Is an AT-LP60 likely to damage my vinyl?

Hey there, recently I purchased a rare album from the '80s which is only available on vinyl. I do most of my listening on CD but I do own a modest turntable on which I play some cheap records I own. The turntable is an AT-LP60-USB and I am fairly happy with how it sounds but having read some opinions about it, I have been hesitant to play my more valuable records on it. Apparently the stylus - which is not adjustable - has a tracking force of about 3.5g. I am far from being an expert on turntables but supposedly this is likely to be unkind to my records and cause some audible wear in the long term. I have always planned to upgrade this turntable to something I'd be happy to play everything on, but at the moment I can't really justify the cost of a decent entry model.

That being said, I am very keen to listen to my recent plastic purchase. The plan always has been to digitalise it for convenience; the USB feature of my turntable makes this convenient but I also have line input on my PC and can't hear any major differences between my test recordings of the two.

I have been considering playing the rare vinyl just once in order to get a simple recording to listen to in the meantime. My question is, is this likely to cause damage to the record if I play it only once and am I better off taking the plunge and upgrading to something of higher quality?

 

Its subjective because wear is a factor of vinyl, on any turntable. Will it have audible wear after 1 play, probably not if its working as intended. Tracking force is just one aspect of it.
After 20 plays? Maybe? It again also depends on how demanding the record is.

You sound like myself a bit, putting record longevity high on the priority list.
And in that case I do suggest as you suspect to upgrade. Whats most important?
Id say the stylus profile followed by how well your table can install the cart for you. So focus your money in that direction.

But in the end its about fun too. You bought the record, there are many more out there, go for it, 1 play is no play at all lets say ;^)

Welcome to the forum!

 

You won't get great results from digitizing an album on a turntable like that. Get someone with better equipment to do it for you. What album are we talking about BTW?

RE: record damage it is not the tracking force that is the problem. If the cart is meant to track at 3.5g, it shouldn't damage the record in general. One issue with these cheap plastic turntables is the tonearm which is on the short side. That means more tracking error which could lead to damage over the long term. Further, just about any conical or elliptical stylus will damage tight inner grooves over time with many repeated plays on a record which can result in high frequency loss and distortion. HOWEVER, if you bought the record used you do not know if this has already been done anyway. Many used albums were played on horrible equipment and already have groove damage that is not visible to the naked eye.

When I was younger I used some pretty horrible things to play records on (BSR changers, Radio Shack plastic TTs, etc.) and I still have a few of the records that were played on those junkers. Some of them sound fine and others might have groove wear if I were to listen very closely to them. It helps that some of them are loud rock records where the distortion in the music overpowers the distortion I might hear on the records.

In general I would recommend staying away from expensive records you care about if all you have to play them is a TT like this.

If you care about vinyl listening for the long term, do it right. Start saving your money for a better turntable - you can probably pick up something used for not much more than the you paid for the LP60. Further, it is not that complicated to set up a chain for recording to the computer on a traditional turntable. You can buy a decent phono preamp for around $40 and an acceptable sound card for recording for around $30. Also, add a Spin Clean or similar device for cleaning the records before recording. Although you won't be getting audiophile quality needledrops with that gear you will get something acceptable for portable listening on your cell phone or whatever.

If you plan to transfer only a handful of LPs to digital just get someone else to do it for you and save the LP60 for playing beater/dollar bin type LPs.

 

On top of what @patient_ot said, along with its poor tonearm, the build quality on those LP60 players (that includes the Denon DP200, Pioneer PL-990, Sony PS-LX300) are terrible, which includes tracking force that goes over 3.5g, beyond the AT-3600L stylus maximum tracking force on some examples. Don't forget the high wow and flutter during sustaining notes from string instruments and vocals and skipping during hotly cut records.

Play them on beater records instead and look into getting a better turntable elsewhere.

 

The AT3600L cartridge has a tracking force range of 2.5 to 4.5 grams, but every AT-LP60 that I've seen properly measured has been within a few tenths of a gram of its factory spec of 3.5 grams, which will not cause any excessive wear to your records in normal use.

Even Michael Fremer -- the same guy who insists that Crosleys and other cheap record players will "chew up the grooves" in as little as five plays -- says it's OK and will take care of your records (jump to 10:24 in the video):

 

I wouldn't expect AT to produce anything that would damage vinyl. I have many nice sounding used vinyl that likely had to suffer BSRs, etc of the past.

 

It depends on the record in question though and I would say its not so much the tracking force but the stylus itself that can be a big factor.

