Audio Technica AT-LP5X Turntable Review & Comments

The arm is similar to my fixed head nine inch SME 3009, for the money this looks like a very nice setup. Nice review, if you are there see you on the poddy this coming Wednesday. 😘

Being a bit solipsistic I sometimes wonder what would be the equivalent, in cost, to my arm, cartridge and turntable setup Ed. As mentioned I have the 9" fixed head SME arm, a Shure V15 MK 3 cartridge and the Thorens TD125 MK2 turntable? All over 40 years old and still going strong.

By the way on an:offtopic: subject. I'm still going to change my AV amp (Denon AVCA11XV) for either the Denon 8500 or the Marantz SR 8015 for Atmos / DTS:X capability and the latest HDMI protocols.

As some might know (garrulous me) due to my trade being very badly hit by this pandemic it hasn't been worth me going out, so it's eleven months and counting now since working. But I hope to poke my accelerator feet out by, hopefully, April. Thank heavens I rent a cab now, all I have to do is take it back to the fleet owner although I was an owner driver for several decades. Mind you who knows if Denon might be replacing, or possibly would have already replaced their flagship model by the time I have the necessary wonga. Anyway take care and be safe. Luv LT with a blue hybrid taxi as my avatar instead of the red one. 👍
 
How did it work with the Cyrus? Hugely disproportionate price but I'm curious about doing something similar.... with a Rega P3!
 
The arm is similar to my fixed head nine inch SME 3009, for the money this looks like a very nice setup. Nice review, if you are there see you on the poddy this coming Wednesday. 😘

Being a bit solipsistic I sometimes wonder what would be the equivalent, in cost, to my arm, cartridge and turntable setup Ed. As mentioned I have the 9" fixed head SME arm, a Shure V15 MK 3 cartridge and the Thorens TD125 MK2 turntable? All over 40 years old and still going strong.

By the way on an:offtopic: subject. I'm still going to change my AV amp (Denon AVCA11XV) for either the Denon 8500 or the Marantz SR 8015 for Atmos / DTS:X capability and the latest HDMI protocols.

As some might know (garrulous me) due to my trade being very badly hit by this pandemic it hasn't been worth me going out, so it's eleven months and counting now since working. But I hope to poke my accelerator feet out by, hopefully, April. Thank heavens I rent a cab now, all I have to do is take it back to the fleet owner although I was an owner driver for several decades. Mind you who knows if Denon might be replacing, or possibly would have already replaced their flagship model by the time I have the necessary wonga. Anyway take care and be safe. Luv LT with a blue hybrid taxi as my avatar instead of the red one. 👍
The SME3009 was, and still is, a great arm. I would love to do a side by side comparison of my current setup as compared to the Garrard 401/3009 pairing I had some 40 plus years ago.
 
Ditto I had a 401/3009/V15 mk3 about 40 yrs ago and then got rid when cd's came along. I saw some of the prices these vintage pieces can command and wish I had hung onto it along with my vinyl:(

How would this TT combo sound in relation to the 401/3009 or for that matter any of the current £300-400 offerings.
 
I still have the Gale 301GS speakers that I had at the time with the 401 and they still perform perfectly although I did have the bass drivers replaced about 10 years ago as the rubber surrounds had perished at around 30 yrs old.:thumbsup:
 
"Likewise, the performance gains from chopping in the rubber mat and going for a Funk Firm Achromat are also worthwhile. I don’t know how a piece of blown acrylic manages to help a record sound rather more three dimensional than a rubber mat but I’m pretty confident that you’d spot the difference too."

An interesting point, I think - and rarely discussed.

Totally agree with the review in that almost every aspect of a TT's construction impacts sound quality to some degree. I use an LP12 but not with the original felt mat because I felt that the extra spaciousness/dimensionality (if that's even a word) that the felt mat gave was false. I wonder if that's the case here?

Play lots of music of different types and, like me, you may well hear similar three-dimensionality, from studio albums to classical music recorded in massively reverberant halls. Yes, there are some sonic differences between venues but perhaps less than there should be. Bit suspicious that, isn't it?

I have no experience of the FFA mat but if it doesn't support the vinyl properly (in the same way a felt mat doesn't) I suspect some, or all, of that alluring 3-D soundstage 'effect', is not on the record.

PS Ever noticed how loud needle talk is when using a TT mat that doesn't properly support the vinyl? Use a rubber mat with clamp and needle talk is significantly reduced.
 
I bought this thanks to Ed's review, alongside feedback from @ShanePJ and resident AVF hi-fi guru @Slinkywizard . It's my first foray into the world of vinyl, having been gifted by in-laws' record collection. The records were in storage for around 20+ years so I gave them a clean first. Lovely to hear analogue audio for the first time. I've just stuck to the stock integrated phono amp and cartridge but look forward to discovering an upgrade path in the future, once I let the system (and my ears) run in a wee bit.
 

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