Just got an AT-LP7 and.....

[Pscm]

Love it! Over the last few years I started with an orbit then picked up an SLQ3 (still own) and then a VPI scout junior which I essentially turned into a scout 1.1. Not bashing VPI as the are quality but for what one pays the little quirks should not happen in my opinion. From what I have read it seems like the AT at it's price point and whom actually builds it invites a shunning from the philes that spend much more. I am getting old and my hearing is not what it once was but the sound quality is so good that justifying more is not necessary. The build quality and sexiness of this table is spot on. Obviously just ones opinion.

[plyscds]

Let's hope Audio-Technica's leadership has exposed itself to the concerns of its critics and has acted to bring its product quality level and image up to where it needs to be. It is logical that a car maker who makes bullet-proof engines and mates them to transmissions that displease or self-destruct within the first year of use won't last in the market place. And that has been where A-T has been with some of its turntables, one of which I came to own some time ago. I hope yours works out well for you. :)

[Vinylfreak86]

AT-LP 7 is belt-drive and if they used some good japanese parts inside it could be that this model unlike others will be a success. But in price point it is little expensive, for some more money you get Technics SL-1200mk7. And that one guarantees you high quality and long-lasting of a product.

[Pscm]

I should have mentioned that I was able to negotiate price down to
$600 which included shipping.

[KentT]

I'd have still paid extra for the SL-1200 Mk 7, as that should be a long lasting, durable, known high performance turntable. And should be reliable for many years, and have spare parts and service support for years.

[Pscm]

I did some homework before buying and didn't see anything that was alarming. Is there a history of quality issues?

[Vinylfreak86]

I did some homework before buying and didn't see anything that was alarming. Is there a history of quality issues?

On this one not, because it is new model. According to simple belt-drive design there shouldn`t be problems and also OEM I suppose is not Hanpin. Other models, especially AT-LP 120 (hanpin model) have a bad reputation of vinyl smasher and thing that is going to spoil in just few months of use. :twisted:

[Bob Dillon]

AT-LP 120 a "vinyl smasher" ? Don't think so.

[Vinylfreak86]

AT-LP 120 a "vinyl smasher" ? Don't think so.

You have a right to think so. ATLP120 became better with the last models. But if AS mechanism and cueing level don`t work, records will become seriously damaged through the years of use.

[Beobloke]

You have a right to think so. ATLP120 became better with the last models. But if AS mechanism and cueing level don`t work, records will become seriously damaged through the years of use.

Neither non-working anti-skate or non-working cueing will "seriously damage" records, unless you're really clumsy with the hand-cueing, of course!

I'm no fan of the AT-LP120 but this is just unnecessary scaremongering.

[plyscds]

You have a right to think so. ATLP120 became better with the last models. But if AS mechanism and cueing level don`t work, records will become seriously damaged through the years of use.

Neither non-working anti-skate or non-working cueing will "seriously damage" records, unless you're really clumsy with the hand-cueing, of course!

I'm no fan of the AT-LP120 but this is just unnecessary scaremongering.

If you look at what actual stresses are applied in a record groove against a stylus with any popular overhung tonearm you will see that the inner groove is pushing against the five o'clock portion of the stylus. This, in reality, is the source of the need for misnamed antiskate correction. Without it the inner groove wall experiences excessive wear and distortion results. Antiskate correction attempts to equalize forces against both groove walls for a centered soundfield, and, since wear is inevitable, to equalize it to both groove walls.

[JoeE SP9]

I respectfully disagree with your reason for anti-skating being needed. If it's only the inner groove that causes skating, how come a blank (no groove) LP causes an arm to skate?

[raphaelmabo]

On this one not, because it is new model. According to simple belt-drive design there shouldn`t be problems and also OEM I suppose is not Hanpin. Other models, especially AT-LP 120 (hanpin model) have a bad reputation of vinyl smasher and thing that is going to spoil in just few months of use. :twisted:

Hanpin is not a bad manufacturer at all, but the AT-LP 120 was a budget model, inexpensive entry level. More expensive models made by Hanpin are better, such as the Magnat MA-900 for example. Or the Reloop-models in their Turn-series. Also built by Hanpin, and with good quality.

[plyscds]

I respectfully disagree with your reason for anti-skating being needed. If it's only the inner groove that causes skating, how come a blank (no groove) LP causes an arm to skate?

A wide open circular-spinning flat surface and a confined v-shaped arced groove are two very different environments and the effects they exert upon a stylus are quite different. I do not dispute what happens with a flat spinning disc except to say it has no bearing on what a stylus on an overhung tonearm experiences in a record groove.

gallery/image/47809/source

I have borrowed a drawing from the AT-PL120 owner's manual and added a line of force from the tonearm's horizontal pivot. This line of force is what a typical overhung stylus encounters regardless of the shape of the tonearm. The line sees the approximately five-o'clock portion of the stylus experiencing the strongest force from the inside facet of the groove. Uncorrected, this will result in a stronger inner (left channel) vibration sent to the cartridge's signal generators which will ultimately result in a louder presentation in the left channel perceived as the soundfield favoring the left side.

What antiskate correction systems, in all their forms, attempt to do is impart a slight outward twisting force to the tonearm toward the outer groove which carries right channel information. When the proper degree of outward correction has been applied the soundfield will appear to be centered.

This makes more sense to me than saying that a force from the outer side of the record is pressing the stylus inward resulting in a stronger reaction on the inside of the stylus than from the outer side of the stylus where the force was originally applied.

[DL110luvr]

On this one not, because it is new model. According to simple belt-drive design there shouldn`t be problems and also OEM I suppose is not Hanpin. Other models, especially AT-LP 120 (hanpin model) have a bad reputation of vinyl smasher and thing that is going to spoil in just few months of use. :twisted:

Hanpin is not a bad manufacturer at all, but the AT-LP 120 was a budget model, inexpensive entry level. More expensive models made by Hanpin are better, such as the Magnat MA-900 for example. Or the Reloop-models in their Turn-series. Also built by Hanpin, and with good quality.

As owner of TWO Reloop 7000s....I can attest to their quality!!
I look at them as sort of a "poor man's Technics"....!:)
My 7000s get used on my Part 15 FM station....they have AT95e cartridges, and I'm VERY careful with back-cueing!!