 

AT doesn't make the LP60, Hanpin does. They just slap the AT logo on it. Hanpin has been making this TT since the late 90s and lots of companies get their name put on it.

 

Sure - but under the design/guidance of AT. It isn't going to hurt your albums.

 

I don't think one play is going to do any significant damage to the record. Since you're understandably anxious to hear it, I would play it once to digitize it, and put it away until you can get a better turntable.

I have some vinyl records from the early 70's that I played on a cheap turntable that was much worse than this one, and they still sound OK; not great, but not bad. Records are more durable than most people think. Yes, they can certainly be damaged beyond repair by a crappy turntable, but if they're played properly on a turntable that's set up properly, there's not likely to be significant harm done. They're also made to be heard, not to sit on a shelf until they can be played on expensive equipment. It's about the music.

 

Not really, since Hanpin was selling these to other companies before AT started slapping their name on them, going back to the late 90s. What companies do is literally pick the product out of an OEM catalog. It's not going to be heavily modified technically. There may be some basic options to choose from, but that is it.

 

The ancestor of the AT-LP60 was the AT-PL300, introduced in 1993 in Japan. The basic design remained unchanged until Audio-Technica just released their new, improved AT-LP60X turntable this year.

 

Playing a record 100 times is not a real-world test. Even ADC admitted that their high-end cartridge, tracking at only 1.25 grams, caused noticeable wear after only 60 plays, which is around the same point as the AT-LP60 in CJ's video started exhibiting noticeable wear. And it's mostly pointless, because according to "industry sources", most people only play their records 40 to 50 times:

 

The main point with the video I was trying to convey is their other 2 albums that they had to buy again were also played on the LP60 and not 100 times in a row. Probably not even 50 times with the time period they had it. How do you adress this?

Whether its pointless or not is subjective. I happen to care a lot about longevity, the 50 lifetime plays is not a factor I care about.

 

The arm on the AT-LP 60 is a bit too crude for my taste. Barely adequate. And too short for proper tracking and minimum distortion. The cartridge is fine on better tonearms. I have that cartridge mounted in a headshell as one of my options.

 

I would at least step up to the LP120 or the AT-LP3 or look at something like U-Turn. I have the LP1240 and have been pretty happy with it.

 

It's a very cheaply made TT as others have mentioned the sound will leave quite a bit to be desired then your records might suffer too. May be you won't hear any difference on your current set up but you will take better care of your records with something better and it shouldn't cost you a lot more.

 

Way back in my miss spent youth it was common for audiophools to record a brand new LP on cassette, put the LP back in its cover and never play it again since "records wear out you know". By now all of those cassettes went to cassette heaven and probably many of those LP's are still around and sounding great after being played in all manner of record players in the intervening years. LP's are a lot tougher than we think. Unless the stylus is really really worn out I don't think one play is going to wear out a record. The 3.5 gram tracking weight is fine ( as long as the stylus is a conical or a very moderate elliptical) In fact believe it or not the LP was designed to survive just fine in an era of 8 to 10 gram tracking record players as some my older lp's (which sound just fine on any of my turntables (Rega , Lenco, Dual, Pioneer) attest.

 

I guess not.

 

OP,
Succumbing to advice here is going to make you anxious and being anxious is going to make you spend money for a new turntable, cartridge, phono preamplifier, and record cleaning devices, which may relieve you of your savings without any guaranty of satisfaction. Here's an alternative, stream or download the album. It will only cost about ten bucks, then you will have great pleasure without all the fuss and concern over damage to your record.

 

The problem with that is that the album in question is not available at all in any digital format. So that advice will not help the OP whatsoever.

With that said, I do recommend an upgrade. Not necessarily to anything that's super-expensive, but to something better that doesn't cost all that much more money than any of these $100 cheapies that are/were based on the Hanpin FU-700 turntable and its variants. These turntables are notorious for their lack of quality control, with some of the tonearms moving super-loose or super-stiff, resulting in premature record groove damage on bad copies of these turntables.

 

Really? What album is it? I'm betting Apple Music's got it. If the OP identifies the album, I'll see if I can download it.

 

Yes, there are thousands of albums which never got released in any digital format in its original form. Some individual tracks from such albums were later made available in compilations.

With that said, I had to wait until 2017 to find a copy of Lighthouse's One Fine Morning album on iTunes in its original 1971 mix. For years, all I could find was a later remix version of that album.

 

Well, unless the OP identifies the album, who knows.