![]() ![]() If your system doesn’t have sufficient amplification to make a turntable audible (a ‘phono’ input, in other words), just switch the 120’s integrated phono stage to ‘on’ and away you go. Received wisdom says it will sound best when hard-wired into a system using its stereo RCA outputs – Audio-Technica thoughtfully supplies some cables, complete with earthing lead, in the packaging. The charm of the 120’s extensive connectivity, of course, is that it's possible to hear it any number of ways. Warm, well-integrated sound with plenty of weight and detail. ![]() (Image credit: TechRadar) Audio performance The best wireless headphones and the best Bluetooth speakers to go with your turntable.The Audio-Technica features aptX Bluetooth, for wireless connection to speakers, headphones and the like – which confirms the 120 as a far more flexible and all-around more adaptable device than most wired record players. In addition to these physical connections, the 120 has a button with the ‘Bluetooth’ symbol beneath the tonearm. Any suitable software can be used, though Audio-Technica recommends Audacity, which is a) free for Mac and PC, and b) simple and effective. There’s also a USB output, allowing it to connect to a computer in order to make digital copies of vinyl records. It’s hardly business as usual at the back of the deck, though, where there’s quite a lot more going on than is generally the case.Īs well as the usual input for mains power, stereo RCA outputs, and grounding post, there’s a switch marked ‘phono/line’ – the 120 has a switchable phono stage, so it will slot easily into systems of all types. Fundamentally, then, it’s ‘turntable-with-professional-pretentions’ business as usual. The counterweight, anti-skate mechanism and hydraulic lift control all feel more than adequate, and the 120 is supplied with a very acceptable AT-VM95E cartridge that bayonets onto the tonearm in seconds. The DJ-related bits and bobs – quartz-locking +/- 10% pitch control, stroboscope, target light, big start/stop button and so on – are all present and correct, of course, and the 231mm tonearm is S-shaped in the traditional Audio-Technica manner. There’s not a lot of scope (or, indeed, demand) for design flourishes where record players are concerned, so consequently the 120 doesn’t feature any. ![]() In the approved Technics manner, the 120 plays at 33.3 or 45rpm – or, if you press both speed selector buttons at the same time, 78rpm too. Start-up is instantaneous, and all the manual controls – start/stop, speed selection and so on – feel well-damped and sturdy. The DC servo direct-drive motor no doubt contributes to the weight too. ![]() It’s mostly made of plastic, but it’s robust where it counts: the heftily damped, rubberized feet offer both isolation from external vibration and a degree of self-leveling, and the platter is of die-cast aluminum. No two ways about it, the AT-LP120XBT-USB (which from now on we’ll be calling the ‘120’ for the sake of both brevity and sanity) is designed to evoke the classic Technics SL-1200/SL-1210 DJ turntable everyone knows and loves.Īt this sort of money, of course, you can’t expect the bombproof build of a Technics deck – but at 8kg, the 120 is hardly a featherweight. Aesthetic inspired by classic Technics DJ decks. ![]()
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