Audio-Technica AT-LP2 review

Two years ago, Audio-Technica celebrated its 60th year in the audio business by releasing an absolutely stunning-looking turntable, the AT-LP2022. But there
was a catch: the AT-LP2022 would be made available as a strictly limited-edition offering. Only 3000 units worldwide, of which we gather a mere 100 were ever made available for sale here in Australia.

The release of the AT-LPA2 makes me suspect that Audio-Technica rather misjudged how popular the AT-LP2022 would be, and hence also how disappointed might be the legions of Audio-Technica fans who’d missed the chance to buy one.

The result of these two oversights is that the company decided to make amends by releasing an almost identical-looking (and yet technically much improved!) version, in the form of the AT-LPA2.

Build & facilities

At first glance, the AT-LPA2 looks to be a clone of the LP-2022; it no doubt shares much of the limited-edition 60th anniversary model’s DNA, and uses many of the same parts that were used in the construction of that model – not least of which would be that gloriously transparent acrylic plinth.

Turntable plinths made of acrylic (acrylic being a catch-all description of pretty much anything made with a synthetic resin) are not exactly new. There was one in the controversial Stanley Kubrick movie A Clockwork Orange, starring Malcolm McDowell. The turntable in that movie was made by the Transcriptor company, established by David Gammon back in the 1960s. Known as the Transcriptor Hydraulic, it had an acrylic plinth, but not one that was transparent, although transparent versions of Transcriptor Hydraulic were made by J. A. Michell Engineering some two years after the movie’s release, under license from Gammon. J.A. Michell also used transparent acrylic for its very popular ‘Prisma’ turntable, a model obviously inspired by the Hydraulic. (Modern manufacturers currently using transparent plinths include the likes of Gold Note, Musical Fidelity, Pro-Ject and – not surprisingly – Transparent.)

But Audio-Technica has done more than just deliver a transparent acrylic plinth (one that’s 30mm thick) because the AT-LPA2 also has a 20mm thick transparent acrylic platter and, what’s more, does not expect you to use a slip-mat of any kind with it – the designers intend that you place your LPs directly onto the acrylic.

One very obvious difference from the AT LP-2022 is that this new AT-LPA2 has an external controller/power supply for speed selection (between 33⅓ and 45rpm) and for power switching. The idea of using an external controller is to isolate the turntable completely from unwanted electrical noise. Speed control is managed by an optical sensor that monitors the speed of the spindle, in order to maintain accurate speed. This arrangement necessitates a custom multi-pin cable to connect the controller to the turntable plinth rather than just a standard DC (or AC) cable.

The use of an external controller shows how dedicated Audio-Technica is to ensuring a high-purity low voltage source, because it has to make different controllers for different markets, which dramatically increases production costs. It’s the cost involved in manufacturing external controllers that is the reason so many turntable manufacturers use external plug-packs. Plug packs are a cheap and cheerful solution, not least because manufacturers simply buy them ready-built from third party manufacturers (and thus have no control over quality).

The voltage from the external controller drives a DC servo-motor located at the back left of the plinth which drives the acrylic platter by means of a flat rubber belt. Audio-Technica’s technical data seems to suggest that this belt is ‘exclusive’ to Audio-Technica (it specifies an AT-LPA2 exclusive belt as a replacement), but I suspect that when it comes time to replace it, you could fairly readily locate a suitable one from some other source.

The tonearm fitted to the AT-LPA2 is a statically-balanced straight type made of carbon-fibre, with an effective length of 223.6mm and an overhang of 18.6mm. The tonearm pillar is height-adjustable so you can adjust vertical tracking angle should you choose to use a cartridge with dimensions different to the one provided standard with the AT-LPA2 (an A-T OC9XEN), or if you decide you would like to use a slip mat on the AT-LPA2’s platter (using one would require you to raise the tonearm pillar the same amount as the thickness of the mat).

