There are plenty of top turntables for you to pick from, but they all look fairly samey. Limited releases aside. But this new Audio Technica turntable is one of the best looking I’ve ever seen with a transparent design. And if it sounds as good as it looks, then I’m in for a treat.
The AT-LPA2 is a striking slice of acrylic engineering that looks like it’s been nicked straight out of a sci-fi film set. You can gawk at its 30mm acrylic chassis and 20mm platter, all while your vinyl spins round.
It’s a fully manual affair – no buttons in sight. Just a belt-drive setup with speeds for 33-1/3 and 45 RPM, which is all most of us need unless you’ve got some ancient 78s knocking about. The newly designed carbon-fibre tonearm, with adjustable vertical tracking angle, screams precision. It’s paired with an AT-OC9XEN moving coil cartridge, which uses a 0.3 x 0.7 mil elliptical nude stylus.
There’s also no USB output here, nor Bluetooth, nor an app pretending to “enhance” your listening experience. It’s just pure, mechanical vinyl playback done with precision and flair. That 20mm acrylic platter isn’t just for show – it adds real weight and stability, helping keep your records spinning at exactly the right pace without any of the wobbly nonsense.
And while the turntable is stealing the spotlight, Audio-Technica has also quietly overhauled its VM cartridge line with the new AT-VMx series. It’s their first big refresh since 2016, which in vinyl years is practically a generation. With a range that stretches from entry-level to audiophile indulgence, the new cartridges promise better responsiveness, deeper low-end grunt, and a generally richer sonic experience.
They’re using PCUHD wire in the coils now – the same stuff found in their high-end audio cables. It’s also nice to see a variety of stylus options, from your standard conical to more advanced profiles.
The Audio Technica AT-LPA2 turntable will set you back £1699/€1999, and is available through Richer Sounds and AV.com. The new AT-VMx cartridges start at £99/€119, with pricing scaling up depending on just how audiophile you fancy being. There’s no US pricing or availability information yet, but we’ll let you know if this changes.
