Review ATLP60xBT Vinyl Turntable
Audio Technica has been making vinyl turntables for over 50 years. The resurgence of vinyl has driven them over the past few years to modernize the turntables for ease-of-use and to address the integrated audio solutions. The new turntables no longer require a full multi-piece stereo system with preamp to connect to but directly drive external speakers and now have wireless Bluetooth capability. Leading this line is the newest turntable in the AT family, the AT LP60xBT which is a Bluetooth wireless stereo turntable.
It features a selectable speed control between 33 1/3 and 45 RPM as well as having a built-in dual magnetic pickup with the replaceable diamond needle stylus (Replacement Stylus: ATN3600L). The turntable is a fully automatic belt drive system with a redesigned aluminum platter. New for this unit is the ability to support being paired with speakers, headphones or other wireless devices. The turntable is fully integrated as a single piece unit that uses the CSR BT chipset on Bluetooth 5.0 protocol. This allows the turntable to connect to devices that support the newer Qualcomm aptX codec, which offers much-improved sound quality over the standard SBC codec which is also supported.
The unit is easily unpacked and set up it took less than 10 minutes to unpack the box, assemble the lid and pieces and have the turntable up and running. Initially, we tested it in a traditional turntable application with a connection to external powered speakers . For this we connected the left and right output with a standard RCA plug to the speakers from the enclosed 3.5 mm male to dual RCA male converter.. This output was high quality and without any of the traditional hum and noise that came from the direct connection of turntable without an intermediate pre-amplifier external to balance the sound from the needle and pick up using the built-in switchable phono pre-amplifier for phono- or line-level output.
So next we tested the turntable with the Bluetooth connection for the Bluetooth we were listening with a pair of ATH M50xBT over the ear wireless Bluetooth monitors. The ATH M50 line is a standard of the professional monitor series for mixing and editing music. Even though the electronics are targeted towards the professional application community the connection to the turn table was very easy. It consisted of basically turning on the headphones, it identified the turntable, and then auto connected. There was no complicated pairing sequence or codes or anything that needed to be input. The sound quality was very good with the new codec. There was no discernable stereo phasing error from the turntable and there was very little noise that is typical of the turntables in the sale aisles of the big box store holiday time. The turntable produced a very clear sound on both classic albums and the recently pressed collector’s vinyl reissue albums using the heavy grade vinyl.
The controls were very intuitive one of the challenges with these turntables is being able to do traditional turntable functions such as manual drop of the needle. On this unit the manual drop worked well and was very controlled as to not damage the albums being played.
In all this vinyl enthusiast grade turntable is a very good solution for people who are now in an office environment, a small studio or a smaller area where a complete home stereo and AV room set up is not possible. It allows you to bring your vinyl products and listen to them in a simple environment using similar headphones that can be used for mobile devices and televisions to be able to keep a common point for your musical experience and is of high enough quality to make sure that it is non-injurious to your vinyl collection while it produces the quality of the experience that vinyl lovers are seeking while having the convenience of a single unit solution.
