A player decked with fine features and fine sound
Turntable | £420 | whf.cm/AT-LPW50BTRW
As Record Store Day celebrated its 15th year in 2023, it is gratifying to see vinyl still in healthy shape, with record-breaking vinyl sales (thanks, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles) and new record players regularly hitting the shelves.
Audio Technica’s AT-LPW50BTRW is one such new deck, offering an appealing combination of features – a belt-drive turntable with built-in phono stage and Bluetooth streaming – to appeal to a wide audience, regardless of their experience with vinyl.
There’s plenty of competition at this price from the likes of Rega, Pro-Ject, Dual and Sony, but Audio Technica has a knack for manufacturing modern turntables with hi-fi flourishes that look and sound great. Is it in evidence here?
Quality look and feel
This is a smart-looking turntable with instant shelf appeal. The rosewood finish looks appealing and the build quality is fantastic. Every element of the deck – from the electronic speed change dial to the carbon-fibre tonearm and the hydraulically damped lift control – feels of a high standard. We wish there were a little less play in the tonearm’s bearing, but otherwise this is a well made, nicely designed deck that is a joy to use.
This should be no surprise. Having celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, Audio Technica has a proven record in making great turntables (the five-star AT-LP5x is a prime example) and the AT-LPW50BTRW continues the tradition. It certainly feels better finished than the similarly priced Dual CS418, and is head and shoulders above the more budget (and very budget-feeling) Bluetoothtoting Sony PS-LX310BT.
It’s not quite a plug-and-play turntable if you are a vinyl newbie; there is some assembly and set-up required before you can start spinning your records. The die-cast aluminium platter, belt, cartridge headshell and counterweight all need to be fitted. Luckily, Audio Technica provides all the instructions in the box to guide you through the process. We set the tracking force (at the recommended 2g for the pre-fitted AT-VM95e moving-magnet cartridge) using a cartridge tracking-force gauge, and make sure the deck is placed on a level and stable hi-fi rack.
The adjustable feet help to ensure the turntable is perfectly level on the surface, and all the required cables are handily provided as well. The deck is fuss-free to use once it is all set up, and we find ourselves playing record after record with ease during testing.
Phono-stage flexibility
The AT-LPW5
