Audio-Technica engineers are relentlessly improving the design of their vinyl turntables. Following last month's presentation of the Hotaru turntable, which floats in the air and costs $10,000, the company announced the Audio-Technica AT-LPA2 vinyl turntable model. This new model has a transparent acrylic plinth/base and platter. To maintain the transparency of the base, all controls and power are housed in an external unit.
The base of the turntable is made of a 30 mm thick plate of high-density transparent acrylic, and the platter is made of the same material with a thickness of 20 mm. According to the manufacturer, the use of transparent acrylic provides not only a spectacular design, but also effectively dampens vibrations, which improves playback quality and reduces background noise.
The Audio-Technica AT-LPA2 uses a belt drive for the platter and features a special optical sensor that monitors its rotation speed. The carbon fiber tonearm, a feature typically found on Audio-Technica's limited edition models, reduces weight and comes with interchangeable counterweights that provide the necessary downforce when using different cartridges.
To keep the turntable's plinth / base as transparent as possible, the playback controls and other buttons are placed on an external control unit that also houses the power supply. According to Audio-Technica, this approach not only allows the control unit to be placed without compromising the turntable's transparent aesthetics, but it also isolates the unit's audio path from power supply interference, "resulting in a cleaner and more accurate sound".
The AT-LP2022, released in January 2023 in honor of Audio-Technica's 60th anniversary, was limited to 3,000 units at a price of $1,200. The AT-LP2022's design is remarkably similar to that of the AT-LPA2. The AT-LP2022 was limited to 3,000 units priced at $1,200 each. The manufacturer priced the new AT-LPA2 at $2,000, and no information about the planned number of units was provided.
As always, you can find more information on the product page of the official Audio-Technica website.
For comparison, here is the Audio-Technica Hotaru floating in the air and glowing:
