Audio-Technica has announced their brand-new flagship manual belt-drive turntable: the AT-LP7X. It’s the replacement to their previous flagship LP7 model and companion to the direct-drive semi-automatic LP8X.
The LP7X eschews the old polyoxymethylene (POM) platter for an acrylic one and features a weighty MDF cabinet construction and speed-sensor motor for accurate platter rotation speed. It comes standard with Audio-Technica’s AT-LT10 head shell and AT-VM95EBK phono cartridge, as well as a built-in switchable phono pre-amplifier, allowing the option to use both Moving Magnet (MM) and Moving Coil (MC) style cartridges—making it quite an upgradeable machine.
Customization and versatility seem to be Audio-Technica’s focus with the LP7X with features like a highly adjustable vertical tracking angle (VTA) and subcounterweight, allowing for the use of a broad range of cartridges and headshells from a variety of manufacturers. The LP7X looks to be a fantastic machine not only to use for listening to but to experiment with. Anyone interested in the intricacies of vinyl should be aware of this one.
