Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

In my opinion there's a big problem in the audiophile community right now where they look down on entry-level turntables, so you'll see a lot of hate for this table online. You should ignore the haters. The AT-LP3BK is a lovely turntable for novices who want to become vinyl hobbyists, with plenty of upgrade room if you want to improve it later. I plugged my unit in and hit play, and my records sound good. Once I let the unit break in and do some fine-tuning, I'm sure it'll sound great. Background: -The LP3 is basically an upgrade to Audio Technica's entry-level LP60 line. The LP60 is also a fully-automatic, entry-level turntable. This means you can just put a record on the player, hit a button, and it will not only place the tone arm for play but also pick up the tone arm again at the end of the record. This is in contrast to many audiophile turntables, which are almost universally fully manual so that you must lift the tone arm yourself and it will just scratch the end of the record forever if you don't stop it. The LP60 has decent sound, a low price point, and that automatic play feature so it seems like an ideal entry-level player for anyone. -So why go with the LP3 over the LP60? The LP60 has a fixed head shell so you can only ever use a small line of compatible cartridges. If you really only care about hearing mom's vinyl again, that might be fine for you. However, the LP3 takes a fairly similar basic design, with the major upgrade of a universal head shell mount and necessary hardware (adjustable counterbalance, anti-skate control) to mount any cartridge you want. To my mind, that makes the LP3 the ideal turntable for anyone just starting in vinyl, but who might someday want to upgrade to a more serious cartridge as they get into the hobby. -The only people who should definitely skip this turntable are aspiring DJs. They should instantly step up to the LP120 direct-drive series, which are DJ-focused. Pros: -Fully automatic. It's almost silly to have to list this as a feature considering this technology has probably been around for what, 40 years? Today's top most expensive turntables are almost universally manual rather than automatic due to some sense high-end users have that this makes them better quality. I have no idea why, in any real terms, an automatic player wouldn't be able to sound just as good. For a lot of casual listeners, automatic play and automatic stop makes this turntable arguably better than much more expensive models. -Everything you need. Has a power cable, RCA audio cables only (no optical out, etc), dust cover, 45 adapter, AT91R cartridge preinstalled on the head shell, aluminum platter, and rubber slip mat. Also has a built-in phono preamp which can be switched on or off, meaning it's compatible with all modern systems. Also has switches to change between 33 and 45 rpm, as well as 12" or 7" disc. The automatic tone arm will respond to these settings accordingly. -Sound is fine. Audiophiles will yell that you need to spend hundreds more dollars on a turntable to get proper sound, but trust me this deck is fine as-is. I think most people just want their old records to play again, and this turntable does that in style. The included AT91R cartridge is perfectly fine for a first-time listener, and if you perform the usual tricks like isolating your turntable on a good solid surface and aligning the cartridge with free online tools, you'll get great sound out of the box. Audio problems ("wow", "flutter", "crackle", etc.) seem to be well within the parameters I expect out of a turntable. This table easily sounds better than anything my mom ever played around me back in the day. -Easy to setup and maintain. Installation more or less consists of putting the aluminum platter in place, and grabbing a red ribbon to pull the belt in place. AT produced a video on YouTube if you need any help. Doing this and a few other easy steps, such as screwing the cartridge onto the tone arm and adjusting the counterweight, can easily be done inside of 10 minutes and that's only because AT's setup video is 7 minutes long by itself. The dust cover also means less maintenance long term, as it'll help stop dust from damaging your stylus over time. -Universal cartridge mount. The 1/2" universal mount hardshell means this turntable accepts most modern cartridges, giving you plenty of room to upgrade the audio quality. You can also turn off the built-in preamp if you ever step up to a better one, so you have that option. Cons: -The RCA-only, non-removable audio cables are a bit of a drag. RCA cables are fairly universal for hi-fi systems, and you can instantly strip them to speaker wire if you prefer. I wish this unit would have had an easy change solution to move to TRRS (3.5mm or 1/4") jack, but they do also make a bluetooth model for those purposes. Hopefully you're going to set up this turntable once and never move it for years, so I'm not too worried about reliability. There is a ground loop if you need that. -No tone arm lock. Most people don't really need this, but when you store the unit it's nice to have a proper lock to hold the tone arm. From the factory you'll see their solution - there's a loop you can use to secure the arm with a "bread tie" wire. Works for me. -The aluminum platter is just okay. It's light and obviously can resonate. I'm sure an enterprising person could figure out a way to dampen it a bit, but this is a weakness of the platform. -Can't play 78s. To be fair, you do usually need special hardware for that above and beyond a speed selector. 78s usually require a special cartridge. Overall: When I'm jamming to a vinyl on my AT-LP3, I just can't imagine paying that much more for a "good" table. I'm sure I could use a heavier platter, and I'm sure an S-shaped tone arm is superior. But when I'm chatting with friends with some lovely vinyl in the background, I don't care about any of that. Someday when I fall asleep to a good jazz album with headphones on, I'll know the auto-return will stop the record for me. I would take this automatic turntable over a much more expensive manual turntable any day, because this table does everything I'll ever need. I'm super happy, and I can't wait to do the fine-tuning to really make it shine.