The supplied A-T OC9XEN phono cartridge is a low-output moving-coil design with a recommended load impedance of at least 100 ohms and an output voltage of 0.35mV (at 1kHz, 5cm/sec). It’s fitted with an aluminium cantilever that has an elliptical diamond stylus nude-mounted to its tip. In common with almost all moving-coil designs, the stylus assembly is not removable, so when stylus replacement becomes necessary, you will need to avail yourself of Audio-Technica’s ‘Moving Coil Exchange Program.’

The deal with this exchange program is that if the same model cartridge is available, Audio-Technica will supply ‘new for old’ at a reduced price, or if that model is no longer manufactured, the nearest compatible upgraded model at a reduced price. (Should you not want to participate in this program for any reason you might alternatively contact a specialist moving-coil stylus replacement supplier for a quote on re-tipping the A-T OC9XEN’s cantilever with a new diamond.)

Audio-Technica is one of the few manufacturers that continues to include acrylic dust covers with its turntables, and is to be applauded for doing so. Dust particles in a record groove not only ruin sound quality, but also hasten stylus wear. The cleaner your LPs are, the better they will sound and the longer your stylus will last. The dust-cover also prevents air movement from affecting the phono cartridge (air pressure deflection). You should always keep the dust cover closed except when changing LPs (or sides).

I should point out that although the ‘see through’ nature of the Audio-Technica AT-LPA2 makes it a highly attractive proposition from an aesthetic viewpoint, the very fact that you can see through it means you will need to give some thought as to where you’re going to put it. For example the surface of my own home-made turntable platform (a block of polished concrete) is not particularly attractive, but with a conventional turntable, you can’t see the ugly grey surface. If I owned an AT-LPA2, my solution to this would be to put a sheet of mirrored glass underneath the turntable, which I think would look great (I didn’t try it), but I am sure there are many other solutions. Audio-Technica might also reconsider its foot design for any future transparent plinths, as their black tops can look a little ugly when viewed from above through the plinth.

Installation and listening sessions

Installation is very straight-forward, though at first you may be confused that Audio-Technica has provided two different counterbalance weights (one of which is 20 grams heavier than the other) and two different anti-skating force weights (one of which is 1.0 gram heavier than the other). You can clear up this confusion by downloading the Owners’ Manual, available online, which says you should use the lighter one of the two (which is 112 grams) when using the supplied A-T OC9XEN (or any other cartridge that weighs between 6.1 and 9.2 grams). The heavier counterweight is for cartridges weighing between 9.2 and 13.9 grams.

The anti-skating weight you use will depend on the tracking force recommended for your particular cartridge: if it’s 2.0g or less, you use the smaller of the two anti-skating weights, and if it’s 2.1g or more, you use the heavier one. The anti-skating system Audio-Technica has designed for this turntable is absolutely excellent – easy to set-up, easy and accurate to calibrate correctly. Other manufacturers please take note!

The A-T OC9XEN cartridge supplied comes pre-fitted to a standard removable headshell. Removable headshells allow quick cartridge swaps with no need for any re-alignment (other than for tracking weight, anti-skating and perhaps tonearm pillar height). This means you could use, for example, a less expensive moving-magnet cartridge for background music, while keeping your expensive moving-coil cartridge for prime listening sessions or when recording to hard disc.

So far as cartridge alignment is concerned, the stylus on the review sample was correctly aligned both for VTA and off-set (Baerwald geometry), which was good, because Audio-Technica does not include an alignment protractor. If you do decide to invest in an additional cartridge, you can download a rudimentary protractor from Audio-Technica’s website, or buy one from Audio-Technica (Audio-Technica CAP1) – or just borrow one from your friendly hi-fi store.

Although using outboard electronics to control speed adjustment and power switching is the superior approach to turntable design in a strictly electronic sense, it’s not quite as convenient as having these functions fitted to the plinth itself. But since we almost exclusively use 33⅓rpm LPs and nearly always flip sides and change LPs with the platter still revolving, there was very little downside to having the separate box… except finding a place to put it.

