Audio Technica AT-LPA2

The AT-LPA2 is a manual belt-drive turntable, designed by Audio-Technica around a transparent acrylic chassis. It comes with an AT-OC9XEN moving-coil cartridge pre-fitted, and pairs a carbon fibre tonearm specifically developed for this model.

The high-density acrylic platter is 20 mm thick: this mass contributes to rotational stability and vibration damping. Rotational speed is monitored by an optical sensor placed beneath the spindle, which maintains accuracy at 33 1/3 and 45 rpm. The controls and power supply are housed in a separate unit, an arrangement that isolates the turntable's sensitive components from electrical interference linked to the motor and power supply. The turntable operates on 100 to 240 V, 50/60 Hz, for a consumption of 6 W. Wow and flutter are rated at less than 0.12% WRMS at 33 rpm, and the signal-to-noise ratio exceeds 60 dB.

The AT-OC9XEN cartridge, a dual moving-coil design, is fitted with a 0.3 x 0.7 mil elliptical diamond stylus and PCOCC copper coils. It is mounted in a machined aluminium headshell offering azimuth adjustment, fixed to a straight 223.6 mm tonearm featuring vertical tracking angle (VTA) adjustment and a finely adjustable wire-suspension anti-skate mechanism. Two counterweights are supplied, at 110 and 130 g, to allow the fitting of other cartridges.

This turntable is aimed at vinyl enthusiasts wanting a complete, ready-to-use setup, with an MC cartridge already fitted and aligned, without having to put together the tonearm-cartridge pairing themselves. The separate power supply and acrylic chassis are particularly geared towards attentive listening, where background silence and mechanical stability are paramount.