CES 2018 • Hot Product

Audio-Technica's direct-drive turntables have been mainstays of the budget end of the analog market. While the new AT-LP7 ($799) belt-drive turntable doesn't push the brand into a completely new price category, it is more expensive and, according to Audio-Technica "the finest turntable the company has ever offered."

The plinth is 40mm-thick MDF, while the anti-resonance platter is a 20mm-thick slab of polyoxymethylene, a stiff, low-friction thermoplastic. The AT-LP7 is supplied with a VM520EB dual-moving-magnet cartridge whose stylus can be replaced with any of the six other styli available in the VM line, giving the ability to replace or upgrade the stylus without having to buy a new cartridge. Also included are a built-in switchable phono/line preamp with selectable moving-magnet/moving-coil capabilities, a removable dust cover, a 45rpm adapter and a connecting cable.

The AT-LP7’s J-shaped tonearm, designed to minimize tracking error, is said to "incorporate design elements of the classic original Audio-Technica tonearms of the 1960s and 1970s." It uses a gimbal suspension with precision bearings, and it provides for adjustment of tracking force, anti-skating and vertical tracking angle.