We checked the platter’s rotational speed accuracy with a strobe disc and light and found it to be perfect at both speeds, with almost no ‘hunting’ that would otherwise suggest the presence of either wow or flutter (or both). We then checked for audible wow and flutter by using a check LP, in this case Reinbert de Leeuw’s performance of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies (on 'Early Piano Works') and found that we could hear neither wow nor flutter. (If you want your own wow and flutter check LP, you may prefer not buy this one, not least because so many people describe it as ‘painfully slow’, so perhaps instead invest in Jeroen van Veen’s version (Brilliant Classics). If cost and availability are issues for you, then buy the Warner Classics LP featuring Aldo Ciccolini from Red Eye Records in Sydney.

Having determined that the platter was rotating at exactly 33⅓rpm and that there was no audible wow and/or flutter, we commenced listening sessions with one of my all-time favourite albums, Bach’s 'Goldberg Variations' (the 1981 version on Sony Classical). This instantly proved that the A-T OC9XEN is an excellent moving-coil cartridge, delivering a deep, controlled and extended bass response and a musically fluid high-frequency response. In-between, across the midrange, the sonic balance was absolutely correct, and the sound of the piano unerringly accurate.

We could easily have used the Aria to evaluate wow and flutter levels, but had already put in the work with the Gymnopédies. Piano is an exceptionally difficult instrument for a phono cartridge, because of its percussive nature (particularly Gould’s finger-stabbing staccato), yet the Audio-Technica served up the sound with aplomb, even when Gould was playing staccato in the left hand and legato in the right. The A-T OC9XEN also delivered Bach/Gould’s ornamentation perfectly – every individual note was clearly audible, with zero overhang to blur the notes. And yes, Gould’s vocal contributions were also reproduced exactly so they, too, were clearly audible.

To evaluate that other most difficult of instruments – the human voice – we first listened to the late Cleo Laine, whose album 'Feel the Warm 'remains a sentimental favourite of mine, despite many of the tracks on it not having stood the test of time. Despite being a contralto, technically-speaking, Laine was able to stretch her voice across four octaves, from around E2 to above high C (she once held the record for highest recorded note), but it was more her ability to instantly jump up (or down) by an octave (or more) and transition seamlessly between registers that made her such an outstanding vocalist. All these attributes are demonstrated on 'Feel the Warm', and the Audio-Technica turntable/cartridge combo delivered them pitch-perfect, just like Cleo.

To audition male vocals, we switched to another favourite, James Taylor, whose rich baritone is essentially unmistakeable. If you don’t already have it, his 1976 album 'Greatest Hits 'was remastered in 2020 and it’s a ‘must-have’ LP, with tracks including Something in the Way She Moves, Carolina in my Mind, Fire and Rain, You’ve Got A Friend, Mexico and more. Again the Audio-Technica OC9XEN came up trumps, delivering not only the warmth and humanity of Taylor’s voice, but also the gloriously sweet tones of his Gibson J-50 acoustic (he later switched to playing custom guitars made for him firstly by Mark Whitebook and then later by James Olson).

One reason Audio-Technica fitted the AT-LPA2 with such a high-performance, low-distortion moving-coil cartridge might well have been to ensure you don’t hear any distortion or other effects arising from the fact that the effective length of the AT-LPA2’s tonearm is a little on the short side: most other vinyl-spinners come with arms that are 7–10mm longer than the one on the AT-LPA2 and thus have less tracking angle error simply as a result of their length. So don’t be tempted to cut corners on quality if you use another cartridge…

Verdict

Audio-Technica’s inclusion of a high-quality moving-coil cartridge in the price of the AT-LPA2 means that you may miss the value-for-money part of the deal. Using Australian pricing, Audio-Technica’s A-T OC9XEN cartridge has a sticker price of A$699 (and you rarely find it for less than A$660), so sans-cartridge, the price of the AT-LPA2 works out at more like A$2539, which makes it great value on today’s market, not least because Audio-Technica also includes that high-quality turntable cover, which some other manufacturers offer only as an optional extra.

In Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell strikes up a conversation with two girls buying LPs in a record store. He says to one: “What you got back home, little sister, to play your fuzzy warbles on? I bet you got pitiful little portable picnic players. Come with Uncle and hear all proper. Hear angel trumpets and devil trombones.”

