A beginner’s turntable for the vinyl revival

The vinyl revival may be in full swing, but Audio-Technica isn’t a newcomer to the party — the company has been making phono cartridges for more than 50 years. The company’s AT-LP60 is a fully featured turntable, and includes a premounted phono cartridge, a built-in phono preamplifier, a metal platter, and a clear plastic dust cover. And it does all that at a street price of just $100 (which translates to about £60 or AU$108 in the UK and Australia, respectively).

Using the built-in phono preamp, you can hook the turntable’s line-level outputs up to an integrated stereo amplifier, AV receiver, computer, boombox, Bluetooth speaker, or any device with an analog audio input. (By contrast, most turntables offer only preamp-level phono outputs, which require a dedicated phono amplifier or high-end AV receiver.) Based on the budget price tag and super simple operation, the Audio-Technica AT-LP60 is ideal for folks just starting to get into vinyl or for baby boomers getting reacquainted with their LP collections.

Design and features

The AT-LP60 is a belt-drive turntable, the same drive system used by the vast majority of audiophile turntables. Belt-drive means the turntable’s motor pulley spins the platter with a rubber “belt,” which means it’s not suitable for DJ use where fast start and back-cuing is required. The AT-LP60 is a little more compact than most turntables at 14 inches (36cm) square by 3.8 inches (10cm) high and 6.6 pounds (3kg).

The rear panel has a small switch that lets you select either the built-in phono preamplifier (and thus, line-level output that’s universally compatible with audio-in jacks) or a higher quality, external preamp you can add later.

The turntable’s output is limited to a hardwired 24-inch-long cable terminated to a set of stereo RCA plugs. Of course, you can get a cheap RCA-to-3.5mm adapter, which would provide the ability to plug into nearly any boombox, portable speaker, or stereo system — anything with a line-in port.

Audio Technica AT-LP60 product photos
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After putting it all together, just put the metal platter on the turntable, reach through the hole on the top of the platter to pull the rubber belt over the motor pulley, put the felt mat on the platter, slide off the small plastic piece protecting the cartridge, and you’ll be ready to start playing records. For your convenience, the company has preset the tonearm’s counterweight and set the stylus tracking force.

One side of the felt mat that covers the metal platter spells out “Audio Technica,” but you can flip the mat over and just have a plain black mat. The well-written, easy-to-understand owner’s manual makes the setup process painless — even neophytes can have the AT-LP60 up and running in a few minutes.