well worth every penny spent.

I plugged in my turntable, installed the patch cords, loaded the software to record from vinyl to computer, turned on the power and "NOTHING". My linear turntable finally died. So, after some research, I ordered this turntable from Amazon. It came as described. Works excellently, is so adjustable (arm height, tonearm weight, table speed....)nice looking, and is made quite nicely. It's set up for a DJ from the factory, with an excellent HEAVY DUTY "DJ"-type rugged stylus and cartridge. For home use you may want to change cartridges for a lighter pressure stylus. Overall, I am pleased with this purchase.

Coming up as a kid, I've always wanted a pair of Technics 1200 during the 80's just could not afford them, now nearly 30 years later with research, the Technica PL120 will do just fine, its has everthing the 1200 will do just lower priced. I've read serveral reviews about the hum noise on the PL120 to take care of this problem, when changing to a new cartridge, make sure you use metalic screws,some cartridge have metal heads that pick up noise. If you experience the hum noise try unscrewing the cartridge from the head shell lead leaving the wires intack and connecting it back to the tone arm, if no hum is detected get metalic screws. Bottom line a good product for DJs. I would have rated this 5 stars, but Technics holds the name. (Cadillac) (Ford) They both get you from A to B.

I have been very impressed with this turntable. I've had the AT for about three weeks now and I've been thrilled with the turntable's performance thus far. The 120 has made me realize just how much better vinyl sounds than CD. In fact vinyl is just about all I've been listening to since I purchased my turntable! The unit is very well constructed and compares quite favorably to the Technics 1200. Fit and finish is excellent. Even when bumping my audio cabinet, which sits on a sloped, unsteady floor, the audio-technica does not skip. Is the Technics better? For my use as a home audio turntable, I think I would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two, especially with a good quality cartridge on the audio-technica (the cartridge it come with is a great one by the way). I had a Technics for many years so I feel comfortable saying this audio-technica is so good most people should not spend the additional money on the Technics unless you're a professional DJ or feel that you need to have a Technics branded turntable. Keep the difference and invest in a couple of high quality cartridges and some nice vinyl!
I'm very picky about my equipment and this has been my hobby for the past thirty two years. This turntable is one of those hidden gems you find ever once in a great while that make you smile when you realize just how nice a component can be with out having to spend big bucks.
Very Highly Recommended!!!

This turntable is a nice addition to my system. It is easy to use and the instructions were clear and easy to understand. I would recommend this piece of equipment to anyone with records they love to play. I am very satisfied with the product.

I purchased this turntable to digitize vinyl to pc. Was very surprised at the build quality of this product. A near clone to the Technics SL-1200 line, and includes a decent cartridge to get started. Built in pre-amp is great for pc soundcard or receivers without phono input. I upgraded the supplied cartridge, and find myself listening to more vinyl than I have in 20 years. A great product for the price range. Dead accurate speed w/ built in strobe. This would be a perfect unit for someone who is just learning about the warm sound of vinyl records.

does exactly what a record player should do, and a few extra things too. pitch adjustment is sweet. so is the strobe light. take note that some setup is required if you buy it new; it took me an hour or two to set up, and i'm pretty clever. (although i've never owned a record player before.)

It meets all my requirements, and then some. I no longer have a need to replace my disc records (most of whom have never been on CD).

Probably crazy for me to review as I haven't been able to even set this TT up as I'm remodeling the Entertainment room it will go in. I grew up vinyl in the late 70's - 80's. CD's came in and I gave up great sound for good sound and convenience. For whatever reason (probably mid life crisis) I'm back to trying vinyl. Fortunately none of my records were tossed. I did enough research to know that this TT is the minimum you want to spend for good sound. I went to numerous Audiophile web sites while researching this TT, and to some degree this Audio Technica Turntable was poo pooed, but who wants to spend $400 - $3000 on a TT and not even get a cartridge or a phono pre-amp? The biggest issue with this turntable is inconsistent quality out of the box. If you get a good one, some rate this TT sound quality to $400+ Technics units.

Which finally brings me to my point, this TT design dates back to the 80's which is not a bad thing. The issue with it is that it comes with a stylus (needle) which is suited for DJ's. This Cartridge is rated at 3-5 grams down force and has a needle designed to play up to 78 rpm records. This stylus is a "bull in a china shop" and is doing your records no favor. Remember the stylus is nothing more than a cut diamond scraping along in a groove of vinyl.

Here is the good news, the body of this cartridge dates to the 80's as well and is basically an audiophile cartridge in sheep's skin. There is no need to replace the entire cartridge/ stylus, and face the difficult realignment set up. You can simply buy a new stylus which plugs right into the cartridge that came with this TT and you have the equal of a current day AT120e Audio Technica cartridge ($90). The stylus I'd recommend is model 205-DET($40). It is a .3mm x .7 mm elliptical shaped diamond stylus. This can be found on at least one Ebay on-line shop,and a couple of on-line stores outside of Ebay. This stylus will track deep into the grooves of your vinyl and will get you full dynamic range of what vinyl can provide. More importantly, this stylus along with the cartridge body that came with this TT will track like a champ and at only 1.5 grams or so.