Rest assured that if you buy an Audio-Technica AT-LPA2, you too will be hearing your own LPs ‘all proper’ with ‘angel trumpets and devil trombones’ — and then some, because this is an outstanding turntable/cartridge combination, in all respects.

Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Audio-Technica AT-LPA2 turntable and A-T OC9XEN moving-coil phono cartridge should continue on and read the LABORATORY REPORT. Readers should note that the results mentioned in the report, tabulated in performance charts and/or displayed using graphs and/or photographs should be construed as applying only to the specific sample tested.

LABORATORY REPORT

The measured frequency response of the Audio Technica A-T OC9XEN moving-coil phono cartridge was excellent, as you can see from Graph 1 (above). The frequency response (black trace) extends from 30Hz to 20kHz ±1.5dB. Essentially it’s 2dB down at the frequency extremes, about 1dB high between 70Hz and 200Hz, with an extended shallow dip between 2kHz and 10kHz that maxxes out at –1.5dB around 5.5kHz. Channel separation (red trace) is 26dB at 1kHz (better than specification) and is better than 20dB from 75Hz out to 5kHz. (Some mains hum that’s leaked into the measurement chain has pushed up the trace at 50Hz, so you could ‘flatten’ the peak to below the –45dB grid line.)

THD for the A-T OC9XEN phono cartridge was also very low, as you can see from Graph 2 above, which shows it for a 1kHz test signal recorded at a velocity of 3.54cm per second. The test signal itself is at the left of the graph (referenced to 0dB).

The second harmonic is down at –35dB (1.77% HD), which is around 5dB lower than usual, and not overly significant (the reason being that second harmonic distortion is pleasing to the human ear, essentially being the octave of the fundamental), the third harmonic is down at –58dB (0.12% HD), plus there’s a fourth harmonic at –65dB (0.05% HD) and lastly a fifth harmonic at –72dB (0.02% HD). These results show that the A-T OC9XEN is a very low-distortion device.

Output voltage of the A-T OC9XEN phono cartridge was measured at 0.41mV (at 1kHz, at a recorded velocity of 5cm/sec), while channel balance was measured by Newport Test Labs as being better than 1dB out to around 14kHz, after which it became 2dB out to 30kHz.

Newport Test Labs found the measured wow and flutter results from the Audio-Technica AT-LPA2 to be impressively low. Graph 3 above shows it measured using the IEC DIN386 Dynamic standard (red dashed lines) and also using the IEC DIN 386 2-Sigma standard (purple dashed line), both measured over a 30-second period. When Newport Test Labs averaged these results across the full 30-seconds duration of the test, it reported DIN IEC 386 2-Sigma wow and flutter as being 0.05% and IEC DIN386 Dynamic wow and flutter as 0.04%. Longer-period averaged measurements using a different wow and flutter meter put CCIR wow and flutter at 0.05% weighted. Measured according to the Australian standard, Newport Test Labs reported a wow and flutter result of 0.06% (RMS unweighted). All these results are orders of magnitude better than Audio-Technica’s own specification of 0.12% weighted RMS.

Absolute speed was almost perfect, as you can see from the histogram displayed in Graph 4 above, which was measured for a speed of 33⅓ rpm. You can see that the AT-LPA2’s platter was rotating just slightly faster than 33⅓ rpm, but to put this into perspective, this means that the 3,000Hz test signal on the test LP was replayed at 3,001Hz. Newport Test Labs also measured platter speed at 45rpm (not graphed) and reported slightly faster rotation at this higher speed, such that a 3000Hz test signal would be replayed at 3,002Hz. The miniscule pitch differences that would result from these speed increases would not be perceptible, even to a trained listener with perfect pitch.

Overall, the results of Newport Test Labs’ testing prove superb measured performance from both the Audio-Technica A-T OC9XEN moving-coil phono cartridge and the AT-LPA2 turntable. Steve Holding, Newport Test Labs

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