I could not get this product to work. I experienced nothing but a horrendous loud noise when the turntable was turned on. The hot line I called from the seller was not able to suggest other than grounding what the problem was. There was no ground wire from the turntable to my receiver. I ended paying freight for delivery to me and back to the seller with nothing to show for it. I will never buy an electronic product on line again. The selection is better than if you purchased from a store, and you will save a few dollars, but if you have a problem it just isn't worth it.

This is really a shame to have to write, considering I consider this a mild waste of money now, but I do regret buying this table. When I read the reviews here saying that there was hum that was "unacceptable", I figured I wouldn't be that unfortunate. But never think it won't be you, I guess. I bought this table for two reasons; a)I wanted a decent, direct drive that would warrant an audiophile cartridge while being affordable and b) I wanted the table to play 78's, so I could digitize old records of my grandfather's sax playing. Well I refuse to do the latter if there is a hum in all the recordings. The minute I put a new cart on it, I heard the hum. The 78 cart had it much worse. The only time you can't really hear it is with the original cart, which tells me the cartridge was designed to specifically negate the bad tone-arm wiring scheme. I heard that some had found the grounding of the wire to be wrong.

Now I wouldn't give it one star because I will still use it til I can afford a real table that can handle 78's, probably a Stanton since there's are equal (from what I've heard) to the real deal; a Technics. Except the Technics doesn't do 78.
The AT-PL120 is listenable, especially if you are not an audiophile or want to upload records to your computer in any form. But if you are interested in quality but want to save a buck, I'm afraid this is going to be very enticing but is not worth half the cost of a Technics or Stanton. Please save your money and look elsewhere. You will be doing yourself a favor.

Bought this several years ago and it's still working as well as it did when it first came out of the box. An excellent turntable at a very good price!

Fantastic value! I was considering buying the more expensive Technics SL1200mk2, but am glad to have opted for this one. Aesthetically, they are nearly identical. This is a beautiful machine. It works wonderfully, and I have had no problems with audio, humming or otherwise.

Bought this as a gift for family member. He loved this item. My observations: Beautiful to look at. Beautiful to listen to--great sound. Perfect response time. Quality made item. And the retailer who shipped this to me was very fast.

I've owned this table for about a year now and as an audio/vinyl enthusiast, I can't recommend it enough. For what it costs and all the turntable you get for the money, this is a no-brainer in my opinion. Many good review points have been made on the AT PL120 already to which I couldn't agree more. That said, I'd like to address the "Hum" issue and negative opinions I've read that a lot of users have encountered with this unit.

In my experience with this table, the only time I've noticed "Hum" is when the PL120's internal pre-amp is set to ON, while being run through my receiver's (Yamaha RX-797) phono stage. When the tables internal pre-amp set to OFF, I don't notice any hum at all coming from my speaker system. So this issue may be a setup/user error. From what I understand, the PL120's internal pre-amp is designed to be used on computers or audio equipment that do not have a dedicated MM phono stage.

From the AT PL120 User's Manual:

If the system you are using has a PHONO input, set the pre-amp selector switch to the PHONO OUT (PRE-AMP OFF) position and connect the turntable's output cables to the PHONO inputs on your system, observing Red for Right channel and White for Left channel.

If your system does not have a PHONO (magnetic phono) input, set the pre-amp selector switch to LINE OUT (PRE-AMP ON) and connect the turntable's output cables to the Auxiliary (AUX) or other audio level inputs on your system, observing Red for Right channel and White for Left channel. When using the turntable with a computer sound card, set the switch to LINE OUT and connect the turntable to the audio line input on the computer sound card. Note: An audio adapter (not included) may be required to interface the two RCA jacks of the turntable output cable to the computer sound card input.

Hopefully this addresses and corrects the "Hum" problem that some people have experienced with this unit. Again, for what this turntable costs and for what the user gets, it's a terrific buy. It comes with a decent cartridge and stylus (ATP2XN) so you can get started in a matter of minutes right out of the box. I recently upgraded the cartridge on my PL120 with a Denon DL-160 High Output, Moving Coil Cartridge. The DL-160's high output allows this cartridge to be used through the Moving Magnet (MM) phono stage of a receiver/amplifier. It's been a great upgrade to this table and has brought even more enjoyment to my vinyl listening. I'm not going to go to deep into a cartridge review here. But for anyone that's been wanting to upgrade their cartridge on whatever turntable you have, the Denon DL-160 is a real bargain and it's taken the performance level of my AT PL120 to a whole new height. I hope these thoughts and my experiences have helped.

If anyone were to ask me, Would you recommend the AT PL120?

Answer: Absolutely!

Got this for Christmas and have used it with Cakewalk Pyro to rip 7 albums so far. The quality of the sound is fantastic using the supplied cartrdige. No hiss at all compared to what other reviews have said about USB belt-drive turntables. Has all the features I need and will even play 78s (using a different cartridge). The pitch is dead on with NO variation at all unlike low cost belt drive turntables. It does lack an auto-return function but frankly that is no big deal to me.

After having owned my Audio-Technica AT-PL120 Professional Direct-Drive Turntable for approximately one year, I am pleased thus far. I play quite a bit of vinyl and have yet to have mechanical problems. Like some, my box also arrived with minor damage, however, the player was well packed and undamaged. For the price, this is great 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.